Quantum Thermodynamics: A Steampunk Adventure with Nicole Yunger Halpern (#225)

Nicole Yunger Halpern is a theoretical physicist, NIST physicist and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland.  She is also currently a Fellow of the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science at the University of Maryland.

Nicole reenvisions 19th-century thermodynamics for the 21st century, using the mathematical toolkit of quantum information (QI) theory. She applies QI thermodynamics as a lens through which to view the rest of science, gaining new perspectives on atomic, molecular and optical physics, condensed matter, chemistry, high-energy physics, and biophysics. She calls this research “quantum steampunk,” after the steampunk genre of art and literature that juxtaposes Victorian settings with futuristic technologies.

Dr. Yunger’s book, Quantum Steampunk is about how the Industrial Revolution meets the quantum-technology revolution! It is a steampunk adventure guide to how mind-blowing quantum physics is transforming our understanding of information and energy.In the book she shows how Victorian era steam engines and particle physics may seem worlds (as well as centuries) apart, yet a new branch of science, quantum thermodynamics, reenvisions the scientific underpinnings of the Industrial Revolution through the lens of today's roaring quantum information revolution. Classical thermodynamics, understood as the study of engines, energy, and efficiency, needs reimagining to take advantage of quantum mechanics, the basic framework that explores the nature of reality by peering at minute matters, down to the momentum of a single particle.

Readers follow the adventures of a rag-tag steampunk crew on trains, dirigibles, and automobiles, as they explore questions such as, "Can quantum physics revolutionize engines?" and "What deeper secrets can quantum information reveal about the trajectory of time?"

Yunger Halpern also describes her own adventures in the quantum universe and provides an insider's look at the work of the scientists obsessed with its technological promise.

• https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/12750/quantum-steampunk
• https://quantumsteampunk.umiacs.io/
• https://twitter.com/nicoleyh11
• https://quics.umd.edu/

Topis discussed include:

• What is Entropy?
• Where does physics end and chemistry begin?
• What is Maxwell's Demon?
• What does it mean to destroy information? What happens if I burn this book?!
• What is a Boltzman Brain?
• What is a quantum computer?
• Can quantum computing help make the blockchain more efficient?
• Why go into thermodynamics as a career now?
• The unsung virtues of thermometry.

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Produced by Stuart Volkow (P.G.A) and Brian Keating

Edited by Stuart Volkow

Music by: 

Yeti Tears Miguel Tully - www.facebook.com/yetitears/

Theo Ryan - http://the-omusic.com/

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