aspuru-list March 2013

aspuru-list@lists.fas.harvard.edu

35 participants
62 discussions

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] 3/20/2013 - Prof. Martin Plenio - HQOC/ITAMP Joint Quatnum Sciences Seminar

by Hamilton, Joan

HQOC/ITAMP Joint Quantum Sciences Seminar Wednesday | Mar. 20 | 4:00 pm Jefferson 250 Martin Plenio Alexander von Humboldt Professor, Theoretical Physics, University of Ulm " Controlling Resonances for Quantum Sensing and Quantum Biology" In this talk I will discuss the two seemingly different concepts of sensing with nanodiamonds and the electron and vibrational quantum dynamics in biological systems. I will show that both rely on the careful matching of resonances, known as the Hartmann-Hahn resonance condition in NMR and the phonon antennae in biological systems. I will discuss how in both cases optimization either technological or evolutionary may lead to considerable improvements of performance and discuss the potential relevance of these ideas in quantum biology. Student Presentation by Jacob Sanders, Graduate Student, Aspuru-Guzik Lab “Compressed Sensing for Molecular Spectroscopy” Student Presentation will begin at 4:00 PM Guest Presentation will begin at 4:30 PM Refreshments will be provided

11 years, 1 month

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] New addition to the "productive" A-G group

by Man-Hong Yung

Dear All, May I introduce to you Chiyu Yung, who was born at boston MGH on March 11, 2013. My wife picked a photo of him to share with you. Yours truly, Man Hong ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Man-Hong Yung Postdoctoral Fellow Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology Harvard University mhyung(a)chemistry.harvard.edu -----------------------------------------------------------------------

11 years, 1 month

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] AAG Office Doors

by Marlon Cummings

Dear group members: For safety and security reasons, when exiting your office, please remember to LOCK the door behind you. Thanks, Marlon. ----------------------- Marlon G. Cummings Lab Manager, Aspuru-Guzik Group Mallinckrodt M112 Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology Harvard University 12 Oxford Street Cambridge, MA 02138 617-496-9964 617-496-9411 (fax) http://aspuru.chem.harvard.edu/

11 years, 1 month

Re: [Aspuru-Guzik group list] what to tell prospective students?

by Alan Aspuru-Guzik

The official line is 1 or maybe 2 students (in an exceptional situation) but 1 is possible. I copy the group members Alan -- Alan Aspuru-Guzik Associate Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology Harvard University http://aspuru.chem.harvard.edu On Thursday, March 14, 2013 at 10:20 AM, Joey Goodknight wrote: > > > Hello Alán, > > > Can you maybe let the group or at least me know what it is you'd like to communicate to all the prospective students coming in the next couple days? Like, are you still planning on not taking any students, would you prefer we tell them we don't know, what your plans are etc.? > > > Thanks! > > > -Joey > > > > > > > >

11 years, 1 month

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] Fwd: [ PSI-K ] Psi-k Summer School on Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics for Biomolecules

by Alan Aspuru-Guzik

-- Alan Aspuru-Guzik Associate Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology Harvard University http://aspuru.chem.harvard.edu Forwarded message: > From: PSI-K <psik-coord(a)dl.ac.uk> > To: PSI-K <psik-coord(a)dl.ac.uk> > Date: Thursday, March 14, 2013, 7:02:49 AM > Subject: [ PSI-K ] Psi-k Summer School on Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics for Biomolecules > > An announcement has been added in the "PSI-K" site at PSI-K (http://cselnx9.dl.ac.uk:8080/portal) > > > Subject: Psi-k Summer School on Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics for Biomolecules > > Category: Event > > From: Leonardo Guidoni > > Date: 14-Mar-2013 11:02 > > Message: > > Psi-k Summer School on Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics for Biomolecules > to take place in Santo Stefano di Sessanio, Italy, 9-14 June 2013 > > The objective of this summer school is to introduce young researchers (PhD and postdocs) to the use of ab initio molecular dynamics for the study of biological systems. It will provide a practical guide on how to set up an ab initio study of a biomolecule starting from available experimental structures, within hybrid Quantum Mechanics/Molecular Mechanics schemes, based on density functional theory (DFT). An important part of the School will be devoted to the calculation of spectroscopic properties and to the common success and drawbacks of DFT in the specific case of biological matter. Moreover, the participation of experimental experts in structural biology and biomolecular spectroscopy will provide an overview of open problems in the field and on the relationships between experimental data and computational approaches. A combination of theory, computer implementation, test cases and successful state-of-the-art applications will be presented, complemented by practical simulation sessions. > > Further information and the list of lecturers and topics can be found on the school website > > http://bio.phys.uniroma1.it/index.php/aimdb2013 > > The deadline for registration and poster abstract submission is 5th May 2013. The number of participants is limited to about 30 students. Accepted participants will be notified by 8th May 2013. A limited number of fellowships are available to fully cover the accommodation and food costs for the participants. The deadline for fellowship applications is 21st April 2013. > > The organizers > Leonardo Guidoni (Università degli Studi dell'Aquila, Italy) > Carla Molteni (King’s College London, United Kingdom) > Daniele Varsano (Centro S3, CNR Istituto di Nanoscienze, Modena, Italy) > > > > Attachments: > aimdb2013.jpg (http://cselnx9.dl.ac.uk:8080/access/content/attachment/9e912646-383c-4de9-8…) > http://bio.phys.uniroma1.it/index.php/aimdb2013 (http://cselnx9.dl.ac.uk:8080/access/content/attachment/9e912646-383c-4de9-8…) > > ---------------------- > This automatic notification message was sent by PSI-K (http://cselnx9.dl.ac.uk:8080/portal) from the PSI-K site. > You can modify how you receive notifications at My Workspace > Preferences.

11 years, 1 month

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] [Aspuru-meetings-list] group meeting this week: Dmitrij Rappoport

by Ryan Babbush

Hi Everyone, This week we'll be hearing group meeting from Dr. Dmitrij Rappoport. The meeting will occur at the usual time and place of 3:00pm in the Division Room. An abstract of the talk is provided below. Arrow Pushing, Reaction Networks, and Origin of Life ============================== In my group presentation I will tell the story of how a simple idea of applying the concept of "Arrow Pushing" within quantum chemistry became the study of complex reaction networks and their graphs and, unexpectedly, of prebiotic chemistry. I will describe the hybrid empirical/quantum chemical method for exploring potential energy surfaces combining a set of empirical rules with quantum chemical energy calculations. Further, I will present the newest results on the reaction mechanism of the formose reaction, the self-condensation of formaldehyde in basic aqueous solutions leading to a complex mixture of sugars. The formose reaction is commonly assumed to be a crucial part in the origin of life and encompasses a rich reaction network with characteristics of scale-free networks. -- Ryan Babbush | PhD Student in Physics (949) 331-3943 | babbush(a)fas.harvard.edu Harvard University | Aspuru-Guzik Group 12 Oxford Street | Cambridge, MA 02138 _______________________________________________ Aspuru-meetings-list mailing list Aspuru-meetings-list(a)lists.fas.harvard.edu https://lists.fas.harvard.edu/mailman/listinfo/aspuru-meetings-list

11 years, 1 month

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] 3/13/2013 - Special HQOC Seminar - Prof. Luiz Davidovich

by Hamilton, Joan

Special Quantum Sciences Seminar Wednesday | Mar. 13 | 4:00 pm Jefferson 250 Luiz Davidovich Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil " Quantum Metrology: Towards the Ultimate Precision Limits in the Estimation of Parameters " Refreshments will be served The estimation of parameters plays a central role in science and technology. It is based on measurements made on probe systems undergoing a parameter-dependent process. Quantum metrology deals with the ultimate precision limits in estimation procedures, taking into account the constraints imposed by quantum mechanics. The parameters of interest could be for instance a phase displacement in an optical interferometer, the time durations of a physical process, a tiny force acting on a mesoscopic object, or the frequency of an atomic transition. The estimation error decreases with the number of resources employed in the measurement (number of probes, probe energy). Quantum mechanics imposes restrictions on the precision of the estimation, since two outgoing states corresponding to two different values of the parameter are not necessarily distinguishable, and furthermore measurements must conform to quantum constraints. On the other hand, quantum features, like entanglement and squeezing, help to increase the estimation accuracy beyond the standard limit, yielding better precision for the same amount of resources. However, the precision of recent experiments, while beginning to reach the limits imposed by quantum mechanics, is spoiled by the unavoidable influence of noise. Evaluating this effect is a difficult task. While exact results and analytical solutions are known for noiseless situations, the determination of the ultimate precision limit in the presence of noise is still a challenging problem in quantum mechanics. This talk will review some of the achievements and difficulties of quantum metrology, and will present a recently proposed method that allows the determination of precision limits for noisy systems. This method has been applied to obtain very good bounds for the precision in optical interferometry and atomic spectroscopy, as well as for the quantum speed of physical processes. Joan Hamilton Faculty Assistant to Profs. Greiner and Lukin HQOC Laboratory Administrator HUCTW Local Union Representative Harvard University Department of Physics 17 Oxford Street Cambridge, MA 02138 P: (617) 496-2544 F: (617) 496-2545

11 years, 1 month

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] [qip] talk tomorrow 2:45pm

by aram harrow

Dear quanta, Vadym Kliuchnikov (Waterloo) will speak tomorrow in the QC journal club about some of his recent work. WHERE: 6C-442 WHEN: 2:45-3:45pm, Thurs, Mar 14 TITLE: Approximating single qubit unitaries by Clifford + T circuits ABSTRACT: In this talk I will present an alternative to the Solovay-Kitaev algorithm that saturates the asymptotic lower bound on the quality of approximation when using two ancillary qubits. The alternative is limited to using Clifford and T gate set for approximation and exploits the structure of unitaries that can be generated by this gate set. I will discuss how the problem of unitary approximation is related to Lagrange's four square theorem, more complicated Diophantine equations and exact synthesis of unitaries. I will also discuss the solution to the approximation problem when no ancillae are used. -aram _______________________________________________ qip mailing list qip(a)mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/qip

11 years, 1 month

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] House-warming party

by Guerreschi, Gian

Dear colleagues, dear friends, A month has passed since I moved to Cambridge, and it is time to inaugurate my new house. Together with my roommates I will give an house-warming party on Friday, March 15th. You all are invited! Obviously the invitation extend to your best half (or important one). Where? 117, Elm street, Somerville (3 min by foot from the T station of Porter square) When? starting from 8:30 pm on Friday, March 15th (this Friday!) We will provide some drinks, but you are invited to bring your favorite ones. There will be some small snacks too. Please, let me know if you are coming! Cheers, Gian Giacomo

11 years, 1 month

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] FW: Electrical Engineering Seminar Friday, March 15, 2013

by Hamilton, Joan

This Friday we have an AWESOME talk - please see below. Hope to see many of you there. Marko Begin forwarded message: From: "Masse, Kathleen" <kath(a)seas.harvard.edu<mailto:kath@seas.harvard.edu>> Subject: [Seas-faculty] [Ee-seminars] Electrical Engineering Seminar Friday, March 15, 2013 Date: March 11, 2013 9:51:12 AM EDT To: "'ee-seminars(a)eecs.harvard.edu<mailto:ee-seminars@eecs.harvard.edu>' (ee-seminars(a)eecs.harvard.edu<mailto:ee-seminars@eecs.harvard.edu>)" <ee-seminars(a)eecs.harvard.edu<mailto:ee-seminars@eecs.harvard.edu>> [hseas-logo] Harvard EE Seminar Series 3-4PM Friday, March 15, 2013 Maxwell Dworkin G125 Refreshments at 2:45 Nanofabricated optomechanical resonators in the quantum regime Amir Safavi-Naeini California Institute of Technology Mechanical resonators are the most basic and ubiquitous physical systems known. In on-chip form, they are used to process high frequency signals in every cell phone, television, and laptop. They have also been a critical part of progress in quantum information sciences in the last few decades in different shapes and forms: From kilogram-scale mirrors for gravitational wave detection measuring motion at its quantum limits, to the motion of single ions being used to link qubits for quantum computation. In this talk, I will present our recent work with mechanical systems in the megahertz to gigahertz frequency range, formed by nanofabricating novel photonic/phononic structures on a silicon chip. These structures are designed to have both optical and mechanical resonances, and laser light is used to address and manipulate their motional degrees of freedom through radiation pressure forces. We laser cool these mechanical resonators to their ground states [1], and observe for the first time the quantum zero-point motion of a nanomechanical resonator [2]. Conversely, we show that engineered mechanical resonances drastically modify the optical response of our structures, creating large effective optical nonlinearities not present in bulk silicon. We experimentally demonstrate aspects of these nonlinearities by observing 'electromagnetically induced transparency' and light slowed down to 6 m/s [3-4], as well as wavelength conversion [5-6], and generation of nonclassical optical radiation [7]. [1] J. Chan et al. "Laser cooling of a nanomechanical oscillator into its quantum ground state." Nature 478.7367 (2011): 89-92. [2] ASN et al. "Observation of quantum motion of a nanomechanical resonator." Physical Review Letters 108.3 (2012): 33602. [3] ASN, et al. "Electromagnetically induced transparency and slow light with optomechanics." Nature 472.7341 (2011): 69-73. [4] ASN et al., in preparation. [5] ASN, and O Painter. "Proposal for an optomechanical traveling wave phonon–photon translator." New Journal of Physics 13.1 (2011): 013017. [6] J.T. Hill, ASN, et al, Nature Communications 3 (2012), 1196. [7] ASN, et al., "Squeezed light from an optomechanical resonator", in preparation. Speaker: Amir is a Ph.D. candidate in Applied Physics at the California Institute of Technology working in the group of Prof. Oskar Painter. He received his B.A.Sc. in Electrical Engineering (1st rank) from the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Canada, where he worked briefly as a DSP engineer at RIM (now Blackberry), and Altera. He also worked as a summer research assistant at the Institute of Quantum Computing. Before starting at Caltech in 2008 as an NSERC graduate fellow, Amir spent one year at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), studying engineering and physics and designing photonics crystal cavities in the group of Prof. Kapon. Amir's recent research has centered around design, fabrication, and measurement of optomechanical resonators. His contributions have been featured in numerous magazines, including the New Scientist, Physics Today, APS Physics, Science Magazine, Science Daily, Nature, and Nature Photonics. Host: Donhee Ham and Marko Loncar _______________________________________________ Ee-seminars mailing list Ee-seminars(a)eecs.harvard.edu<mailto:Ee-seminars@eecs.harvard.edu> https://lists.eecs.harvard.edu/mailman/listinfo/ee-seminars _______________________________________________ Seas-faculty mailing list Seas-faculty(a)seas.harvard.edu<mailto:Seas-faculty@seas.harvard.edu> https://lists.seas.harvard.edu/mailman/listinfo/seas-faculty

11 years, 1 month

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aspuru-list March 2013