May 24, 2015 09:44 PM
http://fqxi.org/community/articles/display/202
EXCERPT: Jonathan Oppenheim, a quantum physicist at University College London, in the UK, says we are standing on the brink of our third great technological revolution.
The eighteenth century saw the development of the steam engine and the industrial revolution, built on advances in thermodynamics—the science of heat and energy transfer. The twentieth century saw the discovery of new laws that govern the microscopic realm, quantum mechanics. That led to the invention of the transistor and, in turn, today’s digital revolution. But what further advances could we make if were able to combine both of these into one theory of "quantum thermodynamics"?
"The systems we are building are getting smaller and smaller," says Oppenheim. Nanoscale devices, biological motors and quantum computers are just some of the tiny technologies we are trying to perfect. How does thermodynamics work on this quantum level? Oppenheim has recently been awarded an FQXi grant of over $60,000 to investigate....
EXCERPT: Jonathan Oppenheim, a quantum physicist at University College London, in the UK, says we are standing on the brink of our third great technological revolution.
The eighteenth century saw the development of the steam engine and the industrial revolution, built on advances in thermodynamics—the science of heat and energy transfer. The twentieth century saw the discovery of new laws that govern the microscopic realm, quantum mechanics. That led to the invention of the transistor and, in turn, today’s digital revolution. But what further advances could we make if were able to combine both of these into one theory of "quantum thermodynamics"?
"The systems we are building are getting smaller and smaller," says Oppenheim. Nanoscale devices, biological motors and quantum computers are just some of the tiny technologies we are trying to perfect. How does thermodynamics work on this quantum level? Oppenheim has recently been awarded an FQXi grant of over $60,000 to investigate....