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Aephraim Steinberg
@quantumaephraim.bsky.social
960 followers 180 following 120 posts
Quantum physicist and generally curious human. (Physics prof, Univ Toronto; Director, CIFAR programme on Quantum Information Science; New Yorker / Parisian –in-absentia)
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Aephraim Steinberg @quantumaephraim.bsky.social · 8h
Put in mind of the Infinite Improbability Drive, as I listen to Bárbara Amaral explain over @cqiqc-uoft.bsky.social Quantum Tea how contextuality may power anomalous heat flow…
see journals.aps.org/prxquantum/a... for more on her actual work...

#Contextuality #QuantumThermodynamics
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Aephraim Steinberg @quantumaephraim.bsky.social · 1d
Happy day of Quantum, and congratulations to John Clarke, Michel Devoret, & John Martinis!

There's no stopping it now!

#NobelPrize #SuperconductingQubits #QuantumTunneling

nobelprize.org/prizes/physics…www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2025...df
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Aephraim Steinberg @quantumaephraim.bsky.social · 14d
Crazy milestone passed over (I think) in silence – as of last November or so, I have spent over half my life as a professor at the University of Toronto.

[Since as people my age understand, I firmly believe I'm in my early 30s, this implies that I became a professor at around 16.]
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Aephraim Steinberg @quantumaephraim.bsky.social · 14d
Thx, Sylvain -- I do not know and am now thrilled to take a look!
Excited, elated, chuffed, stoked, even!
[But off to prepare & give a lecture first...]
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Aephraim Steinberg @quantumaephraim.bsky.social · 14d
Looking forward to more great things from Josiah! You're lucky to have him.
On the British theme, I'm torn between "dreary" and "bleak."
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Aephraim Steinberg @quantumaephraim.bsky.social · 16d
^* – excuse the Briticism, but I'm running out of synonyms for "excited" in this context, and "thrilled" is too stereotypically LInkedIn/Twitter overhype–ish for my taste. (Our next experiment will be on measuring how long an atom spends in its chuffed state.)
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Aephraim Steinberg @quantumaephraim.bsky.social · 16d
Hopefully the exp't paper will follow its sibling into print shortly, once we remove all the objectionable stuff about what the results actually mean, and deliver "just the facts, ma'am," to mollify our referees, at the risk of putting our readers to sleep+teaching them nothing
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Aephraim Steinberg @quantumaephraim.bsky.social · 16d
Chuffed^* to announce our theory on how long an unabsorbed photon causes atoms to spend in the excited state is out: lnkd.in/gF--eQgV

It extends the dichotomy to a confounding "simple to state, but looks wrong; turns out to be right, but this is difficult to prove."
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Aephraim Steinberg @quantumaephraim.bsky.social · Sep 8
and
U of T Engineering
is seeking an Assistant Professor in #Photonics #QuantumTechnologies (jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-...)

Send us your best, your brightest, your yearning to do #QuantumInCanada!

Please reshare.
Assistant Professor- Photonics Quantum Technologies
Assistant Professor- Photonics Quantum Technologies
jobs.utoronto.ca
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Aephraim Steinberg @quantumaephraim.bsky.social · Sep 8
We are also seeking an Associate/Full Professor in #QuantumComputing, joint in
Physics and CS
(jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-... –– **closes 18 Sep**!);
Associate Professor/Professor - Quantum Computing
Associate Professor/Professor - Quantum Computing
jobs.utoronto.ca
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Aephraim Steinberg @quantumaephraim.bsky.social · Sep 8
In the Department of Physics, we
are seeking an Assistant Professor in theoretical #QuantumOptics (including AMO, applications to Quantum Information, et cetera – jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-... );
Assistant Professor - Theoretical Quantum Optics
Assistant Professor - Theoretical Quantum Optics
jobs.utoronto.ca
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Aephraim Steinberg @quantumaephraim.bsky.social · Sep 8
U of T is thrilled to celebrate the Year of Quantum by advertising three new faculty positions!

Please spread the word, encourage friends/mentees to apply, or consider applying yourself.

(Links in rest of thread)
#QuantumOptics #QuantumInformation #AMO
@cqiqc-uoft.bsky.social
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Aephraim Steinberg @quantumaephraim.bsky.social · Sep 6
Nominations for the 2026 #BellPrize are being accepted through September 30th, 2025 – please consider nominating the work from the past 6 yrs which you believe has done the most to advance #Quantum science.

Please RT.

(See cqiqc.physics.utoronto.ca/bell-prize/n... .)
@CQIQC_Toronto
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Aephraim Steinberg @quantumaephraim.bsky.social · Aug 28
But after a colossal vacuum failure, this experiment had been down for just over 12 mths, so seeing any cold atoms here at all is just like bringing 3 of my students (& a part of me) back from the dead.
Congratulations Kyle, Vida, & Andy on the fruit of a very frustrating year!
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Aephraim Steinberg @quantumaephraim.bsky.social · Aug 28
Lazaro Felice!
Seeing atoms floating in vacuum and glowing bright in the laser beams that suspend them there (while cooling them millions of times below room temp) should always be inspirational, even if it's now routine for AMO physicists & the MOT is nearing its 40th birthday.
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Aephraim Steinberg @quantumaephraim.bsky.social · Aug 13
Nominate the most innovative work on Fundamental Issues in Quantum Mechanics and their Applications for the 2026 John Stewart Bell Prize!

(Pls rebleep!)

See
cqiqc.physics.utoronto.ca/bell-prize/n...
Deadline 30 August 2025.

#QuantumInformation #FoundationsOfQM #BellPrize #QuantumPhysics
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Aephraim Steinberg @quantumaephraim.bsky.social · Jul 23
Heads-up: we'll be searching this Fall for a tenure-stream faculty member in Theoretical #QuantumOptics (#AMOPhysics #QuantumInformation)
at U of T Physics
@cqiqc-uoft.bsky.social

Official ad out next month – please alert potential strong candidates you may know!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3-5...
U2 - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by U2VEVO
www.youtube.com
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Aephraim Steinberg @quantumaephraim.bsky.social · Jul 2
(See also Alessandro Fedrizzi & Fabio Biancalana's N&V, www.nature.com/articles/d41... )
Tunnelling photons challenge interpretation of quantum mechanics
Measurements with confined photons challenge a prediction that particles that ‘quantum tunnel’ into infinitely long barriers will get stuck.
www.nature.com
Aephraim Steinberg @quantumaephraim.bsky.social · Jul 2
Super-fascinating new article out, on the speed of particles in a forbidden region.
For me, it raises more questions than it answers, which is of course my favorite kind of experiment.
Kudos to the authors for a novel approach and technical tour de force!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Energy–speed relationship of quantum particles challenges Bohmian mechanics - Nature
The study of the relationship between particle speed and negative kinetic energy, arising in regions in which, according to classical mechanics, particles are not allowed to enter, reveals behaviour t...
www.nature.com
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Aephraim Steinberg @quantumaephraim.bsky.social · Jul 1
Meanwhile, let's all keep trying to learn this lesson about understanding in what way every one is right (even when they're wrong).
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Aephraim Steinberg @quantumaephraim.bsky.social · Jul 1
Finally got around to reading this fascinating article by Amanda Gefter -- kudos on an epic investigation and a gripping story!

Sad but also inspiring.
Thanks for making his writings publicly available - I hope this will lead to new inspirations as well as to restoring his legacy.
Finding Peter Putnam
The forgotten janitor who discovered the logic of the mind
nautil.us
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Aephraim Steinberg @quantumaephraim.bsky.social · Jun 27
Disgusting
Weaponizing the justice department, and research funding, against what the US has left of intellectual institutions.
Against one of the real good guys, at that.
His crime?
Not dismantling efforts in support of equity vigorously enough.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/27/u...
University of Virginia President Resigns Under Pressure From Trump Administration
www.nytimes.com
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Aephraim Steinberg @quantumaephraim.bsky.social · Jun 22
Fearing yet more war;
hoping for peace.

May war-mongering leaders be removed, and innocents everywhere be safe. What else is worth saying?
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Aephraim Steinberg @quantumaephraim.bsky.social · Jun 21
RIP Ray Laflamme, gone too soon.

Ray was a stellar scientist, the founding director of ⁦‪the IQC‬⁩ and ⁦‪of CIFAR's‬⁩ Quantum Information program, but more importantly a warm & generous human who built community and helped many (particularly junior researchers).

May his memory be a blessing.
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Aephraim Steinberg @quantumaephraim.bsky.social · Jun 11
Krister Shalm in the news again, with a new paper on the Colorado Random Number beacon.

Well, we always did say that getting a paper into Nature was a roll of the dice...

Always exciting to see our group members go on to lead such creative & successful efforts!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Traceable random numbers from a non-local quantum advantage - Nature
A study demonstrates a public generator of random numbers based on device-independent techniques, with the randomness being fully auditable and traceable.
www.nature.com
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