Quantum computing in the 21st Century – with David Jamieson

Join David Jamieson as he explores his work in quantum technology and looks at how we plan to build the first quantum machines.

Einstein's most revolutionary idea, the light quantum, led to the concept for a radical new type of computer. This computer would use the strange rules of quantum mechanics to process information encoded in quantum bits, otherwise known as qubits.

In this talk you will find out more about how these large-scale devices may be able to solve important problems that cannot be solved by classical machines. And about some of the formidable scientific and technical obstacles that would need to be overcome, through the use of unprecendented precision to manipulate and interrogate single atoms.

This lecture was filmed at the Ri on 5 July 2022.

00:00 Lecture outline
3:23 A retrospective of the computer age
11:29 The first quantum revolution
16:58 Demonstrating Einstein’s photoelectric effect
23:30 Discovery of the nucleus
27:41 Discovery of spin
35:28 ‘There’s plenty of room at the bottom’
39:36 The start of a second quantum revolution
51:15 The spooky quantum state
54:17 Maintaining order in a large-scale device

David Jamieson is a Professor of Physics at the University of Melbourne. He has a PhD from Melbourne and held postdoctoral fellowships at Caltech (USA) and the University of Oxford (UK).

David has served terms as Head of School and President of the Australian Institute of Physics. His research expertise in the field of ion beam physics applied to test some of the key functions of a revolutionary quantum computer constructed in silicon in the ARC Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology.

In 2020 David received a Royal Society Wolfson Visiting Fellowship to work on new ideas for engineering silicon with single atoms. He is also a Fellow of both the Australian Institute of Physics and the Institute of Physics (UK).

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[louisesmalling]

Plain (non-math) person here, who loves the promise of physics. Your historical review and your comparison of classical to quantum behaviors helped me to almost completely understand your talk. I'm sure we all are not your target audience, but I surely appreciate it.

[luaiderar]

This guy was my first semester physics lecturer! Such an excellent professor, very engaging.

[alessandroscarciglia]

His enthusiasm for such an interesting - yet complex - subject is overwhelming.

[shanedavenport]

First lecture on anything quantum that was easy to follow and understand. Thank you so much. Time well spent.

[HakWilliams]

Amazing teacher. He's really taking his time to slowly introduce the meaning of "quantum " as it relates. He wisely decides not to explain all the other important aspects of quantum computing.

[normanshelley]

Thoroughly enjoyed this. One of the few lectures on this subject that held my attention all the way through. Thank you.

[SuperCarlo]

Thank you for an interesting and enlightening lecture delivered perfectly. All the very best of luck with your continued work in this field. We will all look forward to seeing this progress

[danielkanewske]

Fantastic and a welcome break from the all too often stop on the book promotion tour we have all come to expect from the RI lecture series.

[actsims]

The explanation of the nature of the duality of photons is quite remarkable and straightforward. It made me visualise the wave function collapse phenomenon like this: a widespread cloud makes a bolt of lightning hitting a single point randomly on the face of the earth. Still, when we use a lightning rod to detect it, the lightning bolt will be attracted to the very specified target. (here, it is downpouring heavy this week 😄). I am still pondering this idea.

[aussiebloke]

A lovely lecture - but the cherry on top for me was the tangential train station joke about spreading out. 👍 Good one, mate! 😁

[pianolabs]

One of the best explanations of quantum mechanics, thank you!

[kdog]

Great explanation and analogy of wave function collapse. A completely new perspective that is rather interesting!

[DiowE]

At 21:27, I recognised we have a man of great character, compassion & intelligence at our hands. I salute you Mr. David Jamieson. [DiowE]

[STali]

I love listening to the lectures of Professors of the Royal Society.

[jimsmind]

An excellent explanation of a very hard to explain topic!

[allynmoore]

The best lecture I have heard at the you tube collage. Giving the average man access to all interests. Wish I hade this resource when I was young.

[austenpowers]

Amazing. Thanks for posting. Where can we get tickets to a live lecture?

[dickinaround]

Lectures in the hall are 100x better than the zoom calls!

[Xpandale]

One of the best lectures I have ever seen

[LorienGL]

Enjoyed this with a glass of wine, great "lecture", made me understand many concepts of quantum phisics that i cudn't grasp before. And of course, was a beautiful introduction onto how quantum computers are made, genious! Keep it up cuz!