Reflections on APS Summit 2025: Quantum Breakthroughs and Epstein Zeta Function

Just got back from the biggest physics conference of the world, the #APSSummit25 hosted in Los Angeles 😁.

One of the many standouts was the presentation on the topological Majorana 1 quantum computer by Google ¹². Following last month’s controversial announcement, the talk didn’t quite win over the scientific community—it is still unclear whether the basis for the “solves-it-all qubit” (as one could call it) was actually observed 🤔. It was fascinating to see the bold claims and the healthy skepticism they sparked ³.

The sheer number of intriguing talks would have been overwhelming, were it not for my great colleagues Elisabeth Lobe, Pedro Barrios, Dr. David DA COSTA, Peter and Alina from Deutsches Zentrum für Luft-und Raumfahrt e.V., helping me along 😊. I truly enjoyed getting a broader picture of where the community stands.

While experts believe that quantum computers cracking the RSA encryption is still at least 15 years away ⁴ (or as one speaker jokingly said, “according to the media, right around the corner” 😆), it was refreshing to see the quantum community thriving around the world. This includes not only researchers but also industry players, such as Qblox, whose modular quantum computer control systems can be seen on my favorite conference merchandise: my white t-shirt—thank you, Priya Lakshmi and Aleksandra Soltamova!

Finally, I had the pleasure of presenting the work of Andreas Alexander Buchheit, Ruben and me regarding the efficient computation of the Epstein Zeta function in our open-source library EpsteinLib ⁵⁶. This library promises to enable calculations in physical (lattice) systems where countless particles interact over long distances. I’m excited to continue refining the tool and exploring its applications in areas like computational chemistry in the coming year 😊.

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