why would I ever again share a well formulated open research question in an open problems session of a conference?

New paper out in Quantum Science & Technology! Sara Franco (INL, Minho) Anita Camillini (INL, CINECA) and myself show a way to do interaction-free imaging of multiple objects using a single photon, featuring experiments using @quandela.bsky.social 's Ascella chip. iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...

Interaction-free measurement of multiple objects using a universal integrated photonic processor

Interaction-free measurement of multiple objects using a universal integrated photonic processor, Franco, Sara, Camillini, Anita, Galvão, Ernesto F

iopscience.iop.org

This text has moved me deeply. I think we, as a species, have opened a door that we cannot close anymore. It will bring many advances, and some good will hopefully come from that, but we pay a price, the price of losing something profound. kirwinhampshire.substack.com/p/the-dark-n...

The Dark Night of Mathematics

What are we really doing?

kirwinhampshire.substack.com

"We're all worried," as what it means to do research (in my field, Theoretical CS) seems to be shifting, and shifting fast. What to do? Senior researchers must lead by example, knowing that not everything will pan out. What I'm suggesting below may not work everywhere, but here's my own advice: 1/

It only goes up from here, in terms of AI capabilities, and if you think about the rate of progress of the past couple of years, it is hard to imagine where we will stand in two more years.

Coherence as a resource for $N$-box and quantum pigeonhole paradoxes https://arxiv.org/pdf/2607.24282 Som Kanjilal, Rafael Wagner, Ernesto F. Galvão.

New preprint out! Joint work with Som Kanjilal (INL) and @quantumrw.bsky.social (Ulm). We show pre- and post-selection paradoxes in quantum mechanics require both weak value anomaly and coherence to happen. Examples: 3-box, pidgeonhole paradoxes. Thanks Som and Rafael! arxiv.org/abs/2607.24282

Insightful Simons Institute talk by Hsin-Yuan Huang (Caltech), on the automation of research, featuring real-life problems researchers are facing, and lively discussion with the audience. It's a topic that's constantly on my mind. simons.berkeley.edu/talks/hsin-y...

Demonstrating the requisite bravery, well done, Science. “The Trump administration hates academic science funding…They want to keep all that money for themselves, to hand out to favored cronies who can help them get elected and to steer yet more money and more power back into their hands.”

The Assault On Science Funding Continues

science.org

We know LLMs can one-shot quantim information papers now, and even write decent manuscripts. What's the consensus of proper practice for what to do with those AI-generated papers? I review the proof, I sign my name, acknowledge the it is AI made, put it on arxiv, rinse, repeat?

It is very hard for women in science to remain productive, competitive with male peers and colleagues, etc... It is *especially hard* for Mothers in Science. For that, check out this initiative for researchers in STEMM! www.mothersinscience.com Share it! Make it visible!

Mothers in Science

We are a global nonprofit organization that advocates for mothers in STEMM and creates evidence-based solutions to promote workplace equity and inclusion of caregivers.

mothersinscience.com

Google has two open research calls: early fault-tolerant algorithms, and securing the quantum computer itself — side channels, control pulses, user isolation. Not post-quantum crypto. Up to $100k, closes Aug 7. research.google/programs-an...

Google Academic Research Awards

research.google

New paper out in Light: Science & Applications! This is joint work with colleagues from UFF, INL, Milan, and Fabio Sciarrino's group in Sapienza Univ., Rome. We demonstrate counter-intuitive bunching phenomena using integrated photonic chips. Thank you to my amazing collaborators! rdcu.be/fq0mk

Experimental observation of counter-intuitive features of photonic bunching

Light: Science & Applications - Experimental observation of counter-intuitive features of photonic bunching

rdcu.be

PhD opportunity in QIT in Grenoble. I am advertising a project through the QuanG2 call, at the interface of nonlocality, self-testing, computationally bounded devices, complexity, and crypto. My project is among the topics offered: phdquantumgrenoble.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/phd-applicat...

This terrific article by Siobhan Roberts could help elevate the public discussion of AI in mathematics. The interview about the Leiden Declaration is especially helpful. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/02/s...

As A.I. Makes Strides in Mathematics, Mathematicians Urge Caution

nytimes.com

OpenAI's claim that this is a central conjecture in discrete geometry is not an exaggeration. This will I think be looked back on as the first time that AI solved a major mathematics problem (defined as a problem that all experts in some subfield had thought about). openai.com/index/model-...

An OpenAI model has disproved a central conjecture in discrete geometry

An OpenAI model solved the 80-year-old unit distance problem, disproving a major conjecture in discrete geometry and marking a milestone in AI-driven mathematics.

openai.com

Congrats to Mafalda Ramôa, the newest-minted PhD of Univ. Minho! David Arvidsson-Shukur (Cambridge), Jarrod McClean (Google), and André Sequeira (INESC-TEC) participated as examiners. Congrats on your brilliant work Dr. Mafalda! I, Luís Paulo Santos and Sophia Economou were the happy co-supervisors.

New preprint in collaboration with @quantumrw.bsky.social (Ulm)! We show a simple way to determine commutativity of states or observables in a basis-independent way, using unitary (Bargmann) invariants. This bypasses costly tomography for this classicality test. scirate.com/arxiv/2605.0...

Commutativity from a single Bargmann invariant equality

Noncommutativity of states and observables is a fundamental signature of quantum theory, and a minimal requirement for nonclassicality. We provide a universal necessary and sufficient condition for pa...

scirate.com

Modern-day Benjamin Franklins!

Quanta Magazine@quantamagazine.org · 3mo ago

To trigger lightning, researchers fire a small rocket with a thin, grounded metal wire into a charged thundercloud. The wire initiates a lightning strike on command. www.quantamagazine.org/what-causes-...

Today, as part of our Strategy on Quantum Technoolgies, @csic.es announced the creation of a new research institute in Madrid, the Quantum Advanced Research Center or QuARC @quarc-csic.bsky.social This new institute launches now with 24 PIs and a total of 100 researchers 1/ quarc.csic.es

Quantum Advanced Research Center

Quantum Advanced Research Center

quarc.csic.es

New paper out on PRA! Together with Antonio Zelaquett Khoury and his experimental team at UFF, we apply quantum information tools to witness dimension and coherence in classical fractional orbital angular momentum states of a laser beam. journals.aps.org/pra/abstract...

McDoing is a great term to describe the modern trivialization of existentialism as consumable performance. Anguish is content, commitment is a vibe.

Amos Posner@amosposner.bsky.social · 4mo ago

There is no McTry.

The University of Cambridge is hosting a Foundations of Quantum Technologies conference on September 15–18th to mark the 100-year anniversary of the discovery of modern quantum mechanics. Abstract submissions for talks and posters close May 4th. More details: www.girton.cam.ac.uk/events/found...

www.quantamagazine.org/new-advances...

New preprint out! It's on interaction-free detection of multiple objects using a single photon, using @quandela.bsky.social 's cloud-based photonic quantum computers. This is the outcome of Sara's Master's dissertation, done in collaboration with Anita Camillini (CINECA). scirate.com/arxiv/2604.0...

Interaction-free measurement of multiple objects using a universal integrated photonic processor

The phenomenon of interaction-free measurement (IFM) enables the probabilistic detection of an absorbing object with reduced photon absorption. We report the experimental implementation of a simultane...

scirate.com

LLMs and agents are much more capable now than they were just a year ago - if you're a researcher, I recommend watching this. They're great for coding, and good for brainstorming ideas, criticising text, digging up related published work, and even helping with proofs (with care and caveats).

Juan José García-Ripoll@jjgarciaripoll.bsky.social · 4mo ago

This is an excellent introduction to LLMs and agents from a scientists perspective. youtu.be/UtJUWI4r-4k?...

Not so marvelous news. ~95,000 scientists have left the federal government since the Trump regime took over.

Prominent Climate Scientist Resigns From NASA, Citing Trump’s Attack on Science

nytimes.com