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Recent years have seen a flood of new data, from gravitational wave observations of merging black holes and neutron stars to precision probes of cosmology, which allow for unprecedented tests of our understanding of gravity. Going hand-in-hand with this, there has been significant recent progress on the theoretical side in terms of formulating modified theories of gravity, and using them to make detailed predictions, including in the nonlinear and dynamical regime, which can be confronted with the observations. 

We are excited to announce a landmark conference that plans to delve into the forefront of research on modified theories of gravity and brings together leading experts from different disciplines including observational astrophysicists, numerical relativists, cosmologists and mathematical physicists to explore the present status of modified theories of gravity and envision their future theoretical development and implications for observations.

This conference is also timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of pioneering work in this area carried out by Gregory Horndeski in the Waterloo Mathematical Physics Community. Hosted jointly by Perimeter Institute and the University of Waterloo, this conference will serve as a forum for researchers from different disciplines to exchange ideas at the cutting
edge of gravitational physics.
 

Presented by:


 

Sponsored in part by Gravity Theory Trust

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Topics:
• Modified Gravity Theories: Theoretical Framework and Models
• Tests of modified Gravity with Gravitational Waves (LIGO/LISA/PTA)
• Astrophysical/cosmological tests of gravity
• Mathematical structure of Modified gravity
• Observational tests of quantum gravity
• Modified gravity in the early universe

Conference Structure:
The conference will feature a balanced blend of plenary sessions (invited Speakers), contributed talks, panel discussions and poster presentations for students.
• Keynote presentations by renowned physicists in the field, discussing the impact of Horndeski theories and other modified theories of gravity on cosmology, dark energy, and black hole physics.
• Contributed talks: prioritizing early-career researchers
• Panel discussions on emerging research directions, unresolved questions, and potential applications of Horndeski theories.
• Poster sessions for early-career researchers and graduate students to showcase their work and receive feedback from senior scientists.

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Scientific Organizers:

• Ghazal Geshnizjani (Perimeter Institute, SOC Chair)
• William East (Perimeter Institute)
• Levon Pogosian (Simon Fraser University, Perimeter Institute Affiliate)
• Niayesh Afshordi (Perimeter Institute, U Waterloo, LOC Chair)
• Will Percival (Perimeter Institute, U Waterloo)
• Florian Girelli (U Waterloo, Perimeter Institute Affiliate)
• Jerome Quintin (U Waterloo, Perimeter Institute)
• Alex Krolewski (U Waterloo, Perimeter Institute, CITA)

 

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PSIons celebrate 15 years of Perimeter Scholars International with the first ever PSI reunion event! 

 

Join us for 3 days that include:

• 3 former PSI Keynote Speakers in Industry 
• 3 former PSI Speakers in Academia
• A chance to win 1 of 7 Grants of up to 5000 CAD each for a PSI class project to be developed and presented at the reunion (see Call for Projects for details)
• Social events with your cohorts and PSI special guests
• Lots of time to connect with classmates and PSIons, while immersing yourself in Perimeter’s lively research and collaboration environment. 

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The Perimeter Scholars International (PSI) Master's program is offered in collaboration by Perimeter Institute and the University of Waterloo.

 

The dialogue between quantum information and quantum matter has fostered notable progress in both fields. Quantum information science has revolutionized our understanding of the structure of quantum many-body systems and novel forms of out-of-equilibrium quantum dynamics. The advances of quantum matter have provided novel paradigms and platforms for quantum information processing.
This conference aims to bring together leading experts at the intersections of quantum information and quantum matter. Key topics include: (i) quantum error correction, (ii) quantum dynamics, and (iii) quantum simulation.

Organizers:

Timothy Hsieh, Perimeter Institute
Beni Yoshida, Perimeter Institute
Zhi Li, Perimeter Institute
Tsung-Cheng Lu, Perimeter Institute
Meenu Kumari, National Research Council Canada

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The dynamic field of quantum physics and artificial intelligence is expanding across both academic and industrial landscapes. This mini-course offers an introduction to computational techniques currently utilized in the quantum sector, highlighting non-academic career paths for individuals interested in quantum physics and machine learning. The program features two lecture series: one on generative modeling - covering topics (such as restricted Boltzmann machines, recurrent neural networks, and transformers) - and the other on quantum machine learning algorithms. Participants will also benefit from practical coding tutorials, networking opportunities, and related events about the landscape of Quantum and AI.

 

Land Acknowledgement

In the spirit of understanding and learning from what has come before, Perimeter Institute respectfully acknowledges that we are located on the traditional territory of the Attawandaron, Anishnaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples.

Perimeter is situated on the Haldimand Tract, land promised to Six Nations, which includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. As settlers, we thank all the generations of people who have taken care of this land for thousands of years. We are connected to our collective commitment to make the promise and the challenge of Truth and Reconciliation real in our communities.

 

 

The second annual SciComm Collider workshop will bring together a group of the most innovative science communicators helping to connect the public with topics in physics and astronomy for a three-day workshop aimed at sharing ideas, creating new collaborations, and exploring ways to more effectively engage the public with the most exciting ideas in science. The workshop will consist of short seminars, interactive sessions, and opportunities to brainstorm new ideas with fellow communicators and creators, as well as venues for interaction between invited science communicators and Perimeter outreach/communications team members and researchers.

The workshop marks the halfway point of the similarly named (FoQaCiA, pronounced "focaccia") collaboration between researchers in Canada and Europe, funded as part of a flagship partnership between NSERC and Horizon Europe.

https://www.foqacia.org/

The goal of FoQaCiA is to develop new foundational approaches to shed light on the relative computational power of quantum devices and classical computers, helping to find the "line in the sand" separating tasks admitting a quantum speedup from those that are classically simulable.

The workshop will focus on the four central interrelated themes of the project:
1. Quantum contextuality, non-classicality, and quantum advantage
2. The complexity of classical simulation of quantum computation
3. The arithmetic of quantum circuits
4. The efficiency of fault-tolerant quantum computation

Our view is that the future success of quantum computing critically depends on advances at the most fundamental level, and that large-scale investments in quantum implementations will only pay off if they can draw on additional foundational insights and ideas

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Scientific Organizers:

Rui Soares Barbosa (INL - International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory)
Anne Broadbent (University of Ottawa)
Ernesto Galvão (INL - International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory)
Rob Spekkens (Perimeter Institute)
Jon Yard (Perimeter Institute)

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FoQaCiA is funded by:

    
 

This course will introduce some advanced topics in general relativity related to describing gravity in the strong field and dynamical regime. Topics covered include properties of spinning black holes, black hole thermodynamics and energy extraction, how to define horizons in a dynamical setting, formulations of the Einstein equations as constraint and evolution equations, and gravitational waves and how they are sourced.

We will discuss mathematical aspects of classical and quantum field theory, including topics such as: symplectic manifolds and the phase space, symplectic reduction, geometric quantization, Chern-Simons theory, and others.

The course centers on an in-depth study of the symmetry structure of General Relativity and how this is intimately related to its dynamics and to the challenges posed to its quantization. To achieve this understanding, we will introduce a host of concepts and techniques, broadly (and loosely) known under the name of “Covariant Phase Space Method”. This provides a different perspective on GR’s physics, a perspective in which phase space, rather than spacetime, is front and center. We will apply these ideas and techniques to discuss the so-called Problem of Time, Wald's approach to black hole entropy as a Noether charge, and the relationship between Dirac's Hypersurface Deformation Algebra and GR's symmetries and dynamics. We will also discuss the problem of detecting single gravitons as well as crucial analogies and differences between a quantum electromagnetic and gravitational field. Lecture notes specific for the course will be provided.

Machine learning has become a very valuable toolbox for scientists including physicists. In this course, we will learn the basics of machine learning with an emphasis on applications for many-body physics. At the end of this course, you will be equipped with the necessary and preliminary tools for starting your own machine learning projects.

Classical probability theory makes the (mostly, tacit) assumption that any two random experiments can be performed jointly.  This assumption seems to fail in quantum theory.  A rapidly growing literature seeks to understand QM by placing it in a much broader mathematical landscape of ``generalized probabilistic theories", or GPTs,  in which incompatible experiments are permitted.   Among other things, this effort has led to  (i) a better appreciation that many "characteristically quantum" phenomena (e.g., entanglement)  are in fact generic to non-classical probabilistic theories, (ii) a suite of reconstructions of (mostly, finite-dimensional) QM from small packages of assumptions of a probabilistic or operational nature, and (iii) a clearer view of the options available for generalizing QM.  This course will offer a survey of this literature,  starting from scratch and concluding with a discussion of recent developments. 

Mathematical prerequisites: finite-dimensional linear algebra, ideally including tensor products and duality, plus some exposure to category theory (though I will briefly review this material as needed).  

Scheduling note: There will be 5 lectures from March 12-26, then a gap of two weeks before the final 2 lectures held April 16 & 18.

Format: In-person only; lectures will be recorded for PIRSA but not live on Zoom.