Scientific Series

I discuss a class of compact objects (\'monsters\') with more entropy than a black hole of the same ADM mass. Such objects are problematic for AdS/CFT duality and the conventional interpretation of black hole entropy as counting of microstates. Nevertheless, monster initial data can be constructed in semi-classical general relativity without requiring large curvatures or energy densities.

Quantum computation by single-qubit measurements was proposed by Raussendorf and Briegel [PRL 86, 5188] as a potential scheme for implementing quantum computers. It also offers an unusual means of describing unitary transformations. To better understand which measurement-based procedures perform unitary operations, we may consider the following problem: under what circumstances can a measurement-based procedure for a unitary U be found, provided a similar procedure for U which relies on post-selection? In this talk, I describe the so-called \'Measurement Pattern Interpolation\' problem, the intuition behind the solved special cases, and possible applications of a general solution to this problem.

Conventional quantum mechanics answers this question by specifying the required mathematical properties of wavefunctions and invoking the Born postulate. The ontological question remains unanswered. There is one exception to this. A variation of the Feynman chessboard model allows a classical stochastic process to assemble a wavefunction, based solely on the geometry of spacetime paths. A direct comparison of how a related process assembles a Probability Density Function reveals both how and why PDFs and wavefunctions differ from the perspective of an underlying kinetic theory. If the fine-scale motion of a particle through spacetime is continuous and position is a single valued function of time, then we are able to describe ensembles of paths directly by PDFs. However, should paths have time reversed portions so that position is not a single-valued function of time, a simple Bernoulli counting of paths fails, breaking the link to PDF\'s! Under certain circumstances, correcting the path-counting to accommodate time-reversed sections results in wavefunctions not PDFs. The result is that a single `switch\' simultaneously turns on both special relativity and quantum propagation. Physically, fine-scale random motion in space alone yields a diffusive process with PDFs governed by the Telegraph equations. If the fine-scale motion includes both directions in time, the result is a wavefunction satisfying the Dirac equation that also provides a detailed answer to the title question.

It is argued that space-time is discretized on the basis of the gravitational interactions among the degrees of freedom of quantum fields.Configurations of fields fall into 2 classes,propagating (cisplanckian in length scale) and those that are transplanckian, sequestered in the space-time that is localized in discrete elements.Only the former determine the hubble expansion parameter and are therefore used to construct the inflaton.The model used for discretization is Sorkin\'s causet construction.From this the covariant massy Klein Gordon equation can be rationalized.The mass is encoded as an exchange matrix element between the sequestered (bound) degrees of freedom and those that propagate,presumably by tunneling thereby exlaining why m<<1.

We discuss holography for geometries that are asymptotic to non-conformal brane backgrounds. The near-horizon limit of all non-conformal branes, including D-branes and the fundamental string but excluding five-branes, is conformal to $AdS_{p+2} imes S^{8-p}$ with a linear dilaton. They exhibit a generalized conformal structure, both on the QFT and on the gravitational side. We develop holographic renormalization for all these cases and discuss a number of applications. We compute the holographic 2-point functions of the stress energy tensor and gluon operator and show they satisfy the expected Ward identities and the constraints of generalized conformal structure. The holographic results are also manifestly compatible with the M-theory uplift, with the asymptotic solutions, counterterms, one and two point functions etc. of the IIA F1 and D4 appropriately descending from those of M2 and M5 branes, respectively.

I will illustrate the case of interacting dark Energy, that is to say cosmologies in which the dark energy scalar field interacts with other things in the universe (gravity, cold dark matter or neutrinos). After briefly presenting the status of our work for the first two classes of models, regarding both linear perturbations and Nbody simulations, I will in particular focus on the case of \'growing neutrinos\': in these models, neutrinos with a mass increasing with time might be driven to cluster at very large scales, due to a new interaction stronger than gravity and mediated by the dark energy scalar field.

Many statistics problems involve predicting the joint strategy that will be chosen by the players in a noncooperative game. Conventional game theory predicts that the joint strategy will satisfy an ``equilibrium concept\'\'. The relative probabilities of the joint strategies satisfying the equilibrium concept are not given, and all joint strategies that do not satisfy it are given probability zero. As an alternative, I view the prediction problem as one of statistical inference, where the ``data\'\' includes the details of the noncooperative game. This replaces conventional game theory\'s focus on how to specify a set of equilibrium joint strategies with a focus on how to specify a density function over joint strategies. I explore a Bayesian version of such a Predictive Game Theory (PGT) that provides a posterior density over joint strategies. It is based on the the entropic prior and on a likelihood that quantifies the rationalities of the players. The Quantal Response Equilibrium (QRE) is a popular game theory equilibrium concept parameterized by player rationalities. I show that for some games the local peaks of the posterior density over joint strategies approximate the associated QRE\'s, and derive the associated correction terms. I also discuss how to estimate parameters of the likelihood from observational data, and how to sample from the posterior. I end by showing how PGT can be used to specify a {it{unique}} equilibrium for any noncooperative game, thereby providing a solution to a long-standing problem of conventional game theory.

The semiclassical-quantum correspondence (SQC) is a new principle which has enabled the explicit solution of the quantum constraints of GR in the full theory in the Ashtekar variables for gravity coupled to matter. The solutions, which constitute the physical space of states implementing the quantum dynamics of GR in the Dirac procedure, include a special class of states known as the generalized Kodama states (GKod). The GKodS can be seen as an analogue of the pure Kodama state (Kod) when quantum gravity (QGRA) is coupled to matter fields quantized on the same footing. The criterion for finiteness stems from a precise cancellation of the ultraviolet singularities stemming from the quantum Hamiltonian constraint, allowing for an exact solution. This signifies the following developments for 4D QGRA: (i) Equivalence among the Dirac, reduced phase, geometric and path integration approaches to quantization for GKods; (ii) A generalization of topological field theory to include matter fields via the instanton representation of GKod; (iii) A possible mechanism to establish 4D QGRA, via tree networks, as a renormalizable theory (iv) A direct link from QGRA to Minkoswki spacetime physics, which would enable tests of 4D QGRA without the necessity to access the Planck scale (v) A third-quantized analogy to second quantized spin network states implementing the quantum dynamics of GR. The aforementioned algorithm is designed to construct explicit solutions to the constraints of the full theory by inspection, while implementing any desired ‘boundary’ conditions on the states necessary to reduce to the appropriate semiclassical limit. Conversely, the finite states of 4D QGRA can place severe restrictions on phenomena occurring in the weak gravitational limit below the Planck scale. While we demonstrate this for the GKodS in this talk, the procedure can be applied to obtain a family of states labeled by two arbitrary functions of position, which possess the requisite Hilbert space structure in the limit where the matter fields are turned off. Remaining areas of research in progress include the illumination of the Hilbert space structure of the GKodS, analysis of various models for which the SQC can produce tractable solutions, in the full theory and in minisuperspace, and the addressal of any issues of interest regarding the mathematical rigor of the states.

By storing quantum information in the degenerate ground state of a Hamiltonian, it is hoped that it can be made quite robust against noise processes. We will examine this situation, with particular emphasis on the Toric code in 2D, and show how adversarial effects, either perturbations to the Hamiltonian or interactions with an environment, destroy the stored information extremely quickly.

We show that if a condensed matter system (a quantum qbit system) is in a string-net condensed state, then the low energy excitation in such a system can be gauge bosons (such as photons) and fermions (such as electrons). Such a system is actually the ether that we have been looking for 150 years. We will also discuss a quantum qbit system that may even give rise to emergent gravitons.

I show that physical devices that perform observation, prediction, or recollection share an underlying mathematical structure. I call devices with that structure ``inference devices\'\'. I present a set of existence and impossibility results concerning inference devices. These results hold independent of the precise physical laws governing our universe. In a limited sense, the impossibility results establish that Laplace was wrong to claim that even in a classical, non-chaotic universe the future can be unerringly predicted, given sufficient knowledge of the present. Alternatively, these impossibility results can be viewed as a non-quantum mechanical ``uncertainty principle\'\'. Next I explore the close connections between the mathematics of inference devices and of Turing Machines. I end by informally discussing the philosophical implications of these results, e.g., for whether the universe ``is\'\' a computer.

The Lee-Wick model has recently been put forwards as an alternative to supersymmetry for solving the hierarchy problem of particle physics. I will show that, modulo important consistency questions, coupling the Lee-Wick model to cosmology leads to a bouncing universe cosmology with a scale-invariant spectrum of cosmological fluctuations emerging from quantum vacuum fluctuations in the contracting phase.