Henry Legg
@henrylegg.bsky.social
Lecturer (~asst prof) investigating quantum physics @univofstandrews.
My opinions belong to 28 highly trained monkeys and are not those of my employer.
Webpage: https://legg.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/
My opinions belong to 28 highly trained monkeys and are not those of my employer.
Webpage: https://legg.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/
Pinned
Henry Legg
@henrylegg.bsky.social
· Feb 28
Comment on "InAs-Al hybrid devices passing the topological gap protocol", Microsoft Quantum, Phys. Rev. B 107, 245423 (2023)
The topological gap protocol (TGP) is presented as "a series of stringent experimental tests" for the presence of topological superconductivity and associated Majorana bound states. Here, we show that...
arxiv.org
I had made Microsoft Quantum aware of issues before publication of this latest Nature paper (which uses it tune up their devices).
Since they seem to not care, I have make these issues public.
In short: The topological gap protocol and all claims based on it are flawed.
arxiv.org/abs/2502.19560
Since they seem to not care, I have make these issues public.
In short: The topological gap protocol and all claims based on it are flawed.
arxiv.org/abs/2502.19560
Thank you for all your private messages to me about Balrog wings.
Unfortunately, in 2025, wingers like @dangaristo.bsky.social still exist and think Balrogs were just glorified penguins.
In this era of fake news we must defend important facts: Balrogs do not have wings.
Unfortunately, in 2025, wingers like @dangaristo.bsky.social still exist and think Balrogs were just glorified penguins.
In this era of fake news we must defend important facts: Balrogs do not have wings.
@dangaristo.bsky.social this is how Balrog wingers imagine Durin's bane.
You think a glorified penguin is going to go toe-to-toe with Gandalf? Come off it.
You think a glorified penguin is going to go toe-to-toe with Gandalf? Come off it.
October 30, 2025 at 5:48 AM
Thank you for all your private messages to me about Balrog wings.
Unfortunately, in 2025, wingers like @dangaristo.bsky.social still exist and think Balrogs were just glorified penguins.
In this era of fake news we must defend important facts: Balrogs do not have wings.
Unfortunately, in 2025, wingers like @dangaristo.bsky.social still exist and think Balrogs were just glorified penguins.
In this era of fake news we must defend important facts: Balrogs do not have wings.
Reposted by Henry Legg
Now this is classic Usenet beef. We're talking 30-year-aged stuff here. Simpler times. Better times.
I was just sent a video of a child in a Balrog halloween costume. Appallingly, the Balrog costume had wings.
**Balrogs do not have wings**
Why are we teaching children incorrect anatomy of mythical creatures? Are you going to also throw a pair of wings on a giraffe?
My day is already ruined.
**Balrogs do not have wings**
Why are we teaching children incorrect anatomy of mythical creatures? Are you going to also throw a pair of wings on a giraffe?
My day is already ruined.
October 29, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Now this is classic Usenet beef. We're talking 30-year-aged stuff here. Simpler times. Better times.
I was just sent a video of a child in a Balrog halloween costume. Appallingly, the Balrog costume had wings.
**Balrogs do not have wings**
Why are we teaching children incorrect anatomy of mythical creatures? Are you going to also throw a pair of wings on a giraffe?
My day is already ruined.
**Balrogs do not have wings**
Why are we teaching children incorrect anatomy of mythical creatures? Are you going to also throw a pair of wings on a giraffe?
My day is already ruined.
October 29, 2025 at 7:18 AM
I was just sent a video of a child in a Balrog halloween costume. Appallingly, the Balrog costume had wings.
**Balrogs do not have wings**
Why are we teaching children incorrect anatomy of mythical creatures? Are you going to also throw a pair of wings on a giraffe?
My day is already ruined.
**Balrogs do not have wings**
Why are we teaching children incorrect anatomy of mythical creatures? Are you going to also throw a pair of wings on a giraffe?
My day is already ruined.
Let's be very clear: Google’s claims are debatable, Microsoft’s are a work of fiction.
Be sceptical of Google like the bloke down the pub claiming he lives in a mansion.
Be sceptical of Microsoft like the bloke claiming he lives in a castle in the sky powered by topoconductors and fairy dust.
Be sceptical of Google like the bloke down the pub claiming he lives in a mansion.
Be sceptical of Microsoft like the bloke claiming he lives in a castle in the sky powered by topoconductors and fairy dust.
Microsoft vs Google - who will succeed to make researchers more sceptical?
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
October 24, 2025 at 8:40 AM
Let's be very clear: Google’s claims are debatable, Microsoft’s are a work of fiction.
Be sceptical of Google like the bloke down the pub claiming he lives in a mansion.
Be sceptical of Microsoft like the bloke claiming he lives in a castle in the sky powered by topoconductors and fairy dust.
Be sceptical of Google like the bloke down the pub claiming he lives in a mansion.
Be sceptical of Microsoft like the bloke claiming he lives in a castle in the sky powered by topoconductors and fairy dust.
Reposted by Henry Legg
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
nyti.ms
October 8, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
The correct decision from the Nobel committee. If they had even muttered the words "quantum computing" the number of start-up founders posting about their quantum crypto coin NFTs would break LinkedIn.
Interesting bit of sociology: They are really studiously avoiding any mention of quantum computing. First and only mention came in the last few words of the presentation by Johansson.
October 7, 2025 at 10:23 AM
The correct decision from the Nobel committee. If they had even muttered the words "quantum computing" the number of start-up founders posting about their quantum crypto coin NFTs would break LinkedIn.
Reposted by Henry Legg
Our Nobel Prize predictions for the next week. #Nobel2025
October 5, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Our Nobel Prize predictions for the next week. #Nobel2025
Bit grim seeing the FT treat HSBC’s quantum computing theatre as actual news. Why worry about fake news when the establishment press has already been lobotomised by corporate press releases?
I wish HSBC (my mortgage provider) were as flexible with my interest rate as they are with reality…
I wish HSBC (my mortgage provider) were as flexible with my interest rate as they are with reality…
HSBC claims quantum trading breakthrough on.ft.com/4mDbeYG
HSBC claims quantum trading breakthrough
Europe’s largest lender tested a tool developed by IBM on bond market data
on.ft.com
September 30, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Bit grim seeing the FT treat HSBC’s quantum computing theatre as actual news. Why worry about fake news when the establishment press has already been lobotomised by corporate press releases?
I wish HSBC (my mortgage provider) were as flexible with my interest rate as they are with reality…
I wish HSBC (my mortgage provider) were as flexible with my interest rate as they are with reality…
Reposted by Henry Legg
Reposted by Henry Legg
HSBC demonstrates world’s first-known quantum-enabled algorithmic trading with IBM | HSBC News
HSBC announces the world’s first-known empirical evidence of the potential value of quantum computers for solving real-world problems in algorithmic bond trading.
www.hsbc.com
September 26, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Quantum hype meets financial trading 🤢
Also: "The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships"
How can being employed by HSBC not be a competing interest?
www.hsbc.com/news-and-vie...
Also: "The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships"
How can being employed by HSBC not be a competing interest?
www.hsbc.com/news-and-vie...
HSBC demonstrates world’s first-known quantum-enabled algorithmic trading with IBM | HSBC News
HSBC announces the world’s first-known empirical evidence of the potential value of quantum computers for solving real-world problems in algorithmic bond trading.
www.hsbc.com
September 25, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Quantum hype meets financial trading 🤢
Also: "The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships"
How can being employed by HSBC not be a competing interest?
www.hsbc.com/news-and-vie...
Also: "The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships"
How can being employed by HSBC not be a competing interest?
www.hsbc.com/news-and-vie...
The promise of spin qubits has always been their potential to leverage existing semiconductor fabrication techniques. As such this is really a very exciting publication… even if you can’t always trust everything published in Nature.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Industry-compatible silicon spin-qubit unit cells exceeding 99% fidelity - Nature
Two-qubit operations exceeding 99% fidelity have been demonstrated by silicon devices made with standard semiconductor tooling in a 300-mm foundry environment.
www.nature.com
September 25, 2025 at 7:14 AM
The promise of spin qubits has always been their potential to leverage existing semiconductor fabrication techniques. As such this is really a very exciting publication… even if you can’t always trust everything published in Nature.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Henry Legg
Or you can go here neos-server.org/neos/solvers... and wait about 0.02 seconds for the problem to be solved exactly 😂
September 22, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Or you can go here neos-server.org/neos/solvers... and wait about 0.02 seconds for the problem to be solved exactly 😂
Reposted by Henry Legg
This is really scary - I always thought physics was safe. It would be huge loss to see physics departments close across the country.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Quarter of UK university physics departments at risk of closing, survey finds
Four out of five making staff cuts as physicists say findings are ‘great concern’ for UK’s leadership in important areas
www.theguardian.com
September 21, 2025 at 4:31 PM
This is really scary - I always thought physics was safe. It would be huge loss to see physics departments close across the country.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Donald’s H1B visa policy is already a HUGE success. Many people are saying it to me this morning – the most important people. They say, "Donald’s done it again, so clever, real clever.” America already has the BEST brains. Like Einstein. He was American you know.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Trump signs proclamation imposing annual $100,000 fee on H-1B visas
Move deals potentially major blow to US tech industry, which relies heavily on workers from India and China
www.theguardian.com
September 20, 2025 at 7:37 AM
Donald’s H1B visa policy is already a HUGE success. Many people are saying it to me this morning – the most important people. They say, "Donald’s done it again, so clever, real clever.” America already has the BEST brains. Like Einstein. He was American you know.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
The year I arrive @physastrostand.bsky.social rises to #1 in the UK for Physics in the Times & Sunday Times University League table.
(and we all know that correlation *does* imply causation, right?!)
www.thetimes.com/uk-universit...
(and we all know that correlation *does* imply causation, right?!)
www.thetimes.com/uk-universit...
September 19, 2025 at 3:08 PM
The year I arrive @physastrostand.bsky.social rises to #1 in the UK for Physics in the Times & Sunday Times University League table.
(and we all know that correlation *does* imply causation, right?!)
www.thetimes.com/uk-universit...
(and we all know that correlation *does* imply causation, right?!)
www.thetimes.com/uk-universit...
"We must make fire work. Stop asking why wet sticks no good."
- Grug, circa 50,000 BC
“We must make Majorana work. Stop asking why InAs no good.”
- Microsoft, 2025
pubs.aip.org/physicstoday...
- Grug, circa 50,000 BC
“We must make Majorana work. Stop asking why InAs no good.”
- Microsoft, 2025
pubs.aip.org/physicstoday...
September 8, 2025 at 2:27 PM
"We must make fire work. Stop asking why wet sticks no good."
- Grug, circa 50,000 BC
“We must make Majorana work. Stop asking why InAs no good.”
- Microsoft, 2025
pubs.aip.org/physicstoday...
- Grug, circa 50,000 BC
“We must make Majorana work. Stop asking why InAs no good.”
- Microsoft, 2025
pubs.aip.org/physicstoday...
I feel compelled to repost my experimental colleagues’ job adverts because physics is ultimately an experimental science and trust me you really don’t want me anywhere near your lab…
Looking for highly motivated individuals who are keen to work on superconductivity in thin films of lanthanum nickelates. The project encompasses thin film growth by MBE, ARPES and STM. For the full advert, see www.vacancies.st-andrews.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/....
August 23, 2025 at 10:20 AM
I feel compelled to repost my experimental colleagues’ job adverts because physics is ultimately an experimental science and trust me you really don’t want me anywhere near your lab…
Apparently Microsoft are trying to patent their topological gap protocol.
In other news: I have decided to patent my protocol for optimising the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin. It’s a real breakthrough for angel based quantum computing.
In other news: I have decided to patent my protocol for optimising the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin. It’s a real breakthrough for angel based quantum computing.
August 4, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Apparently Microsoft are trying to patent their topological gap protocol.
In other news: I have decided to patent my protocol for optimising the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin. It’s a real breakthrough for angel based quantum computing.
In other news: I have decided to patent my protocol for optimising the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin. It’s a real breakthrough for angel based quantum computing.
In the last few months Microsoft (+ apparent friends) have tried to dismiss me as a 'spin qubit guy', a 'competitor', on a 'fishing expedition', and now as a 'theorist'.
Let's check the scoreboard:
- Names for critics: Endless
- Topological qubits: 0
www.theregister.com/2025/07/31/m...
Let's check the scoreboard:
- Names for critics: Endless
- Topological qubits: 0
www.theregister.com/2025/07/31/m...
August 1, 2025 at 5:43 PM
In the last few months Microsoft (+ apparent friends) have tried to dismiss me as a 'spin qubit guy', a 'competitor', on a 'fishing expedition', and now as a 'theorist'.
Let's check the scoreboard:
- Names for critics: Endless
- Topological qubits: 0
www.theregister.com/2025/07/31/m...
Let's check the scoreboard:
- Names for critics: Endless
- Topological qubits: 0
www.theregister.com/2025/07/31/m...
Where does this go next?
All authors contributed to this manuscript as inhabitants of planet earth
All authors contributed to this manuscript as inhabitants of planet earth
July 14, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Where does this go next?
All authors contributed to this manuscript as inhabitants of planet earth
All authors contributed to this manuscript as inhabitants of planet earth
To be clear: I have huge respect for Microsoft Quantum. They likely spent months analysing dozens of devices to find a single reasonable looking few millisecond of signal.
It's like repeatedly trying to find Jesus in your toast, but with a billion dollar toaster and a village worth of electricity.
It's like repeatedly trying to find Jesus in your toast, but with a billion dollar toaster and a village worth of electricity.
July 11, 2025 at 7:51 PM
To be clear: I have huge respect for Microsoft Quantum. They likely spent months analysing dozens of devices to find a single reasonable looking few millisecond of signal.
It's like repeatedly trying to find Jesus in your toast, but with a billion dollar toaster and a village worth of electricity.
It's like repeatedly trying to find Jesus in your toast, but with a billion dollar toaster and a village worth of electricity.
Microsoft Quantum's preprint out tonight is a masterclass in cherry picking. The whole claim focuses on a single device, a single data run, & a single peak in a sea of data similar in size to their claimed noise floor (red region)
How much electricity was wasted finding this peak in a sea of noise?
How much electricity was wasted finding this peak in a sea of noise?
July 11, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Microsoft Quantum's preprint out tonight is a masterclass in cherry picking. The whole claim focuses on a single device, a single data run, & a single peak in a sea of data similar in size to their claimed noise floor (red region)
How much electricity was wasted finding this peak in a sea of noise?
How much electricity was wasted finding this peak in a sea of noise?
Congratulations to my Master’s project students Jacob, Sam, and Walter on graduating today. Congratulations also to all of our @physastrostand.bsky.social graduates!
June 30, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Congratulations to my Master’s project students Jacob, Sam, and Walter on graduating today. Congratulations also to all of our @physastrostand.bsky.social graduates!
Very minor annoyance on my daily commute: Calling the bus route 787 but using a picture of an Airbus A340 🙄
June 16, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Very minor annoyance on my daily commute: Calling the bus route 787 but using a picture of an Airbus A340 🙄