Artificial Atoms on a Chip: The Road to Quantum Computation?

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Speaker(s): Ken Cooper

A quantum computer, if ever constructed, will be able to crack problems that would take a modern computer longer than the age of the universe to solve. While classical computers store information as bits – 1’s and 0’s – quantum computers rely on qubits,” which are quantum two-state systems capable of existing as a 1 and 0 simultaneously. One promising qubit technology is based on superconducting microchips. At temperatures near absolute zero, these devices possess discrete quantum energy levels much like atoms, but with radiative transitions at microwave rather than optical frequencies. I will discuss my research on superconducting qubits, focusing on how qubits interact with each other and with their noisy environment. These discoveries might someday help make quantum computers a reality.”

Colloquium

Junior and senior physics majors attend our biweekly colloquium series, held on Tuesday afternoons at 4:30 p.m. in Shanahan B460. The talks are open to all students and to the public, and are frequently attended by scientists from the other Claremont Colleges, Cal Poly Pomona, and others. The series features speakers from a broad range of institutions and fields of physics.