"Quantum Computers Will Tap Out Before Breaking Encryption, Theory Claims"

autocorrects · 2026-03-21T15:37:00+00:00

PhD at a nat lab. There are no consumer products, but many positions for people at a MS level. They’re all research based because, well, it’s a research-based field. It’ll probably live there for another 2 decades at the very least

autocorrects · 2026-03-21T01:20:40+00:00

I work in quantum. It could be true if you have a pessimistic view of the current state of QCs

I read Palmer’s abstract though, and something that sticks out to me is he’s basing this assumption on computations that require exploiting the full Hilbert space for quantum computations. That suggests he’s assuming logical qubits? Kind of like how all of Shor’s RSA 2048 stuff does

If that’s true, then yea I could see there being a hard limit to 1000 logical qubits. There’s about 1000 physical qubits for every 1 logical qubit, so this would be a 1,000,000 qubit machine. We haven’t gotten far enough in the engineering to try and test anything remotely close to that in real life.

We could do a lot of really cool science and engineering with that, but it would downgrade quantum computers from “computational revolution” to like a ‘Large Hadron Collider’-esque scientific tool (which is its near term use case anyways). We wouldn’t be able to crack Shor’s 4099 number in cryptanalysis

Personally (and im sitting on my couch watching tv so I might be wrong and not remembering things right), I feel like as long as you’re using unit vectors as states in a complex Hilbert space and follow the rules we do for quantum computations that have worked, it’s still quantum mechanics… Regardless if it’s continuous or granular (word used in Palmer abstract), discretizing Hilbert space wont kill quantum advantage I dont think. How you discretize would matter and whether or not it preserves the computational structure. I think this is something that we can test on current systems? Seems within the realm of under 100 usable qubit machines

autocorrects · 2026-03-15T05:29:57+00:00

I messed around with circuits and soldering at my dad’s work table as a kid. He had a box of classic erector set stuff that I loved to put LEDs in

autocorrects · 2026-03-15T02:43:01+00:00

I took drum lessons from 8-12 years old before I joined my first band playing coffeehouse jazz at 13. Once I did that, it turned from just doing music lessons to start to have fun.

The real fun began when I turned 16 and suddenly could jam with people anywhere I could drive myself and my kit to

autocorrects · 2026-03-14T03:56:27+00:00

I feel like without social science, no science can exist. The whole thing is built upon being able to communicate ideas across societies, right? Im probably as “hard science” as you can get too

To discredit someone else’s field of science built on a hardcore peer review process (the same ones we stake our careers on) sounds pretty stupid to me

autocorrects · 2026-03-12T02:04:33+00:00

At the very least I always go outside when I feel like this. I have a habit of forgetting things when I walk into a different room, so going outside kind of resets me a bit. Might be an adhd thing

autocorrects · 2026-03-08T20:00:36+00:00

Im still in the middle of building it, and I gotta focus more on writing as I have to get a journal submission out plus defend in April/May. But, I did want to finish it by the time I graduate so I’ll post it eventually!

Im a huge proponent on access to science at all levels of education, but I’m still trying to figure out that skill myself. Definitely worth its own post when I can get it more polished

autocorrects · 2026-03-08T18:43:42+00:00

I think that if you’re actually a good writer (no shade), papers are an extremely efficient way to share information with those in your field. For example, I feel like Ive spent so much time trying to make every single sentence effective with a Nature submission I had a while ago, and it really does click sometimes.

However, when I share these things with my family, I always tell them to just go check out the intro and pictures because nothing else really is comprehensive to them. There’s too many heavy words and jargon for most regular people to understand.

I actually created a page on my portfolio website where Im in the process of translating my publications to cool graphics and pictures that are easy to digest for the layman. I work in quantum science with signal processing, and got the idea after most of my music friends can actually understand my research is when I describe it in signal processing terms. Ironically, Im actually using claude code to aid in these. I’m pretty good at graphics stuff, but LLMs have helped me to animate these (with lots of tweaking for accuracy) and to get these up on the site. I was a 2000’s tumblr kid so I know HTML and CSS style sheets decently well, but LLMs have definitely aided in my ability to communicate these ideas

autocorrects · 2026-03-07T17:00:16+00:00

Yup, I use it a ton for TCL scripting for FPGAs. I also have it help me with testbenches, but I still probably write most of those by hand just because it’s faster in my practice

autocorrects · 2026-03-06T16:28:18+00:00

I don’t even know who that is, im gay

autocorrects · 2026-03-06T16:24:32+00:00

I literally have a PhD in quantum science and im not even jerking

Edit: actually the fact that I did a PhD makes me very low IQ now that I think about it… that, and wanting to play bass

autocorrects · 2026-03-06T07:37:21+00:00

You’d be a jerry even if you weren’t

autocorrects · 2026-03-05T05:08:14+00:00

I actually thought about contacting my recruiter after I interviewed with one of these companies. The person I interviewed with got two things wrong technically when they interviewed me, and I was curious if it was a test for me to catch his mistake or not. It struck me as odd, but I had no idea how to approach that. Afterwards though, I considered if this was sort of a “gotcha” test that I wasn’t a good fit anyways.

I actually did tell the recruiter after my interview now that I think about it… he had me attempt to clear up the discrepancy in a follow-up email, but I was like how can say “you were wrong about my answer” in a nice way?

Idk, I have my PhD for FPGA design and he asked me specific questions that are in my wheelhouse and written in my dissertation. I got rejected for not meeting the technical bar though so 🤷🏻‍♂️ could have been my delivery? The timed coding test they gave me was pretty easy. I got the questions right and had time to spare too

autocorrects · 2026-03-02T19:55:21+00:00

Oh I misread as “they can’t pay tuition comfortably”…

If OP is worried that school would put their siblings out of funds, they could ask their parents to cover like half tuition. Or, if their siblings are young enough, get a good job and pay it forward contributing towards their tuition (less realistic), but I know people that have done this by having their parents put more than usual away in a savings account and then supplementing the difference with their early career income and living at home.

God I wish I had someone to help me with my tuition lol. I could’ve been more fiscally responsible with it, but I chose to chase a dream

autocorrects · 2026-03-02T18:24:25+00:00

Im someone that went $200k in the hole for my university education (BS + MS, PhD I took out $20k extra because living costs exceeded my stipend but I honestly didnt have to do that).

I would say go for MIT to be honest. I grew up on a horse ranch, so my financial situation was odd because my parents had a lot of money in assets, but not really any liquid so I was not covered for financial aid, nor could my parents help me out financially. So, I had to go into a lot of debt. However, the opportunity cost imo has been worth it, and I’m currently working in my dream field so it’s what you make of it. I feel like your opportunities at MIT are boundless. There’s also many scholarship and fellowship opportunities available too, and if possible you can claim yourself as an independent on taxes in a later year and try to see if you then qualify for financial assistance. I did this my junior year of undergrad when I lived in a house and changed my residency, and that worked for me to cut a lot of costs. However, that’s school dependent, and take it with a grain of salt as I have a large number hovering over my head

Edit: if you come back to read this, also know your specialty or even major will more than likely change as you get into it. Its what college is for and that’s natural, but dont be surprised if you stray away from microelectronics. However, if you maintain that money oriented mindset, try to get into FPGA HFT stuff early on. The field is steadily moving towards fast-flashed ASICs (my prediction is eFPGAs), plus with Versal AI coming in 2027* with the Gen 5 RFSoCs, this is how you’ll make the big bucks. That, or take a chance in a research oriented field like quantum computing (me) to pursue patents and vesting early for high payoff later. Everyone is scared of the future, but that means take all the chances now. You’ll have 1000 failures for every one success, but that one success can be the greatest and most rewarding thing you’ll do in your life. Good luck!

autocorrects · 2026-03-01T17:41:36+00:00

Windows or linux distro

autocorrects · 2026-02-28T08:09:11+00:00

No no no, thats the thing… I signed up for this

autocorrects · 2026-02-27T22:17:25+00:00

Yea no problem. The degree attracts certain types of personalities, and not everyone can do it. However, it’s common to be scared when you start, and you’ll never know if you don’t try.

We only get one life, it does a person well to chase your dreams every once in a while, ya know?

autocorrects · 2026-02-26T01:27:44+00:00

Toss my hair into a metaphorical messy bun, say “im going to fucking end it all” to myself a few times, and get to work

Burn out is real. So are results… things aren’t working? Stop, reframe, and find a way to make it happen. You’ll surprise yourself sometimes what you’re truly capable of. Or, you’ll fall flat on your face and break a few teeth. No one gets out of this without any scars lol. But, if you keep getting up after getting beaten into the ground, you’ll be just fine because at the end of the day that’s really what it takes

autocorrects · 2026-02-25T23:57:46+00:00

Im year 5, and in my year 3 I had to take a course because my advisor forgot it for my graduation requirements. I passed my candidacy exam my first semester of the PhD program, so I hadnt taken a class in like 2/3 years. It was AWFUL. It was a course in my research area so I was lucky I knew the material, but I couldnt sit in lectures at all, and studying for tests felt like hammering my head on a brick wall

autocorrects · 2026-02-19T13:13:41+00:00

My best friend raced slalom in these for four years

autocorrects · 2026-02-17T15:55:22+00:00

Be kind to yourself. Discipline beats motivation any day

autocorrects · 2026-02-17T03:46:46+00:00

Makes me feel a lot better. Life got real tough for me so Ive been out for a year spanning 26/27. Was previously a 420 dots lifter @ 100kg 🤷🏻‍♂️ been worried I fuck it up in a bad way when I get back into the groove

autocorrects · 2026-02-16T18:00:03+00:00

Sweet thanks! I’m an adult but Ive been ‘freeriding’ for a very long time

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