Today, we're diving into a thought-provoking conversation with renowned Japanese-American theoretical physicist, futurist, and popular science communicator, Michio Kaku.
A while back, Dr. Kaku appeared on the StarTalk LIVE program at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. He shared his insights on how quantum physics is poised to revolutionize the world, dropping numerous thought-provoking gems along the way.
A Brief Introduction to Michio Kaku
Born in San Jose, California, on January 24, 1947, Michio Kaku received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1972. In 1973, he joined the faculty of the City College of New York as a professor of theoretical physics, a position he holds to this day.
Not only is Dr. Kaku a pioneer in string theory, having made significant contributions to string field theory, but he is also the author of several best-selling books, including "Hyperspace," "Beyond Einstein," and "Physics of the Impossible." His latest work, "Quantum Supremacy: How the Quantum Revolution Will Change Everything," debuted on The New York Times bestseller list.
Entering the Quantum Realm with Michio Kaku
Without further ado, let's join Dr. Kaku on a journey into the captivating world of quantum physics.
The discussion began with the moderator posing a question about the impact of technological waves on human civilization.
Dr. Kaku argued that we are entering the fourth industrial revolution. Throughout history, humanity has grappled with poverty and disease. For a long time, the average life expectancy was a mere 30 years, and life was incredibly challenging.
However, approximately 300 years ago, physicists unlocked the secrets of steam power and thermodynamics. This breakthrough ushered in the first industrial revolution, bringing with it automobiles, trains, sewing factories, and more.
Later, the discovery of electricity and magnetism by physicists gave rise to the second industrial revolution, characterized by the emergence of light bulbs, generators, power plants, and more.
The exploration of transistors by physicists paved the way for the third computer revolution.
Today, humanity stands on the cusp of the fourth era of scientific innovation and wealth creation: the age of artificial intelligence and quantum computers.
Those familiar with cutting-edge science know that our macroscopic understanding of the world is based on Newtonian mechanics. For instance, the interactions of large objects like planets, meteors, comets, rocks, and projectiles all adhere to Newtonian principles.
However, at the microscopic level, it is quantum mechanics that governs the workings of the universe.
Scientists are now striving to harness the power of quantum mechanics in computers. In a traditional computer, a transistor essentially has two states: on or off. But a quantum transistor can exist in a multitude of states.
Theoretically, a computer that performs calculations using atoms is exponentially more powerful than a conventional computer. This immense potential explains why governments and scientific laboratories worldwide are racing to create the first fully operational quantum computer. Its realization promises to transform everything.
Once traditional transistors become obsolete, Silicon Valley could become a relic of the past, much like the abacus, teeming with outdated technology.
The smallest quantum transistors currently feasible can hold 50 atoms, which is monumental on an atomic scale. A quantum computer possessing such immense power could reshape world history, just as transistors and the industrial revolution did, even if the impact isn't immediately apparent in our daily lives.
The initial quantum computers built a few years ago have already demonstrated computational prowess millions of times greater than classical computers in specific tasks. The current challenge lies in developing quantum computers capable of tackling general-purpose problems. While this advancement may not translate to noticeable speed improvements in our everyday computers, it could unlock the secrets of life itself.
We are witnessing the dawn of a new industrial and medical revolution, a transition from the era of transistors to the age of atoms.
The Significance of Quantum Computers
One primary reason behind the importance of quantum computers is their ability to perform parallel computations.
Dr. Kaku illustrated this concept with an example. Imagine a mouse navigating a maze. Using a traditional computer to calculate every possible path the mouse could take—left or right turns, the number of steps from point A to B—would involve analyzing millions of paths. A classical computer would analyze each path individually.
However, a quantum computer can simultaneously scan all possible paths, arriving at the solution in an instant. This ability mirrors the workings of nature itself, where countless chemical reactions occur simultaneously. In essence, nature operates as a gigantic quantum computer.
In reality, quantum computers perform calculations across multiple universes. Hollywood movies like "Spider-Man" and "Everything Everywhere All at Once" explore the concepts of the multiverse and characters existing in numerous realities concurrently.
Dr. Kaku used himself as an analogy, stating, "When I look in the mirror, I say to myself, 'That's not really me. What I'm seeing is an average.' The real me is existing in all possible states. Maybe some are on Mars, some are on Jupiter, but most of them are in my living room."
This is the essence of a quantum physicist's perspective. They calculate probabilities of existence across the multiverse. Dr. Kaku emphasized that this is not science fiction but the fundamental physics governing our universe.
The atomic bomb serves as a tangible example.
Today's quantum computers resemble massive chandeliers adorned with various cooling pipes. However, as Dr. Kaku pointed out, the television cameras often misrepresent the true nature of the machine. The actual quantum computer resides in a small box at the bottom of the chandelier, while the surrounding apparatus comprises cooling pipes designed to maintain temperatures near absolute zero, preventing interference from vibrating electrons.
The moderator then inquired about the capabilities of quantum computers, specifically if they could solve the three-body problem.
Dr. Kaku explained that they couldn't because quantum computers excel at handling uncertainties, not certainties, as dictated by Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.
He further elaborated by using the famous Schrödinger's cat thought experiment. Imagine a box containing a cat and a gun pointed at it. The gun is connected to a trigger. The question is: did the gun fire? Is the cat dead or alive?
According to quantum mechanics, before the box is opened, the cat exists in a superposition of states, both dead and alive. This superposition represents a probability problem. The cat, in this scenario, symbolizes an atom or a neutron, which could potentially represent the trigger of an atomic bomb.
Dr. Kaku went on to explain quantum entanglement. We know that electrons can spin up or down. In quantum computers, matter can spin in any direction. Moreover, two spins can interact with each other, a phenomenon known as quantum entanglement.
This phenomenon shouldn't exist in the realm of Newtonian mechanics. Yet, in the quantum world, atoms can indeed "communicate" with each other. The question is, how fast do they "talk"?
If you were to transmit a signal from one atom to another and found it to be faster than the speed of light, Einstein deemed it absurd, as nothing can surpass the speed of light. However, he was only partially correct. Useful information cannot travel faster than light. Yet, the raw information exchanged between quantum entities, the random, static information, has been proven to exceed the speed of light.
Quantum entanglement holds immense significance for quantum computers because it implies that atoms can indeed "communicate" at speeds below the speed of light.
In a traditional digital computer, each transistor operates independently, with no interaction or influence on communication between them. However, in the quantum realm, wave functions bind all these particles, the electron waves, together.
Fundamentally, all subatomic particles are particles, not waves. But the probability of finding that particle at any given point is given by a wave.
Consider sound waves as an example. Sound waves are vibrations generated when one atom collides with another, propagating at the speed of sound. However, the individual atoms themselves do not travel at the speed of sound. They merely move a short distance before coming to a halt.
Manipulating Quantum Computers
The aforementioned box at the bottom of the chandelier-like apparatus houses the quantum computer. Inside this box, electrons spin up, down, or sideways.
To control these electrons, they must first be programmed to align in specific configurations because they are coherent, vibrating in sync. To make them compute, a disturbance must be introduced. However, calculations are not performed directly on this wave, enabling computations far exceeding the capabilities of digital computers.
Today, anyone can access and experiment with quantum computers online. However, these are rudimentary versions with limited quantum bits. Ultimately, scientists envision building universal quantum computers with thousands or even millions of qubits.
Currently, a global race is underway, with nations like China, the United States, Russia, and even tech giants like Google and IBM vying to create the first quantum computer capable of cracking any known code. When that day arrives, our current encryption methods will become obsolete overnight. The nation that possesses this technology will have the power to breach the intelligence agencies of all other nations.
Beyond codebreaking, quantum computers hold the potential to revolutionize medicine. They could simulate billions of petri dishes simultaneously to identify effective treatments for diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's.
Furthermore, they could address food security challenges. We currently lack the ability to simulate photosynthesis accurately on computers because it is a quantum mechanical phenomenon. The process of light capturing carbon dioxide and converting it into sugar relies on quantum mechanics, making it impossible to simulate using Newtonian mechanics.
With quantum computers, we could potentially simulate the extraction of nitrogen from the air and its conversion into fertilizer using catalysts. This process essentially boils down to trial and error, much like nature's own method, except instead of petri dishes, nature employs quantum mechanics.
Quantum computers could also unravel one of the greatest mysteries of the universe: what transpired before the Big Bang?
Dr. Kaku theorizes that before the creation of the universe, it resembled boiling water, with numerous tiny bubbles forming, colliding, and disappearing. This "boiling water" represents the early universe.
Occasionally, a bubble would expand indefinitely, colliding with other bubbles and growing continuously until it eventually became the universe we inhabit.
In other words, physicists now believe that the universe itself originated from a bubble, which, in turn, emerged from string theory.
String theory predicts the existence of quantum foam at the beginning of time, resembling tiny bubbles in boiling water. In most instances, these bubbles disappear shortly after their formation. However, one bubble continued to expand, ultimately giving rise to the universe.
However, physicists remain puzzled about how this process unfolded. They hope that quantum computers can help calculate the equations governing the transition from before the Big Bang to its aftermath.
The current dilemma faced by physicists is the abundance of hypotheses with no clear way to determine their validity. This is known as the "landscape problem." Why did this particular universe, with its specific properties, come into existence?
To date, no one has been able to solve this equation. Dr. Kaku places his hope in quantum computers, believing they might be able to determine which bubble triggered the Big Bang.
Beyond Quantum Computing
Dr. Kaku also touched upon the idea of something potentially more powerful than individual atoms: the atomic nucleus.
He cited Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines as an example. These machines exploit the spin of atomic nuclei, not just electrons.
Current quantum computers operate at the atomic level, dealing with electrons. However, the atomic nucleus, residing at the heart of the atom, possesses thousands of times the mass of an electron. This mass would enable it to penetrate deeper, potentially even into the human soul, leading to another quantum revolution.
But does mastering the atomic nucleus guarantee access to the ultimate secrets of the universe, as envisioned by the Kardashev scale?
Dr. Kaku elaborated further, referring to the Kardashev scale, a system proposed by Russian astronomer Nikolai Kardashev to classify civilizations based on their energy consumption and technological advancement.
Type I civilizations harness the energy output of their entire planet, controlling natural forces like earthquakes, volcanoes, and weather patterns. Type II civilizations can control the energy output of their host star, enabling them to manipulate stars directly and traverse interstellar space, even toying with black holes, much like the Empire in "Star Wars."
Unfortunately, humanity remains a Type 0 civilization. However, according to renowned astronomer and astrophysicist Carl Sagan, we might achieve Type I status sometime within this century, as we are already at 0.7 on the scale.
The question then arises: if extraterrestrial civilizations capable of reaching Earth exist, would they be Type I, II, or III?
While most scientists speculate about Type I civilizations, Dr. Kaku believes this to be incorrect. Type I civilizations would struggle to even land on the moon. Therefore, any civilization capable of interstellar travel would likely be a Type III civilization, capable of navigating between galaxies using wormholes.
Conclusion: The Importance of Curiosity and Exploration
In essence, these are the key takeaways from Dr. Kaku's interview. He eloquently explained complex concepts and knowledge related to quantum mechanics in an accessible manner.
The closing remarks by the host resonated deeply: "To look at it from the perspective of the universe, we stand here now, looking out into the future, asking questions, and it requires a profound curiosity. A century ago, people discovered quantum physics, which laid the foundation for the world's information technology revolution. Now we are on the verge of a quantum leap, and it is those who continue to explore at the edge who drive civilization forward."
While industrial revolutions may seem like mere chapters in history books, imagine witnessing those transformations unfold before your very eyes. How would you feel?
In his book "Quantum Supremacy," Dr. Kaku reminds us not to miss out on this incredible journey. Regardless of our level of involvement, it will inevitably impact us all.
The question remains: after all these discoveries, are we, as a species, intelligent enough to answer the questions we pose? Or perhaps, are we even wise enough to know which questions to ask?