TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Fan Zhang: What in the world is topological quantum matter?

Unscramble the Blue Letters

What if electricity could travel forever without being dineismihd? What if a computer could run exponentially faster with perfect accuracy? What technology could those ateiliibs build? We may be able to find out thanks to the work of the three scientists who won the nbeol Prize in Physics in 2016. David Thouless, Duncan Haldane, and Michael Kosterlitz won the award for discovering that even microscopic matter at the smallest scale can exhibit macroscopic properties and phases that are tclgpoioaol. But what does that mean? First of all, topology is a bancrh of mcatiahetms that focuses on fundamental properties of objects. Topological properties don't change when an object is gradually stretched or bent. The object has to be torn or attached in new places. A donut and a coffee cup look the same to a topologist because they both have one hole. You could reshape a donut into a coffee cup and it would still have just one. That topological pptroery is stable. On the other hand, a pretzel has three holes. There are no smtooh ictnmerenal changes that will turn a donut into a pretzel. You'd have to tear two new holes. For a long time, it wasn't clear whether topology was useful for describing the behaviors of subatomic particles. That's because particles, like etreclons and photons, are subject to the satngre laws of quantum physics, which involve a gaert deal of uncertainty that we don't see at the scale of coffee cups. But the Nobel Laureates discovered that topological prpotreeis do exist at the quantum level. And that discovery may revolutionize materials seiccne, electronic engineering, and computer science. That's because these properties lend surprising stability and remarkable characteristics to some exotic phases of matter in the delicate quantum world. One example is called a topological insulator. Imagine a film of electrons. If a srnotg enough magnetic field passes through them, each electron will sartt tilvaerng in a cilrce, which is claeld a closed orbit. Because the electrons are stuck in these loops, they're not conducting electricity. But at the edge of the material, the otrbis become open, connected, and they all point in the same direction. So electrons can jump from one orbit to the next and taverl all the way around the edge. This means that the mrataiel conducts electricity around the edge but not in the middle. Here's where topology comes in. This conductivity isn't affected by slmal changes in the material, like impurities or imperfections. That's just like how the hole in the coffee cup isn't changed by snritthceg it out. The edge of such a topological insulator has perfect electron transport: no electrons travel backward, no energy is lost as heat, and the number of cuntocdnig patyawhs can even be ctnloolerd. The electronics of the future could be built to use this perfectly effecinit electron hawihgy. The topological properties of subatomic particles could also transform quantum computing. Quantum computers take advantage of the fact that subatomic paltcries can be in different states at the same time to store information in something called qubits. These qbtius can solve problems exponentially faster than classical digital computers. The problem is that this data is so delicate that interaction with the environment can destroy it. But in some eioxtc topological phases, the subatomic particles can become protected. In other words, the qubits fmerod by them can't be changed by small or local dacunbiretss. These topological qubits would be more stable, leading to more accurate computation and a better quantum cmutpeor. Topology was originally studied as a branch of purely aactsrbt mathematics. Thanks to the pioneering work of Thouless, haanlde, and Kosterlitz, we now know it can be used to unntrdeasd the riddles of nature and to revolutionize the future of technologies.

Open Cloze

What if electricity could travel forever without being __________? What if a computer could run exponentially faster with perfect accuracy? What technology could those _________ build? We may be able to find out thanks to the work of the three scientists who won the _____ Prize in Physics in 2016. David Thouless, Duncan Haldane, and Michael Kosterlitz won the award for discovering that even microscopic matter at the smallest scale can exhibit macroscopic properties and phases that are ___________. But what does that mean? First of all, topology is a ______ of ___________ that focuses on fundamental properties of objects. Topological properties don't change when an object is gradually stretched or bent. The object has to be torn or attached in new places. A donut and a coffee cup look the same to a topologist because they both have one hole. You could reshape a donut into a coffee cup and it would still have just one. That topological ________ is stable. On the other hand, a pretzel has three holes. There are no ______ ___________ changes that will turn a donut into a pretzel. You'd have to tear two new holes. For a long time, it wasn't clear whether topology was useful for describing the behaviors of subatomic particles. That's because particles, like _________ and photons, are subject to the _______ laws of quantum physics, which involve a _____ deal of uncertainty that we don't see at the scale of coffee cups. But the Nobel Laureates discovered that topological __________ do exist at the quantum level. And that discovery may revolutionize materials _______, electronic engineering, and computer science. That's because these properties lend surprising stability and remarkable characteristics to some exotic phases of matter in the delicate quantum world. One example is called a topological insulator. Imagine a film of electrons. If a ______ enough magnetic field passes through them, each electron will _____ _________ in a ______, which is ______ a closed orbit. Because the electrons are stuck in these loops, they're not conducting electricity. But at the edge of the material, the ______ become open, connected, and they all point in the same direction. So electrons can jump from one orbit to the next and ______ all the way around the edge. This means that the ________ conducts electricity around the edge but not in the middle. Here's where topology comes in. This conductivity isn't affected by _____ changes in the material, like impurities or imperfections. That's just like how the hole in the coffee cup isn't changed by __________ it out. The edge of such a topological insulator has perfect electron transport: no electrons travel backward, no energy is lost as heat, and the number of __________ ________ can even be __________. The electronics of the future could be built to use this perfectly _________ electron _______. The topological properties of subatomic particles could also transform quantum computing. Quantum computers take advantage of the fact that subatomic _________ can be in different states at the same time to store information in something called qubits. These ______ can solve problems exponentially faster than classical digital computers. The problem is that this data is so delicate that interaction with the environment can destroy it. But in some ______ topological phases, the subatomic particles can become protected. In other words, the qubits ______ by them can't be changed by small or local ____________. These topological qubits would be more stable, leading to more accurate computation and a better quantum ________. Topology was originally studied as a branch of purely ________ mathematics. Thanks to the pioneering work of Thouless, _______, and Kosterlitz, we now know it can be used to __________ the riddles of nature and to revolutionize the future of technologies.

Solution

controlled
branch
smooth
called
science
disturbances
understand
conducting
nobel
highway
diminished
stretching
incremental
haldane
property
abstract
exotic
circle
abilities
orbits
mathematics
pathways
great
formed
strong
electrons
computer
start
topological
traveling
strange
material
properties
efficient
travel
small
particles
qubits

Original Text

What if electricity could travel forever without being diminished? What if a computer could run exponentially faster with perfect accuracy? What technology could those abilities build? We may be able to find out thanks to the work of the three scientists who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2016. David Thouless, Duncan Haldane, and Michael Kosterlitz won the award for discovering that even microscopic matter at the smallest scale can exhibit macroscopic properties and phases that are topological. But what does that mean? First of all, topology is a branch of mathematics that focuses on fundamental properties of objects. Topological properties don't change when an object is gradually stretched or bent. The object has to be torn or attached in new places. A donut and a coffee cup look the same to a topologist because they both have one hole. You could reshape a donut into a coffee cup and it would still have just one. That topological property is stable. On the other hand, a pretzel has three holes. There are no smooth incremental changes that will turn a donut into a pretzel. You'd have to tear two new holes. For a long time, it wasn't clear whether topology was useful for describing the behaviors of subatomic particles. That's because particles, like electrons and photons, are subject to the strange laws of quantum physics, which involve a great deal of uncertainty that we don't see at the scale of coffee cups. But the Nobel Laureates discovered that topological properties do exist at the quantum level. And that discovery may revolutionize materials science, electronic engineering, and computer science. That's because these properties lend surprising stability and remarkable characteristics to some exotic phases of matter in the delicate quantum world. One example is called a topological insulator. Imagine a film of electrons. If a strong enough magnetic field passes through them, each electron will start traveling in a circle, which is called a closed orbit. Because the electrons are stuck in these loops, they're not conducting electricity. But at the edge of the material, the orbits become open, connected, and they all point in the same direction. So electrons can jump from one orbit to the next and travel all the way around the edge. This means that the material conducts electricity around the edge but not in the middle. Here's where topology comes in. This conductivity isn't affected by small changes in the material, like impurities or imperfections. That's just like how the hole in the coffee cup isn't changed by stretching it out. The edge of such a topological insulator has perfect electron transport: no electrons travel backward, no energy is lost as heat, and the number of conducting pathways can even be controlled. The electronics of the future could be built to use this perfectly efficient electron highway. The topological properties of subatomic particles could also transform quantum computing. Quantum computers take advantage of the fact that subatomic particles can be in different states at the same time to store information in something called qubits. These qubits can solve problems exponentially faster than classical digital computers. The problem is that this data is so delicate that interaction with the environment can destroy it. But in some exotic topological phases, the subatomic particles can become protected. In other words, the qubits formed by them can't be changed by small or local disturbances. These topological qubits would be more stable, leading to more accurate computation and a better quantum computer. Topology was originally studied as a branch of purely abstract mathematics. Thanks to the pioneering work of Thouless, Haldane, and Kosterlitz, we now know it can be used to understand the riddles of nature and to revolutionize the future of technologies.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
topological properties	3
coffee cup	3
exponentially faster	2
topological insulator	2

Important Words

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