Chatbots, cybersecurity, quantum computers, NFTs or the rhythmic world of programmed beats - do you want to know what's behind these technologies and how you can use them creatively? Then TechBrunch is just the thing for you! This time, our focus is on quantum computing, with expert insights from the NCCR SPIN. This workshop is open to everyone interested in the technology, and takes place at the Haus der Elektronischen Künste (HEK) in Basel.

Unlike regular computers, quantum computers do not operate using just a long list of zeros and ones but instead casually use several of them simultaneously. This ability to use quantum effects sometimes results in an enormous computational speed increase. Such advantage could help solving problems that would otherwise require lifetimes to crack, such as advanced drug design or efficient resources distribution planning notably beneficial for the environment. However, alongside its marvels lie potential risks, such as compromising data security measures.

In this workshop, Pierre Fromholz of University of Basel's Physics department will introduce fundamental quantum physics concepts like superposition and entanglement. We'll then demystify the workings of quantum computers and even experiment with quantum computing ourselves by trying out quantum image blurring with expert guidance from James Wootton of IBM Research Zurich! We’ll see how images can be expressed as quantum circuits: the basic programming language of quantum computing. Then we’ll use quantum interference effects to manipulate the images, using similar techniques to those utilised by HEK’s current exhibiting artist Libby Heaney.

No prior expertise of any kind is required – just bring your curiosity, and we'll equip you with the basics to infuse these concepts into your creative endeavors, refine your existing knowledge, or simply spark inspiration.

Quantum computing takes center stage in the current exhibition at HEK, titled «Libby Heaney: Quantum Soup». Following the workshop, you're invited to join a guided tour of the exhibition at 3:00 PM, enriched by your newfound understanding of quantum concepts.

More info and registrations on the dedicated page.

Pierre Fromholz

Pierre Fromholz is a french puzzle solving enthusiast that greedily endeavors to riddle out the secret of the Universe. Until then, he is a physicist working on the theory of materials with very exotic properties existing only at very low temperature: when quantum physics reign supreme. Outside of the physics he learns, teaches, shares, and communicates, he is an amateur cocktail maker that does not drink and a bit of a language nerd.  

James Wootton

 Dr habil. James Wootton is a research in the field of quantum computing at IBM Research – Zurich. His current research interests include quantum error correction and the applications of quantum computing to computer games.

He obtained his PhD from the University of Leeds in 2010 with a thesis entitled “Dissecting topological quantum computation”. He then moved to the University of Basel in 2011, and to IBM Research in 2018.

In 2016 he led a citizen science project with a game based on quantum error correction. Inspired by the cloud-based quantum computers provided by IBM Quantum that same year, he has since been dedicated to finding the best ways to put current quantum computing resources into use, for research, education and outreach.

Comic book authors Mathieu Burniat and Laurent Schafer meet EPFL professor Anna Fontcuberta i Morral to discuss quantum physics in comics, based on their respective books Les Mystères du Monde Quantique and Quantix. Together, the three of them will explore the different principles of quantum physics, between theory and representation.

The second part of the meeting invites the authors to take part in graphic challenges based on science: challenges, traps but also very serious questions, no holds barred.

This event is a collaboration with the comic festival BDFIL in Lausanne, taking place from 15-28th April 2024. It is held in French, and will take place on 27.04.2024 at 14h15 at Plateforme 10 - auditorium MCBA, Lausanne, during the comic festival BDFIL.

Image credit: Book cover of “The Mysteries of the Quantum Universe” by Mathieu Burniat and Thibaut Damour.

NCCR SPIN is partnering with the Lausanne comic festival BDFIL to present an illustrated discussion with Prof. Anna Fontcuberta i Morral (EPFL) and Dr. Pierre Fromholz (University of Basel), on the clichés in scientific research! These clichés will be illustrated live by four artists from the Renens-based SPLOTCH! assoctiation: Oriane Masserey, Carine, Lionel Codak Bourquin and Azriel Malacalico.

The event will take place on Saturday, 23. September 2023 in the Aula of the Palais de Rumine in Lausanne at 17h30 during Museum Night, in French.

More information on the Museum Night page.

The Swiss comic book festival BDFIL’s 17th edition will take place in Lausanne between the 1st and the 14th May 2023. As the theme of this year is science in comics, NCCR SPIN collaborates with the festival to organize a public discussion between Laurent Schafer, author of comic books Quantix and Infinix (ed. Dunod) and NCCR SPIN scientists Prof. Anna Fontcuberta i Morral (EPFL) and Pierre Chevalier Kwon (University of Basel).

The discussion will include the representation of (quantum) physics in comics, scientific communication in comics and the impact of science (especially quantum computers) on our society. It will take place on Sunday, May 7th 2023 from 11:00-12:15 at PLATEFORME 10 – Espace Midi. It will be moderated by Marie Le Dantec and will be held in French.

The comic book Quantix and Infinix by Laurent Schafer, ed. Dunod.

About Laurent Schafer and his work

Laurent Schafer has been a journalist for various Swiss magazines and newspapers. In parallel, he worked as a freelance illustrator. Passionate about science, he wrote and drew his first comic book "Quantix, la physique quantique et la relativité en BD", which will be published in 2019 by Dunod. This comic book for the general public weaves the link between the quantum world and our daily lives through the adventures of an ordinary family. Quantix is postfaced by theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli and has been translated into several languages.

Laurent Schafer's second comic book, Infinix, de l'infini cosmique à l'infini quantique, was published at the end of 2021. Michel Mayor, Nobel Prize in Physics, has written the preface. An independent sequel to Quantix, Infinix takes the reader to the farthest reaches of the Universe and to the strange quantum vacuum. Laurent Schafer is currently working on a third volume. As with the first two volumes, Claude-Alain Pillet, professor at the Centre de Physique Théorique de Marseille-Luminy, is the scientific advisor.

About BDFIL

The Lausanne International Comics Festival (BDFIL) is a comics festival organised every year since 2005. Each year it welcomes an average of 80 artists (Swiss and international) and 30,000 visitors. BDFIL takes over the urban wastelands and cultural hotspots of Lausanne, under the magnificent vaults of the Rasude, on the bustling station square, between the illustrious walls of Plateforme 10 and in the lively echoes of the Maison de quartier sous gare.

This year’s guest of honour is comic author Pénélope Bagieu, who famously illustrated the comic book Culottées (in its English version: Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World), a series of surprising and lesser-known portraits of courageous women rejecting cultural norms through the ages and from all over the world.

In the exhibition “Do you have a minute to talk about science?”, 25 artists try to answer the question posed by EPFL and UNIL scientists “What would animals do if they suddenly could control the building materials used by humans?”

The full program of the festival can be downloaded in pdf format.

For the World Quantum Day on the 14th April, QuantumBasel organises a live broadcast to look behind the scenes of Quantum Computing! What are the future developments in Quantum-Computing? How do the new systems look like? What do research intitutes use Quantum-computing for?

The live broadcast will be divided in two sessions covering Europe and the US:

• Session Europe: April 14th, 10 am (CET) featuring live streaming from NCCR SPIN: Spin Qubits in Silicon , University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland FHNW, Weizmann Institute of Science, Università di Bologna. At 10:15, Prof. Dominik Zumbühl from NCCR SPIN will give a short talk from our quantum lab at the University of Basel to introduce you to some quantum experiments!

• Session US/CAN: April 14th, 4 pm (CET) with live streaming from "the holy grail" at IBM in Yorktown NY, Cleveland Clinic, from the datacenter of D-Wave in Canada, from a Quantum-VC in Silicon Valley Plug and Play Tech Center.

This event is open to anyone who would like to know more about Quantum Computing. To watch the live broadcast, please register through this form.

More info on the dedicated page.

NCCR SPIN is organizing an outreach event called “Tinguely Entangled” aimed at the broad public, bringing together visual arts, music and quantum computing. It will take place in the Tinguely Museum in Basel on the 25th March, 2023. It is an audio-visual music performance of about 60 min duration involving music and quantum physics concepts such as entanglement and superposition. NCCR SPIN is partnering with the Basel Infinity Festival to organize the event.

The project brings together some of the intricate Tinguely machines , with a small ensemble of about a dozen musicians positioned all around the machines. The music will be especially composed for this event by the leading contemporary Latvian composer Linda Leimane, around topics that are highly suitable for being 'transformed' into musical language such as Entanglement/Superposition, Coherence, Noise/Sweetspots, Fidelity/Error correction, Echo/Reflectometry, Nanowires/Layers. Five young scientists from the NCCR SPIN will give short interventions around such topics. Visual arts will be designed by Latvian artist Arturs Punte and Italian designer Luca Scarzella. The music event will be followed by an apero where scientists from the NCCR SPIN will interact and engage with interested members of the audience and explain their research individually.

Tickets are already available for purchase via this link.

“Saturday morning physics" is an exciting series of events for people interested in physics - especially for young people aged 14 and over, organized by the University of Basel. The next "Saturday morning physics" event will take place on January 28, 2023 at 10:00 at the Department of Physics, Grosser Hörsaal, entrance St. Johannsring 25, 4056 Basel. Prof. Dr. Andrea Hofmann from NCCR SPIN will talk about "Sand, solar cells and supercomputers". Those who attend this Saturday will receive a "Saturday Morning Physics" diploma and will also participate in a competition. There are T-shirts to be won and an iPad as the grand prize.

Check out the flyer to see the details of the program. If you are interested in attending the event, you can register until 28/01/2023.