Big Ideas Lab podcast enters the quantum realm

Imagine a particle that slips through a wall like a ghost. Now imagine two particles, separated by vast distances yet somehow linked, instantly influencing each other's states. A story with two endings, both true, until turning the final page. A universe where simply looking changes what’s real.

These are not thought experiments. This is quantum physics. And for decades, it’s been the realm of blackboards, chalk dust and brain-melting paradoxes.

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) are working to tame this weirdness and beginning to turn quantum phenomena into tools and computers. In the current episode of the Big Ideas Lab, dive into the strange new frontier where physics meets information, and reality gets rewritten — qubit by qubit. Listen on Apple and Spotify.

A quantum computer is a computer that takes advantage of quantum mechanics to explore possible outcomes faster than a normal “classical” computer.

“In classical computing, we have zeros and ones,” said Yaniv Rosen, group leader for the Quantum Coherent Device Physics Group at LLNL. “In quantum computing, we can have zero and one at the same time.”

In classical computing, information is stored as bits: tiny switches that are either on or off, ones or zeros. But a quantum bit can be on, off or both at once through a concept called superposition. These “qubits” unlock whole new dimensions of possibility.

“Quantum computers rely on using something that we don't see in the world that we inhabit. It's these quantum mechanical phenomena that empower our ability to do something differently in computation than we would be able to do in a classical computer,” said Kristi Beck, the director of the Livermore Center for Quantum Science. “What this ends up meaning is that, in the middle of a computation, we can effectively explore more of the possibilities and the possible outcomes than we can in a classical computation.”

LLNL researchers work with universities, other labs and industry partners to help develop and improve quantum systems across the board — driving discoveries that others can build on. Some of this work is done with the Quantum Design and Integration Testbed (QDIT), which provides a hands-on platform for scientists to explore how quantum systems behave.

But while the potential applications for quantum computing range from national security to medicine, the quantum realm itself still resists easy understanding.

“There is a lot of hype out there surrounding quantum computing,” said Rosen. “Quantum computers are still physics experiments. We're making exponential progress on their development. We're making real progress, but we do have to be a little patient.”

Tune into the “Big Ideas Lab” to learn more about LLNL’s work in the quantum realm and where it might lead. Listen on Apple or Spotify.