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<div class="moz-text-html" lang="x-western"> <tt>Dear
all, </tt><br>
<br>
<tt>welcome to this week's colloquium.<br>
(even those of you stressing about the Academy
deadline, if you haven't submitted yet: take a
break, and relax your nerves at the colloquium!)
<br>
</tt><br>
<br>
<tt> TODAY 30 Sept, at 10:15 in FYS1
Speaker:**Sorin Paraoanu, Aalto University*** </tt>
<br>
<tt> Title: **</tt><strong></strong><tt>*</tt><strong></strong><tt> </tt><strong></strong><strong>Superconducting
circuits as a tool for exploring the foundations
of quantum physics</strong><tt> ****</tt> <small><small><small><small><tt><span
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</tt><tt><br>
Abstract:<br>
<br>
</tt>During the last decade, remarkable
developments in the technology of Josephson
junctions have enabled us to <br>
fabricate superconducting circuit elements that
behave like artificial atoms. The properties of
these atoms (called superconducting qubits) can
be - to a certain degree of extend - designed at
will. The qubits can also be coupled to each
other, which opens the possibility of simulating
many-body systems and performing quantum gates. <br>
<br>
In this talk I will depart however from presenting
the mainstream ideas of quantum computing. <br>
Instead, I will argue that the qubit technology
allows us to perform experiments that are relevant
for other fundamental aspects of quantum theory. I
will start by presenting some experimental and
theoretical results related to the so-called
Autler-Townes effect, showing that a
superconducting phase qubit can be operated as a
three-level system. Then I will show that -
contrary to what we might learn from some
textbooks - quantum measurements can be reversed,
and the qubit measurement technique provides for a
rather clear demonstration of this measurement
"undoing". This opens up the intriguing question
of wheather it is possible to extract information
from a single quantum system by a sequence of
measurements and reversals. The answer turns out
to be "no" - had it been a "yes", the 100-year old
"peaceful coexistence" between quantum physics and
relativity would be over. In the end, I will
discuss the prospects for using these systems for
testing cosmological effects such as Hawking
radiation. <br>
<tt><br>
<br>
</tt>
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Best regards,<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:
justify;">Kari Eskola and Ilari Maasilta </p>
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