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This course will explain why textbook quantum “theory” is merely a mathematical recipe rather than a proper physical theory. It will then cover the most serious obstacles to fixing this problem and to providing a clear metaphysics underpinning the mathematics of quantum theory. We will focus on key no-go theorems (e.g., Bell’s theorem, contextuality theorems, and Extended Wigner’s friend arguments), as well as on key frameworks (e.g., generalized probabilistic theories and ontological models).

We will study advanced topics in gravitational physics and their applications to high energy physics. After reviewing topics in differential geometry, including differential forms, Cartan's formalism, and the Gauss-Codazzi equations for the geometry of embedded hypersurfaces, we will address the Einstein-Hilbert variational principle and the Hawking-York term, which plays an important role in the gravitational path integral. We will then study the Kerr solution for rotating black holes, and address topics in black hole thermodynamics using the Euclidean action, as well as Hawking radiation. Time allowing we will touch on some more advanced topics such as domain walls, brane world scenarios, Kaluza-Klein (KK) theory & KK black holes, Gregory-Laflamme instability, and Gravitational instantons.

We will study topics in theoretical physics through the lens of differential geometry and algebraic topology. The topics will be chosen among the following: differential forms on manifolds, homology, homotopy, de Rham cohomology, gauge theory and principal fiber bundles, nonperturbative effects and topology, characteristic classes, basics of solitons (ex: why is the instanton number a number?), index theorems, introduction to anomalies.

The course will give introduction into the structure of the Standard Model of particle physics and its field content. The emphasis will be made on the underlying principles, such as gauge invariance, cancellation of quantum anomalies, and Brout-Englert-Higgs mechanism. Effective low-energy description of strong interactions will be also discussed. It will be assumed that students are familiar with the basics of quantum field theory.

This course offers an introduction to general relativity (GR), focusing on the core principles of Einstein's theory of gravity. We will explore key topics such as the equivalence principle, some essential concepts in differential geometry, the Einstein-Hilbert action, and Einstein's field equations. Furthermore, we will examine practical applications of general relativity in understanding black holes, cosmology, and gravitational waves.

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Conference Speakers

Workshop Organizers
Davide Gaiotto
Wenjun Niu
Ben Webster

This series is a crash course introduction to a handful of advanced topics designed to tackle the general problem of how to engineer Positive Operator-Valued Measures (POVMs) using observable building blocks, the so-called Instrument Manifold Program.  This program emerged from a recent fundamental breakthrough: how to realize the measurement of a spin’s direction, a.k.a. the spin-coherent-state POVM, a spherical set of outcomes analogous to the well known coherent-state POVM of the standard phase plane.

Outline: Oct 27: Introduction: The Planimeter and the ``Spherimeter'' Oct 30: Indirect Measurement and System-Meter Interaction Nov 03: POVMs and Decoherence Nov 06: Generalized Observables: Phase-Point and Spin-Direction Nov 10: Transformation Groups and Enveloping Algebras Nov 13: Frame Operators and Quasi-Probability Distributions Nov 17: The Arthurs-Kelly (1965) and D’Ariano (2002) Measurements Nov 20: Optical Homodyne and Heterodyne Nov 24: Continuous Measurement and the Kraus-Operator Density Nov 27: Simultaneous Measurements of Non-Commuting Observables Dec 01: Instrumental Groups and Universal Markov Processes Dec 04: Universal Instrument Navigation Dec 08: Non-Euclidean Geometry Dec 11: Non-Euclidean POVMs

Location & Building Access: Alice Room, 3rd Floor, Perimeter Institute, 31 Caroline St N, Waterloo (Exception - November 27 in Space Room, 4th Floor)

Registration: Please sign-up here: https://forms.office.com/r/dEA4EUq0CU

Participants who do not have an access card for Perimeter Institute must sign in at the security desk before each session. For information on parking or accessibility please contact academic@perimeterinstitute.ca.

The aim is to have two types of talks concerning the history: those that present novel takes on well-studied historical topics and those that address more unconventional historical questions.  The second category aims to include talks on the history of a variety of subfields of quantum theory, such quantum information, quantum field theory, quantum optics, quantum logic, quantum chemistry, quantum gravity, quantum matter and quantum foundations..

Conference topics include:

• The prehistory of modern quantum theory 
• The historical development of modern quantum theory
• The discovery of Important concepts in quantum theory (the uncertainty principle, wave-particle duality, particle statistics, the no-cloning theorem, teleportation, etc.)
• The discovery of important no-go results (von Neumann’s no-go theorem, the 1935 Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen argument, Bell’s theorem, the Kochen-Specker theorem)
• The history of quantum information, quantum field theory, quantum optics, quantum logic, quantum chemistry, quantum gravity, and quantum matter
• The sociology of quantum physics

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Scientific Organizers:

• Robert Spekkens (Perimeter Institute)

• Wayne Myrvold (Western University)

• Doreen Fraser (University of Waterloo)

• Katherine Mack (Perimeter Institute)

• David Schmid (Perimeter Institute)

• Nick Ormrod (Perimeter Institute)

• Marina Maciel Ansanelli (Perimeter Institute)

• Yile Ying (Perimeter Institute)

Confirmed Speakers:

The annual Graduate Students’ Conference showcases the diverse research directions at Perimeter Institute, both organized and presented by the students. Our graduate students are invited to share their best work with their fellow PhD students, PSI students and other PI residents interested in hearing about physics research and discussing it in a lively atmosphere full of questions.