Images of Quantum Computing: Taking Stock and Moving Forward

Quantum computing is attracting increasing attention due to both the threats and the opportunities it may present. Nonetheless, the technology is still nascent and thus far lacks substantive commercial applications that can demonstrate, let alone validate, its potential impact. This uncertainty challenges organizations’ ability to make strategic decisions concerning quantum computing. In this study, we explored the practitioners’ discourse about quantum computing and the metaphors used to describe the technology and its prospective value. Building on a thematic analysis of 140 video presentations by quantum computing practitioners, we identified ten distinct metaphors of quantum computing. Subsequently, we sorted the metaphors based on the perceived feasibility and strategic potential of the technology to reveal four ways quantum computing may impact the prevailing digital logic. These findings shed light on the alternative development paths of quantum computing business applications and extend the theoretical foundation of this incipient discourse

Philosophy of Modeling: Neglected Pages of History

The work done in the philosophy of modeling by Vaihinger (1876), Craik (1943), Rosenblueth and Wiener (1945), Apostel (1960), Minsky (1965), Klaus (1966) and Stachowiak (1973) is still almost completely neglected in the mainstream literature. However, this work seems to contain original ideas worth to be discussed. For example, the idea that diverse functions of models can be better structured as follows: in fact, models perform only a single function – they are replacing their target systems, but for different purposes. Another example: the idea that all of cognition is cognition in models or by means of models. Even perception, reflexes and instincts (animal and human) can be best analyzed as modeling. The paper presents an analysis of the above-mentioned work

A Map of the Nanoworld: Sizing up the Science, Politics, and Business of the Infinitesimal

Mapping out the eight main nodes of nanotechnology discourse that have emerged in the past decade, we explore how various scientific, social, and ethical islands of discussion have developed, been recognized, and are being continually renegotiated. We do so by (1) identifying the ways in which scientists, policy makers, entrepreneurs, educators, and environmental groups have drawn boundaries on issues relating to nanotechnology; (2) describing concisely the perspectives from which these boundaries are drawn; and (3) exploring how boundaries on nanotechnology are marked and negotiated by various nodes of nanotechnology discourse.Comment: 25 page

On the Role of Hash-Based Signatures in Quantum-Safe Internet of Things:Current Solutions and Future Directions

The Internet of Things (IoT) is gaining ground as a pervasive presence around us by enabling miniaturized things with computation and communication capabilities to collect, process, analyze, and interpret information. Consequently, trustworthy data act as fuel for applications that rely on the data generated by these things, for critical decision-making processes, data debugging, risk assessment, forensic analysis, and performance tuning. Currently, secure and reliable data communication in IoT is based on public-key cryptosystems such as Elliptic Curve Cryptosystem (ECC). Nevertheless, reliance on the security of de-facto cryptographic primitives is at risk of being broken by the impending quantum computers. Therefore, the transition from classical primitives to quantum-safe primitives is indispensable to ensure the overall security of data en route. In this paper, we investigate applications of one of the post-quantum signatures called Hash-Based Signature (HBS) schemes for the security of IoT devices in the quantum era. We give a succinct overview of the evolution of HBS schemes with emphasis on their construction parameters and associated strengths and weaknesses. Then, we outline the striking features of HBS schemes and their significance for the IoT security in the quantum era. We investigate the optimal selection of HBS in the IoT networks with respect to their performance-constrained requirements, resource-constrained nature, and design optimization objectives. In addition to ongoing standardization efforts, we also highlight current and future research and deployment challenges along with possible solutions. Finally, we outline the essential measures and recommendations that must be adopted by the IoT ecosystem while preparing for the quantum world.Comment: 18 pages, 7 tables, 7 figure

Vitaly Ginzburg and High Temperature Superconductivity: Personal Reminiscences

I offer some personal reminiscences from the period of 1976-1983, when I was a M. Sc. and then a Ph.D. student in Vitaly L. Ginzburg's High Temperature Superconductivity group at the P.N. Lebedev Institute in MoscowComment: To be published in proceedings of the Notre Dame Workshop on the Possibility of Room Temperature Superconductivity, June 2005 v.2: an apposite epigraph adde

My friend Alex M\"uller

Alex, the main discoverer of high Tc superconductivity, was also a dear friend. Here I offer a few frank anecdotes, possibly inaccurate in some details but heartfelt and accurate in the substance, as a personal tribute to our friendship.Comment: To appear on Physica C Superconductivity -- K. Alex M\"uller memorial issu

Distant Healing Techniques and Distant Intercessory Prayer – A Tentative Scientific Conciliation

Currently there is a lack of a universally accepted theory that would constitute the base for the DH paradigm, and some fundamental issues about the mechanisms of DH remain non-responded. Even so, there is sparse documentation that intentions of one person can remotely influence mental and body functions of another person. With the available data, it becomes difficult to formulate an opinion about the validity of such techniques in healthcare. The question of DH may be put under the frame "Is the glass half empty or half full?". People who look at the issue of DH and see a half empty glass usually raise these points: Scientific evidence of benefit is poor, from scarce studies, many of them with methodological limitations; There is a lack of a coherent theory aligned to the ordinary reality based upon Newtonian science; Practical obstacles for healthcare include high variability of outcomes and low relevance of clinical effects. People who look at the issue of DH and see a half full glass usually raise these points: the positive results from some serious and well designed researches may indicate a possible hidden reality; emerging understanding of the mind and its non-local properties may explain the gap of distance; commitment to the patients\u27 claims for a humanistic, comprehensive and integrative healthcare. We may cite two poles of ignorance and the balanced position related to the discussion of DH. The first pole is the obstinate skepticism (arrogant and prejudiced attachment to materialism), that denies the full half. The opposite pole is the naive mysticism (unrealistic trust on paranormal potentialities), that denies the empty half. The balanced position is called here the option for the open-minded scientificism. Some opportunities of advancement in this field would arise from these points: new and adequate research designs complying with limitations of the phenomenon; the progressive consolidation of a new, post-materialist scientific paradigm; optimizing the efficacy of the phenomenon knowing better its interfering factors