The Value of Quantum Information Experimentation for Understanding the Universe

Kevin and Sebastian are joined by Grant Salton, a quantum researcher at AWS, who helps us understand a recent paper from Google and Caltech whose authors describe a simulation of a wormhole on Google's Sycamore quantum computer. The paper stirred some controversy and push back on the misunderstanding of the claims being made, and Grant walks us through a sub-domain of quantum information science called "it from qubit," which seeks to bridge elements of astrophysics with concepts from quantum information.

Mentioned in the episode:
The Nature paper from Google and Caltech describing the wormhole experiment and findings.
Some context from Caltech blog.
John Wheeler's paper: "Information, Physics, Quantum: The Search for Links" which coined "it from bit."
A BBC article describing the "quantum hair" solution to Hawking's black hole information paradox.
The Edge of All We Know, a terrific documentary that traces the efforts to solve the information paradox in parallel with the effort to capture an image of a black hole.