HLF – Day 5

By in Conferences, HLF2017

The day started with Manuel Blum (https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Blum). Blum challenged the audience with a controversial question “Can a machine be conscious?”. He presented his current work where he is currently searching for a formal Turing Machine like model to understand the brain and consciousness. He also talked about of the challenges to do that and he showed that maybe we are not so far of achieving conscious machines. I personally loved his talk and despite of its controversies I think that he is thinking about the future, and I saw his passion in his work, and this is what can help in making him successful in that.

 

Efim Zelmanov (https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yefim_Zelmánov) a very know mathematician gave a talk about asymptotic group theory. His slides design was classified as a very mathematician ones. His talk was great but I had a hard time to follow…

 

 

In the rest of the day the talks were about quantum computing (hot topic), where experts from the area (non-laureates) were invited to talk. Five experts on the subject come to the stage to talk, but I missed women… There is no women that can give a talk on quantum computing?

 

Scott Aaronson (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Aaronson ) started talking about quantum supremacy (a bad name nowadays). He gave us a very good idea of the concept of quantum supremacy that can be summarized as the “goal of overturning the extended Church-Turing thesis” – that says that “all physical systems can be efficiently simulated by classical computers”. His movements showed us how much he is excited with his ideas.

Jay Gambetta (http://researcher.watson.ibm.com/researcher/view.php?person=us-jay.gambetta) presented what IBM is currently doing about quantum computing, he presented the IBM Q experience. He talked to the audience about the QISKit (Quantum Information Software Kit) that is available to everyone interested in researching and working with quantum computing.

Seth Lloyd (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seth_Lloyd) showed that quantum computing is near on our everyday lives and what impacts it could or can have.

 

John Martinis (http://web.physics.ucsb.edu/~martinisgroup/index.shtml) did a very good presentation about what Google is doing about quantum computing. He presented the work his group is doing about it. He presented the idea that a quantum computer with 49-qubit could demonstrate quantum supremacy and that they are working on it.

Chris Monroe (http://iontrap.umd.edu) presented quantum computing in one level below, he presented the atoms and standards needed for quantum computing. And he also presented the not so glorious quantum computing labs right now, but as he said, “we are working on that.”

In the afternoon, we went to the Speyer Museum of Technology and amazing place where we were able to visit a sub, helicopters, planes, boats and the top point, to have dinner seeing one of the spatial shuttles. It was an amazing night.

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