The first thing you might be wondering about is the origin of this blog's title. Well, I'm a physicist, but unlike many physicists, my work actually has some practical applications. Specifically, I study superconducting devices that are capable of quantum computation. So that makes me a "quantum mechanical engineer." (Plus, I have a degree in engineering in addition to my physics degree.) I got the idea from Seth Lloyd, a professor at MIT who works on the theory of quantum computation. People often ask him why he's in the mechanical engineering department, and his reply is that he's actually a quantum mechanical engineer.
Perhaps one of these days, when I have more time, I'll try to say a few words about quantum computation. For now though, you can try Michael Nielsen's blog. Michael is a well-known quantum information theorist.
I'm not exactly sure what I will be writing in this blog. I suppose it will be a way for me to keep a scrapbook of random thoughts.
Actually, the "k" in the equation is a superfluous constant that comes from the definition of the units of temperature. If temperature had the units of energy instead of energy/k, then Boltzmann's relation would be even simpler!
ReplyDeleteActually, my last comment wasn't exactly right. The Boltzmann constant multiplying temperature is there because we don't yet have a good standard to convert from energy to temperature, i.e. there is no special material that has always has a fixed temperature. Length and time can be thought of as the same thing because you can use the speed of light to convert between the two.
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