Will Morong
@wmorong.bsky.social
I'm trying to build a quantum computer in sunny Los Angeles, CA, USA.
I like discussing other people's research papers and ideas. As always, any insights should be credited to the authors themselves, and any misconceptions to me alone.
I like discussing other people's research papers and ideas. As always, any insights should be credited to the authors themselves, and any misconceptions to me alone.
New on arxiv: a group from IBM claim a new record for the largest GHZ state, of 120 qubits* arxiv.org/abs/2510.09520
* terms and conditions (postselection) apply
* terms and conditions (postselection) apply
Big cats: entanglement in 120 qubits and beyond
Entanglement is the quintessential quantum phenomenon and a key enabler of quantum algorithms. The ability to faithfully entangle many distinct particles is often used as a benchmark for the quality o...
arxiv.org
October 13, 2025 at 3:03 AM
New on arxiv: a group from IBM claim a new record for the largest GHZ state, of 120 qubits* arxiv.org/abs/2510.09520
* terms and conditions (postselection) apply
* terms and conditions (postselection) apply
🧪 New blog post: What makes quantum physics special (or "strange" or "weird")? I take a whirlwind tour through 80 years of attempts to pinpoint the answer, from early thought experiments to recent developments inspired by thinking about quantum computers.
wmorong.github.io/wills-blog/b...
wmorong.github.io/wills-blog/b...
What makes quantum physics special?
A brief tour through eighty years of answers (photo credit: one of the most popular images used to abstractly convey quantum physics. original author unknown)
wmorong.github.io
October 5, 2025 at 7:24 PM
🧪 New blog post: What makes quantum physics special (or "strange" or "weird")? I take a whirlwind tour through 80 years of attempts to pinpoint the answer, from early thought experiments to recent developments inspired by thinking about quantum computers.
wmorong.github.io/wills-blog/b...
wmorong.github.io/wills-blog/b...
Reposted by Will Morong
PSA to scientists: Google calculator appears to no longer do basic unit conversion correctly!
n.b. the correct answer here is 223.4 Myr, a factor of about 60 larger than Google's answer.
🔭 🧪
n.b. the correct answer here is 223.4 Myr, a factor of about 60 larger than Google's answer.
🔭 🧪
August 4, 2025 at 3:08 AM
PSA to scientists: Google calculator appears to no longer do basic unit conversion correctly!
n.b. the correct answer here is 223.4 Myr, a factor of about 60 larger than Google's answer.
🔭 🧪
n.b. the correct answer here is 223.4 Myr, a factor of about 60 larger than Google's answer.
🔭 🧪
Why do quantum computers work? Although it's missing some modern developments, I think this twenty-year old (!) article from Steane is still provocative. His answer: entanglement allows them to avoid representing unnecessary intermediate results in some calculations.
arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph...
arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph...
A quantum computer only needs one universe
The nature of quantum computation is discussed. It is argued that, in terms of the amount of information manipulated in a given time, quantum and classical computation are equally efficient. Quantum s...
arxiv.org
July 4, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Why do quantum computers work? Although it's missing some modern developments, I think this twenty-year old (!) article from Steane is still provocative. His answer: entanglement allows them to avoid representing unnecessary intermediate results in some calculations.
arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph...
arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph...
Reposted by Will Morong
Some thoughts on the influence of the late Dan Kleppner and Norman Ramsey on the culture of AMO physics: open.substack.com/pub/chadorze...
Founder Effects in Physics
The legacy of Dan Kleppner and Norman Ramsey
open.substack.com
June 23, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Some thoughts on the influence of the late Dan Kleppner and Norman Ramsey on the culture of AMO physics: open.substack.com/pub/chadorze...
Reposted by Will Morong
As a physics journalist, it is fairly wild to see the names of the PIs with terminated grants: Misha Lukin, Philip Kim, Lisa Randall, Subir Sachdev, John Doyle...
bsky.app/profile/benn...
bsky.app/profile/benn...
That is a lot of physics suddenly canned.
New: We have the list of ~190 Harvard NSF grant terminations from internal agency sources. About $148 million intended funds killed. Over 1/3 are from the MPS directorate—roughly 75 math and physics grants.
May 15, 2025 at 8:54 PM
As a physics journalist, it is fairly wild to see the names of the PIs with terminated grants: Misha Lukin, Philip Kim, Lisa Randall, Subir Sachdev, John Doyle...
bsky.app/profile/benn...
bsky.app/profile/benn...
Can't stop thinking about these lovely pictures of atoms doing their thing from the Zwierlein group. Left: bosons condensing into a Bose-Einstein condensate. Center: fermions avoiding each other. Right: molecules paired up.
May 9, 2025 at 2:18 AM
Can't stop thinking about these lovely pictures of atoms doing their thing from the Zwierlein group. Left: bosons condensing into a Bose-Einstein condensate. Center: fermions avoiding each other. Right: molecules paired up.
One of the finest explainers of quantum physics for the public is, for now, a victim of political suppression.
@mattstrassler.bsky.social
profmattstrassler.com/2025/04/17/b...
@mattstrassler.bsky.social
profmattstrassler.com/2025/04/17/b...
Blog on Indefinite Pause
As the US government pursues massive attacks upon my host institution, it is impossible to continue with my normal activities. The blog will be on pause.
profmattstrassler.com
April 18, 2025 at 2:31 AM
One of the finest explainers of quantum physics for the public is, for now, a victim of political suppression.
@mattstrassler.bsky.social
profmattstrassler.com/2025/04/17/b...
@mattstrassler.bsky.social
profmattstrassler.com/2025/04/17/b...
Reposted by Will Morong
To be clear, one of my major grants is among the 75 stop work orders sent to Cornell yesterday. This means that, as of yesterday, we are not allowed to spend on this grant. The grant funds the work of several graduate students, all of whom are extremely dedicated & doing outstanding research
April 9, 2025 at 10:07 AM
To be clear, one of my major grants is among the 75 stop work orders sent to Cornell yesterday. This means that, as of yesterday, we are not allowed to spend on this grant. The grant funds the work of several graduate students, all of whom are extremely dedicated & doing outstanding research
Reposted by Will Morong
🧪⚛️. This is self-defeating and objectively bad for the country and beyond. www.npr.org/2025/03/26/n...
Trump cuts threaten a measurement lab critical for advanced chips and medical devices
The Atomic Spectroscopy Group provides standardized measurements used across wide swaths of science and industry. The Trump administration plans to cut it.
www.npr.org
March 29, 2025 at 1:16 PM
🧪⚛️. This is self-defeating and objectively bad for the country and beyond. www.npr.org/2025/03/26/n...
This is a super cool story: a problem from quantum physics led to pure math research that led to better bulbs.
A beautiful story of abstract mathematics extending into physics and engineering and resulting in 33% more efficient lighting. Better algorithms were the key, as they usually are, speeding up calculations by 1000x. www.simonsfoundation.org/2025/03/24/t...
These Mathematical Equations Are Slashing America’s Electric Bills
These Mathematical Equations Are Slashing America’s Electric Bills on Simons Foundation
www.simonsfoundation.org
March 29, 2025 at 8:03 PM
This is a super cool story: a problem from quantum physics led to pure math research that led to better bulbs.
Reposted by Will Morong
This is horrible to post, but I may as well post it. We are essentially shutting down research operations in my group, which is focused on treatments for pediatric brain cancer. I’m a well funded investigator, and there’s no choice. Science can’t function without the stability of NIH
March 15, 2025 at 5:32 PM
This is horrible to post, but I may as well post it. We are essentially shutting down research operations in my group, which is focused on treatments for pediatric brain cancer. I’m a well funded investigator, and there’s no choice. Science can’t function without the stability of NIH
I've seen it happen more times that I can count: a physics press release announces the discovery of a "new phase of matter", and the public interprets this as being a bigger deal than it really is. So, I made a short blog post to explain what this actually means:
wmorong.github.io/wills-blog/b...
wmorong.github.io/wills-blog/b...
What is a phase of matter?
And why do you keep hearing that we’ve discovered a new one?
wmorong.github.io
March 2, 2025 at 12:14 AM
I've seen it happen more times that I can count: a physics press release announces the discovery of a "new phase of matter", and the public interprets this as being a bigger deal than it really is. So, I made a short blog post to explain what this actually means:
wmorong.github.io/wills-blog/b...
wmorong.github.io/wills-blog/b...
I doubt that anyone following me needs to be convinced of the importance of basic research, but the details here are fun and fascinating.
Whenever you hear someone sneer about scientific research that seems useless to them — “they’re studying the spit of lizards?!” — remind them that’s exactly how we got Ozempic.
globalnews.ca/news/9793403...
globalnews.ca/news/9793403...
How a Canadian scientist and a venomous lizard helped pave the way for Ozempic - National | Globalnews.ca
In 1984, Dr. Daniel Drucker, an endocrinologist from the University of Toronto, discovered a hormone that helped pave the way for popular diabetes drugs such as Ozempic.
globalnews.ca
February 9, 2025 at 8:13 PM
I doubt that anyone following me needs to be convinced of the importance of basic research, but the details here are fun and fascinating.
Inspired by this post, I'm curious if anyone has suggestions for especially well-written papers.
Here's one I stumbled on recently, on a subject I know almost nothing about, and really enjoyed:
arxiv.org/abs/1903.12621
Here's one I stumbled on recently, on a subject I know almost nothing about, and really enjoyed:
arxiv.org/abs/1903.12621
December 15, 2024 at 8:13 PM
Inspired by this post, I'm curious if anyone has suggestions for especially well-written papers.
Here's one I stumbled on recently, on a subject I know almost nothing about, and really enjoyed:
arxiv.org/abs/1903.12621
Here's one I stumbled on recently, on a subject I know almost nothing about, and really enjoyed:
arxiv.org/abs/1903.12621
I have a soft spot for textbooks that present some aspect of physics in an ideosyncratic or unconventional way. Any I should add?
December 2, 2024 at 4:56 AM
I have a soft spot for textbooks that present some aspect of physics in an ideosyncratic or unconventional way. Any I should add?