Cutting through the quantum hype, why the Stark effect should be renamed

In this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast, the science writer Philip Ball and Physics World’s Margaret Harris have a lively discussion that cuts through the current hype about quantum computing and focuses on the realities facing the nascent industry.

Also in this programme, the physicist Michael Pepper calls for the Stark effect to be renamed. Johannes Stark was a leading figure in the Nazis’ “German Physics” movement, which persecuted Jewish scientists in the 1930s, and Pepper says it is time to stop using his name.

• There is much more about the booming quantum-computing industry in this feature article by Philip Ball: “Setting the scene for a quantum marketplace: where quantum business is up to and how it might unfold”