Quantum Steampunk

ITAMP Fellow Nicole Yunger Halpern published a feature about her research in Scientific American this May. Yunger Halpern and colleagues re-envision 19th-century thermodynamics with 21st-century information theory. They use the combination as a new lens through which to view atomic, molecular, and optical physics; chemistry; condensed matter; high-energy physics; and biophysics. Yunger Halpern has dubbed this research program "quantum steampunk," after the steampunk movement that blends Victorian settings with futuristic technologies in art, film, and literature. The article has gained press in Popular Mechanics, Nature, the Fortune "Data Sheet" (April 22, 2020), and Wikipedia.