Astrophysics

Unraveling the quantum nature of gravity is one of the most pressing problems of theoretical physics. Several ideas have been put forward and resulted in a number of theories of quantum gravity. While these theories have explored different facets of the “quantum gravity landscape”, all viable approaches should ultimately make contact with observations, and answer exciting questions in cosmology and black-hole physics.

Sharing knowledge, exchanging ideas, and building a dictionary between different theories are crucial steps toward answering these questions, efficiently contrasting different theories, and ultimately reaching a deeper understanding of our Universe.

This conference will contribute to these goals by bringing together leading experts in different approaches to quantum gravity, gravitational effective field theory, black-hole physics, and cosmology. We will focus on specific puzzles in quantum gravity and their resolutions within different approaches. The conference will be highly interactive, with plenty of time to discuss common problems, understand the big picture, and develop novel connections between fields.

Registration: Registration is now open, and both in-person and virtual participation is welcome. Online participants will be able to interact on an equal footing in question sessions and discussions. In-person attendance is limited and will be approved on a first-come, first-served basis. Talks are by invitation only, but in-person participants are encouraged to apply to present a poster.

Spam warning: There is an increasing number of scam agencies reaching out to conference speakers and attendees. Perimeter Institute does not use third-party agencies. We advise speakers and attendees to ignore emails and not to provide any details to anyone who is not from Perimeter Institute.  

Confirmed Speakers and Panelists:

• Abhay Ashtekar (Penn State University)
• Robert Brandenberger (McGill University)
• Luca Buoninfante (Nordita)
• Xavier Calmet (University of Sussex)
• Francesco di Filippo (Kyoto University)
• Bianca Dittrich (Perimeter Institute)
• John Donoghue (University of Massachusetts)
• Astrid Eichhorn (CP3-origins)
• Johanna Erdmenger (Würzburg University)
• Ghazal Geshnizjani (Perimeter Institute)
• Ruth Gregory (King's College)
• Lavinia Heisenberg (Heidelberg University)
• Bob Holdom (University of Toronto)
• Benjamin Knorr (Nordita)
• Renate Loll (Radboud University Nijmegen)
• Miguel Montero (IFT Madrid)
• Rob Myers (Perimeter Institute)
• Sabrina Pasterski (Perimeter Institute)
• Fernando Quevedo (Cambridge University)
• Lisa Randall (Harvard University)
• Kasia Rejzner (York University)
• Mairi Sakellariadou (King's College)
• Lee Smolin (Perimeter Institute)
• Kellogg Stelle (Imperial College)
• Sumati Surya (Raman Research Institute)
• Andrew Tolley (Imperial College)
• Neil Turok (University of Edinburgh)
• Pedro Vieira (Perimeter Institute)
• Yasaman Yazdi (Imperial College)

Territorial Land Acknowledgement

Perimeter Institute acknowledges that it is situated on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Neutral peoples.

Perimeter Institute is located on the Haldimand Tract. After the American Revolution, the tract was granted by the British to the Six Nations of the Grand River and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation as compensation for their role in the war and for the loss of their traditional lands in upstate New York. Of the 950,000 acres granted to the Haudenosaunee, less than 5 percent remains Six Nations land. Only 6,100 acres remain Mississaugas of the Credit land. 

We thank the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Neutral peoples for hosting us on their land.

This meeting will bring together researchers from the quantum technology, atomic physics, and fundamental physics communities to discuss how quantum simulation can be used to gain new insight into the physics of black holes and the early Universe. The core program of the workshop is intended to deepen collaboration between the UK-based Quantum Simulators for Fundamental Physics (QSimFP; https://www.qsimfp.org) consortium and researchers at Perimeter Institute and neighbouring institutions. The week-long conference will consist of broadly-accessible talks on work within the consortium and work within the broader community of researchers interested in quantum simulation, as well as a poster session and ample time for discussion and collaboration

pirsa.org/C23019

Territorial Land Acknowledgement

Perimeter Institute acknowledges that it is situated on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Neutral peoples.

Perimeter Institute is located on the Haldimand Tract. After the American Revolution, the tract was granted by the British to the Six Nations of the Grand River and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation as compensation for their role in the war and for the loss of their traditional lands in upstate New York. Of the 950,000 acres granted to the Haudenosaunee, less than 5 percent remains Six Nations land. Only 6,100 acres remain Mississaugas of the Credit land. 

We thank the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Neutral peoples for hosting us on their land.

On Demand Recording: https://pirsa.org/C23035

The nature of space and time is one of the most foundational mysteries in both Physics and Philosophy. At the heart of this mystery are the two most successful theories of nature: Einstein's theory of relativity, an elegant and precise description of the geometry of our universe on large scales, and Quantum Mechanics, outlining accurate laws of interaction in the subatomic world. But these two great triumphs of 20th century physics remain inherently inconsistent, contradictory in their most basic principles, such as locality and causality. Nonetheless, the experimental domains or natural phenomena where these contradictions become manifest have remained elusive, and it is not clear that a century of theoretical investigation into quantum gravity is anywhere close to being verified in nature.

Arguably, this disconnect is our greatest and most foundational challenge in the history of Physics; despite groundbreaking progress in both theory and observations of quantum spacetimes, these two endeavours are moving farther apart. Successfully responding to this century-old challenge could require rethinking the epistemology of fundamental physics. While physicists are trained to push the frontiers of knowledge, developing a grand vision of the arch of history, and where we are (or should be) heading is a more interdisciplinary endeavor, requiring insights from theory and observations, but also philosophy and history.

We plan a focused, interactive, and highly interdisciplinary workshop, involving the world’s best theorists, observers, experimentalists, and philosophers, within a supportive, inclusive, and diverse environment, in order to kick start a long term initiative that might be our best bet to make significant progress towards uncovering the quantum nature of spacetime.

Sponsorship provided by:

Territorial Land Acknowledgemen

Perimeter Institute acknowledges that it is situated on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Neutral peoples.

Perimeter Institute is located on the Haldimand Tract. After the American Revolution, the tract was granted by the British to the Six Nations of the Grand River and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation as compensation for their role in the war and for the loss of their traditional lands in upstate New York. Of the 950,000 acres granted to the Haudenosaunee, less than 5 percent remains Six Nations land. Only 6,100 acres remain Mississaugas of the Credit land. 

We thank the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Neutral peoples for hosting us on their land.

The course is an introduction to quantum field theory in curved spacetime. Upon building up the general formalism, the latter is applied to several topics in the modern theory of gravity and cosmology where the quantum properties of fundamental fields play an essential role.

Topics to be covered:
1) Radiation of particles by moving mirrors 
2) Hawking radiation of black holes  
3) Production of primordial density perturbations and gravity waves during inflation
4) Statistical properties of the primordial spectra  

Required prior knowledge:
Foundations of quantum mechanics and general relativity

This mini-course of four lectures is an introduction, review, and critique of two approaches to deriving the Einstein equation from hypotheses about horizon entropy. 

It will be based on two papers: 

• "Thermodynamics of Spacetime: The Einstein Equation of State" arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/9504004
• "Entanglement Equilibrium and the Einstein Equation" arxiv.org/abs/1505.04753

We may also discuss ideas in "Gravitation and vacuum entanglement entropy" arxiv.org/abs/1204.6349

Zoom Link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/96212372067?pwd=dWVaUFFFc3c5NTlVTDFHOGhCV2pXdz09