Today a new educational laboratory for quantum technology was inaugurated at the Technical University of Denmark. Here visitors can experiment with some of the most fascinating phenomena of quantum physics.
The new quantum lab offers visitors from upper secondary school classes and the students of the technical university a possibility to do quantum technological experiments themselves. Among others they can explore the phenomenon of entanglement which is an important part of both quantum teleportation and quantum cryptography.
”Quantum physics can be difficult to understand and communicate. It has therefore been important for us to make it possible for others than researchers to put their hands on the experiments. Practical experience is often the best way to learn and understand complex matters”, says postdoc Ulrich Busk Hoff, DTU Physics who is the originator of the laboratory.
As a supplement to the experiments, he is also preparing a new educational material on quantum physics for upper secondary schools. It is a collaboration project with the cartoonist Anders Morgenthaler and scriptwriter Anders Grau and the aim is to explore how humour and alternative approaches to natural science can break down the communication barrier and make the abstract quantum physic more accessible and relatable. Anders Morgenthaler participated in the inauguration of the laboratory.
”I have always had a dream about an online platform to communicate science so I look forward to illustrate quantum physics. My concern is to make abstract theory like quantum physic very concrete so that everybody can understand it. I try to make it relevant by describing situations that we all know from our everyday life. If my drawings also give the viewer a physical feeling like irritation, disgust, tickle in the stomach, my communication has succeeded”, says Anders Morgenthaler.
The official opening of QuantumLab was headed by MP Jakob Engel-Schmidt (V), spokesman of higher education and research. He was very excited about the new laboratory and educational material and as he put it “that one of the best universities in the world aims to set a new standard for science outreach and communication of complex technology to the public”.
Collaboration with industry
The wish to communicate and explain quantum technology is not only aimed at students and upper secondary school pupils. The Technical University of Denmark also intends to accomplish other initiatives to make the technology understandable for everybody. Companies need examples to see how the technology can be used in practice and how in the coming years it is likely to spur a revolution in computers, sensing and encryption.
The Technical University of Denmark has also strengthened its research resources in the field by initiating a new collaboration named Quantum DTU. Quantum DTU will flash areas of quantum technology where the Technical University of Denmark holds world leading research expertise as for example on encryption, communication , diamond sensing and development of new materials and light sources. In these fields, the Technical University of Denmark also possesses world-class laboratory facilities and the research activities are further supported by strong collaborations with industry.
Read more about Quantum Lab and quantum physics at quantum.dtu.dk