My musings on physics and technologies

In the world of quantum physics, where the rules of reality seem to bend, scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory have achieved a significant breakthrough. They've managed to create a continuous stream of circularly polarized single photons—particles of light—that hold immense potential for revolutionizing quantum information and communication technologies. This feat is made even more remarkable by the fact that it doesn't require the application of an external magnetic field or complex nanoscale structures. Let's dive into this exciting discovery and understand its implications. Unveiling Quantum Light Emitters Imagine being able to generate particles of light that are not only single and steady but also possess a specific spin, known as circular polarization. This is precisely what the researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have accomplished—a milestone that could propel quantum cryptography and communication into new dimensions. Typically, achieving circularl...

In the previous blogs we discussed the death of various sized stars and concluded that the death of massive stars results in the birth of two of the most extreme bodies in our universe -  neutron stars and black holes . We concluded with the discussion of neutron stars in the previous blog and today we will discuss the most extreme body in our universe - the black hole... You may remember that the death of supermassive stars can result in the formation of either neutron stars or black holes.  An illustration of a neutron star When   s tars  four to eight times as massive as the sun explode in a violent supernova, their outer layers can blow off in an often-spectacular display, leaving behind a small, dense core that continues to collapse. Gravity presses the material in on itself so tightly that protons and electrons combine to make neutrons forming a neutron star. An artist's illustration of a supernova What happens after the explosion depends on the mass of th...

In a world where computers crunch numbers at lightning speed and provide instant recall of trivia, it's easy to overlook the marvel of the human brain. Our brains process intricate information seamlessly, distinguishing faces and comprehending complex scenes effortlessly. But what if we could infuse computers with brain-like efficiency while minimizing energy consumption? The groundbreaking research by the Quantum Materials for Energy Efficient Neuromorphic Computing (Q-MEEN-C) consortium, spearheaded by the University of California San Diego, is unlocking this extraordinary potential. source : UCSD today Unraveling the Brain's Secrets with Quantum Materials Powered by a vision of computers that mimic the remarkable prowess of our brains, the Q-MEEN-C consortium is at the forefront of a technological revolution. Their journey began by exploring non-local interactions within quantum materials—a phenomenon where actions in one part of a system impact distant regions. This behavio...

Deep learning has emerged as a powerful subset of machine learning, revolutionizing various industries with its ability to process complex data and uncover hidden patterns. In this blog, we will delve into the technical aspects of deep learning and shed light on how it works. Deep learning is based on artificial neural networks, particularly deep neural networks, which are inspired by the structure and functioning of the human brain. These networks consist of interconnected nodes, called neurons, organized in multiple layers. The layers are typically classified as input, hidden, and output layers. The process of deep learning begins with training the neural network using a large dataset. During the training phase, the network learns to recognize complex patterns by adjusting the weights and biases associated with each neuron. This adjustment is performed through a process called backpropagation, where the network iteratively updates the parameters based on the error between predicted a...

 Artificial Intelligence has been the talk of the town for a couple of years now. Everyone has a basic understanding of AI- it's the ability of a computer to actually think for itself. But how does this work? What is the technology behind this? How does this affect the future as well as the present? A I is the ability of machines to think, learn and perform tasks that would otherwise require human intervention. In simple terms, it is the intelligence exhibited by machines. AI allows machines to learn from past experiences, and lets machines perform tasks that are associated with human cognitive functions such as visual recognition, speech recognition, emotion perception and many others. As you may expect, the technology behind AI is complex- and involves several fields such as computer science, mathematics and neuroscience. Some terms commonly associated with AI are machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL). While there is obviously a connection between these three, they are fun...

 The Quantum world is one of many mysteries. This world is governed by laws that don't seem to make any sense, but are proved to be true. What does quantum mean? And how is this connected to computing?  A close-up view of an IBM quantum computer. Source - Cnet.com Let's talk about each of these words individually first. Quantum, in layman's terms, means small. The mechanism or working of this subatomic world is governed by the rules of quantum mechanics. Let's understand some principles of quantum mechanics before talking about quantum computing. The quantum mechanical model of the atom, was the result of two important scientific advancements- Heisenberg's Uncertainty principle , and the dual behavior of matter proposed by de Broglie. To briefly explain these- de Broglie stated that every particle had wave nature, just as waves- like visible light- showed particle behavior. This dual behavior is particularly seen in smaller particles like electrons, and is negligib...

In the previous blog we discussed the death of various sized stars and concluded that the death of massive stars results in the birth of two of the most extreme bodies in our universe - neutron stars and black holes . Today we'll talk about neutron stars . Neutron star The death of massive stars (also called supernova) could make either black holes or neutron stars. When  s tars  four to eight times as massive as the sun explode in a violent supernova, their outer layers can blow off in an often-spectacular display, leaving behind a small, dense core that continues to collapse. Gravity presses the material in on itself so tightly that protons and electrons combine to make neutrons, yielding the name "neutron star." During the supernova, when the star implodes, particles like protons and electrons in the core, which really don't want to be close to each other, are forced to get close due to the mass of the star on top of it. These particles eventually fuse to become ne...