As technology becomes ever smaller, scientists are facing new problems and interesting behaviour. At the level of atoms or nanomachines, quantum mechanics rules the day and imposes its strange behaviour on everything.
In everyday life, a spilled glass of water will never unspill. As the nursery rhyme goes, Humpty Dumpty will never be put back together. Bizarrely, a quantum glass can actually unspill, and a quantum Humpty Dumpty may well put himself back together. This strange behaviour makes it difficult to design quantum machines. Dr Xuereb will talk about the very young field of quantum thermodynamics, which explores these problems and presents new solutions. It allows us to dream of a future where a single atom can be turned into a refrigerator and where information can be used to power tiny objects.
Dr Andre Xuereb will talk about 'Rise of the Quantum Machines' on Wednesday 2 December at 19:30 in the Cinema Room at St James Cavallier (doors open at 19:15).
Dr Xuereb is a lecturer in quantum mechanics at the University of Malta. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Southampton and is the author of one book and thirty peer reviewed scientific articles. Andre’s life goal is to find a way to be in two places at the same time.
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Thanks go to Sammy's by Culinary Forward Malta, St James Cavalier for hosting this event, the University of Malta, and Malta Chamber of Scientists.