The Importance of Staking a Claim in the Quantum Gold Rush: A Personal Journey
The jury is still out on the dynamics that animate the quantum level.
It is assumed, based on the Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, that a quantum-object will exist in a number of superposed states until measured. The act of measurement will cause the quantum-object to collapse into an observable state, and therefore it will be impossible, given today’s science and technology, to know what is happening behind the quantum-veil.
Yet quantum computation assumes knowledge of phenomena behind the quantum-veil, and subsequently that an n-qubit quantum computer can exist in 2^n (2 to the power n) states simultaneously. Further, it is assumed that if these qubits can be entangled, then the combination of the dual properties of superposition and entanglement, will confer quantum computers with extraordinary processing power.
Backed by developments based on such thinking by giants like IBM and Google, expectedly, there has been increasing investment in this notion of quantum computation.
However, if I were to place my bets I would focus rather, on proven observable phenomena as opposed to a supposed view of what may be happening in a fundamentally unobservable realm. I would then use this as a means to extrapolate what may indeed be happening behind the quantum-veil, construct a viable model of how dynamics behind the quantum-veil relate to proven and observable materialized dynamics, and finally, use this accumulated theoretical knowledge as a means to design a quantum computer.
Over the last few years, this, in fact, has been the approach that I have pursued:
- Based on the quaternary architectures of quantum particles, elements in the Periodic Table, and molecular plans in cells, I have extrapolated backward to suggest a quaternary interpretation of what may be happening behind the quantum-veil. This can be thought of as the quaternary interpretation (#quaternaryinterpretation, #qiqm) of quantum mechanics.
- All materialization, after all, must involve leveraging potentiality existing behind the quantum-veil. Further, based on the significance of the constancy of the speed of light in vacuum [1], I have framed a Cosmology of Light (in a set of ten books), to provide a fuller interpretation of quanta, the creativity possible in quantum-level computation, and some implications of that [2], [3]:
3. The Cosmology of Light book series is based on my perception of the mathematical power in light that has progressively developed over the decades. Some aspects of this journey have been encapsulated in a brief TEDxBeaconStreet talk:
4. I have sought to engage more of the academic community within my reach (given that my Ph.D. is not in Physics but in the Management of Technology), through a series of recent IEEE technical paper publications:
a. An Algorithm for the Emergence of Life Based on a Multi-Layered Symmetry-Based Model of Light [4]
b. Light-Based Interpretation of Quanta and Its Implications on Quantum Computing [5]
c. Fourfold Properties of Light and Its Relevance to Quantum Computation [6]
d. Limits of AI as Established by a Multi-Layered Symmetry-Based Model of Light [7]
e. A Light-Based Quantum-Computational Model of Genetics [8]
5. The trail of academic writings related to Cosmology of Light in fact goes back 20 years [9] and has been encapsulated as part of the two Cosmology of Light book series (please also refer to my Google Scholar Profile for a more complete list of publications).
6. Based on the fourfoldness that must exist at the quantum level, and an alternative interpretation of the phenomena of superposition, entanglement, tunneling, and annealing that arises in a Cosmology of Light, I have designed a quantum computer, on paper, and am now in the process of filing a patent for this design, thereby also hopefully contributing to the low but rapidly increasing patents in this field (the illustration at the start of this post is an artistic interpretation of some of the gates and pieces of such a quantum computer).
7. The logic of this quantum computer is based on a unique, quaternary, function-focused mathematics of Light, that I have developed over the course of writing the 10 books on the Cosmology of Light. The quaternary basis sets up common architectural principles across different granularities of matter and life, that therefore adhere to fourfoldness.
I want to emphasize that as we continue to invest billions of dollars in quantum computing to create what Scientific American calls a quantum gold rush [10], and where ambiguous terms like quantum supremacy [11] are being used carelessly to dazzle us with seemingly glorious mountains that even optimistically are not even dirty-little molehills, it becomes all the more important to not assume that one interpretation of what happens behind the quantum veil, is responsible for fueling all this vast richness and possibility materialized before us.
In an MIT Technology Review piece entitled, “Google CEO Sundar Pichai on achieving quantum supremacy”, Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, has compared the spitting out of a string of random numbers by Sycamore, Google’s 53-qubit quantum computer, with the 12-second first flight of the Wright Brothers [12]. The calculation was chosen to show that “Sycamore can work the way a quantum computer should work”. But the 12-second flight happened in a medium (i.e, air) that was intimately understood, and built on countless observable demonstrations of the flight of birds. In contrast, Sycamore has been built without understanding what truly happens behind the quantum-veil but is based on an interpretation as modeled by the Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. The notion of a quantum computer working “the way it should work”, is therefore questionable.
That is why at this stage of our collective quantum computation journey alternative interpretations and resulting quantum computing encapsulations are important and in fact necessary.
If there is a “medium” behind the quantum-veil, it must be such that the materialized quaternary architectures that constitute matter and even life, find their origin in such a medium, and therefore part of understanding such a medium would be understanding how such fourfoldness works. But that, precisely, has been the focus of the 10-book joint Cosmology of Light book series [2], [3].
The following is a mathematical formulation of a fourfold, multi-layered, symmetry-based model of Light that models the “medium”:
If the device I suggest can be fabricated and tested, I propose that it will prove a different way to view quanta, a different way to interpret quantum phenomena, and will lead to a richer understanding of the dynamics behind the quantum-veil. Such an interpretation will have profound and long-lasting results on the science and technology of not only quantum computation [5][6][13], but on the related fields of AI [7][14], genetics [8][15], and transhumanism [16] as well.
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REFERENCES
[1]. Malik, Pravir. April 20, 2020. “The Doorway and Possibilities in a Cosmology of Light”, Medium Blogpost. https://pravirmalik.medium.com/the-doorway-and-possibilities-in-a-cosmology-of-light-d9795ecdf573
[2]. Malik, Pravir. February 22, 2018. “Cosmology of Light: 6-Book Overview”. Medium Blogpost. https://pravirmalik.medium.com/cosmology-of-light-5b2346db55b0
[3]. Malik, Pravir. April 11, 2020. “Applications in Cosmology of Light: 4-Book Overview”, Medium Blogpost. https://pravirmalik.medium.com/applications-in-cosmology-of-light-50e9bebe3937
[4] Malik, Pravir and Pretorius, Leon. “An Algorithm for the Emergence of Life Based on a Multi-Layered Symmetry-Based Model of Light,” 2019 IEEE 9th Annual Computing and Communication Workshop and Conference (CCWC), Las Vegas, NV, USA, 2019, pp. 0034–0041, doi: 10.1109/CCWC.2019.8666554.
[5]. Malik, Pravir. “Light-Based Interpretation of Quanta and its Implications on Quantum Computing,” 2020 10th Annual Computing and Communication Workshop and Conference (CCWC), Las Vegas, NV, USA, 2020, pp. 0719–0726, doi: 10.1109/CCWC47524.2020.9031279.
[6]. Malik, Pravir and Nallamothula, Lalitha. “Fourfold Properties of Light and its Relevance to Quantum Computation,” 2020 11th IEEE Annual Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference (IEMCON), Vancouver, BC, Canada, 2020, pp. 0707–0711, doi: 10.1109/IEMCON51383.2020.9284871.
[7]. Malik, Pravir. “Limits of AI as Established by a Multi-Layered Symmetry-Based Model of Light,” 2020 11th IEEE Annual Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference (IEMCON), Vancouver, BC, Canada, 2020, pp. 0151–0158, doi: 10.1109/IEMCON51383.2020.9284955.
[8]. Malik, Pravir. “A Light-Based Quantum-Computational Model of Genetics,” 2020 IEEE International IOT, Electronics and Mechatronics Conference (IEMTRONICS), Vancouver, BC, Canada, 2020, pp. 1–8, doi: 10.1109/IEMTRONICS51293.2020.9216451.
[9]. Malik, Pravir. November 12, 2020. “The Trail of Cosmology of Light Academic Writings”. Medium Blogpost. https://pravirmalik.medium.com/the-trail-of-cosmology-of-light-academic-writings-cad0692c6332
[10]. Elizabeth Gibney. November 26, 2019. “The Quantum Gold Rush”, Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-quantum-gold-rush/
[11]. John Preskill. October 2, 2019. “Why I Called it Quantum Supremacy”. Quanta Magazine.https://www.quantamagazine.org/john-preskill-explains-quantum-supremacy-20191002/
[12]. Gideon Lichfield. October 23, 2019. “Google CEO Sundar Pichai on achieving quantum supremacy”, MIT Technology Review. https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/10/23/102523/google-ceo-quantum-supremacy-interview-with-sundar-pichai/
[13]. Malik, Pravir. September 2018. The Emperor’s Quantum Computer. Deep Order Technologies. https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Pravir_Malik_The_Emperor_s_Quantum_Computer?id=JICWDwAAQBAJ
[14]. Malik, Pravir. November 2019. The Second Singularity. Deep Order Technologies. https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Pravir_Malik_The_Second_Singularity?id=yOG_DwAAQBAJ
[15]. Malik, Pravir. March 2019. The Origins and Possibilities of Genetics. Deep Order Technologies. https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Pravir_Malik_The_Origins_and_Possibilities_of_Gene?id=MICWDwAAQBAJ
[16]. Malik, Pravir. April 2020. Triumph of Love, Deep Order Technologies. https://play.google.com/store/books/details/PRAVIR_MALIK_Triumph_of_Love?id=nijbDwAAQBAJ
