Alumni

Thursday, November 4, 2010 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm EDT (GMT -04:00)

Seth Lloyd: Sending a photon backwards in time

Seth Lloyd, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Ever since Einstein, physicists have argued about whether time travel is consistent with the laws of physics, and, if so, how it might be accomplished. This talk presents a new theory of time travel based on quantum teleportation. Unlike previous theories, the theory can be tested experimentally. I report on an experimental realization of the 'grandfather paradox': we send a photon a few billionths of a second backwards in time and have it try to 'kill' its previous self.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm EDT (GMT -04:00)

Nathan Wiebe: Quantum Computer Simulations of Time Dependent Hamiltonians

Nathan Wiebe, University of Calgary

We introduce an efficient quantum algorithm for simulating time-dependent Hamiltonian quantum dynamics on a quantum computer and accounts fully for all computational resources, especially the per-qubit oracle query cost, which has been previously regarded as constant cost per query regardless of the number of qubits accessed.

Monday, October 18, 2010 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm EDT (GMT -04:00)

Adrian Lupascu: Quantum superconducting circuits

Adrian Lupascu, Institute for Quantum Computing

Quantum superconducting circuits are nanostructured superconducting electrical networks with Josephson junctions. At low temperatures, their quantum dynamics is properly described by using a few degrees of freedom with a collective character. The parameters in the Hamiltonian depend on the dimensions and topology of the circuit; superconducting quantum circuits therefore behave as artificial atoms.