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Into the Impossible With Brian Keating

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

Into the Impossible With Brian Keating

Brian Keating

Science, Physics, Natural Sciences

4.71.1K Ratings

🗓️ 25 April 2022

⏱️ 66 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

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. Please Visit our Sponsors: LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/impossible to post a job for FREE Athletic Greens, makers of AG1 which I take every day. Get an exclusive offer when you visit https://athleticgreens.com/impossible AG1 is made from the highest quality ingredients, in accordance with the strictest standards and obsessively improved based on the latest science. A production of http://imagination.ucsd.edu/ Support the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/drbriankeating Search for The Jordan Harbinger Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you listen to podcasts, or go to jordanharbinger.com/subscribe 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/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Quantum mechanics and thermodynamics are separated by decades of experience and

0:10.2

knowledge about our universe and yet they are intimately related.

0:15.0

In this fascinating new book called Quantum Steam Punk by Dr.

0:19.6

Nicole Younger Halford, we go on a journey through the deepest annals of thermodynamics to the most

0:27.2

cutting edge knowledge that we have about quantum mechanics. She's a delight to talk to. We talked about Maxwell's demon. Ooh, so scary.

0:36.0

Talk about the irreducible quantities and qualities of quantum mechanics and thermodynamics and how they can be melded together.

0:43.0

Of course I ask her my thrilling three patented questions at the very end you'll want to

0:46.8

stay tuned for that.

0:48.8

And if you take nothing else away from this you will get a delightful journey to the Victorian age, sort of a

0:56.9

throwback to burning man in a thermodynamic sense of course.

1:01.2

So come along on this journey into the impossible with Dr.

1:04.4

Nicole Younger Halper. Let's go.

1:07.2

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

1:16.0

Open the pod bay doors, please, hell.

1:20.0

And ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages step right up for a steampunk adventure.

1:25.0

Today's episode is with the incomparable Nicole Younger Halpern,

1:30.0

who was referred to me by a mutual friend, Professor Stephan Alexander, my oldest

1:36.2

best friend from Brown University, and he just sent me a cryptic email intro to

1:41.4

today's guest and he said you have to meet her and you have to

1:45.2

have her on your show. Now whatever he says I do except for try some Jamaican

1:50.0

jerk chicken recipe or Trinadadian try tip that once caught my mouth on fire at a

1:56.2

Trinidadian restaurant in Boston. We're not going to talk about that. We're going to talk about

...

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