@nicoleyh11.bsky.social
Theoretical physicist (quantum information + quantum thermodynamics) at QuICS, author of Quantum Steampunk: The Physics of Yesterday's Tomorrow
At the end of every Nov., I tell my research group that our next meeting is the most important one of the year. That’s when we sign holiday/thank-you cards for our administrative staff. They help keep science chugging along. (Of course the cards have a Victorian aesthetic.)
09.12.2025 17:06 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
“I always consider myself a youngster.” Perhaps that's why Jun Ye stays so energetic and creative. @JQI Seminar
08.12.2025 17:45 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Quantum Steampunk has been translated into Greek! And a 20% discount is apparently available.
katoptro.gr/index.php?op...
Today marks (at least roughly) the 404th Thanksgiving...and my 150th post for Quantum Frontiers! Only 254 to go to catch up, right? quantumfrontiers.com/2025/11/26/w...
27.11.2025 16:29 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
The inimitable Bob Coecke. (I feel like there isn't much more one can say about this photo.) @coecke.bsky.social @Oxford Quantum Centenary Conference
25.11.2025 16:52 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Philosopher of physics David Wallace courts controversy at the Oxford Quantum Centenary Conference.
23.11.2025 17:29 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 1
Lucien Hardy: “It’s useful to be married, because your spouse will tell you things that other people won’t.” For example: “Maybe time isn’t asymmetric.” @Oxford Quantum Centenary Conference
22.11.2025 16:30 — 👍 5 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Matt Leifer at the Oxford Quantum Centennial: Not only are we celebrating the 100th anniversary of quantum theory, but Matt is also celebrating the 25th anniversary of his PhD. So he's "25 years more confused."
21.11.2025 16:58 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Pub night with some physicists after my public lecture at Oxford. Thanks to @oxfordphysics.bsky.social, the Oxford Quantum Information Society, and the Oxford Physics Society for hosting!
20.11.2025 17:04 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Thanks to Natalia Ares and postdoc Federico Fedele for the tour of her lab in Oxford engineering!
19.11.2025 17:54 — 👍 7 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
At the Oxford University Museum of Natural History @morethanadodo.bsky.social in 2013 and in 2025. No, my wearing the same scarf both times was coincidental.
18.11.2025 15:52 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Toward autonomous quantum computation. (If you're an experimentalist who'd like to try out any of these proposals, let me know!) arxiv.org/abs/2510.07372 @umdscience.bsky.social
17.11.2025 16:10 — 👍 3 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
Please don't tell that joke about being pulled over by a cop for speeding and protesting that you didn't know how quickly you were driving because you knew where you were.
16.11.2025 16:08 — 👍 6 🔁 1 💬 2 📌 0
Want a primer on recent developments in quantum complexity? Physics Reports has just published our multidisciplinary review!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Don't worry. We're all physicists here.
👇Amit Te'eni presenting about mutually unbiased bases @oxfordphysics.bsky.social.
What’s working with an artist, as opposed to a physicist, like? Thanks to Hamish Johnston for interviewing steampunk artist Bruce Rosenbaum and me on the Physics World podcast. @physicsworld.bsky.social @ioppublishing.bsky.social physicsworld.com/a/quantum-st...
04.11.2025 17:37 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 1
If you’re a student at the University of Maryland, you can (or will soon be able to) sign up for the quantum-steampunk creative-writing course offered during spring 2026. Seats are limited, so reserve yours ASAP!
03.11.2025 16:58 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
What happens when you blend the art of steampunk with the science of quantum physics? Find out in this podcast with Nicole Yunger Halpern and Bruce Rosenbaum. 🧪⚛️ ow.ly/sjrR50Xkgxg
30.10.2025 11:47 — 👍 16 🔁 5 💬 1 📌 0
The Quantum-Steampunk Laboratory goes out for a group lunch at Bagels ’n Grinds. Verdict: the everything bagels are worth trying. @umdscience.bsky.social
29.10.2025 15:57 — 👍 8 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Toured the beautiful Brin Mathematics Research Center at the University of Maryland for the first time today. Its structure deftly reflects an important priority of mathematicians'.
28.10.2025 16:08 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Thanks, Eddy!
28.10.2025 16:08 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Author Philip Pullman published a long-awaited sequel last week. Less excitingly to most people—but, I’d argue, as excitingly for physics enthusiasts!—the Maryland Quantum-Thermodynamics Hub embarked on the sequel to its first 3 years around the same time. quantumfrontiers.com/2025/10/26/t...
27.10.2025 16:14 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 2 📌 0
Matthias Christandl: Want to build a quantum network, perform a distributed quantum computation, communicate quantum information, etc.? Don’t forget to extend fault tolerance to quantum inputs and outputs. @QuICS @christandl.bsky.social
23.10.2025 16:09 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0I preordered the ebook! But I'm still finishing rereading The Secret Commonwealth (I thought I wouldn't manage to reread it but realized I really needed to, so started on the reread only a few days ago. The book is a little less depressing this time around).
22.10.2025 18:54 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Approximately as thrilling as the Nobel Prize for superconductor physics. #publicationday
22.10.2025 16:13 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 2 📌 02025 UMD Quantum postdoc job thread.
We start with the Quantum Optics Fellowship, intended for AMO and QI. Anyone who would have applied for the JQI Fellowship should apply to this one. academicjobsonline.org/ajo/fellowsh...
As it turns out, a sphere does model a cow remarkably accurately.
14.10.2025 16:02 — 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 2 📌 0
Our measuring devices report on quantities different from the quantities we actually want to learn about. Mapping the reported-on quantities to the desired quantities requires “cool physics.” –Amir Yacoby presenting the UMD physics colloquium
08.10.2025 16:04 — 👍 5 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Happy physics Nobel Prize to all my superconducting-qubit friends!
07.10.2025 12:20 — 👍 13 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0
About a decade ago, I was presenting about majorization at the University of Maryland as a PhD student. Now, a PhD student of mine is. arxiv.org/abs/2507.22986 @umdscience.bsky.social
01.10.2025 16:21 — 👍 6 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
