Three talks (maybe four) coming up in the next few weeks have me attached at the hip to Microsoft Powerpoint. First up is the SQuInT conference in Tuscon Arizona where I will be talking Friday, Feb. 18 about my work with Andrew Childs and Wim van Dam on the optimal measurements for the dihedral hidden subgroup problem. Then it’s off to Washington State where I will be giving a Physics colloqium on Tuesday, Feb. 22. The title of this talk is “Quantum Computing in 2020.” Which led me to a very nice quote by Niels Bohr: “Predicition is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future.” After WSU, I’m off to Seattle where I will be giving a Computer Science and Engineering colloqium at the University of Washington on Thursday Feb. 24. The title of this talk is “How and What to Quantum Compute” and I have (ack!) boldly promised that I
…will draw insights from the vast knowledge base of theoretical and experimental physics, mathematics, engineering, and computer science. The talk will be accessible to practitioners from all of these fields and represents not just an opportunity to see the different fields interact, but also an invitation to participate in the intellectual and practical challenges of quantum information science.
This colloqium will probably be taped and put online in streaming format which I’m really looking forward to. Once I was taped teaching a section of an undergrad physics course at Berkeley. It was very informative to see all the places I was messing up and at least for the next few weeks I think I was a much better teacher. Ak, OK, enough distraction from the blog. Back to my best friend Powerpoint.