WORLD QUANTUM DAY

The celebration of World Quantum Day aims to promote global understanding of quantum science and technology worldwide. The chosen date is a reference to the number 4.14, the first rounded digits of Planck’s constant: 4.135667696×10–5 eV s = 0.000 000 000 000 000 004 135667696 electron volts seconds, a product of energy and time which is the fundamental constant governing quantum physics.

Programme

11:00 h

Presentation of the piece Salto cuántico (Quantum Leap, 2023), conceived by the artist Diego Vites in collaboration with the collective Nova Escultura Galega (NEG; Jorge Varela, Misha Bies Golas, Alejandra Pombo Su, Diego Vites) and Violeta. Participants: the artists, the director of CESGA, Lois Orosa Nogueira, and the director of CGAC, Santiago Olmo.

Salto cuántico is an interactive sculpture consisting of three mobile and interchangeable modules. The work, which will remain on display at the CGAC from April 2024 to February 2025, adopts the structure of the first computers of the nineteen-forties, contemporary totems on wheels that allow for constant updating, and functions as an open sculpture in quantum space.

12:00 h

Quantum Computing: what is it, what is it for, where are we?, lecture by Eduardo Sáenz de Cabezón

EDUARDO SÁENZ DE CABEZÓN (Logroño, 1972) holds degrees in Theology (1996) and Mathematics (2001), and a PhD in Mathematics (2008). At present, he is a lecturer in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of La Rioja.

Also known for his work as a science populariser, he is the author of the books Inteligencia matemática (Plataforma Editorial, 2016), El árbol de Emmy (Plataforma Editorial, 2019), Apocalipsis matemático (Penguin Random House, 2020) and Invitación al aprendizaje (Penguin Random House, 2023).

Since 2019 he has been presenting the programme Órbita Laika on RTVE’s La 2. He is also the author and presenter of the podcasts Órbita Laika (RTVE Play) and Materia absurda (Sonora), and scriptwriter and presenter of Derivando, the YouTube channel dedicated to mathematics.

He was the winner of the FameLab science monologue competition in 2013 and represented Spain in the international final at the Cheltenham Science Festival (UK). In 2019, he received the Special Jury Prize for Science in Action.

Free admission to all activities until full capacity is reached.