Quantum superstars gather in Paris for the IYQ 2025 opening ceremony

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Hello, and welcome to the Physics World weekly

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podcast. I'm Hamish Johnston.

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In this episode, I'm in conversation

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with my Physics World colleague, Matin Durrani,

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who is back from Paris

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where he attended the star studded opening ceremony

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of the twenty twenty five

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International Year of Quantum Science and Technology

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or IYQ.

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Hi, Matin.

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Welcome to the podcast, and welcome back from

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France.

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Hello, Hamish. Great to be back.

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So,

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I mean, in my intro, I said that

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you were there for the, international year of

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quantum science and technology,

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the opening ceremony. Can you tell us a

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bit about that international year? Why why were

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people there in Paris

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celebrating?

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Well, this year is the International Year of

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Quantum Science Technology. And the reason for the,

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year being declared that because,

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it's a hundred years since Werner Heisenberg

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invented

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quantum mechanics on the island of Helgoland

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in June

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1925.

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And to celebrate that centenary and all the

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wonderful things that quantum science and technology can

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do,

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the United Nations has declared this year to

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be IYQ,

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and

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UNESCO, which is the,

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United Nations educational,

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cultural scientific and cultural organization, has the headquarters

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in Paris. And whenever they have one of

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these international years, they always, as far as

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I understand, kick off with a big event

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at the headquarters in Paris in, the French

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capital.

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I see. And and

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Helgoland,

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for for listeners who don't know where Helgoland

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is, that's a small island

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off the coast of Germany, isn't it, in

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the North Sea? And Heisenberg was there,

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on a holiday,

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sort of fleeing pollen

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because he has a he has a very

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bad allergy, didn't he? And when when he

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was there, he had a

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a revelation about

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using matrices and vectors,

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to describe the the mathematics of of quantum

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physics. And and that's sort of where it

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all kicked off, isn't it? Yeah. That's right.

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So going back a hundred years, he was

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a Heisenberg was a postdoc at the time,

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in Gottingen

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and under Max Born. And he had this

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suffered from very bad hay fever and, you

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know, he wanted to go to this island

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and asked for two weeks leave from Born,

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hoping to get away from,

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the,

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where he was and get some clear air

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to clear his mind and clear his allergies.

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And he went there to this island, got

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a boat there.

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I'm I'm still not sure why he went

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there. I guess it's a sort of lovely

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remote place with the North Sea winds being

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nice and bracing. And it was during that

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two week spell on the island that he,

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came up with this, quantum mechanics. And when

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he got back to Gottingen, he then, fired

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off a paper,

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which was published later that year, and that

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is the hook for the centenary. And,

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I mean, there there had this be obviously,

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Max Planck had been the sort of person

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who sort of started the idea of quantum

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physics, but he didn't really quite believe in

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it. It was like,

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you know, he thought that was a sort

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of, a get around. He didn't really like

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it. But it was really Heisenberg who, you

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know, came up with a proper formulation

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for quantum mechanics, a mathematical framework.

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And then later it was Schrodinger who invented

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wave mechanics, which was sort of the same

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kind of thing. So, yeah, going back a

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hundred years. So Helgerland is that little island,

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off the coast of Germany.

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Right. And, so so can you give us

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an idea of the venue, this UNESCO venue?

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I mean, you you you've written about it

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for Physics World, and it looks very glitzy.

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You've got some fantastic photographs that you've taken

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of, what looked like a huge auditorium

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packed with, dignitaries.

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Is that,

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what was the vibe like?

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Well, the headquarters is, in Paris, so southwest

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of the city center quite near to the

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Eiffel Tower,

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a very smart neighborhood.

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You got the Boulevard Pasta,

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is the one that connects the hotel I

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was staying at to where we were. And

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it's a big sixties building, quite grand,

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and you can see the Eiffel Tower, you

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know, nearby.

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And,

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when you actually get past the security, and

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they're quite tight with,

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security

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people, they found my toothbrush set off the

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alarm, so that I managed to get that.

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My electric toothbrush is in my bag. Toothbrush

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is in my bag.

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You got in, and then once you're in,

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there's a big a big Hall Congress Hall

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where the main event happened on the on

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the first day. And and once you're in,

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it's it was kind of like a scientific

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conference, and I know Peter Knight who's

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from Imperial College London. He's a very big,

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figure in UK Quantum Physics, helped to organize

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much of the program for that first day.

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So once you were in there, it was,

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you know, like a, you know, a big,

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scientific conference with, some, you know, big dignitaries

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opening the day. And,

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actually, Anne Louwelier,

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who won the Nobel Prize in 2023,

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gave the the first plenary talk of the

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morning. So,

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it In fact, there were four Nobel Laureates

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there, which was nice to see. Yeah. That's

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pretty impressive. And I think there were more

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than 800 other people who were there. So

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can can you give us a feel? Was

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it for for who those people were? Was

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it mostly physicists? Were were was it big

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name physicists, people that you recognized?

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Were there some

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government,

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people there, some politicians?

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Who who who who was there? Well, you

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had people from UNESCO who are the people

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backing the year. You had

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government officials, I think. You had, yeah, obviously,

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some scientists were there. You had people from

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the organizations who were the so have been

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sponsoring the international year. So the Institute of

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Physics, the American Physical Society,

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the German Physical Society.

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You had some companies there. There were a

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lot of big tech companies involved in quantum

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tech, so they were there as well.

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And I think the event was actually open

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to members of the public. How many people

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actually came in, I don't know. But they

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it was open to the public as well.

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Right. So as as long as you didn't

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turn up with your electric toothbrush,

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they'd let you in. Yeah. So you you

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mentioned four Nobel laureates.

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Who who who were they? You mentioned one

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already. And and and, you know, what

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what did they say? What was their, what

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was their pitch about, about Quantum and why

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we should be celebrating it this year?

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Well, the other two were Alan Aspect, who's

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French, and Sergei Roche, and they were taking

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part in various panel debates.

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The one that really interested me was,

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William Phillips,

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who won the Nobel Prize in, I think,

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'97

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for his work on laser cooling.

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And he, you know, he must be, I

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think, in his mid seventies,

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but still really active and gave a brilliant

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talk,

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really, really very interesting about this sort of

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history of quantum physics.

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And,

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he's such a sort of modest person. He

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said I think he'd been bigged up by

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the person introducing him as one of the

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greatest minds in quantum physics. And he said,

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oh, well, I'm not sure about that, but

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I I have done one or two experiments.

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They're not just one or two experiments. Some

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of you know, he's incredible experimentalist. And he,

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you know, he's got this lovely voice that,

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you could listen I could listen to for

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ages, and he did a really, really good,

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lecture. The only problem with it, Ham, is

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you won't like this. It was in Comic

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Sans. Some of the some of the fonts

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he chose, but I'll I'll let that slip.

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Right. Right. Is is is that a, is

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that a nod to the current is it

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the DG of,

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of CERN? I think it was Fabiola Gianotti

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who,

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was mocked once for using Comic Sans.

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I don't know about that. I I should

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say I don't know about mocking her. I

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think, you know, you should be able to

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use whatever font

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you you wish. I'd say it wasn't the

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only font he used, but I think it

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did rattle me a little bit that he

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chose Comic Sans, so I'll let him off

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the hook on that. But, yeah, he he

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gave, you know, a really wonderful,

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wonderful talk, that was, you know, well received,

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I think.

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And, you you also mentioned some business people.

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I mean,

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quantum technology is sort of a burgeoning sector

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at the moment. There's lots of investment going

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into it,

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both in big companies like Google and IBM,

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and there's lots of startups making, I you

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know, anything from quantum sensors to quantum computers.

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What, who who is there representing

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companies, and what what did they have to

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say about,

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quantum technology?

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Well, there was this panel session hosted by,

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someone you've talked to, Hamish, on the podcast,

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Celia Mertzbacher, who's,

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she's executive director of a of an organization

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called the Quantum Economic Development Consortium, which has

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lots of industry members.

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So she had a there was a panel

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session that she chaired with various people from,

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firms like,

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I'm just checking who it was, Cuera,

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Continuum,

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ID Quantique,

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which is one of the earliest firms actually

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set up almost a quarter of a century

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ago. They're very much from the pioneer set

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up in Switzerland.

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And there was,

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Krista Soarer from Microsoft who I know we've

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talked to on the podcast before.

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And there was a someone called Alexander Ling

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who is from the National University of Singapore

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and has set up a couple of start

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ups. So some really big names in there,

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talking about the opportunities for,

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people in that sector. And it's a real

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burgeoning area with things moving really fast, a

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lot of job opportunities in it.

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And and and what was the buzz? I

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mean, I know that, you know, I've been

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to a few meetings,

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in London that sort of focus on the

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business side of quantum.

270
00:09:50,205 --> 00:09:52,365
And, you know, although there's there's lots of,

271
00:09:52,365 --> 00:09:54,625
well, for lack of a better word, hype,

272
00:09:55,620 --> 00:09:57,079
there's also talk about,

273
00:09:57,779 --> 00:10:00,440
you know, not bigging things up too much,

274
00:10:01,059 --> 00:10:02,819
you know, trying to avoid a a a

275
00:10:02,819 --> 00:10:05,240
sort of a boom and bust in quantum

276
00:10:05,299 --> 00:10:07,485
technology. Was that a thing that people were

277
00:10:07,725 --> 00:10:10,445
talking about, or was it all positive? I

278
00:10:10,445 --> 00:10:12,365
know Peter Knight, for example, who you mentioned

279
00:10:12,365 --> 00:10:15,404
is, you know, very big on not bigging

280
00:10:15,404 --> 00:10:18,044
up quantum too much. Yeah. It's a tricky

281
00:10:18,044 --> 00:10:19,985
one, isn't it, Hamish? Because we know that,

282
00:10:20,710 --> 00:10:22,309
you know, there's another international year going on

283
00:10:22,309 --> 00:10:24,250
at the moment about glacier preservation.

284
00:10:24,870 --> 00:10:26,389
And the kind of theme of that is

285
00:10:26,389 --> 00:10:28,789
let's not let the glaciers melt. And it's

286
00:10:28,789 --> 00:10:31,190
kind of a really obvious target. And the

287
00:10:31,190 --> 00:10:33,590
trouble with quantum science and technology is, well,

288
00:10:33,590 --> 00:10:35,850
what is the actual thing that we're celebrating?

289
00:10:36,365 --> 00:10:37,725
Because if you the danger is if you

290
00:10:37,725 --> 00:10:40,444
overhype it and promise the earth, that that

291
00:10:40,444 --> 00:10:42,225
can, you know, sound a bit

292
00:10:42,764 --> 00:10:44,845
extreme, a bit ridiculous. On the other hand,

293
00:10:44,845 --> 00:10:45,725
if you make the,

294
00:10:46,125 --> 00:10:48,444
benefits of it too, if you minimize them,

295
00:10:48,444 --> 00:10:50,524
it doesn't sound very exciting. So it's trying

296
00:10:50,524 --> 00:10:52,399
to get that get that balance right.

297
00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:54,960
One of the themes that was people talked

298
00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:57,600
about was the the digital divide. You don't

299
00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:00,019
want to you don't want quantum science

300
00:11:00,399 --> 00:11:02,720
to only be the preserve of countries that

301
00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:03,460
can afford

302
00:11:03,919 --> 00:11:05,620
to take advantage of it and leaving

303
00:11:06,245 --> 00:11:07,144
countries in

304
00:11:07,845 --> 00:11:10,105
what we know is the global south,

305
00:11:10,884 --> 00:11:12,725
behind. And I think that was a sort

306
00:11:12,725 --> 00:11:13,845
of theme of it, that we want the

307
00:11:13,845 --> 00:11:16,164
whole world to benefit from this, from what's

308
00:11:16,164 --> 00:11:18,485
going on. Yeah. I think, I think you

309
00:11:18,485 --> 00:11:20,325
mentioned in the in the article that you

310
00:11:20,325 --> 00:11:21,544
read about your visit

311
00:11:22,110 --> 00:11:22,590
that,

312
00:11:22,990 --> 00:11:24,289
there was a representative

313
00:11:24,830 --> 00:11:27,169
representative of the Ghanaian government,

314
00:11:27,629 --> 00:11:28,129
someone,

315
00:11:28,550 --> 00:11:30,370
I think his name is Safas

316
00:11:30,830 --> 00:11:31,809
Ajay Mensah,

317
00:11:32,350 --> 00:11:34,769
and he, he he gave a talk,

318
00:11:35,230 --> 00:11:35,950
at at the,

319
00:11:36,745 --> 00:11:37,565
at the opening

320
00:11:37,945 --> 00:11:39,004
just about that.

321
00:11:39,545 --> 00:11:41,304
You know, let's make sure that this is

322
00:11:41,384 --> 00:11:44,585
this isn't only something for rich countries who

323
00:11:44,585 --> 00:11:45,644
can afford

324
00:11:46,745 --> 00:11:50,524
developing quantum technologies and can afford, educating people

325
00:11:51,129 --> 00:11:52,889
about quantum, that it has to be something

326
00:11:52,889 --> 00:11:55,529
that's shared around the world. What what what

327
00:11:55,529 --> 00:11:56,429
was he saying?

328
00:11:56,809 --> 00:11:58,169
Yeah. That was very much a theme of

329
00:11:58,169 --> 00:11:59,850
his he was gave some of the opening

330
00:11:59,850 --> 00:12:01,529
remarks on the first day. And I think

331
00:12:01,529 --> 00:12:03,529
the thing about UNESCO is that all these

332
00:12:03,529 --> 00:12:06,444
international years, they have to definitely benefit the

333
00:12:06,444 --> 00:12:08,684
whole world. And I know it was Ghana,

334
00:12:08,684 --> 00:12:10,064
which was the country he represents,

335
00:12:10,605 --> 00:12:11,824
were the people who,

336
00:12:12,605 --> 00:12:14,524
you know, led the draft resolution to the

337
00:12:14,524 --> 00:12:16,924
United Nations Council. And I think the UN

338
00:12:16,924 --> 00:12:18,845
is very keen that these international years shouldn't

339
00:12:18,845 --> 00:12:20,699
just be the preserve of the rich nations,

340
00:12:20,699 --> 00:12:23,019
that they have to be supported by everyone.

341
00:12:23,259 --> 00:12:25,039
And there were other speakers from across,

342
00:12:25,659 --> 00:12:27,899
the continent of Africa saying that, you know,

343
00:12:27,899 --> 00:12:29,819
Africa has got I think a quarter of

344
00:12:29,819 --> 00:12:31,600
its population is 25,

345
00:12:31,659 --> 00:12:33,419
and there are all these talented people that,

346
00:12:33,419 --> 00:12:35,694
you know you know, let's not let them

347
00:12:35,694 --> 00:12:38,735
fall behind in, you know, exciting developments in

348
00:12:38,735 --> 00:12:41,074
quantum science and technology. So it was definitely,

349
00:12:42,254 --> 00:12:44,014
and as if you're in UNESCO, you see

350
00:12:44,014 --> 00:12:45,855
all the flags of the world flying outside.

351
00:12:45,855 --> 00:12:48,690
It's very much an international and global

352
00:12:49,149 --> 00:12:52,029
year. That's something they're very, very, very keen

353
00:12:52,029 --> 00:12:54,610
to underline with any of these international years.

354
00:12:54,669 --> 00:12:56,269
Mhmm. I mean, I suppose it is a

355
00:12:56,269 --> 00:12:57,250
tough one because,

356
00:12:57,870 --> 00:12:59,629
you know, a lot of quantum science and

357
00:12:59,629 --> 00:13:00,129
technology

358
00:13:00,509 --> 00:13:02,210
relies on some pretty

359
00:13:02,865 --> 00:13:03,365
expensive,

360
00:13:03,985 --> 00:13:05,365
up to date equipment,

361
00:13:06,384 --> 00:13:08,544
that you tend to find in, you know,

362
00:13:09,184 --> 00:13:10,865
in richer countries. So,

363
00:13:11,424 --> 00:13:13,665
I suppose it, you know, it it it

364
00:13:13,665 --> 00:13:15,024
would be difficult to,

365
00:13:15,959 --> 00:13:17,559
to to, you know, to to make sure

366
00:13:17,559 --> 00:13:19,480
that people in in, the rest of the

367
00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:20,539
world have access.

368
00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:23,240
I I suppose maybe with, you know, sort

369
00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:25,480
of learning about quantum mechanics and the theory

370
00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:27,240
side of things, may you know, maybe it's

371
00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:28,379
a bit easier

372
00:13:28,679 --> 00:13:31,179
to glow go global with it. But,

373
00:13:31,754 --> 00:13:33,355
you know, it is a challenge when you

374
00:13:33,355 --> 00:13:34,415
need a very expensive

375
00:13:35,115 --> 00:13:36,254
cryogenic system.

376
00:13:37,115 --> 00:13:39,434
You know, it would be difficult for people

377
00:13:39,434 --> 00:13:41,674
in a country like Ghana to to afford

378
00:13:41,674 --> 00:13:42,174
that.

379
00:13:42,475 --> 00:13:44,394
Yeah. And it's definitely not like, you know,

380
00:13:44,394 --> 00:13:45,990
if you compare it to particle physics physics

381
00:13:45,990 --> 00:13:48,169
where which is also, well, probably more expensive,

382
00:13:48,230 --> 00:13:50,330
but you have access to these central facilities

383
00:13:50,870 --> 00:13:52,710
where people can go to it or you've

384
00:13:52,710 --> 00:13:54,789
got the Sesame synchrotron in The Middle East,

385
00:13:54,789 --> 00:13:57,049
so big science can take advantage of sharing

386
00:13:57,110 --> 00:13:59,429
the costs in central facilities. Yeah. That is

387
00:13:59,429 --> 00:14:01,774
a problem with with quantum science and technology.

388
00:14:01,774 --> 00:14:04,195
It can get expensive. But I suppose software

389
00:14:04,254 --> 00:14:06,495
is free. There's not free, but it's cheap

390
00:14:06,495 --> 00:14:07,154
to develop,

391
00:14:07,535 --> 00:14:09,695
in terms of equipment. So that that could

392
00:14:09,695 --> 00:14:11,394
be an area. But, yeah, that was definitely

393
00:14:11,615 --> 00:14:13,875
a big theme, the, this so called

394
00:14:14,269 --> 00:14:17,070
digital divide, quantum divide, making sure that's not

395
00:14:17,070 --> 00:14:17,889
opened up.

396
00:14:18,509 --> 00:14:19,870
I mean, I suppose, you know, at the

397
00:14:19,870 --> 00:14:21,790
end of the day, that's, that that's sort

398
00:14:21,790 --> 00:14:23,330
of a moral issue

399
00:14:24,029 --> 00:14:24,529
surrounding,

400
00:14:25,070 --> 00:14:28,029
quantum technology and making sure everybody has access

401
00:14:28,029 --> 00:14:30,824
to it. But there there are other moral

402
00:14:30,824 --> 00:14:32,445
issues, I think, that were discussed

403
00:14:33,065 --> 00:14:33,304
at,

404
00:14:34,024 --> 00:14:35,704
at the opening. Can can you give us

405
00:14:35,704 --> 00:14:37,945
flavor for those? Yeah. The second day had

406
00:14:37,945 --> 00:14:40,024
two sessions on the ethics of quantum science

407
00:14:40,024 --> 00:14:42,105
and technology. And to be honest, some of

408
00:14:42,105 --> 00:14:43,519
the language went over a bit of my

409
00:14:43,519 --> 00:14:46,000
head. They kept talking about normative models, and

410
00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:47,759
I I don't really understand what they were

411
00:14:47,759 --> 00:14:49,919
talking about. But I think, yeah, there were

412
00:14:49,919 --> 00:14:52,419
these ethical concerns that we shouldn't let,

413
00:14:53,759 --> 00:14:55,600
things run away with ourselves, you know. And

414
00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:58,579
the comparison was drawn with artificial intelligence where

415
00:14:58,684 --> 00:15:00,684
once the genie's out the bag, you don't

416
00:15:00,684 --> 00:15:02,524
know what you've unleashed till it's happened, and

417
00:15:02,524 --> 00:15:05,004
you wanna make sure that concerns are raised

418
00:15:05,004 --> 00:15:07,565
well in advance of them them happening. But

419
00:15:07,565 --> 00:15:08,764
it's a yeah. It's a tricky thing, and

420
00:15:08,764 --> 00:15:11,184
there were people like lawyers and ethical experts.

421
00:15:11,245 --> 00:15:12,764
And, some of the language, like I say,

422
00:15:12,764 --> 00:15:15,350
Hamish, it kind of confused me what exactly

423
00:15:15,350 --> 00:15:16,170
they were saying,

424
00:15:16,950 --> 00:15:18,230
but I I'm aware that it was a

425
00:15:18,309 --> 00:15:19,990
you know, they definitely gave quite a big

426
00:15:19,990 --> 00:15:21,769
focus to that on the second day.

427
00:15:22,309 --> 00:15:24,149
I mean, one, you you know, sort of

428
00:15:24,149 --> 00:15:26,230
ethical issue I can think of, and, you

429
00:15:26,230 --> 00:15:28,070
know, maybe this is for for the future,

430
00:15:28,070 --> 00:15:30,565
but, you know, in principle, I suppose a

431
00:15:30,565 --> 00:15:32,985
a quantum computer could be used to break

432
00:15:33,445 --> 00:15:36,584
a conventional crypto cryptography system.

433
00:15:36,884 --> 00:15:38,644
And so you can imagine, you know, a

434
00:15:38,644 --> 00:15:40,105
sort of quantum divide

435
00:15:40,644 --> 00:15:42,004
between countries that,

436
00:15:42,929 --> 00:15:43,669
can crack

437
00:15:43,970 --> 00:15:45,429
other countries' conventional,

438
00:15:46,529 --> 00:15:51,009
cryptography systems and also have access to quantum

439
00:15:51,009 --> 00:15:53,190
cryptography systems that maybe others

440
00:15:53,570 --> 00:15:55,570
don't have access to. You could see a

441
00:15:55,570 --> 00:15:57,904
a real sort of security divide

442
00:15:58,285 --> 00:16:00,924
developing in terms of countries that have gone

443
00:16:00,924 --> 00:16:03,085
quantum because they can afford to do it,

444
00:16:03,085 --> 00:16:04,705
and maybe some countries

445
00:16:05,325 --> 00:16:06,065
who can't.

446
00:16:06,524 --> 00:16:09,325
I mean, was there any discussion about that,

447
00:16:09,325 --> 00:16:11,879
or was it a bit more general? No.

448
00:16:11,879 --> 00:16:13,240
It's definitely that kind of thing. I mean,

449
00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:15,559
you're reminding me of things like chat g

450
00:16:15,559 --> 00:16:16,840
p t. You know, you can pay for

451
00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:18,279
you have the free version, but there's a

452
00:16:18,279 --> 00:16:19,720
version that you can pay for where you

453
00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:20,860
get better answers.

454
00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:22,759
And I think that's the concern that if

455
00:16:22,759 --> 00:16:24,519
people don't have the money to afford the

456
00:16:24,519 --> 00:16:27,285
better stuff, they don't get as high quality

457
00:16:27,345 --> 00:16:30,384
results and and, application of the quantum tech

458
00:16:30,384 --> 00:16:31,985
as other people. So I think that was

459
00:16:31,985 --> 00:16:33,684
definitely that was definitely the concern.

460
00:16:34,705 --> 00:16:37,024
And I and I suppose in general, there's

461
00:16:37,024 --> 00:16:38,644
just, you know, if if if

462
00:16:39,100 --> 00:16:42,700
quantum computers can indeed be used to to

463
00:16:42,700 --> 00:16:43,919
solve very

464
00:16:44,379 --> 00:16:45,360
important problems,

465
00:16:45,980 --> 00:16:49,259
then you want everybody to to benefit from

466
00:16:49,259 --> 00:16:52,160
that. You you know, you you not just,

467
00:16:52,485 --> 00:16:55,205
I don't know, rich corporations who can afford

468
00:16:55,205 --> 00:16:57,225
it, or rich big countries

469
00:16:57,524 --> 00:16:59,284
who can afford to have their own quantum

470
00:16:59,284 --> 00:17:02,325
computers. You want everybody to benefit from, I

471
00:17:02,325 --> 00:17:05,464
don't know, the application of quantum computers to

472
00:17:06,150 --> 00:17:09,509
dealing with climate change or creating better materials

473
00:17:09,509 --> 00:17:11,349
for batteries, etcetera. You want,

474
00:17:11,990 --> 00:17:13,529
you want access to that.

475
00:17:13,830 --> 00:17:14,230
So,

476
00:17:14,869 --> 00:17:16,950
yeah. Yeah. I mean, I suppose it could

477
00:17:16,950 --> 00:17:18,710
be it could be difficult in the end

478
00:17:18,710 --> 00:17:21,184
to to have an equitable system. But, I

479
00:17:21,184 --> 00:17:22,384
mean, it's good to hear that,

480
00:17:22,945 --> 00:17:24,945
that people were talking about and thinking about

481
00:17:24,945 --> 00:17:27,025
it already. Yeah. I mean, I don't wanna

482
00:17:27,025 --> 00:17:28,465
be get paint the impression that the event

483
00:17:28,465 --> 00:17:30,865
was all really purely serious. There were some

484
00:17:30,865 --> 00:17:33,505
quite fun moments. They had, on stage, they

485
00:17:33,505 --> 00:17:34,164
have this

486
00:17:35,460 --> 00:17:38,819
French electro music duo called Doppel Handle, which

487
00:17:38,819 --> 00:17:42,019
I wasn't expecting. So between speakers, this, these

488
00:17:42,019 --> 00:17:43,720
two this duo, a man and a woman,

489
00:17:43,859 --> 00:17:45,940
started playing some very loud music, which I'm

490
00:17:45,940 --> 00:17:47,859
not sure some of the delegates what they

491
00:17:47,859 --> 00:17:49,380
made of it. But that was quite exciting.

492
00:17:49,380 --> 00:17:51,065
And the the whole stage was lit up

493
00:17:51,065 --> 00:17:53,325
with wonderful sort of green and blue colors

494
00:17:53,345 --> 00:17:55,305
and, you know, that and that was very

495
00:17:55,305 --> 00:17:56,684
memorable. There's a big IYQ

496
00:17:57,065 --> 00:17:58,445
logo on the stage

497
00:17:58,904 --> 00:18:00,825
in the corner, which was fun. And there

498
00:18:00,825 --> 00:18:02,730
was a I should also mention one of

499
00:18:02,950 --> 00:18:05,109
the there was a little art art display

500
00:18:05,109 --> 00:18:06,869
there, and and there was a guy who

501
00:18:06,869 --> 00:18:07,609
had a

502
00:18:07,990 --> 00:18:08,970
a a sort of wonderful

503
00:18:10,390 --> 00:18:12,649
mosaic of well, he said there were doorknobs,

504
00:18:12,789 --> 00:18:15,109
those springy little things that you have to

505
00:18:15,109 --> 00:18:17,595
stop a door open. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I

506
00:18:17,595 --> 00:18:20,174
remember being fascinated by those as a kid

507
00:18:20,315 --> 00:18:22,315
and, you know, sort of springing them, and

508
00:18:22,315 --> 00:18:23,914
then they'd fly off, and I'd be in

509
00:18:23,914 --> 00:18:26,075
big trouble for knocking it off the wall.

510
00:18:26,075 --> 00:18:27,595
Yeah. Well, no. He had a shedload of

511
00:18:27,595 --> 00:18:29,674
those which he'd sort of wired up. And

512
00:18:29,674 --> 00:18:32,075
so each if you plucked one of them,

513
00:18:32,075 --> 00:18:33,809
it lit up, and and then a sort

514
00:18:33,809 --> 00:18:35,650
of set of lights would sort of cascade

515
00:18:35,650 --> 00:18:38,130
across this big mosaic, which is perhaps three

516
00:18:38,130 --> 00:18:39,589
meters by two meters.

517
00:18:39,970 --> 00:18:41,809
And it was meant to show how things

518
00:18:41,809 --> 00:18:42,710
have superposition

519
00:18:43,009 --> 00:18:46,150
entanglement and So they coupled coupled harmonic oscillators?

520
00:18:46,210 --> 00:18:47,970
Because I'd imagine if you put a few

521
00:18:47,970 --> 00:18:50,264
of those on a on a table and

522
00:18:50,264 --> 00:18:53,244
you sort of got one going, they would

523
00:18:53,384 --> 00:18:56,024
vibrate in sympathy? Or Yes. Something like that.

524
00:18:56,024 --> 00:18:57,304
To be honest, I'd to be honest, I

525
00:18:57,304 --> 00:18:58,744
have no idea what what what it was

526
00:18:58,744 --> 00:19:00,345
about. But it was certainly got people attracted,

527
00:19:00,345 --> 00:19:01,865
and people went up and started flicking it.

528
00:19:01,865 --> 00:19:03,789
And he did he did explain to me,

529
00:19:04,110 --> 00:19:05,549
but I I didn't understand what he was

530
00:19:05,549 --> 00:19:07,150
saying. And I I've I've got his business

531
00:19:07,150 --> 00:19:08,590
card, so I was gonna get in touch

532
00:19:08,590 --> 00:19:10,110
and ask him to explain. We should get

533
00:19:10,110 --> 00:19:11,869
him on the podcast, actually, Hamish, and get

534
00:19:11,869 --> 00:19:13,710
him to get him to explain it because

535
00:19:13,710 --> 00:19:15,470
he was very engaging. And he he had

536
00:19:15,470 --> 00:19:17,404
this display, which I think he'd he'd made

537
00:19:17,404 --> 00:19:19,085
a few years ago, and he transports it

538
00:19:19,085 --> 00:19:19,744
to various,

539
00:19:20,285 --> 00:19:21,244
exhibitions. So,

540
00:19:22,605 --> 00:19:25,484
And I think quantum music and quantum art,

541
00:19:25,484 --> 00:19:27,025
that's something that we've explored

542
00:19:27,644 --> 00:19:29,644
a little bit in physics world. I think

543
00:19:29,644 --> 00:19:30,930
it was Phil Ball.

544
00:19:31,809 --> 00:19:32,769
Did he go to a,

545
00:19:33,730 --> 00:19:34,869
a sort of a

546
00:19:36,210 --> 00:19:37,090
a a I don't know what the word

547
00:19:37,090 --> 00:19:39,269
is, a performance of quantum music

548
00:19:39,650 --> 00:19:41,410
in London. Yeah. That's right. It was at

549
00:19:41,410 --> 00:19:43,009
the Goethe Institute a few years ago. In

550
00:19:43,009 --> 00:19:45,444
fact, we had a wonderful feature by Phil

551
00:19:45,444 --> 00:19:46,345
Bawdle about

552
00:19:46,804 --> 00:19:49,765
how quantum computers can play music. So definitely

553
00:19:49,765 --> 00:19:52,085
there's this art science thing going on with

554
00:19:52,085 --> 00:19:52,585
quantum

555
00:19:54,005 --> 00:19:56,164
that, you know, you know, that is part

556
00:19:56,164 --> 00:19:58,940
part part of the mystery of, quantum physics

557
00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:01,080
is is is mysterious and it's exciting for

558
00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:03,400
physicists, but also that mystery really resonates with

559
00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:05,000
the public. And if you can get an

560
00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:07,339
art exhibition that kind of taps into that

561
00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:09,880
and kind of ex explain some of the

562
00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:11,000
the strange things

563
00:20:11,934 --> 00:20:12,974
I mean, one of the things that was

564
00:20:12,974 --> 00:20:13,855
mentioned was that,

565
00:20:14,494 --> 00:20:16,894
UNESCO was this this whole people like to

566
00:20:16,894 --> 00:20:19,375
talk about quantum mechanics as being weird. I

567
00:20:19,375 --> 00:20:20,994
mean, it is weird, but it's also

568
00:20:21,295 --> 00:20:23,615
understandably weird. It's not it can be put

569
00:20:23,615 --> 00:20:25,295
put to good use. So the danger is

570
00:20:25,295 --> 00:20:25,795
that

571
00:20:26,659 --> 00:20:28,579
people talking about it being weird make it

572
00:20:28,579 --> 00:20:29,480
sound like it's

573
00:20:30,339 --> 00:20:32,579
wrong or dodgy or Yeah. Accurate. And of

574
00:20:32,579 --> 00:20:34,819
course, quantum mechanics is brilliant. So is that

575
00:20:34,819 --> 00:20:37,000
is that weirdness being played down

576
00:20:37,380 --> 00:20:38,440
in IYQ?

577
00:20:38,740 --> 00:20:41,115
Is it is weirdness not a theme?

578
00:20:41,575 --> 00:20:43,815
Are we talking about quantum physics as something

579
00:20:43,815 --> 00:20:46,055
that, oh, yeah. We understand it, and we

580
00:20:46,055 --> 00:20:47,015
can harvest it,

581
00:20:47,734 --> 00:20:48,234
to

582
00:20:48,615 --> 00:20:50,934
to do good things, or are we still,

583
00:20:51,095 --> 00:20:53,069
you know, are we still calling it weird?

584
00:20:53,149 --> 00:20:54,750
Well, I mean, it is weird. It is

585
00:20:54,750 --> 00:20:56,909
weird. Get around that. The the weirdness, it

586
00:20:56,909 --> 00:20:58,829
is weird, but it's also really useful and

587
00:20:58,829 --> 00:20:59,549
accurate. So,

588
00:21:00,190 --> 00:21:01,549
you know, that's just the way the world

589
00:21:01,549 --> 00:21:03,549
is, and it's it's quite hard. It's a

590
00:21:03,549 --> 00:21:05,389
subtle concept to say this thing that's really

591
00:21:05,389 --> 00:21:07,255
weird. Well, it's only weird because we, in

592
00:21:07,255 --> 00:21:09,095
our heads, can't get our heads around it,

593
00:21:09,095 --> 00:21:10,714
but it is accurate.

594
00:21:12,054 --> 00:21:13,815
So, yeah, that is that is a challenge

595
00:21:13,815 --> 00:21:15,815
for anyone involved in the year of quantum

596
00:21:15,815 --> 00:21:18,134
this year. And certainly, that exhibition that I

597
00:21:18,134 --> 00:21:19,434
showed, the the art installation

598
00:21:20,054 --> 00:21:21,575
helped. And people were going up to it

599
00:21:21,575 --> 00:21:24,450
and playing with it, and the the simple

600
00:21:24,529 --> 00:21:26,849
the beautiful pink and green lights were attracting

601
00:21:26,849 --> 00:21:27,910
people who could then

602
00:21:28,609 --> 00:21:29,750
pluck these doorknobs.

603
00:21:30,849 --> 00:21:34,309
And this isn't the first international year

604
00:21:34,769 --> 00:21:37,154
grand opening that you've been to, is it?

605
00:21:37,315 --> 00:21:39,154
In I think is it 2015

606
00:21:39,154 --> 00:21:41,955
you went to the international year of light?

607
00:21:41,955 --> 00:21:43,894
Could it have been 2015

608
00:21:44,434 --> 00:21:45,494
that long ago?

609
00:21:45,795 --> 00:21:47,795
You were in Paris with with Peter Knight,

610
00:21:47,795 --> 00:21:48,455
I think.

611
00:21:48,914 --> 00:21:49,650
And so

612
00:21:50,210 --> 00:21:51,570
or maybe not. I don't know if Peter

613
00:21:51,570 --> 00:21:52,930
Knight was there, but, yeah, that is my

614
00:21:52,930 --> 00:21:53,430
second

615
00:21:54,369 --> 00:21:56,210
my second international year. It was the year

616
00:21:56,210 --> 00:21:57,670
of light in 2015.

617
00:21:57,970 --> 00:21:59,910
How do they compare? How do the ceremonies

618
00:22:00,130 --> 00:22:01,009
compare? Is it,

619
00:22:02,294 --> 00:22:04,694
were people just as enthusiastic about light as

620
00:22:04,694 --> 00:22:07,274
they are about quantum mechanics or more enthusiastic?

621
00:22:08,134 --> 00:22:10,134
Certainly, the from what I remember ten years

622
00:22:10,134 --> 00:22:12,694
ago, the the arts and exhibition side of

623
00:22:12,694 --> 00:22:13,674
it was more

624
00:22:14,099 --> 00:22:16,900
extensive. And I think maybe because light is

625
00:22:16,900 --> 00:22:17,960
a simpler concept

626
00:22:18,420 --> 00:22:19,859
to to get across, and there was a

627
00:22:19,859 --> 00:22:21,880
more extensive exhibition. And,

628
00:22:23,220 --> 00:22:25,140
but, yeah, I still remember that International Year

629
00:22:25,140 --> 00:22:25,779
of Light,

630
00:22:26,339 --> 00:22:28,440
the Nobel Prize winning chemist,

631
00:22:28,865 --> 00:22:30,244
Ahmed Zirali, who,

632
00:22:30,945 --> 00:22:32,865
I think moved he was Egyptian born and

633
00:22:32,865 --> 00:22:34,164
moved to The US.

634
00:22:34,465 --> 00:22:35,825
And I remember at the time, he gave

635
00:22:35,825 --> 00:22:37,105
the opening address and,

636
00:22:37,904 --> 00:22:39,285
laughed and said, oh,

637
00:22:39,585 --> 00:22:41,585
he was born in 1492

638
00:22:41,585 --> 00:22:43,904
according to Physics World because we published the

639
00:22:43,904 --> 00:22:45,849
story. Again, got our numbers mixed up. It

640
00:22:45,849 --> 00:22:47,470
had been 1942.

641
00:22:47,529 --> 00:22:48,890
And we'd made that mistake, and I was

642
00:22:48,890 --> 00:22:50,250
really annoyed at the time because he told

643
00:22:50,250 --> 00:22:51,849
the whole audience that, of course, going to

644
00:22:51,849 --> 00:22:54,410
Physics World, he was born in 1492,

645
00:22:54,410 --> 00:22:56,410
and there were these incredible guffaws going through

646
00:22:56,410 --> 00:22:57,710
the audience. But then,

647
00:22:58,085 --> 00:23:00,085
as I always say in such situations, as

648
00:23:00,085 --> 00:23:02,244
Oscar Wilde said, if there's one thing worse

649
00:23:02,244 --> 00:23:04,005
than being talked about, it's not being talked

650
00:23:04,005 --> 00:23:06,404
about. So, I I I let him off

651
00:23:06,404 --> 00:23:06,724
that.

652
00:23:07,605 --> 00:23:09,365
But, yeah, that was the International Year of

653
00:23:09,365 --> 00:23:11,605
Light ten years ago. So I was having

654
00:23:11,605 --> 00:23:12,424
all these flashbacks,

655
00:23:13,769 --> 00:23:15,210
from ten years ago when I was in

656
00:23:15,210 --> 00:23:16,669
that. It was the same venue.

657
00:23:16,970 --> 00:23:18,569
So there are I mean, there are it's

658
00:23:18,569 --> 00:23:20,509
not just light and quantum

659
00:23:20,889 --> 00:23:24,009
physics and technology that that get international years.

660
00:23:24,009 --> 00:23:25,069
There's lots of

661
00:23:25,644 --> 00:23:28,125
international years. I'm, you know, I'm I'm I'm

662
00:23:28,125 --> 00:23:30,365
guessing that there's the international year of the

663
00:23:30,365 --> 00:23:31,325
potato and,

664
00:23:31,964 --> 00:23:34,845
whatever. But, I I suppose my final question

665
00:23:34,845 --> 00:23:37,724
for you, Matin, is if you if you

666
00:23:37,724 --> 00:23:40,305
could have your own international year,

667
00:23:41,099 --> 00:23:43,099
what would you have? I mean, you know,

668
00:23:43,099 --> 00:23:43,599
ideally

669
00:23:43,900 --> 00:23:45,180
physics related, but,

670
00:23:47,019 --> 00:23:48,700
you know, it doesn't have to be physics

671
00:23:48,700 --> 00:23:50,380
related. But, you know, is there is there

672
00:23:50,380 --> 00:23:53,920
another aspect of physics besides quantum and

673
00:23:55,355 --> 00:23:57,515
light that you think would Oh, that's a

674
00:23:57,515 --> 00:23:59,275
good question. Every year? Well, we've had the

675
00:23:59,275 --> 00:24:00,494
international year of astronomy.

676
00:24:00,875 --> 00:24:02,875
We've had the international year of physics. We've

677
00:24:02,875 --> 00:24:05,615
had the international year of the periodic table

678
00:24:05,755 --> 00:24:07,535
and the potatoes you mentioned.

679
00:24:09,049 --> 00:24:10,970
Oh, I don't know. Well, I've always my

680
00:24:10,970 --> 00:24:13,609
my year my specialty was soft matter. So

681
00:24:13,609 --> 00:24:15,609
let's have the intention of soft matter, but

682
00:24:15,609 --> 00:24:16,730
that doesn't really have a ring to it,

683
00:24:16,730 --> 00:24:18,650
does it? I don't know. Maybe that maybe

684
00:24:18,650 --> 00:24:20,429
that's too narrow. Is it a bit fuzzy?

685
00:24:20,730 --> 00:24:21,789
It's a bit fuzzy.

686
00:24:22,890 --> 00:24:25,595
So what's missing? I mean, particle physics would

687
00:24:25,595 --> 00:24:27,514
be a good one. Yeah. Yeah. Does does

688
00:24:27,514 --> 00:24:30,174
it need any more publicity, the particle physics?

689
00:24:32,474 --> 00:24:35,115
Let's go with particle physics. Yeah. Yeah. I

690
00:24:35,115 --> 00:24:37,384
think particle physics is a good one. I

691
00:24:37,384 --> 00:24:39,576
mean, I I, you know, I always thought,

692
00:24:39,576 --> 00:24:41,768
you know, magnetism would be a good one

693
00:24:41,768 --> 00:24:43,960
because, you know, magnetism is, you know, it

694
00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:46,152
it it's still, you know, from a theoretical

695
00:24:46,152 --> 00:24:48,344
point of view, it's still a bit of

696
00:24:48,344 --> 00:24:50,810
a mystery, you know, in terms of, you

697
00:24:50,810 --> 00:24:53,335
know, actually working the theory out. But on

698
00:24:53,335 --> 00:24:55,194
the other hand, it's, you know, it's extraordinarily

699
00:24:55,494 --> 00:24:58,534
useful. You know, magnets are are everywhere. And,

700
00:24:58,534 --> 00:24:59,835
you know, those new magnets,

701
00:25:01,095 --> 00:25:03,034
you know, the incredibly strong ones,

702
00:25:03,335 --> 00:25:05,815
they've, you know, led to a revolution in,

703
00:25:05,815 --> 00:25:07,194
you know, things like drones

704
00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:08,180
and,

705
00:25:09,519 --> 00:25:10,180
you know,

706
00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:12,640
wind generators and things like that, you know,

707
00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:15,539
because they they they're they have such powerful

708
00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:16,980
magnetic fields,

709
00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:20,019
in such a small space. So, you know,

710
00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:22,580
International Year of Magnets and Magnetism,

711
00:25:23,565 --> 00:25:25,244
that could be a good one. I know

712
00:25:25,244 --> 00:25:26,524
there was a push to have the International

713
00:25:26,524 --> 00:25:28,444
Year of Sound in 2018, and I I

714
00:25:28,444 --> 00:25:29,825
think that never went anywhere.

715
00:25:30,365 --> 00:25:31,804
I think maybe they were inspired by the

716
00:25:31,804 --> 00:25:33,085
year of light. They went to the year

717
00:25:33,085 --> 00:25:33,664
of sound.

718
00:25:35,244 --> 00:25:36,605
So that could be another one. But mag

719
00:25:36,684 --> 00:25:38,609
magnets is good. Yeah. And, obviously, magnets are,

720
00:25:38,609 --> 00:25:41,009
you know, hugely important in electric vehicles and

721
00:25:41,009 --> 00:25:42,309
in computing and

722
00:25:43,250 --> 00:25:44,869
yeah. So that would be a good one.

723
00:25:45,329 --> 00:25:47,250
I guess to get a you in such

724
00:25:47,250 --> 00:25:49,109
a year approved, you need to have

725
00:25:49,410 --> 00:25:52,289
lots of political fingers and, you know, know

726
00:25:52,289 --> 00:25:55,205
the right people. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we'll just

727
00:25:55,205 --> 00:25:57,045
do we'll just have to find some Nobel

728
00:25:57,045 --> 00:25:57,785
Prize winners,

729
00:25:58,485 --> 00:25:59,625
you know, in magnetism

730
00:26:00,644 --> 00:26:02,744
and, maybe get them on our side.

731
00:26:03,205 --> 00:26:05,205
Well, thanks for coming on the podcast, Matin,

732
00:26:05,205 --> 00:26:07,045
and, telling us all about your trip to

733
00:26:07,045 --> 00:26:07,500
Paris.

734
00:26:08,059 --> 00:26:10,880
And you can find all of our IYQ

735
00:26:11,180 --> 00:26:13,759
related content on the Physics World website.

736
00:26:14,220 --> 00:26:16,940
Just click on the topics tab at the

737
00:26:16,940 --> 00:26:19,359
top of the web page and then select

738
00:26:19,740 --> 00:26:20,240
quantum.

739
00:26:27,404 --> 00:26:29,244
I'm afraid that's all the time we have

740
00:26:29,244 --> 00:26:30,384
for this week's podcast.

741
00:26:30,684 --> 00:26:33,325
Thanks again to Matin, and a special thanks

742
00:26:33,325 --> 00:26:35,184
to our producer, Fred Isles.

743
00:26:35,759 --> 00:26:37,460
We'll be back again next week.