Category Archives: Physics

To cheer you up in difficult times 23: the original hand-written slides of Terry Tao’s 2015 Einstein Lecture in Jerusalem

Posted on May 14, 2021 by Gil Kalai

In 2015 Terry Tao gave the Einstein lecture of the Israeli Academy for Science and Humanities. We got hold of the original signed hand-written slides of Terry’s lecture and we are happy to share them with you. The title of … Continue reading →

Posted in Analysis, Applied mathematics, Computer Science and Optimization, Physics, What is Mathematics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Amazing: Feng Pan and Pan Zhang Announced a Way to “Spoof” (Classically Simulate) the Google’s Quantum Supremacy Circuit!

Posted on March 10, 2021 by Gil Kalai

Feng Pan and Pan Zhang uploaded a new paper on the arXive  “Simulating the Sycamore supremacy circuits.” with an amazing announcement. Abstract: We propose a general tensor network method for simulating quantum circuits. The method is massively more efficient in … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Science and Optimization, Physics, Quantum | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The Argument Against Quantum Computers – A Very Short Introduction

Posted on December 29, 2020 by Gil Kalai

Left: Gowers’s book Mathematics a very short introduction. Right C. elegans; Boson Sampling can be seen as the C. elegans of quantum computing. (See, this paper.) Update (January 6, 2021): Tomorrow January, 7, 8:30 AM Israel time, I give a … Continue reading →

Posted in Combinatorics, Computer Science and Optimization, Physics, Probability, Quantum | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Photonic Huge Quantum Advantage ???

Posted on December 6, 2020 by Gil Kalai

This is a quick and preliminary post about a very recent announcement in a Science Magazine paper: Quantum computational advantage using photons by a group of researchers leaded by Jianwei Pan and Chao-Yang Lu. (Most of the researchers are from … Continue reading →

Posted in Combinatorics, Physics, Probability, Quantum | Tagged , | 12 Comments

To cheer you up in difficult times 11: Immortal Songs by Sabine Hossenfelder and by Tom Lehrer

Posted on August 29, 2020 by Gil Kalai

Enjoy! To cheer you up in difficult times here are songs by Sabine Hossenfelder and by Tom Lehrer. I like the music and lyrics and the unusual combination of science, humor and satire. Sabine Hossenfelder : Outer space* Tom Lehrer: … Continue reading →

Posted in Music, Physics, Poetry, What is Mathematics, Women in science | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Amazing: Zhengfeng Ji, Anand Natarajan, Thomas Vidick, John Wright, and Henry Yuen proved that MIP* = RE and thus disproved Connes 1976 Embedding Conjecture, and provided a negative answer to Tsirelson’s problem.

Posted on January 17, 2020 by Gil Kalai

A few days ago an historic 160-page paper with a very short title MIP*=RE was uploaded to the arXive by Zhengfeng Ji, Anand Natarajan, Thomas Vidick, John Wright, and Henry Yuen.  I am thankful to Dorit Aharonov and Alon Rosen … Continue reading →

Posted in Algebra, Analysis, Combinatorics, Computer Science and Optimization, Physics, Quantum | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments

Gil’s Collegial Quantum Supremacy Skepticism FAQ

Posted on November 13, 2019 by Gil Kalai

The first 15 samples of Google’s  53 qubit  flagship quantum supremacy experiment!   After the sensationally successful Scott’s Supreme Quantum Superiority FAQ and Boaz’s inferior classical inferiority FAQ let me add my contribution, explaining my current skeptical view. (I was actually … Continue reading →

Posted in Combinatorics, Physics, Quantum | Tagged | 23 Comments

Starting today: Kazhdan Sunday seminar: “Computation, quantumness, symplectic geometry, and information”

Posted on October 27, 2019 by Gil Kalai

Sunday, 27 October, 2019 – 14:00 to 16:00 Repeats every week every Sunday until Sat Feb 01 2020 Location: Ross 70 See also: Seminar announcement; previous post Symplectic Geometry, Quantization, and Quantum Noise. The Google supremacy claims are discussed (with … Continue reading →

Posted in Combinatorics, Computer Science and Optimization, Geometry, Physics, Teaching | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Argument against Quantum Computers – a CERN Colloquium and a New Paper

Posted on August 21, 2019 by Gil Kalai

Let me announce my CERN colloquium this Thursday, August 22, 2019, 16:30-17:30 entitled “The argument against quantum computers.” If you are at CERN or the neighborhood, please please come to the lecture. (Tea and coffee will be served at 16:00. … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Science and Optimization, Physics, Quantum | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Conference in Singapore, Vietnam, Appeasement, Restorative Justice, Laws of History, and Neutrinos

Posted on June 10, 2018 by Gil Kalai

Eliezer Rabinovici Some weeks ago I returned from a beautiful trip to Singapore and Vietnam. For both me and my wife this was the first trip to these very interesting countries. In Singapore I took part in a very unusual … Continue reading →

Posted in Combinatorics, Conferences, Physics, Updates | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment