Tom Rivlin

Quantum postdoc at TU Wien (prev: Weizmann, UCL, ICL). Writer, written for SciShow, New Scientist... H/h. Not really posting here now. On 🟦☁️

[Tom Rivlin @TomRivlin]

New SciShow! Really pleased with this one. Had a lot of fun researching and writing it. It turns out that basically every language has almost the exact same bit rate. What's up with that? Find out here:
https://t.co/SW3ykV6O3a

[Tom Rivlin @TomRivlin]

Not really posting all that much here anymore, by the way. It wasn't any one particular thing, just...
🫲🥴🫱/😬😬😬

You can occasionally still find me on Bluesky. Check my personal site for a link to my profile there, if you want 🤷‍♂️

[QuIT Physics (@quitphysics.info on 🟦☁️) @quit_physics]

To us, every year is the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, but it's nice that it's official now...

And this week, Marcus spoke to esteemed science journo Emily Conover about the future of quantum theory, with some hot takes 👀

https://t.co/wLHQQj1oHf

[Tom Rivlin @TomRivlin]

New SciShow! It's a topic close to my own work in quantum thermo. You may know that absolute zero is the lowest possible temperature... But controversially, some claim that temperatures lower than zero are possible in some cases. Here's how it works:

https://t.co/1zhrrCdlLe

[Tom Rivlin @TomRivlin]

The so-called "World Quantum Day" is this weekend. It is on the 14th of April, for a very, very, very, VERY silly set of reasons. (It should clearly be on the 1st of May, as ℏ~1.05 in SI units)

[Tom Rivlin @TomRivlin]

As it happens, this ties in nicely to this week's delightful @3blue1brown video with Terry Tao on the cosmic distance ladder. It gives a good sense of just how hard this stuff is! https://t.co/066X8AQfaM

[Tom Rivlin @TomRivlin]

New @SciShow video! The Hubble Tension, often called THE Crisis in Cosmology, has been rumbling on for years. Here we check in with the latest updates with brand new data from JWST. That should have helped resolve the issue, right?

...Right?

https://t.co/T8588kw3FL

[Tom Rivlin @TomRivlin]

I contributed to this lovely article about the new PRX Quantum paper I was involved in! Check it out to learn more about how the second law of thermodynamics behaves differently in quantum theory

[QuIT Physics (@quitphysics.info on 🟦☁️) @quit_physics]

This paper from our group has now been given a lovely write-up on the Atominstitut's website by @florianaigner from TU Wien (with contributions from the authors of the paper)

Check it out in English:
https://t.co/FdmiDNrX3E

...or in German:
https://t.co/ZlClTyQ3HA

[QuIT Physics (@quitphysics.info on 🟦☁️) @quit_physics]

This paper from our group has now been given a lovely write-up on the Atominstitut's website by @florianaigner from TU Wien (with contributions from the authors of the paper)

Check it out in English:
https://t.co/FdmiDNrX3E

...or in German:
https://t.co/ZlClTyQ3HA

[Tom Rivlin @TomRivlin]

Mainly posting in The Other Place now by the way (and posting less in general tbh). I just worked out how to get the DNS settings in my personal site working so I have a custom domain there, too! Check out https://t.co/tVU66pSqpP

[Tom Rivlin @TomRivlin]

New SciShow! Before modern rocketry, Jules Verne imagined using a giant cannon to get to space, and in the 1960s, a guy who was practically a real-life Bond villain almost made that dream a reality. Find out about all that and more here!

https://t.co/gbrLtUa0WK

[Tom Rivlin @TomRivlin]

If you want to know more, I actually wrote a "popular science" outline of the work on my personal website. (First time posting there in a long time!) It's just such a fascinating question to think about: https://t.co/d1WgA4V1BD

[PRX Quantum @PRX_Quantum]

Novel bounds on the equilibration of observables in isolated quantum systems help resolve the apparent contradiction between the second law of thermodynamics and unitary evolution. @quitphysics @tu_wien @MathsMire @TomRivlin @curlyqubit @Entanarchist

https://t.co/51i8BPgef9

[Tom Rivlin @TomRivlin]

This is now out in the journal Physical Review X Quantum! Super excited to be able to share this piece of work with everyone. I'm incredibly proud of it https://t.co/UnlkMtUIMv

[Tom Rivlin @TomRivlin]

New preprint! On the fascinating question of how exactly the second law of thermodynamics works for isolated quantum systems. It had it all: weird conceptual problems to ponder, tricky maths to tackle, and fun simulations to play with. Check it out:

https://t.co/VQGVnVTsfY

[QuIT Physics (@quitphysics.info on 🟦☁️) @quit_physics]

Happy new year, everyone! We had a few preprints out over the χ-mas break, so let's talk about them.

1: Here Simon looks at optimal strategies for estimating phase rotations in homodyne detections with Gaussian probe states + prior knowledge https://t.co/ITo688iukF

[Tom Rivlin @TomRivlin]

It was quite a challenge to count all the preprints put out in 2024 by our research area, the Atominstitut theory division. QuITters never quit!

[QuIT Physics (@quitphysics.info on 🟦☁️) @quit_physics]

That rounds off a phenomenal 2024 for the group! By my count we've uploaded 37 preprints to arXiv in the '24 calendar year!!! Here's to even more(!!) in 2025!

[Tom Rivlin @TomRivlin]

I feel quite proud of this: I'm officially qualified to speak German at the B2 level. Just one year ago I passed a B1 part 1 exam, so pretty quick progress!

[Tom Rivlin @TomRivlin]

Nice article about the history of the idea of entropy over the last 200 years. I'll have more to say about this in the new year 👀

[Quanta Magazine @QuantaMagazine]

The universe is becoming evermore disordered — or so says the dogma about the second law of thermodynamics. In a new interactive story, @savagitsky reports on how scientists’ understanding of entropy and its inexorable rise has deepened over 200 years. https://t.co/hRQFaOY6Hh

[Tom Rivlin @TomRivlin]

A good reminder for everyone to watch the very good Pokémon Concierge miniseries on Netflix

[Serebii.net @SerebiiNet]

Serebii Update: The Pokémon Company have announced a Claymation project with Aardman coming in 2027

https://t.co/NWlAdn57aQ

[Tom Rivlin @TomRivlin]

In 2021 I made a @SciShow video about 'weird unsolved mysteries of math', including the 'moving sofa' problem.
https://t.co/vaOMWkN2FG
Now there's an update: someone claims to have solved the problem and found the largest possible moving sofa! https://t.co/rScNBmQtdn