Happy Tax Day! Happier anniversary to me and Mrs. Pontiff!
arXiview: A New iPhone App for the arXiv
Over 9 months ago I decided to apply for teaching tenure track jobs. Then the economy took what can best be described as a massive, ill-aimed, swan dive. Thus creating an incredible amount of stress in my life. So what does a CS/physics research professor do when he’s stress? The answer to that question is available on the iTunes app store today: arXiview. What better way to take out stress and at the same time learn objective C and write an iPhone app that at least one person (yourself) will use?
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What Am I? I Choose Neither
Lately I’ve been giving a lot of thought to a question that I’m nearly constantly asked: “So…[long pause]…are you a physicist…[long pause]…or are you a computer scientist?” Like many theorists in quantum computing, a field perched between the two proud disciplines of physics and computer science (and spilling its largess across an even broader swath of fields), I struggle with answering this question. Only today, after a long and torturous half year (where by torture, I mean interviewing for jobs, not the eerily contemporaneous fall of the world’s finances) in which I have been daily contemplating what to do with my life, did it finally dawn on me that I actually know the answer to this question: I’m neither, damnit! Not both. Not one or the other. No, I’m neither a physicist nor a computer scientist.
Warning! Extended, and I mean extended, wildly meandering story below. Probably only of interest to my mom. Proceed with caution, or, to get to the point, skip to the end!
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Musings From the Edge
Sundries.
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Off to the March Meeting I Go
Tonight I hop on a red-eye to Pittsburgh to attend the APS March meeting. 7000 physicists in Pittsburgh, now that’s a scary thought for poor Pittsburgh (punishment for winning the superbowl, I guess.)
A list of highlighted papers includes some fun ones:
11:15AM, Tuesday Session B15: “Walking on water: why your feet get wet” Michael Shelley , Jake Fontana , Peter Palffy-Muhoray
1:15PM, Wednesday Session Q15: “Statistical laws for career longevity” Alexander Petersen , Woo-Sung Jung , Jae-Suk Yang , H. Eugene Stanley
You Down With Symmetry? You Know Me
For those local to Seattle, I’m talking tomorrow in the Paul Allen center:
TIME: 1:30 — 2:30 pm, Tuesday, Feb 24, 2009
PLACE: CSE 503
SPEAKER: Dave Bacon, University of Washington
ABSTRACT:
Quantum computers can outperform their classical brethren at a variety of algorithmic tasks. Uncovering exactly when quantum computers can exponentially outperform classical computers is one of the central questions facing the theory of quantum algorithms today. In this talk I will argue that a key piece of this puzzle is the role played by symmetry in quantum algorithms. I will show how this point of view can be used to make progress in finding new quantum algorithms. This talk will assume no prior knowledge of quantum theory, but hopefully by the end of the talk you will have enough to begin to understand quantum algorithms.
Physics World Article
For subscribers to Physics World, an article I wrote The Race to Build a Quantum Computer has appeared in the February edition. Unfortunately unless you have a subscription you’ll have to pay to read the article…or better yet, pick up a copy of the magazine!
The World is Such a Wonderful Place
The view from my plane window this afternoon (thank you United Airlines for making me take this Delta Airlines flight):
Check out those lenticular clouds!
One of my fondest memories was on a trip with my father to the Sacramento in a small plane, and on the trip back falling asleep and waking up with spectacular Mt. Shasta right, and I mean right, outside the window.
Long Live Monkey
When dog meets plastic monkey:
Some Upcoming Talks
Some upcoming talks for those in Albuquerque or Ann Arbor (so many A’s!):
- Feb 5, 5pm, University of New Mexico Center for Advanced Studies Seminars: The Symmetry Conjecture
- Feb 6, 4:00 pm, University of New Mexico Physics and Astronomy Colloquium: The Race to Build a Quantum Computer
- Feb 9, 4pm, University of Michigan Seminar: The Race to Build a Quantum Computer.