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Quantum reference frames (QRFs) have emerged as a powerful and rapidly developing framework in fundamental physics, providing a systematic approach to formulating theories without fixed classical backgrounds. By making explicit the relational structure of physical laws, QRFs supply concrete tools to define subsystems, observables, and quantum information in diffeomorphism-invariant and dynamically fluctuating spacetimes. Their applications span quantum gravity, algebraic and curved-spacetime quantum field theory, quantum information, cosmology, and phenomenology, refining our understanding of locality, causality, symmetry, and measurement beyond semiclassical regimes. In gravitational settings, QRFs clarify relational observables, edge modes, soft degrees of freedom, and entanglement in quantum spacetime, and shed new light on the role of observers in dynamical geometries.

This conference will convene researchers advancing these developments at a pivotal stage for the field. By bringing together high-energy theory, quantum foundations, and emerging experimental directions, the workshop aims to sharpen central conceptual questions, explore phenomenological implications, and strengthen the link between formal structure and operational meaning. The goal is to consolidate QRFs as a coherent framework for describing observers, information, and subsystems in a relational universe.

Some funding may be available for participants through the following organization(s):
BridgeQG

Invited Speakers

• Goncalo Araujo-Regado (OIST)
• Vijay Balasubramanian (University of Pennsylvania)
• Caslav Brukner (IQOQI Vienna)
• Thomas Galley (IQOQI Vienna)
• Kristina Giesel (FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg)
  
• Luca Illesiu (UC Berkeley)
• Daan Janssen (University of York)
• Viktoria Kabel (ETH Zurich)
• Leon Loveridge (University of South-Eastern Norway)
• Luca Marchetti (IPMU Tokyo / OIST)
• Don Marolf (UC Santa Barbara)*
• Gautam Satishchandran (Princeton University)
• Antony Speranza (University of Amsterdam)
• Tomasz Taylor (Northeastern University)
• Jordan Wilson-Gerow (Carnegie-Mellon University)
• Ying Zhao (MIT)
• Kathryn Zurek (Caltech)
  

*Virtual

Scientific Organizers

• Josh Kirklin (Perimeter Institute)
• Laurent Freidel (Perimeter Institute)
• Rob Myers (Perimeter Institute)
• Philipp Hoehn (Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology)
• Kasia Rejzner (University of York)
  
  

Supported in part by:

The 2026 Tri-Institute Summer School on Elementary Particles (TRISEP) will be held July 13-24 at Perimeter Institute. 

TRISEP is an international summer school organized jointly by Perimeter Institute, SNOLAB, and TRIUMF, Canada's laboratory for particle and nuclear physics. TRISEP will feature lectures by leading experts in the fields of particle physics and particle astrophysics (broadly defined) and is designed to be very interactive with ample time for questions, discussions and interaction with the speakers. The school is intended for graduate students of all levels, both theorists and experimentalists, preferably with some knowledge of quantum field theory.

Previous TRISEP Schools:

2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021,2019,2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013.

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Scientific Organizers

Cliff Burgess (McMaster University, Perimeter Institute)
Mina Arvanitaki (Perimeter Institute)
Marcela Carena (Perimeter Institute, University of Chicago)
Michael Fedderke (Perimeter Institute)
Junwu Huang (Perimeter Institute)
Sergei Sibiryakov (McMaster University, Perimeter Institute)
Carlos Wagner (University of Chicago)

Field-level inference has recently emerged as a powerful alternative to traditional summary-statistic approaches in the analysis of cosmological data sets. This technique exploits the full information content of data from the cosmic microwave background, galaxy redshift surveys, and forthcoming multi-wavelength imaging campaigns, allowing us to extract considerably more information from cosmic surveys compared to traditional analysis methods focused on modeling two-point correlations. This workshop will convene cosmologists, statisticians, machine-learning practitioners, and high-performance-computing experts to accelerate progress on this rapidly evolving frontier. 

All sessions will be plenary to maximise cross-disciplinary dialogue, with ample time reserved for  structured discussion and collaborative problem-solving.

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Speakers

Adrian Bayer (Flatiron Institute / Princeton University)
Carolina Cuesta-Lazaro (Flatiron Institute)
Natali de Santi (Berkeley)
Adriaan Duivenvoorden (MPA Garching)
Fei Ge (Caltech)*
Yashar Hezaveh (Université de Montréal)
Mikhail Ivanov (MIT)
Jens Jasche (Stockholm University)
Azadeh Moradinezhad (CNRS - LAPTh)
Fabian Schmidt (MPA Garching)
Uros Seljak (University of California, Berkeley)
*Virtual Presenter

Scientific Organizers

Marco Bonici (University of Waterloo)
Neal Dalal (Perimeter Institute)
Beatriz Tucci (Stanford University)

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: 
1. Recent experimental progress on quantum simulation hardwares
2. First-principle classification of topological phases of matter 
3. Physics of machine learning and learning of quantum states
4. Quantum dynamics and out-of-equilibrium phases
5. Thermalization and thermal state preparation

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Speakers

Dmitry Abanin (Princeton/Google Quantum AI)*
Juan Carrasquilla (ETH Zurich)
Anthony Chen (University of California, Berkeley)
Matthew Fisher (UC Santa Barbra)
Sarang Gopalakrishnan (Princeton University)
Tarun Grover (University of California, San Diego)
Vedika Khemani (Stanford University)
Michael Levin (University of Chicago)
Andrew Lucas (University of Colorado Boulder)
Andrew Potter (Quantinuum/UBC)
Yihui Quek (EPFL)*
Shengqi Sang (Stanford University)
Thomas Schuster (Caltech)
Wilbur Shirley (University of Chicago)
Ruben Verresen (University of Chicago)
Sagar Vijay (UC Santa Barbara)
Curt von Keyserlingk (King's College London)
Carolyn Zhang (Harvard University)

*Virtual

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Scientific Organizers

Tim Hsieh (Perimeter Institute)
Wenjie Ji (Perimeter Institute)
Subhayan Sahu (Perimeter Institute)
Beni Yoshida (Perimeter Institute)
Yijian Zou (Perimeter Institute)