Perfect Broccoli & Quantum Thermometers ft. George Mihailescu
In this episode
- How George moved from a physics with biomedical sciences degree to a PhD in quantum technologies at University College Dublin
- What a quantum battery is, and why one won’t be in your phone any time soon
- Why an Irish startup wants to build quantum computers on CMOS, the chip technology already inside phones and laptops
- How quantum computing could speed up training AI models such as ChatGPT
- His first PhD project: using a quantum system as a thermometer for quantum samples such as graphene and metals, and why precise temperatures matter for quantum devices
- His three wishes: more time, PhD stipends you can live on in Ireland, and a better laptop keyboard
Key Takeaways
- A quantum system used as a temperature probe gives the most precise measurement physically possible, which matters because quantum devices only work in a narrow temperature window and thermal fluctuations destroy the quantum states they rely on.
- His first PhD result: this quantum thermometry gives a robust, well-defined response across very different samples (graphene, twisted bilayer graphene, metals), even though correlations and entanglement build up between probe and sample.
- Equal1’s bet: CMOS is cheap, ubiquitous and scalable, so even if its qubits are noisier and more error-prone than other platforms, having far more of them (and possibly running warmer) could compensate.
- Quantum batteries store energy in a quantum system’s energy levels/coherences; the models map to real systems but it’s unclear any exist in a lab, and heat or a drop would spoil the state, so not in your phone.
- Link to AI: a quantum speed-up in accessing huge datasets or training models could make better models arrive sooner. Space wouldn’t obviously help, fewer thermal fluctuations but other radiation, and a lab is more controllable.
- On the profession: Irish PhD stipends fall below cost of living although PhDs work more than 9-to-5, carry teaching load off professors, and raise the university’s status.
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About the guest
George Mihailescu is a PhD Researcher at University College Dublin in Ireland, studying miniaturised technologies and how to control them for sensing and computation. His first PhD project uses an impurity or qubit as a thermometer for quantum environments, where temperature fluctuations can destroy fragile quantum states. He holds a Bachelor’s in Physics and Biomedical Sciences and a Master’s in Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics from UCD.
George Mihailescu curated the Real Scientists Nano Twitter account (@RealSci_Nano) from March 19 to March 27 2023. Read all of George’s tweets from that week.
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