prof. Matthias Kaminski (University of Alabama, USA)
Quantum Dynamics far from Equilibrium
A quantum computer stores information in a large number of interacting quantum bits, qubits. These qubits need to be written and read fast enough, because they come with an "expiration date". This is caused by a quantum mechanical effect called "decoherence" which destroys the desired "quantum entanglement". This constitutes a fundamental open problem, namely to understand and control the dynamics of rapidly changing quantum many body systems, i.e. systems far away from being in equilibrium. Remarkably, we can experimentally generate such states of matter in heavy-ion-collisions for example at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, at the Large Hadron Collider, CERN, Geneva, Switzerland, and soon at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR), GSI, Darmstadt, Germany. The underlying physical concepts are the same, although, of course, the energy range, temperature and many other parameters are vastly different. Focusing on the common features of these two distinct systems will lead us to the discovery of the essential fundamental concepts that govern quantum dynamics far from equilibrium. This constitutes a powerful fundamentally novel approach to problems in quantum computing, leveraging the wealth of knowledge, methods and experiments from particle physics.