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Nicole Yunger Halpern @nicoleyh11.bsky.social · 2d

Our measuring devices report on quantities different from the quantities we actually want to learn about. Mapping the reported-on quantities to the desired quantities requires “cool physics.” –Amir Yacoby presenting the UMD physics colloquium

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Nicole Yunger Halpern @nicoleyh11.bsky.social · 3d

Happy physics Nobel Prize to all my superconducting-qubit friends!

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Nicole Yunger Halpern @nicoleyh11.bsky.social · 9d

About a decade ago, I was presenting about majorization at the University of Maryland as a PhD student. Now, a PhD student of mine is. arxiv.org/abs/2507.22986 @umdscience.bsky.social

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Nicole Yunger Halpern @nicoleyh11.bsky.social · 10d

Grateful to belong to this cohort. When the QuICS Fellows hold a retreat, one can expect ideas mentioned there to reverberate across the globe over the next few years… @umdscience.bsky.social

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Nicole Yunger Halpern @nicoleyh11.bsky.social · 15d

Most quantum information scientists detest the noise that erodes the performance of quantum computers. QuICS postdoctoral fellow Yuxin Wang sees the glass as half-full: noise is a fascinating subject to study. From this week's JQI Seminar.

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Nicole Yunger Halpern @nicoleyh11.bsky.social · 18d

The world needs more of the creativity, humor, and warmth of Diana Wynne Jones’s novels. quantumfrontiers.com/2025/09/21/b...

Blending science with fiction in Baltimore

I judge a bookstore by the number of Diana Wynne Jones novels it stocks. The late British author wrote some of the twentieth century’s most widely lauded science-fiction and fantasy (SFF). She clin…

quantumfrontiers.com

Reposted by Nicole Yunger Halpern

Emily Conover @econover.bsky.social · 23d

I had fun speaking today at the Quantum World Congress panel on Demystifying Quantum: How to Communicate Cutting Edge Science to Diverse Audiences. Alongside the fantastic moderator @csrday.bsky.social and esteemed panelists @nicoleyh11.bsky.social and Ben Stein #QWC2025

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Nicole Yunger Halpern @nicoleyh11.bsky.social · 23d

Until today, I've managed to stick to scientific quantum conferences. Seeing so many suits at a quantum gathering is bizarre. #qwc2025

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Nicole Yunger Halpern @nicoleyh11.bsky.social · 25d

Summer REU students investigating Captain Okoli's Magnificent Steampunk Quantum Engine. (Mine's the one in the back, on the right.) @umdscience.bsky.social

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Nicole Yunger Halpern @nicoleyh11.bsky.social · Sep 10

At how small a problem size does a(n otherwise promising-looking) quantum optimization algorithm (that's been shown to offer an asymptotic speedup) begin outperforming its classical competitor?

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Nicole Yunger Halpern @nicoleyh11.bsky.social · Sep 10

David Gross (at an excellent QuICS Seminar): “I don’t know if you’ve realized it, but there’s quite a lot of hype about quantum computation.”

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Nicole Yunger Halpern @nicoleyh11.bsky.social · Sep 9

How many miles to Babylon? You'll get there sometime after ten...

Nicole Yunger Halpern @nicoleyh11.bsky.social · Aug 27

Feynman was an impressive thinker. Just, I'm saddened by how many people let the one-liner "Nobody understands quantum mechanics" limit their, and humanity's, horizons. @conorfeehly.bsky.social

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Reposted by Nicole Yunger Halpern

John Preskill @preskill.bsky.social · Aug 18

Useful advice from @nicoleyh11.bsky.social.

quantumfrontiers.com/2025/08/10/n...

Nicole’s guide to writing research statements

Sunflowers are blooming, stores are trumpeting back-to-school sales, and professors are scrambling to chart out the courses they planned to develop in July. If you’re applying for an academic job t…

quantumfrontiers.com

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Nicole Yunger Halpern @nicoleyh11.bsky.social · Aug 12

Applying for a postdoc or faculty position this fall? This blog post relates my advice about how to write a research statement. quantumfrontiers.com/2025/08/10/n...

Nicole’s guide to writing research statements

Sunflowers are blooming, stores are trumpeting back-to-school sales, and professors are scrambling to chart out the courses they planned to develop in July. If you’re applying for an academic job t…

quantumfrontiers.com

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Nicole Yunger Halpern @nicoleyh11.bsky.social · Aug 6

The term "quantum steampunk" is appearing in the wild. 😄 @physicsworld.bsky.social physicsworld.com/a/quantum-th...

Quantum thermochemical engine could achieve high power with near-maximum efficiency – Physics World

Otto engine design uses Bose gas as a working fluid and exchanges particles as well as heat with reservoirs

physicsworld.com

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Nicole Yunger Halpern @nicoleyh11.bsky.social · Aug 4

"...leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay."
...but at least Quantum Steampunk has made it to a second printing. 🌞 @JHUPress

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Nicole Yunger Halpern @nicoleyh11.bsky.social · Jul 28

"I can hear his French-Canadian accent in my memory, but not without hearing him smile at the ends of most sentences." A blog post for Ray Laflamme. @quantumiqc.bsky.social @perimeterinstitute.ca @majidy.bsky.social quantumfrontiers.com/2025/07/27/l...

Little ray of sunshine

A common saying goes, you should never meet your heroes, because they’ll disappoint you. But you shouldn’t trust every common saying; some heroes impress you more, the better you know them. Ray Laf…

quantumfrontiers.com

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Nicole Yunger Halpern @nicoleyh11.bsky.social · Jul 24

Loads of research groups across the world have been studying the Mpemba effect, according to which ice cream freezes more quickly if the mixture begins hot than if it begins cold. But how many groups have a student who *makes* ice cream? 🍦😋🍧

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Nicole Yunger Halpern @nicoleyh11.bsky.social · Jul 20

With local applied physicist @uffizi

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Nicole Yunger Halpern @nicoleyh11.bsky.social · Jul 19

For all my friends who took AP English Literature. @uffizi

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Nicole Yunger Halpern @nicoleyh11.bsky.social · Jul 18

Claude Shannon “must have been an alien from another planet or a time traveler, because no human being could have achieved all that he did.”
–At-least-approximate quote from David Wolpert @StatPhys29

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Nicole Yunger Halpern @nicoleyh11.bsky.social · Jul 16

Mehran Kardar: “Let’s be very statistical-physics-y and introduce an order parameter m.” Indeed, one can't get much more statistical-physics-y than that.

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Nicole Yunger Halpern @nicoleyh11.bsky.social · Jul 15

Whimsically, the plots on my collaborator's slide resemble the marble strewn across Florence, where he was presenting. @StatPhys29

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Nicole Yunger Halpern @nicoleyh11.bsky.social · Jul 14

Michele Campisi @StatPhys29: To prepare many qubits with high fidelity, use collective behaviors, such as spontaneous symmetry breaking.

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