Qubit Coherence Time Dream 20-03-2023

This dream came after watching Roger Penrose discus “before the big bang” on YouTube. He suggested that in a thermalized black body compliant universe evidenced by the cosmic microwave background energy spectrum where E=hν = mc2, time or inverse time, frequency, does not exist in the absence of matter. “Time” can be curved to “before” the big bang of our current universe. Similarly at an infinitely expanded universe full only of radiation, photons, time again has no meaning without mass.

The dream starts in the refreshment area or bar off a hall full of poster presentations at a “perimeter” conference on quantum and quantum computing. I am talking with a “famous” prof in his early forties and he is holding court to some post docs and post grads. He is skinny with a beard and unruly hair. He is white. As far as he is concerned, I am a nobody.

I say to him that if I have understood it correctly the biggest drawback for quantum computing is qubit coherence time and thereby quantum fidelity. He says yes.

I say that a qubit is a counter-entropic state artificially manufactured in matter in many systems. In these matter based systems tremendous cooling is required to prevent coupling to the nearby thermal bath states which tend to bring about dephasing and lack of fidelity for the prepared qubit. He agrees.

I say that is why they need fuck off big fridges to get close to absolute zero, which is again a counter entropic state when viewed more than locally. He agrees.

That dephasing happens on a temperature and proximity dependent time scale.

I say that thermodynamics is a property of matter and hence time, without matter entropy as no meaning, nor does thermodynamics.

I ask him why nobody is pursuing fast or ultrafast time domain quantum computing? He does not reply.

I say to him if the prepared qubit state is addressed before dephasing occurs, we can use time to outwit or outpace thermalization to bath. Time domain quantum computing could be the answer.

He nods.

I say that the other problem stems from the cycle time of write to zero of the matter involved in the prepared qubits. It should be possible to use a second pulse similar to the state preparation one to reset the qubit clock on a hundreds of megahertz laser repetition rate. We then have a prepare and subsequent write to zero even if the qubit state has been used or partially used in computation. The matter is then ready for us to contravene entropy by writing a qubit.

As the dream ends, I think that it is a fair way from Guru Rinpoche.

Is Time Quantised Dream 28-01-2025

Here is last night’s dream. It is not the sort of dream you want to have if you are trying to go back to sleep. It gets you thinking that although energy and matter (particles) can be quantized, time is not, whereas dimension can give rise to quantisation. Our cosmological conception is very reliant on our notion of “universal” constants. We rely on atomic clocks to define time and the speed of light to define dimension.

The dream starts with me sat in an armchair nearly opposite Théun. There is a low-level table, and we are looking in the same direction but not at each other. On the table are tallish glasses with a straw and some kind of spirit and mixer drink. There is a bowl of pistachios.

The gist of conversation is to do with seeing. I ask him when he looks forward at the possibilities in the web of life does he see and thereby know which ones are more likely. He says that he does and that the further into left sided awareness he goes the more obvious the trajectory is. He comments that seeing is only ever a snapshot of possibility. I ask when he looks backwards in time how does it differ. He says that the before-time is confined whereas the aftertime is more expansive. He says that seeing backwards offers a different interpretation and collection of events as they were once perceived.

I say that back when I used to do this his description is similar to what I used to observe with one difference I tended never to select any likelihood from the possibilities. I comment that our whole world view is largely dependent on a currently expansive universe due to the so-called big bang. Time’s arrow is expanding dimension and space.

I say that there could be some granularity or quantisation to time. There could be vector like behaviour. Two back vectors make perception go to before-time. Two forward vectors take perception to aftertime or future. Whereas one back and one forward are now and that is in a sense eternal.

I say that I stopped trying to see, because that seemed a bit like an attempt to control, cheating even.  If we quantise time and space, will that remove the quantisation from matter and energy?

In the dream I say that the ways of the old although useful and familiar, may have to cede to newer lighter ways.

The dream ends and I am caught up thinking about it. I decide to park it and try to go back to sleep. I can always type up the dream and re-visit in the morning.