Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Steve Flammia @sflammia.bsky.social · 1d

Outstanding choices!

Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 1d

Interesting bit of sociology: They are really studiously avoiding any mention of quantum computing. First and only mention came in the last few words of the presentation by Johansson.

1 1 9

Reposted by Steve Flammia

Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 1d

Interesting bit of sociology: They are really studiously avoiding any mention of quantum computing. First and only mention came in the last few words of the presentation by Johansson.

5 7 36

Steve Flammia @sflammia.bsky.social · 2d

Charlie Bennett should win the Nobel prize in Physics this year.

4 1 11

Steve Flammia @sflammia.bsky.social · 17d

This would be an important breakthrough if it holds, but I'm skeptical on first glance. Large parts of this were clearly written by a generative AI. Doesn't mean it's wrong, but I suspect it's a "vibe theorem", i.e., not a theorem. I'll wait for Vidick, Regev, etc. to weigh in.

2 1 6

Steve Flammia @sflammia.bsky.social · 24d

Governments have been over-promised, but program managers aren’t naive. Forcing academics + ‘clueless’ industry partners (imperfectly) aligns theory with reality. It’s frustrating (for both sides!), but still positive-sum. IMO funding a mixture is strictly better than funding only fundamentals.

6

Steve Flammia @sflammia.bsky.social · Aug 21

I’m glad you caught that. :)

1

Steve Flammia @sflammia.bsky.social · Aug 21

That's Kurt Anyon, the Austrian–American physicist after which anyons are named. He's walking with Gustav Karl Persson, of GKP fame.

1 4

Steve Flammia @sflammia.bsky.social · Aug 20

Bad Policy: Subjecting PhD students and postdocs to 4-year visa limits, subject to immigration officials' review. This bureaucratic overregulation will reduce US competitiveness and weaken US science. There needs to be more awareness and discussion of this terrible idea
news.bgov.com/daily-labor-...

Foreign Student Status Duration Limits Clear White House Review

A Department of Homeland Security proposal to restrict the duration of foreign students’ tenure in the US has cleared White House review, the final step before its public release.

news.bgov.com

1 13

Reposted by Steve Flammia

John Preskill @preskill.bsky.social · Aug 17

The QEC25 conference hosted by @yaleqi.bsky.social was really excellent, and videos of all talks are available. So much recent progress on quantum error correction!
qec25.yalepages.org

QEC25

qec25.yalepages.org

1 8 28

Steve Flammia @sflammia.bsky.social · Aug 16

💯! There's even a word for that in German!

Screenshot of a post saying, "In German, the word "Schiedsrichtertrotzdank", means the simultaneous feeling of annoyance and gratitude you feel when a referee makes a valid point."

4

Reposted by Steve Flammia

Victor V. Albert @vva.bsky.social · Aug 13

"Every American taxpayer is a silent shareholder in that success. If we walk away now, we lose not just future breakthroughs but also what we have already earned." thehill.com/opinion/tech...

Congress wants to cut the smartest investment taxpayers ever made

Virtually every smartphone on the planet runs on a chip paid for by American taxpayers — a chip that I helped invent. Now Congress is moving to cut funding for the National Science Foundation that …

thehill.com

2 4

Steve Flammia @sflammia.bsky.social · Jul 30

thank in the acknowledgments.

1 3

Reposted by Steve Flammia

Nalini Joshi @monsoon0.bsky.social · Jul 20

Rodney Baxter, Australia’s celebrated mathematical physicist, the Baxter of Yang-Baxter equations, passed away yesterday 🥲 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_...

Rodney Baxter - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1 8

Reposted by Steve Flammia

Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · Jul 17

Both the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations have now passed funding for science agencies with moderate cuts and flat funding, respectively. Both bills are quite far from the president's budget request, which proposes massive cuts to science funding.

Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · Jul 10

The Senate Committee on Appropriations gave the first signs Congress will push back on Trump's proposed budget cuts to science and instead keep funding flat, though an unrelated issue (the location of the FBI headquarters) stalled any vote today.

@alexwitze.bsky.social and I report:

US senators poised to reject Trump’s proposed massive science cuts

Committee gives first hint that policymakers might preserve, rather than slash, funding for US National Science Foundation and other agencies.

www.nature.com

4 23 60

Steve Flammia @sflammia.bsky.social · Jul 8

This doesn’t even scratch the surface though. I predict ICE will get tasked with “monitoring election integrity” for the midterms.

Reposted by Steve Flammia

John Preskill @preskill.bsky.social · Jul 7

Andrew Houck, Director of the Co-Design Center for Quantum Advantage, makes an eloquent case for the value of the National Quantum Initiative Quantum Research Centers. Hey Congress, how's that reauthorization coming along?

The New Quantum Era @newquantumera.com · Jul 4

🎙️ Just published a new episode of The New Quantum Era: Quantum Co-design with Andrew Houck. Have a listen:

Quantum Co-design with Andrew Houck

In this episode, your host Sebastian Hassinger sits down with Andrew...

share.transistor.fm

2 11

Reposted by Steve Flammia

Barbara Terhal @bterhal.bsky.social · Jul 2

On July 17-18 a small symposium "Dreams of Quantum" will be held in honor of David DiVincenzo's work and retirement at RWTH Aachen. The event can be attended via Zoom by all. Information about the program of speakers & the Zoom link can be found at www.quantuminfo.physik.rwth-aachen.de/cms/~bmmwed

15 42

Reposted by Steve Flammia

John Preskill @preskill.bsky.social · Jun 21

Raymond Laflamme 1960-2025. A great scientist, renowned for his pioneering contributions to quantum error correction. A great leader, founding director of the Institute for Quantum Computing. A great colleague and teacher whose legacy continues to inspire us.
uwaterloo.ca/institute-fo...

IQC and Waterloo mourn the loss of Raymond Laflamme | Institute for Quantum Computing | University of Waterloo

Raymond Laflamme, a trailblazer in quantum information processing and pioneer of the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) at the University of Waterloo, died on June 19 after a lengthy battle with ca...

uwaterloo.ca

1 21 87

Reposted by Steve Flammia

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.

3 20 110

Steve Flammia @sflammia.bsky.social · Jun 20

I believe Vidick is in Lausanne, but still an awful blow to science. Glad no one was killed.

1 4

Reposted by Steve Flammia

Frank Verstraete @fverstraete.bsky.social · Jun 8

Happy to see our book "Why Nobody Understands Quantum Physics" published in English www.panmacmillan.com/authors/fran.... Unlike other popular science books, we explain quantum and its applications in the way working physicists use and understand them, without shying away from the many-body problem.

3 9 42

Reposted by Steve Flammia

Tom Hollenstein @tomhollenstein.bsky.social · Jun 5

My Canadian university, Queen's, is offering TWENTY 4-year funded PhDs (40k CAD/yr) for a student of ANY citizenship who has been accepted at a top 100 US university but have had offer rescinded OR are reconsidering offer due to US policy.
Details found here👇

www.queensu.ca/grad-postdoc...

Queen’s Special U.S. Doctoral Recruitment Initiative | School of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral AffairsDown arrowDown arrowDown arrowDown arrowDown arrowDown arrowDown arrowDown arrowDown arrowDown...

Queen’s University is a globally engaged, research-intensive institution dedicated to attracting and supporting exceptional PhD students who will significantly advance our research mission.

www.queensu.ca

19 1.4K 1.9K

Reposted by Steve Flammia

Michael Clemens @mclem.org · May 27

The US Administration has indefinitely blocked *all* student visa applicants from getting a visa interview.

Worldwide, unconditional, no end date. All.

International students are crucial to the US university system, American innovation, and future US prosperity.

Rubio Reportedly Pauses New International Student Visa Interviews

More than 1.1 million international students were enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities in the 2023-2024 school year.

www.forbes.com

2 530 910

Steve Flammia @sflammia.bsky.social · May 23

You just did!

Reposted by Steve Flammia

Ryan O'Donnell @booleananalysis.bsky.social · May 17

This!

I like to say,

"Let p|A denote distribution p conditioned on event A.

Imagine a world where the laws of probability are the same, except (p|A)|B need not equal (p|B)|A.

Except you don't have to imagine, because it's literally our world!

Now explore probabilistic algorithms in this world."

1 4 32