General public

Here are some broad audiences journals, articles, interviews and presentations from the Quantum Energy Team. It is organized in themes with quantum thermodynamics, quantum energetics, quantum foundations and quantum technologies in general.

Quantum Thermodynamics

Presentations

• Alexia Auffèves, A short story of quantum thermodynamics, Quantum Science Seminar #46 Université Grenobles Alpes France, April 29th, 2021.

This Seminar is a fast journey through the build-up of quantum thermodynamics, an emerging field at the crossroad between quantum information, quantum open systems and stochastic thermodynamics. Born at the time of industrial revolution to optimize the exploitation of thermal resources, the concepts of thermodynamics have been adapted to small systems where thermal fluctuations are predominant. Extending the framework to quantum fluctuations is a great challenge of quantum thermodynamics, that opens exciting research lines e.g. measurement fueled engines or thermodynamics of driven-dissipative systems. On a more applied side, it provides the tools to optimize the energetic consumption of future quantum computers.

• Alexia Auffèves in the popular talk Quantum energetics: from measurement powered engines to the energetics of quantum technologies on March 13, 2023 at the Institute of Quantum Studies (Chapman University, California)..

Quantum Energetics

Articles

• Alexia Auffèves in the cover feature of “Pour la Science”, February 2023, Thermodynamique – quand ses lois passent à l’échelle quantique with a page on  “Energétique des technologies quantiques” by Alexia Auffèves, Olivier Ezratty and Robert Whitney.

• Alexia Auffèves, Olivier Ezratty et Robert Whitney, Vers des technologies quantiques responsables, Actes du Colloque « Société bas carbone » de la REE, January 2023 (in French).

• Alexia Auffèves and Maud Vinet, Vers un calcul quantique responsable, Science et Vie, September 2022 (in French).
• Alexia Auffèves, Optimiser la consommation énergétique des calculateurs quantiques, un défi interdisciplinaire, Reflets de la Physique, 2021 (in French).

Presentations

• Alexia Auffèves, The energy and environmental challenges of quantum computing, as part of the France Quantum Conference, Paris, Eiffel Tower, June 14h 2022.
• Alexia Auffèves, Quantum Energy Initiative presentation, CQT Colloqium, November 2022.

Quantum Physics

Radio

• Alexia Auffèves with Michel Bitbol, Chérie, j’ai réduit le paquet d’onde in La Méthode Scientifique with Nicolas Martin, France Culture, October 2020 (in French) and its follow-up Chéri, j’ai encore réduit le paquet d’onde in November 2020 (in French).
• Alexia Auffèves with Christophe Jurczak in Épisode 3/3 : Technologies quantiques : et tout s’accélère in La conversation scientifique, France Culture, June 2021 (in French).

Podcast

• Alexia Auffèves with Olivier Ezratty and Fanny Bouton in [DECODE Quantum] Rencontre avec Alexia Auffèves, March 2020 (in French).

Quantum Foundations

Articles

• Alexia Auffèves, Qu’est-ce que le hasard quantique, Carnets de Science du CNRS, 2018 (in French).
• Alexia Auffèves, Qu’est-ce que le hasard quantique, The Conversation, 2017 (in French).
• Alexia Auffèves, Nayla Farouki and Philippe Grangier, Manifeste pour un nouveau réalisme quantique, La Recherche, February 2017 (in French).
• Alexia Auffèves and Philippe Grangier, Comment on Classical selection and quantum Darwinism, Physics Today, May 2015.

Presentations

• Alexia Auffèves, What is quantum in quantum randomness?, Symposium “Concepts of Probability in the Sciences” Part 9, Vienna, 2018. 

A short story of quantumIt is often said that quantum and classical randomness are of different nature, the former being ontological and the latter epistemological. However, so far the question of “What is quantum in quantum randomness”, i.e. what is the impact of quantization and discreteness on the nature of randomness, remains to be answered. In this talk I will first make explicit the differences between quantum and classical randomness within a recently proposed ontology for quantum mechanics based on contextual objectivity. In this view, quantum randomness is the result of contextuality and quantization. I will show that this approach strongly impacts the purposes of quantum theory as well as its areas of application. In particular, it challenges current programs inspired by classical reductionism, aiming at the emergence of the classical world from a large number of quantum systems. In a second part, I will analyze quantum physics and thermodynamics as theories of randomness, unveiling their mutual influences. I will finally consider new technological applications of quantum randomness opened in the emerging field of quantum thermodynamics.