Mithuna Yoganathan, a quantum physicist and creator of the YouTube channel Looking Glass Universe, shares insights from his PhD journey in quantum computing. He discusses the power of teaching as a learning tool, his struggles with complex concepts, and effective self-study strategies for physics. Mithuna delves into quantum mechanics' fascinating aspects, including quantum immortality and the impact of consciousness on reality. He also explores the differences between quantum and classical computing, revealing how emerging theories challenge our understanding of existence.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Learning Through Teaching
Mithuna initially believed she understood quantum mechanics after undergraduate studies.
Creating YouTube videos revealed gaps in her knowledge, prompting further research and a PhD.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Learning New Concepts
Consult trusted textbooks like Nielsen and Chuang for quantum information topics.
Use Wikipedia or Google strategically for specific questions.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Discovering Math
Mithuna initially struggled with math and didn't consider herself mathematically inclined.
A university course on abstract algebra sparked her love for the subject.
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Mithuna Yoganathan is a quantum physicist who specializes in quantum computing, and runs the successful YouTube channel Looking Glass Universe (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFk__1iexL3T5gvGcMpeHNA). This podcast serves as a general introduction to quantum foundations and computing for undergraduates and bright autodidacts.
Link to Peter Gray video mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQLkKKERWsI
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00:00:00 Introduction 00:02:26 What's it like running a 200k+ subscriber YouTube channel? 00:02:56 Using "explanation to others" as a self-learning tool 00:05:27 How do you learn new physics / mathematics? 00:06:22 On feeling like math / physics isn't within your ability to grasp 00:08:29 Is math necessary for understanding physics 00:09:23 Daily schedule / routine 00:12:50 Dealing with people emailing theories 00:15:28 Fat-shattering dimensions 00:17:01 What's the Pauli group's relation to the Clifford group? 00:19:44 How do you prove that a quantum algorithm is efficiently simulable classically 00:22:58 Gottesman-Knill theorem (and its extension, proved by Mithuna) 00:25:41 What's responsible for the "speedup" in Quantum Computing? 00:29:24 Which of her thesis results is the most significant? (on quantum complexity and clean Qubits) 00:37:27 Magic state distillation 00:38:34 Gödel's incompleteness, with quantum logic 00:40:41 Halting problem 00:41:10 Quantum Computers vs Probabilistic Turing Machines 00:42:17 P = NP 00:44:41 Richard Borcherd's comments on Quantum Computers not being "better" than classical (generically) 00:47:05 Quantum Contextuality 00:52:29 Quantum decoherence and why it doesn't solve the measurement problem 00:56:26 On the Many Worlds Interpretation 00:58:45 Quantum Immortality 01:03:19 Is space / time discrete and what would the implications of this be for QC? 01:04:42 Wolfram's "principle of computational equivalence" 01:05:32 Bohemian Pilot wave theory 01:09:28 Are the laws of physics ultimately beautiful and simple? 01:10:31 Audience Q: Thoughts on QBism?
Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal 