Messages scrambled by black holes stand their ground against quantum computers
Black holes are nature’s fastest data-scramblers, and new research suggests that secrets thrown into them may be more secure than previously thought. In a paper published in Physical Review Letters, researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in the US show that once a message has been scrambled by a black hole or another system with similar properties, not even a quantum computer can put it back together.
The LANL researchers conclude that even if the pieces of a scrambled message are known, putting them back together poses a problem that quantum computers cannot help us solve. “You could perhaps (ambitiously!) try to use the fundamental physics of the black hole to put a message together,” says Zoe Holmes, a postdoctoral scholar at LANL and lead author on the paper, cautioning that no such method is currently known, “but any learning method looks pretty doomed”. Nature, it seems, is a pretty good confidant. (Full Story)
The Universe is constantly bathing you in radiation. Incredibly, this could be used for medical diagnosis
Mini Muon Tracker at Los Alamos, LANL photo.
Now a new study suggests that the Universe’s naturally occurring radiation could be used in medical imaging and could be particularly useful when it comes to COVID-19. The type of radiation in question is cosmic rays. The researchers are from the Los Alamos National Laboratory and used that facility’s Mini Muon Tracker for their study.
The term “cosmic rays” is one of science’s historical misnomers. Cosmic rays are not actually rays, but rather high-energy particles, usually protons. They can originate from the Sun, from somewhere else in the Milky Way, or from even further beyond, from some distant location in the Universe. When these high-energy particles reach us, they collide and interact with Earth’s atmosphere, producing muons. A muon is similar to an electron but with a much greater mass. (Full Story)
Boundary of heliosphere mapped for the first time
Heliosphere diagram, NASA image.
For the first time, the boundary of the heliosphere has been mapped, giving scientists a better understanding of how solar and interstellar winds interact.
“Physics models have theorized this boundary for years,” said Dan Reisenfeld, a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory and lead author on the paper, which was published in the Astrophysical Journal today. “But this is the first time we’ve actually been able to measure it and make a three-dimensional map of it.”
The heliosphere is a bubble created by the solar wind, a stream of mostly protons, electrons, and alpha particles that extends from the Sun into interstellar space and protects the Earth from harmful interstellar radiation. (Full Story)
Also from The Reporter this week:
Los Alamos National Lab teams with international group to examine spread of infectious disease by migratory birds
Migratory birds along the Mediterranean and Black Sea Flyway, LANL image.
A multinational effort is underway to understand and control the spread of disease among migratory birds. Called the Avian Zoonotic Disease Network, it is aimed at detecting dangerous infectious diseases and pathogens of pandemic potential, such as avian influenza. The timing is fortuitous, given that in early June China announced the first known human case of H10N3 bird flu.
“Partnering with Michigan State University, CRDF Global, and researchers from Georgia, Jordan and Ukraine, we’ll have a multidisciplinary team working along what’s known as the Mediterranean and Black Sea Flyway (MBSF), the main migration route for birds between Africa and Europe,” said Jeanne Fair, a project partner from Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Biosecurity and Public Health group and an expert in animal disease ecology and epidemiology. (Full Story)
It’s topology, naturally
Toroidal geometry of a tokamak along with a cross section, from Phys Rev Letters.
Having tested the waters of plasma topology, Penn State researchers along with Joshua Burby at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, considered a more exciting system: the tokamak. In any radial cross-section of this doughnut-shaped geometry, contour lines can be drawn to represent the magnetic shear (where the magnetic field changes direction) in the ions making up the plasma.
In fact, experimental plasma physicists are already aware of such topological waves. They are known as a reversed-shear Alfvén eigenmodes (RSAEs), and are something of a double-edged sword. On one hand, they can resonate with the products of a fusion reaction – alpha particles – causing them and their associated energy to be ejected from the confinement before they can be harnessed for fusion power. (Full Story)
Why arctic soil can go slip-sliding away
Arctic soil movement, or solifluction, looks like dripping paint or melting cake icing. LANL photo.
Slow-moving arctic soils form patterns that, from a distance, resemble those found in common fluids such as drips in paint and birthday cake icing. Los Alamos researchers and their collaborators analyzed existing arctic soil formations and compared them to viscous fluids, determining that there is a physical explanation for this pattern that is common to both Earth and Mars landscapes.
"The study of this effect is especially important as we measure landscape response to climate change and aim to understand the storage and release of permafrost carbon in arctic landscapes," said Rachel Glade, first author on a paper in the journal PNAS. "As we see permafrost thaw across the arctic, we will need to be able to predict and mitigate arctic slope instabilities." (Full Story)
Exploring the limitations of quantum machine learning
Recent research at the Los Alamos National Laboratory showed that Quantum Machine Learning cannot be used to investigate processes like Quantum Chaos and terminalization. This places a big limit on the learning of any new process linked to it through Quantum computing. The study was based on a Hayden-Preskill thought experiment. A fictitious character Alice tosses her book inside the black hole.
The book was pulled out by Bob, who used entanglement to pull it out. Through any computation bringing the book back to its original state is impossible. Though the book was pulled out using quantum computing algorithms, the information was scrambled and no quantum machine learning model could unscramble the book back to its original state. (Full Story)
Los Alamos scientists earn DOE early career awards
Miles Beaux, left, and Matt Durham, LANL photo.
Two Los Alamos scientists, Miles Beaux and Matt Durham, are among 83 scientists who will receive a total of $100 million through the Department of Energy’s Early Career Awards Program, which supports critical research at universities and national laboratories.
“This recognition from the Department of Energy reflects Miles’ and Matt’s dedication and commitment to vital scientific questions,” said Laboratory Director Thom Mason. “Los Alamos National Laboratory is proud of their accomplishments and looks forward to seeing what the future brings for them both.” (Full Story)
Also from The Reporter this week:
UNM and LANL celebrate creation of mechanical engineering program
Thom Mason chats with UNM-LA Chancellor Cynthia Rooney, right, and NM Rep. Christine Chandler, UNM photo.
UNM School of Engineering, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is celebrating the creation of a program in Mechanical Engineering to meet local workforce needs. UNM-LA hosted an event with a limited number of in-person attendees to recognize the partnership. The collaboration will expand the existing two-year pre-engineering program to a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (BSME) program on the UNM-LA campus.
“Partnerships like this are essential to providing possibilities for our current workforce and for preparing the workforce of the future,” said LANL Director Thom Mason. “I thank the University of New Mexico and UNM-Los Alamos for recognizing the need to train new mechanical engineers for high-paying jobs that are in demand at the Laboratory and nationwide.” (Full Story)
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