Talks

We show that bulk operators lying between the outermost extremal surface and the asymptotic boundary admit a simple boundary reconstruction in the classical limit. This is the converse of the Python's lunch conjecture, which proposes that operators with support between the minimal and outermost (quantum) extremal surfaces - e.g. the interior Hawking partners - are highly complex. Our procedure for reconstructing this "simple wedge" is based on the HKLL construction, but uses causal bulk propagation of perturbed boundary conditions on Lorentzian timefolds to expand the causal wedge as far as the outermost extremal surface. As a corollary, we establish the Simple Entropy proposal for the holographic dual of the area of a marginally trapped surface as well as a similar holographic dual for the outermost extremal surface. We find that the simple wedge is dual to a particular coarse-grained CFT state, obtained via averaging over all possible Python's lunches. An efficient quantum circuit converts this coarse-grained state into a "simple state" that is indistinguishable in finite time from a state with a local modular Hamiltonian. Under certain circumstances, the simple state modular Hamiltonian generates an exactly local flow; we interpret this result as a holographic dual of black hole uniqueness.

Across different scales, symmetries shape physical systems: for example, in effective theories in condensed matter, various global symmetries are realized; at higher energy scales, the local symmetries of the Standard Model of particle physics take over. But what is the fate of symmetries at the Planck scale, where quantum gravity fluctuations kick in?

In this talk, I will focus on this question mainly from the perspective of asymptotic safety and will highlight a number of results about the role of symmetries in the interplay of asymptotically safe quantum gravity with matter. I will then mainly focus on particular discrete global symmetries, which have the attractive feature of generating mass-hierarchies without extra fine-tuning, and discuss whether or not these could be realized in quantum-gravity-matter models.

In his Perimeter Public Lecture webcast on April 7, 2021, cosmologist Will Percival will aim to help the audience grasp the enormity of space using the latest results from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS), which created the largest three-dimensional map of the universe ever made and provided profound insights into the physics of the universe in which we live.

A brief introduction to entanglement of multipartite pure quantum states will be given. As the Bell states are known to be maximally entangled among all two-qubit quantum states, a natural question arises: What is the most entangled state for the quantum system consisting of N sub-systems with d levels each? The answer depends on the entanglement measure selected, but already for four-qubit system, there is no state which displays maximal entanglement with respect to all three possible splittings of the systems into two pairs of qubits.

To construct strongly entangled multipartite quantum states one can use various mathematical techniques involving combinatorial designs, topological methods related to knot theory or the Majorana (stellar) representation of permutation symmetric quantum states.
 

We will discuss the recent advances involving programmable, coherent manipulation of quantum many-body systems using atom arrays excited into Rydberg states. Specifically, we will describe our recent technical upgrades that now allow the control over 200 atoms in two-dimensional arrays. Recent results involving the realization  of exotic phases of matter, study of quantum phase transitions and  exploration of  their non-equilibrium dynamics will be presented. In particular, we will report on realization and probing of quantum spin liquid states - the exotic states of matter have thus far evaded direct experimental detection. Finally,  realization and testing  of quantum optimization algorithms using such systems will be discussed.

The quantum gravity path integral involves a sum over topologies. Superficially, this feature is similar to Feynman diagrams of quantum field theory and the genus expansion of worldsheet string theory. There are however some key differences. While the standard construction leads to the non-abelian algebra of quantum fields, the quantum gravity path integral has been argued to define an abelian algebra associated with partition function type observables. We will discuss these issues and argue that one needs to make certain discrete choices to construct a Hilbert space from path integrals that sum over topologies. In particular, the natural choices for quantum gravity differ from those used to construct QFTs as we shall illustrate in the context of one-dimensional models.

Far-infrared spectroscopy can reveal secrets of galaxy evolution and heavy-element enrichment throughout cosmic time, and astronomers worldwide are designing cryogenic space telescopes for far-IR spectroscopy. The most challenging aspect is a far-IR detector which is both exquisitely sensitive (limited by the zodiacal-light noise in a narrow band (lambda/delta lambda ~1000)) and array able to tens of thousands of pixels. The quantum capacitance detector (QCD) being developed at MDL, is a 50mK device adapted from quantum computing applications in which photon-produced free electrons in a superconductor tunnel into a small capacitive island embedded in a resonant circuit. The QCD has optically-measured noise equivalent power (NEP) of 2x10-20 W Hz-1/2 at 1.5THz under 10-19W of optical loading, making it the most sensitive far-IR detector ever demonstrated. The QCD has further demonstrated individual far-IR photon counting, confirming the exquisite sensitivity and suitability for cryogenic space astrophysics. In this lecture, the development of the Quantum Capacitance detector will be highlighted, from inception through proof of concept devices, culminating with the demonstration of single photon detection. Current development efforts will be discussed.

The growing gravitational wave dataset makes black hole population studies possible. In this talk I will demonstrate how such studies can be used to study particle and nuclear physics. The key insight is that a wide range of initial stellar masses leave no compact remnant, due to the physics of pair-instability; the unpopulated space in the stellar graveyard is known as the black hole mass gap (BHMG). New physics can dramatically alter the late stages of stellar evolution and shift the BHMG, when it acts as an additional source of energy (loss) or modifies the equation of state. I will demonstrate how these predictions can be tested with the gravitational wave observations by the LIGO/Virgo collaboration, and show what we can already infer from GWTC-2. 

We know that different systems with the same unbroken global symmetry can nevertheless be in distinct phases of matter.  These different "symmetry-protected topological" phases are characterized by protected (gapless) surface states.  After reviewing this physics in interacting systems with global symmetries, I will describe how a different class of symmetries known as subsystem symmetries, which are neither local nor global, can also lead to protected gapless boundaries.  I will discuss how some of these subsystem-symmetry protected phases are related (though not equivalent) to interacting higher-order topological insulators, with protected gapless modes along corners or hinges in higher dimensional systems.

The Hartle-Hawking-Vilenkin state is defined on mini-superspace and is semiclassically related to inflationary theory.  However, the state suffers a few problems connected to the path integral of Euclidean or the Lorentzian measure of metrics.  In this talk, we will explore a way around these issues by working in the (Ashtekar) connection representation, a real Kodama-Chern-Simons state.  We find a generalized "Fourier Transform" that related the Chern-Simons-Kodama state to the Hartle-Hawking state beyond mini-superspace.  We end with some discussion and open ended questions for cosmology and quantum gravity.