John Preskill

What happens when an existentially depressed and recently widowed young physicist from Queens gets a fresh start in California? We follow Richard Feynman out west, to explore his long and extremely fruitful second act. (Part two of a three-part series originally published in 2024.) SOURCES: Seamus Blackley , video game designer and creator of the Xbox. Carl Feynman , computer scientist and son of Richard Feynman. Michelle Feynman , photographer and daughter of Richard Feynman. Ralph Leighton , biographer and film producer. Charles Mann , science journalist and author. John Preskill , professor of theoretical physics at the California Institute of Technology. Lisa Randall , professor of theoretical particle physics and cosmology at Harvard University. Christopher Sykes , documentary filmmaker. Stephen Wolfram , founder and C.E.O. of Wolfram Research; creator of Mathematica, Wolfram|Alpha, and the Wolfram Language. Alan Zorthian , architect. RESOURCES: " Love After Life: Nobel-Winning Physicist Richard Feynman’s Extraordinary Letter to His Departed Wife ," by Maria Popova ( The Marginalian, 2017). Quantum Man: Richard Feynman's Life in Science , by Lawrence M. Krauss (2011). The Pleasure of Finding Things Out , by Richard Feynman (1999). Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman , by James Gleick (1992). " G. Feynman; Landscape Expert, Physicist’s Widow ," ( Los Angeles Times, 1990). " Nobel Physicist R. P. Feynman of Caltech Dies ," by Lee Dye ( Los Angeles Times, 1988). The Second Creation: Makers of the Revolution in Twentieth-century Physics , by Robert Crease and Charles Mann (1986). Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! , by Richard Feynman and Ralph Leighton (1985). Fun to Imagine , BBC docuseries (1983). "

From the Manhattan Project to the Challenger investigation, the physicist Richard Feynman loved to shoot down what he called “lousy ideas.” Today, the world is awash in lousy ideas — so maybe it’s time to get some more Feynman in our lives? (Part one of a three-part series originally published in 2024.) SOURCES: Helen Czerski , physicist and oceanographer at University College London. Michelle Feynman , photographer and daughter of Richard Feynman. Ralph Leighton , biographer and film producer. Charles Mann , science journalist and author. John Preskill , professor of theoretical physics at the California Institute of Technology. Stephen Wolfram , founder and C.E.O. of Wolfram Research; creator of Mathematica, Wolfram|Alpha, and the Wolfram Language. RESOURCES: " How Legendary Physicist Richard Feynman Helped Crack the Case on the Challenger Disaster ," by Kevin Cook ( Literary Hub, 2021). Challenger: The Final Flight , docuseries (2020). Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track: Selected Letters of Richard P. Feynman , edited by Michelle Feynman (2005). The Pleasure of Finding Things Out , by Richard Feynman (1999). Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman , by James Gleick (1992). “What Do You Care What Other People Think?” by Richard Feynman and Ralph Leighton (1988). " Mr. Feynman Goes to Washington ," by Richard Feynman and Ralph Leighton (Engineering & Science, 1987). The Second Creation: Makers of the Revolution in Twentieth-century Physics , by Robert Crease and Charles Mann (1986). Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! , by Richard Feynman and Ralph Leighton (1985). " The Pleasure of Finding Things Out ," ( Horizon S18.E9, 1981). "<a href="https://ww

It seems file write permissions aren't being granted. Here are the show notes for episode 0038 — you can save them to data/episodes/0038/show_notes.md : Episode 0038: The Numbers Changed Why it matters. Two papers published days apart have reduced the estimated physical qubit count needed to break widely deployed public-key cryptography by roughly two orders of magnitude — from around one million to as few as ten thousand. Together, they compress the timeline for quantum threats to cryptography from "decades away" to "measurable in engineering milestones." The Google paper also introduces the first use of zero-knowledge proofs as a responsible disclosure mechanism for novel cryptanalytic results, proving the existence of optimized attack circuits without publishing them. Paper 1: Shor's Algorithm on 10,000 Neutral-Atom Qubits Caltech and Oratomic. The paper, "Shor's algorithm is possible with as few as 10,000 reconfigurable atomic qubits," comes from Caltech and Oratomic, a startup spun out of Caltech's quantum computing group. It demonstrates that RSA-2048 can be factored with 11,000–14,000 physical qubits and P-256 elliptic curve cryptography can be broken with 10,000–26,000 physical qubits on a neutral-atom architecture, down from prior estimates of roughly one million and half a million respectively. Published March 30, 2026. The Researchers. Madelyn Cain and Qian Xu are the lead authors, affiliated with Oratomic. John Preskill — who coined the term " quantum supremacy " and has been one of the field's most careful voices for decades — is a co-author. Preskill is the Richard P. Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics at Caltech and director of the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter . Key Technical Concepts. The two-order-of-magnitude reduction comes from three advances working together. First, quantum low-density parity-check codes (qLDPC codes) replace the surface code , achieving ~30% encoding rates (~3 physical qubits per logical qubit) versus the surface code's ~1% (~100 physical qubits per logical qubit). This requires nonlocal qubit connectivity, which neutral-atom quantum computers — using atoms held in optical tweezers and rearranged by laser fields — uniquely provide. Second, improved logical instruction sets via Pauli Product Measurements enable more efficient gate operations. Third, deep circuit-level optimization compiles Shor's algorithm more efficiently for this architecture. The prior definitive resource estimates were set by <a href="https://arxi

The quantum laws governing atoms and other tiny objects seem to defy common sense, and information encoded in quantum systems has weird properties that baffle our feeble human minds. John Preskill will explain why he loves quantum entanglement, the elusive feature making quantum information fundamentally different from information in the macroscopic world. By exploiting quantum entanglement, quantum computers should be able to solve otherwise intractable problems, with far-reaching applications to cryptology, materials, and fundamental physical science. Preskill is less weird than a quantum computer, and easier to understand.

Send us Fan Mail Interested in what quantum computing is? Ramis Movassagh explains the basics of quantum, some applications to finance, why it is a hard problem to solve, and ways to learn more about it. Ramis is an applied mathematician and a theoretical physicist who researches quantum computation and information theory, and quantum cryptography and complexity. He does an amazing job at laying out some of the basic ideas of quantum mechanics. Ramis' Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramis-movassagh-33465717/ Website and Blog: https://ramismovassagh.wordpress.com/ https://ramismovassagh.wordpress.com/blog X handle: @Ramis_Movassagh Quantum supremacy paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-023-02131-2 PDF for those behind the paywall: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-023-02131-2.epdf?sharing_token=oYgyql7M-nUPNwLJ4F2Q_tRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0M5gli-apQIlZ1xThgS5KRp3t28rkad24bSeQ-gRMhmOaNP232U_FZZQjPrseDCTdXIRryTWL339snJllwZAjuD5PMkLKij96GMA_OniVnTz5JjaARH0qW5OV-AKwZr4VI%3D Press coverage: https://phys.org/news/2023-09-difficulty-simulating-random-quantum-circuits.html https://communities.springernature.com/posts/the-quest-for-quantum-primacy Quantum Merkle Trees: https://quantum-journal.org/papers/q-2024-06-18-1380/ IBM's "Basics of Quantum Information": https://quantum.cloud.ibm.com/learning/en/courses/basics-of-quantum-information John Preskill from CalTech: https://www.preskill.caltech.edu/ MIT "Quantum Computing": https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/18-435j-quantum-computation-fall-2003/ Join the quant community in Dallas, Texas April 10th at SMU! Quaint Quant Conference - 2026 Learn and network from a close knit quant community! Support the show

Christmas episode!!In this Christmas episode, Kai - The Quantum Kid - explores what happens when quantum computing meets robotics. With:- John Preskill, Caltech theoretical physicist, who coined the term 'quantum supremacy', and - Ken Goldberg, US Berkley robotics expertwe discuss how quantum computers could help robots make smarter decisions and solve problems faster, and what this could mean for the future of intelligent machines. We also talk about uncertainty - both in the context of quantum and in the context of robotics. Oh, and Kai also teleports to a super cool robotics lab in Zurich, ANYbotics, and meets ANYmal - a robot dog that can walk and climb stairs, and can be go where it's dangerous for humans to go. And, as Kai puts it, 'it's veeeeeryyyy cute!' Quantum computers don’t just calculate faster. They think differently. Could that give robots new abilities? 👇 Now your turn:- How do you think robots might use quantum computers?- What should robots be able to do that they can’t do today?- Would you trust a quantum-powered robot?💬 Leave a comment — Kai reads them and may answer yours in the next episode!👍 If you enjoyed this video, like it so more people can find it🔔 Subscribe to The Quantum Kid for more episodes on quantum computing, coding, AI, and the future of technology👀 New videos coming soon!

Evénements QUEST-IS chez EDF La conférence dédiée à l’ingénierie quantique organisée par la SEE avec le soutien du SGPI et de l’AID durait trois jours pendant la première semaine de décembre, chez EDF à Palaiseau. https://www.oezratty.net/Files/Conferences/Olivier%20Ezratty%20QUEST-IS%20Quantum%20Engineering%20Dec2025.pdf https://conference-questis.org/quest-is-2025/program/proceddings/ Conférence organisée par le Fermilab faisait aussi le point sur le lien entre calcul quantique et HPC, notamment dans le cadre de simulations dans la high energy physics (HEP). https://indico.fnal.gov/event/71571/ . Q2B Santa Clara du 9 au 11 décembre. La conférence rassemblait des intervenants tels que Scott Aaronson (University of Texas), John Preskill (Caltech), Ryan Babbush (Google), et plein de CTOs et CEO de startups US et internationales. Dans les startups étrangères, il y avait notamment les interventions de Photonic (Stephanie Simmons), Diraq (Andrew Dzurak), Quantum Machines (Yonathan Cohen), Q-CTRL (Michael Biercuk), Classiq, Quemix (Japon, dans le logiciel), etc. Et aussi Joe Altepeter de la DARPA, qui présentait l’état des lieu du programme Quantum Benchmark Initiative. https://www.oezratty.net/Files/Conferences/Olivier%20Ezratty%20Q2B%20SV%20FTQC%20Energetics%20Dec2025.pdf https://www.oezratty.net/Files/Conferences/Olivier%20Ezratty%20Q2B%20SV%20Case%20Studies%20Dec2025.pdf https://www.oezratty.net/wordpress/2025/back-from-the-q2b-santa-clara-2025/ Les vidéos de la conférence à Munich qui avait lieu en octobre 2025. https://www.cda.cit.tum.de/research/quantum/mqsf/ Nobel lectures des trois lauréats du prix Nobel de physique 2025, John Clarke, Michel Devoret et John Martinis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTtT2jTF4Xc A noter également les interventions de Michel Devoret et Alain Aspect chez Google à Paris le 18 décembre. Le duo était suivi d’un panel avec eux en compagnie de Pierre Rouchon et Théau Péronnin d’Alice&Bob. Conférence inaugurale de Pascale Senellart au Collège de France https://www.college-de-france.fr/fr/agenda/lecon-inaugurale/les-debuts-une-seconde-revolution-quantique/les-debuts-une-seconde-revolution-quantique Bell prize coattribué à Antoine Browayes, Mikhael Lukin et Mark Safman. Le trio mondial des atomes froids. https://cqiqc.physics.utoronto.ca/bell-prize/bell-prize-winners/browaeys-lukin-and-saffman-awarded-the-9th-bell-prize/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stewart_Bell_Prize Evénements à venir · CES 2026 & Quantum World Congress https://www.quantumworldcongress.com/ces-2026 . Un <a href="https://www.ecole-navale.fr/entreprise/nos-rende

Quantum Materials and Nano-Fabrication with Javad Shabani Guest: Dr. Javad Shabani is Professor of Physics at NYU, where he directs both the Center for Quantum Information Physics and the NYU Quantum Institute. He received his PhD from Princeton University in 2011, followed by postdoctoral research at Harvard and UC Santa Barbara in collaboration with Microsoft Research. His research focuses on novel states of matter at superconductor-semiconductor interfaces, mesoscopic physics in low-dimensional systems, and quantum device development. He is an expert in molecular beam epitaxy growth of hybrid quantum materials and has made pioneering contributions to understanding fractional quantum Hall states and topological superconductivity. Episode Overview Professor Javad Shabani shares his journey from electrical engineering to the frontiers of quantum materials research, discussing his pioneering work on semiconductor-superconductor hybrid systems, topological qubits, and the development of scalable quantum device fabrication techniques. The conversation explores his current work at NYU, including breakthrough research on germanium-based Josephson junctions and the launch of the NYU Quantum Institute. Key Topics Discussed Early Career and Quantum Journey Javad describes his unconventional path into quantum physics, beginning with a double major in electrical engineering and physics at Sharif University of Technology after discovering John Preskill's open quantum information textbook. His graduate work at Princeton focused on the quantum Hall effect, particularly investigating the enigmatic five-halves fractional quantum Hall state and its potential connection to non-abelian anyons. From Spin Qubits to Topological Quantum Computing During his PhD, Javad worked with Jason Petta and Mansur Shayegan on early spin qubit experiments, experiencing firsthand the challenge of controlling single quantum dots. His postdoctoral work at Harvard with Charlie Marcus focused on scaling from one to two qubits, revealing the immense complexity of nanofabrication and materials science required for quantum control. This experience led him to topological superconductivity at UC Santa Barbara, where he collaborated with Microsoft Research on semiconductor-superconductor heterostructures. Planar Josephson Junctions and Material Innovation At NYU, Javad's group developed planar two-dimensional Josephson junctions using indium arsenide semiconductors with aluminum superconductors, moving away from one-dimensional nanowires toward more scalable fabrication approaches. In 2018-2019, his team published groundbreaking results in Physical Review Letters showing signatures of topological phase transitions in these hybrid systems. Gatemon Qubits and Hybrid Systems The conversation explores Javad's recent work on gatemon qubits—gate-tunable superconducting transmon qubits that leverage semiconductor properties for fast switching in the nanosecond regime. While indium arsenide's piezoelectric properties may limit qubit coherence, the material shows promise as a fast coupler between qubits. This research, published in Physical Review X, represents a convergence of superconducting circuit techniques with semiconductor physics. Breakthrough in Germanium-Based Devices Javad reveals exciting forthcoming research accepted in Nature Nanotechnology on creating vertical Josephson junctions entirely from germanium. By doping germanium with gallium to make it superconducting, then alternating with undoped semiconducting germanium, his team has achieved wafer-scale fabrication of three-layer superconductor-semiconductor-superconductor junctions. This approach enables placing potentially 20 million junctions on a single wafer, opening pathways toward CM

En este episodio nos sumergimos en el fascinante mundo de la computación cuántica , una tecnología que parece sacada de la ciencia ficción pero que ya empieza a tomar forma en laboratorios y centros de investigación de todo el mundo. Junto a Beatriz Esteban , ingeniera de telecomunicación y experta en innovación tecnológica en Atos, exploramos qué hay de real y qué hay de mito en la palabra “cuántica”, un término que hoy se usa para todo (desde la física más compleja hasta para promocionar dudosas terapias milagrosas), pero cuyo verdadero potencial científico aún estamos empezando a entender. Durante la charla, Arturo y Ricardo dialogan con Beatriz sobre los fundamentos que diferencian la computación clásica de la cuántica: · Qué es un qubit y cómo permite representar infinitos estados entre el 0 y el 1. · Los tres principios clave: superposición, entrelazamiento e interferencia cuántica . · Los retos actuales: la coherencia , el ruido cuántico , la corrección de errores y la dificultad de escalar la tecnología. Beatriz explica cómo distintas empresas y universidades (IBM, Google, D-Wave, Atos, entre otras) están compitiendo por alcanzar la supremacía cuántica , ese punto en el que un ordenador cuántico logre resolver un problema imposible para uno clásico. Además, conoceremos el concepto de emulación cuántica , que permite experimentar con algoritmos cuánticos reales en superordenadores clásicos, facilitando el acceso a esta nueva tecnología sin necesidad de costosos equipos de laboratorio. El episodio aborda también temas apasionantes: · Quantum Machine Learning , la fusión de la IA con la computación cuántica. · Las posibles aplicaciones en medicina personalizada, modelado molecular, finanzas, optimización logística y aeronáutica . · El enorme impacto que podría tener en la seguridad digital y el cifrado , capaz de romper contraseñas actuales en segundos. En la parte final, la conversación deriva hacia cuestiones éticas y filosóficas : ¿Aumentará la brecha entre países ricos y pobres? ¿Podrán las leyes europeas garantizar un uso ético y accesible de estas tecnologías? ¿Hasta qué punto la regulación puede frenar la innovación o la accesibilidad para las personas ciegas? Un episodio profundo, técnico y lleno de curiosidad, que combina ciencia, reflexión y humor, y que deja claro que el futuro cuántico ya está llamando a la puerta. Intervienen: Beatriz Esteban Lauzán. -Arturo Fernández. Ricardo Abad. Enlaces a Sitios referenciados en el episodio: Libro de quantum con enfoque de negocio (inglés). WATIF podcast con Sergio Boixo. Mindscape 153: Sean Carroll conversa con John Preskill, físico teórico de Caltech, sobre la computación cuántica y sus aplicaciones reales (inglés). Accede a myQLM: entorno de programación en Python para experimentar con algoritmos de computación cuántica desarrollado por Atos. Algoritmo de Shor: la amenaza cuántica al cifrado actual. Criptografía cuán

In this episode, Sebastian Hassinger sits down with Dr. Liang Jiang from the University of Chicago to explore the exciting intersection of quantum error correction theory and practical implementation. Dr. Jiang discusses his group's work on hardware-efficient quantum error correction, the recent breakthroughs in demonstrating error correction thresholds, and the future of fault-tolerant quantum computing. Key Topics Covered Current State of Quantum Error Correction Recent milestone achievements including Google's surface code experiment and AWS's bosonic code demonstrations The transition from purely theoretical work to practical implementations on real hardware Hardware platforms showing high fidelity: superconducting qubits, trapped ions, and cold atoms Hardware-Efficient Approaches Bosonic Error Correction : Using single harmonic oscillators to correct loss errors, demonstrated at Yale and AWS Surface Codes : Google's achievement of going beyond breakeven point for quantum memory QLDPC Codes : Collaboration with IBM and neutral atom array experiments, particularly Michel Lukin's group at Harvard Fault-Tolerant Gate Implementation Challenges of implementing universal computation with error-corrected logical qubits Magic State Injection : Preparing resource quantum states and teleporting them into circuits Code Switching : Switching between different error correcting codes to achieve universal gate sets The Eastin-Knill no-go theorem and methods to overcome it Programming Abstraction Layers Evolution toward higher-level programming abstractions similar to classical computing Efficient compilation of quantum circuits using discrete fault-tolerant gate sets Memory Operations : Teleporting gates into quantum memory rather than extracting qubits Quantum Communication and Networking Channel Capacity and GKP Codes Application of Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) codes for achieving channel capacity in lossy channels Recent experimental demonstrations in trapped ions and superconducting qubits showing breakeven performance Microwave-to-Optical Transduction Critical challenge for connecting quantum devices across different frequency domains Recent progress in demonstrating quantum channels between microwave and optical modes Applications for both quantum networking and modular quantum computing architectures Advanced Applications Quantum Sensing with Error Correction Research by Dr. Jiang's former student Sisi Zhou addressing John Preskill's 20-year-old question Necessary and sufficient conditions for error correction to help quantum sensing Applications to gravitational wave detection and dark matter searches Algorithmic Quantum Metrology Collaboration with MIT researchers on combining global search algorithms with quantum sensors Potential for quantum advantage in processing quantum signals from quantum sensors Future Directions Distributed Quantum Computing Modular architecture with specialized components: memory, processors, and interfaces Scaling challenges requiring interconnects between different quantum devices System-level thinking about quantum computer architecture Application-Specific Error Correction Tailoring error correction schemes for specific algorithms and applications Co

🎙️ Welcome back to another episode of Revise and Resubmit ! English Podcast starts at 00:00:12 Bengali Podcast starts at 00:12:12 This is your special weekend segment — Weekend Classics — where the past meets the present, and forgotten gems of academia are dusted off, reimagined, and celebrated. 🕰️📚 Today’s episode is unlike any other. Because today, we aren't just flipping through any old book. We’re stepping into the mind of a man who saw atoms dance, who saw computers as playgrounds of thought — yes, we’re talking about none other than Richard P. Feynman — the Nobel Laureate, the maverick professor, the ultimate explainer of the universe. 🧠💡 And the book? It’s the Anniversary Edition of “Feynman Lectures on Computation” , posthumously authored by Feynman, and edited with brilliance by Tony Hey — a man whose life reads like the roadmap of modern scientific computing. From Caltech to CERN, from MPI standards to Microsoft research, from quantum whispers to big data storms — Tony Hey has been at the heart of it all. 👨‍💻🔬🌐 This edition, published by CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group , on 18 May 2023 , isn’t just a reprint. It’s a resurrection of the 1996 original edition. With new chapters by John Preskill on the evolution of quantum computing, 🔋 John Shalf on the future beyond Moore’s Law, 🧠 and Eric Mjolsness on Feynman’s early musings about AI and neural nets — this book feels less like a static text and more like a time machine, carrying Feynman’s playful genius right into the dilemmas and dreams of today’s computer science. But here’s the question… 🤔 How did a man known for making quarks understandable to freshmen become one of the earliest thinkers to imagine a quantum computer — before most of us had even heard the word “bit”? ✨Stay tuned as we dive deep, think hard, laugh a little, and reflect on how much Feynman still has to teach us — not just about computing, but about curiosity itself. 🙏 Special thanks to the Editor, Tony Hey , and the publisher, CRC Press , for making this anniversary edition a gift to the world of thinkers and tinkerers. 🎧 Love what you hear? Don’t forget to subscribe to “Revise and Resubmit” on Spotify , and follow our YouTube channel “Weekend Researcher” 🎥 for more deep dives into timeless academic treasures. We’re also available on Amazon Prime and Apple Podcast — because good ideas should be easy to find, wherever you like to listen. 🔊📱💻 So buckle up… because this weekend, we’re not just revisiting a lecture — We’re unlocking the mind of Feynman. Reference Hey, T. (2023). Feynman Lectures on Computation. In CRC Press eBooks. Informa. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003358817 Caltech PMA. (2023, June 22). Feynman and Computation - Tony Hey. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8fUz5iNw6g TEDx Talks. (2011, March 4). TEDxCaltech - Tony Hey - Feynman and Computation. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9miKIWIYi4w Youtube channel link https://www.youtube.com/@weekendresearcher Support us on Patreon https://patreon.com/weekendresearcher

In this episode of The New Quantum Era podcast, your host Sebastian Hassinger interviews two of the field's most well-known figures, John Preskill and Rob Schoelkopf, about the transition of quantum computing into a new phase that John is calling "megaquop," which stands for "a million quantum operations." Our conversation delves into what this new phase entails, the challenges and opportunities it presents, and the innovative approaches being explored to make quantum computing perform better and become more useful. This episode was made with the kind support of the American Physical Society and Quantum Circuits, Inc. Here’s what you can expect from this insightful discussion: Introduction of the Megaquop Era : John explains the transition from the NISQ era to the megaquop era, emphasizing the need for quantum error correction and the goal of achieving computations with around a million operations. Quantum Error Correction : Both John and Rob discuss the importance of quantum error correction, the challenges involved, and the innovative approaches being taken, such as dual rail and cat qubits. Superconducting Qubits and Dual Rail Approach : Rob shares insights into Quantum Circuits' work on dual rail superconducting qubits, which aim to make error correction more efficient by detecting erasure errors. Scientific and Practical Implications : The conversation touches on the scientific value of current quantum devices and the potential applications and discoveries that could emerge from the megaquop era. Future Directions and Challenges : The discussion also covers the future of quantum computing, including the need for better connectivity and the challenges of scaling up quantum devices. Mentioned in this Episode: Beyond NISQ: The Megaquop Machine : John Preskill's paper adapting his keynote from Q2B Silicon Valley 2024 Quantum Circuits, Inc. : Rob's company, which is working on dual rail superconducting qubits.