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This 5-day program will explore the intersection of AI and fundamental theoretical physics. The event will feature two components, a symposium and a workshop, centered around two complementary themes: AI for theoretical physics and theoretical physics for AI.

The program will begin on April 7 and 8 with a large symposium with speakers and panel discussions focusing on the promise of AI to accelerate progress in theoretical physics. These talks will address the possibilities and challenges associated with AI ‘doing science.’ The event will bring together physicists, engineers, AI researchers, and entrepreneurs to collect different perspectives on what the future of theoretical physics will look like, the engineering challenges we should expect along the way, what tools and collaborations will be needed to help get us there, and what exciting steps are already underway. 

Registration for the symposium is available on the symposium website. 

The symposium will be followed by a workshop on April 9, 10, 11 focusing on developing a theoretical framework for AI enabling the development of reliable, robust, and interpretable AI models for physics. Recent advances in theoretical foundations of AI, inspired by techniques from string theory, quantum field theory (QFT), and statistical physics, have uncovered parallels between AI systems and physical theories, utilizing methods like renormalization group (RG) flows, Feynman path integrals etc. to deepen understanding of deep neural networks (DNNs), generative AI (e.g., LLMs and diffusion models), and scaling laws. Key topics include physics-informed optimization and learning, the role of RG and QFT for DNNs and generative AI, and the application of physics to AI interpretability. Through interdisciplinary dialogue, the event aims to foster collaborations, advance the theoretical foundations of AI, and explore its potential in areas like theoretical physics and mathematics.

Speakers:

• David Berman (Queen Mary University of London)
• Blake Bordelon (Harvard University)
• Jordan Cotler (Harvard University)
• Hugo Cui (Harvard University)
• Alessandro Favero (EPFL)
• Ro Jefferson (Utrecht University)
• Yonatan Kahn (University of Toronto)
• Dmitry Krotov (IBM)
• Bruno Loureiro (École Normale Supérieure in Paris)
• Luisa Lucie-Smith (The University of Hamburg)
• Cengiz Pehlevan (Harvard University)
• Rob Spekkens (Perimeter Institute)

Scientific Organizers:

• Anindita Maiti (Perimeter Institute)
• Matt Johnson (Perimeter Institute)
• Sabrina Pasterski (Perimeter Institute)

Advisory Committee:

• Achim Kempf (University of Waterloo)
• Cengiz Pehlevan (Harvard University)
• Hiranya Peiris (University of Cambridge)
• Roger Melko (University of Waterloo)

*virtual presentation

Scientific Organizers:

• Matthew Johnson (Perimeter Institute) 

• Anindita Maiti (Perimeter Institute) 

• Sabrina Pasterski (Perimeter Institute)

Advisory Committee:

• Mykola Semenyakin (Perimeter Institute)

We are living in an exciting era of great discoveries in the field of gravitational physics. The detection of gravitational waves by the LIGO-VIRGO-KAGRA (LVK) collaboration starting from  2016 has already led to an enormous interest in various aspects of the physics of compact objects. The recent observations of the shadows of the galactic centers for M87 and Milky Way, by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), have further resulted into diverse research programs on the nature of compact objects. The primary emphasis of these observations is to test the theory of general relativity at the strong-field regime and to understand the nature of the astrophysical compact objects. Several recent developments led to the extensive use of various new mathematical and computational techniques to probe the physics associated with these compact objects. The primary motivation of the school would be to learn from leading researchers about several crucial aspects of the physics of compact objects. The p...

Cooperation is seen across all biological scales ranging from cells to societies. In organisms like bacteria, the decision-making process is genetically hardwired but higher animals endowed with cognitive abilities have to make choices that can affect not only their own survival but also that of their group.Uncovering the organizing principles that lead to evolution of cooperation is an issue of fundamental importance that transcends disciplinary boundaries. Insights can be obtained from studying biological communities, through mathematical and agent-based modeling, cognitive science, social network dynamics and behavioral economics. Such investigations can also lead to the understanding of other intriguing evolutionary phenomena like opinion dynamics, evolution of fairness and spiteful behaviour. Evolutionary Game Theory  provides a powerful framework for addressing such questions in the context of both biological and cultural evolution. In this program, we will therefore be addressin...

Constructing a theory of quantum gravity, and with it a notion of quantum spacetime is one of the biggest challenges faced by modern theoretical physics. This workshop will bring together researchers from a wide range of viewpoints and give them an opportunity to exchange ideas and gain new insights.

The workshop is supported by the Simons Foundation.

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Workshop Speakers

Marcela Carena (Perimeter Institute)
Astrid Eichhorn (Universität Heidelberg)
Netta Englehardt (MIT)
Johanna Erdmenger (University of Würzburg)
Gulia Gubitosi (University of Naples Federico II)
Renate Loll (Radboud University)
Jessica Muir (Perimeter Institute)
A.W. Peet (University of Toronto)
Alessia Platania (University of Copenhagen)
Jocelyn Read (California State University, Fullerton)
Kasia Rejzner (York University)
Mairi Sakellariadou (King's College London)
Sarah Shandera (Pennsylvania State University)
Sumati Surya (Raman Research Institute)
Karen Yeats (University of Waterloo)

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Scientific Organizers
Bianca Dittrich (Perimeter Institute)
Sabrina Pasterski (Perimeter Institute)
Céline Zwikel (Perimeter Institute)
Sruthi Narayanan (Perimeter Institute)

This is a two-week thematic program with a focus on recent developments in Teichmüller theory which promise to be fertile in the near future. These includeThe metric theory of Teichmüller spaces and other spaces, including the recent breakthroughs in the Thurston metric.Higher Teichmüller theory, and its interplay with Higgs bundles, algebraic geometry and Anosov representations.The Teichmüller theory of infinite-type surfaces, including their quasiconformal theory and what is known as the ``big" mapping class group.Relations with anti-de Sitter geometry.The techniques for these areas come from complex analysis, hyperbolic geometry, dynamics, partial differential equations, projective geometry, geometric and combinatorial group theory, algebraic geometry, Kähler geometry and other fields —  these often give several points of view on the same objects showing the richness of the theory.The workshop will consist of a series of mini-courses (with lectures typically totalling 3 hours) toget...