Lunch Lecture Mathematics
Join us for a quantum mathematics themed lunCH lecture!
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Einsteins theory of relativity predicts that the presence of energy
causes space-time itself to curve. An intrigueing possibility is that
for very large energies, space-time could curve back into itself, giving
the universe a nontrivial `shape’ at extremely large scales.
On the other end of the spectrum, at an extremely small scale, a single
electron can spin around its axis in much the same way as a spinning
top. The difference with a top is that the spinning motion of the
electron is quantized. This means that it has only two options to spin
around its axis: clockwise and counterclockwise, with nothing in
between. This makes it into a qubit — a quantum version of a system
that carries one bit of information: on or off, zero or one, or, in the
case of the electron, clockwise and counterclockwise.
Perhaps surprisingly, it turns out that while certain shapes of
space-time are compatible with the quantummechanical description of the
spinning electron, others are not. In other words: from the mere fact
that we observe electron spin at all, we can already draw conclusions
about the large-scale structure of the universe!