iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

Please do take a look at our preprint if any of the above interests you, and let us know what you think. We'd love to hear your feedback and suggestions!

010

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

We demonstrate the results classically using tensor network simulations of the disordered Heisenberg model. The core elements of the algorithm were designed with quantum hardware in mind, and we propose a hybrid implementation suitable for near-term quantum devices.

110

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

In this work, with IBM Research and the STFC Hartree Centre, we've developed a new way of preparing excited states by combining the shift-invert process with imaginary time evolution. All we need to do is pick a target energy, and the algorithm will return the eigenstate closest to that target!

110

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

There are lots of ways to find ground states of many-body quantum systems, but what do you do if you want to prepare an excited state? 🤔 That's the question we've addressed in a new preprint, out today: arxiv.org/abs/2508.00065

An animation showing the convergence of our new excited state preparation algorithm.

1181

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

This appeared on a wall at work recently and it makes me laugh every time I see it. Well played, anonymous art critic. 😄

A mark on a wall with a joke museum-style description attached underneath.

0150

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

This is along the same lines as the mistake on my CV that for years said I had experience in "high performance computering". 🤦‍♂️

110

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

I'm currently reviewing candidates who applied to my postdoc position, which has required looking back at the job ad that I wrote. I think I may have to dock myself a few points for my own "ability to communication". 😅

Image of a job advert containing a grammatical error in a requirement for clear communication skills.

130

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

Since coming back to the UK I've been slowly getting reunited with various things I left behind when I moved to France. Today I found the hard drive with all my old recordings and songs on it. It's like a time capsule - I haven't heard some of this stuff in ten years. 🥹

A screenshot of an audio recording program.

060

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

More and more content with my decision not to go to the APS Global Physics Summit this year, and if this is how things are going then I'm disinclined to travel to the US for any other meetings in the near future. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

theguardian.com

French scientist denied US entry after phone messages critical of Trump found

France’s research minister said the scientist was traveling to Houston for a conference when his phone was searched

0130

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

Not much time left to apply for this - the deadline is on Monday, so get those applications in quick if you're interested in joining the University of Edinburgh to work on exciting challenges in open quantum systems!

052

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

What I'll definitely do is make a serious attempt at writing the "Cond Mat Phys for Quantum Computer Scientists" tutorial paper I've been threatening to write for years. I think it's important that people are equipped to distinguish realistic use cases of quantum computers from straw man arguments.

2291

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

It certainly is on occasion, although my grievances at the moment are quite minor compared to yours - I'm mostly just losing patience over what I think are misleading straw man arguments.

020

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

I've never been tempted to write a "Comment on..." paper before, but today is teaching me that there's a first time for everything. 👀

190

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

I never posted an update on this, but in the end I declined to participate in this year's APS meeting. I can't in good conscience travel to and contribute to an event in the US while the current administration is causing so much harm to people and communities I care about.

0110

Reposted by Steven Thomson

Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Microsoft's extraordinary claim last month—to have created a bonafide topological qubit—was met with caution by many experts. Now, a physicist is raising specific and substantive concerns about a key test that underlies Microsoft's approach. My reporting: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

nature.com

Microsoft quantum computing 'breakthrough' faces fresh challenge

Analysis pokes holes in protocol that underpins Microsoft’s claim to have created the first topological qubits.

43916

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

I have synaesthesia, but I can't say it helped my language skills any! It took me a long time to pick up French, and my German never really got past elementary level. 😬 Maths though, that's another story - I do think it really helps me navigate complex equations. 🤔 www.bbc.com/future/artic...

bbc.com

The people who 'see' foreign languages: How synaesthesia can help language learning

Synaesthesia is a neurological condition found to enhance memory and learning. Now, scientists say seeing in colour could help when it comes to learning a second language.

000

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

I've done PhD interviews before, but today was the first time I was ever on a panel alongside someone who once offered me a PhD place...! Such a surreal feeling to now be on the same side of the fence as people who I've admired and respected since I was an undergrad. 😅

0160

Reposted by Steven Thomson

Henry Legg @henrylegg.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

I had made Microsoft Quantum aware of issues before publication of this latest Nature paper (which uses it tune up their devices). Since they seem to not care, I have make these issues public. In short: The topological gap protocol and all claims based on it are flawed. arxiv.org/abs/2502.19560

arxiv.org

Comment on "InAs-Al hybrid devices passing the topological gap protocol", Microsoft Quantum, Phys. Rev. B 107, 245423 (2023)

The topological gap protocol (TGP) is presented as "a series of stringent experimental tests" for the presence of topological superconductivity and associated Majorana bound states. Here, we show that...

26719

Reposted by Steven Thomson

John Preskill @preskill.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

In their roadmap, Microsoft described a protocol for demonstrating a topologically protected qubit. There is no publicly available evidence that this test has been conducted successfully. I hope we will hear more soon. arxiv.org/abs/2502.12252

arxiv.org

Roadmap to fault tolerant quantum computation using topological qubit arrays

We describe a concrete device roadmap towards a fault-tolerant quantum computing architecture based on noise-resilient, topologically protected Majorana-based qubits. Our roadmap encompasses four gene...

2687

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

Just leaving this here, from the very beginning of the peer review file of the new Microsoft paper (www.nature.com/articles/s41...).

Text saying "The editorial team wishes to point out that the results in this manuscript do not represent evidence for the presence of Majorana zero modes in the reported devices. The work is published for introducing a device architecture that might enable fusion experiments using future Majorana zero modes."

2535

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

I'm hiring a postdoc in quantum condensed matter theory! This will be a 3 year position, with a focus on developing and using novel numerical techniques to investigate open quantum systems. For further info and to apply, see the following: elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com

Postdoctoral Research Associate

The Institute for Condensed Matter and Complex Systems is recruiting one Postdoctoral Research Associate to work with Dr Steven Thomson on the EPSRC funded project “Disorder in Open Quantum Systems”. ...

2178

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Last week taught me two main things. 1) I actually can write and deliver two entirely new talks on two entirely different subjects within the same week, while balancing all sorts of other tasks. 2) I should never do this again. 😅

media.tenor.com

a man wearing glasses says " yeah yeah but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could

Alt: Famous scene from Jurassic Park: "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."

030

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Yeah, I had to send it off specially for that, as my uni only offered black by default but I really wanted blue for some reason I don't remember. 😅

010

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

One of the fun things about being back in Scotland is being reunited with things I stored away when I left for France and haven't seen for years. Things like this...!

190

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Today is a good day. Huge thanks to NVIDIA for supporting my work via their Academic Grant program!

A stack of four NVIDIA GPUs to be used for my research work.

0161

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

I seem to have turned up to this afternoon's QSL seminar in camouflage. 🥷

An image of a jumper sleeve the same colour as the chair.

020

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

As a good friend of mine said earlier today - to lost futures.

170

Reposted by Steven Thomson

Dr Maria Violaris @mariaviolaris.bsky.social · 12/01/2025

Hello! 👋 Who’s here on Bluesky from the quantum community? Follow recommendations welcome!

4151

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

I've never read it, but apparently I have it on Kindle...! 😅

100

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

I'm having a moral/ethical quandary about this year's APS meeting. I'm deeply uncomfortable at the idea of contributing to events in the US happening under the new political administration, but a boycott of US conferences seems like a feeble, ineffective and possibly misguided way to protest.

Decision screen for whether to participate in the APS Global Physics Summit.

380

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

The NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada GPU is, obviously, not the same as the NVIDIA RTX A6000 GPU which you can tell by the fact that almost all of the letters are identical and in the same order. NVIDIA must be following the Ibanez guitars school of naming things. (I'm looking at you, RGIT27FE-NTF.)

070

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

Some wonderful news this morning, courtesy of NVIDIA!

An email announcing the award of four NVIDIA RTX 6000 GPUs as part of a grant.

2150

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

I used to use my commute to try to learn French (on the way home) and Italian (on the way to work) from podcasts. Let's just say I hope your efforts to learn during the commute are more successful than mine. 😅😅

110

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

We're always open to feedback, so if there's any interest in more technical details, we can see about changing things up a bit! I think Maria Violaris has a podcast with a more technical focus but I (shamefully!) haven't listened to it yet. youtube.com/@maria_viola...

youtube.com

Dr Maria Violaris

110

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

Thanks for mentioning it! We'll have to get you on an episode if/when we finally do Season 3. 😉

020

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

There's a bit of technical discussion on most episodes, since we usually discuss what the guests are working on it are interested in, but indeed the focus is on the people and I tend to cut out anything that gets overly technical. Maybe we should do a 'technical outtakes' episode someday. 😅

120

Reposted by Steven Thomson

Helen Czerski @helenczerski.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

Why is anyone allowed to call these tools “intelligence”? Surely advertising standards should intervene. It’s machine learning, which is really just advanced statistics. It’s not intelligent, and it can’t be trusted to get the sense of a text right. Calling it intelligence is dangerously seductive.

Headline: BBC says it has complained to Apple over AI-generated fake news attributed to broadcaster.

561132316

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

I have received two ridiculously big screens and I kind of love them. 😍 (Fret not, I've moved things around to be a bit more ergonomic since this photo was taken. 🙃)

An image of a desk with two very large computer screens.

270

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

Oh completely agree on the details and that it reiterates reporting from other sources. I just read a lot of things this morning that were either PR puff pieces or ultra-cynical tweets and it was nice to see an earnest attempt at explaining the work to a broad audience that's not the usual target.

110

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

I'd really like to see some applicants from quantum many-body physics, so please consider sharing and/or applying to this scheme!

010

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Fellowship opportunity! 🚨 The School of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh is calling for applications to the Elizabeth Gardner Fellowship, a 4 year fellowship aimed at early career researchers from underrepresented backgrounds. www.ph.ed.ac.uk/research/res...

ph.ed.ac.uk

Elizabeth Gardner Fellowship

Application details.

132

Reposted by Steven Thomson

Sarah Cosgriff 🏳️‍🌈🇵🇭 @acescicomm.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Are you looking for public engagement or science communication training? I have availability in 2025! My training offer: www.sarahcosgriff.com/pe-training If you are interested in a bespoke training session, please get in touch. Pls give this a repost for more visibility! #scicomm

Sarah writing some words on some flipchart paper.

03117

Reposted by Steven Thomson

qctip2025.bsky.social @qctip2025.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Submissions for QCTiP 2025 are now open.

12315

Reposted by Steven Thomson

Steven Thomson @physicssteve.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

Time is running out to apply for a Bell Burnell PhD scholarship at the University of Edinburgh. If you're eligible, get in touch with us before December 10th! I'd be overjoyed to support anyone interested in applying for one of these scholarships to join my team. www.iop.org/about/suppor...

iop.org

Bell Burnell Graduate Scholarship Fund

Apply now to the innovative fund instigated by leading physicist Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell and the Institute of Physics to encourage greater diversity in physics.

063

Reposted by Steven Thomson

Rishi Sreedhar @rishisr33dhar.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

Hey #Quantumsky 👋🏾 This is an attempt at indexing the growing quantum community here on Bluesky. Please let me know if you'd like to be added to the list. Genuinely happy to see what looks like a successful migration from the birdsite 😄 go.bsky.app/VHXg1yi

475412