Visiting the Rambling Wreck from Georgia Tech! Just in time because it was freeeezing in Seattle (ice on the windshield…which means snow in the hills soon!)
Nov. 01, 2006 (Wednesday), 3pm
When Physics and Computer Science Collide!
Our world, at its very base, appears to be a cauldron of indeterminism. Not only does quantum theory tell us that we can at best predict the probabilities of different events, but every system in nature is an open system which interacts with its surroundings to produce uncertainties in the state of the system. How, then, in such an uncertain world, is it possible to produce machines which operate with virtual certainty? This question is at the heart of defining what is and what is not a computer. In this talk I will discuss how we approach this problem in the field of quantum computing through what is known as the theory of fault-tolerant quantum computing. This will take us on a broad tour of some of the most exciting ideas occuring where physics and computer science collide.