Search Talks

We start by studying the non-computational geometry of fractionally-dimensioned measure-zero dynamically-invariant subsets of phase space, associated with certain deterministic nonlinear dissipative dynamical systems. Then, by studying the asymptotic states of the Hawking Box, the existence of such invariant subsets is conjectured for gravitationally-bound systems. The argument hinges around the phase-space properties of black holes. Like Penrose, it is assumed that phase-space volumes shrink when the contents of the Hawking Box contain black holes. However, unlike Penrose, we do not argue for any corresponding phase-space divergence when the Box does not contain black holes. We now make the hypothesis that these invariant phase-space subsets play a primitive role in fundamental physics; specifically that the state of the universe (“reality”) lies on such an invariant subset (now and hence forever). Attention is focussed on the implications of this hypothesis for the foundations of quantum theory. For example, what are referred to as “measurements” of the quantum state, are defined in terms of symbolic dynamics on the invariant set, relative to some partition of the invariant set. This immediately leads to the notion that any theory which treats these invariant sets as primitive, must be contextual (since counterfactual perturbations almost certainly take states off the measure-zero invariant set and hence to “unreal” regions of phase space where the symbolic partition is undefined). This in turn leads to a new perspective, both on the foundations of quantum theory and on the role of gravity in formulating these foundations. In particular, a measurement-free Neo-Copenhagen Interpretation of quantum theory, based on the Invariant Set Hypothesis will be presented.

The rise of quantum information science has been paralleled by the development of a vigorous research program aimed at obtaining an informational characterization or reconstruction of the quantum formalism, in a broad framework for stochastic theories that encompasses quantum and classical theory, but also a wide variety of other theories that can serve as foils to them. Such a reconstruction, at its most ambitious, is envisioned as playing a role in quantum physics similar to Einstein\'s reconstruction of the dynamics and kinetics of macroscopic bodies, and later of their gravitational interactions, on the basis of simple principles with clear operational meanings and experimental consequences. But short of such an ambitious goal, it could still lead to a principled understanding of the features of quantum mechanics that account for its greater-than-classical information-processing power, an understanding which could help guide the search for new quantum algorithms and protocols. I will summarize a convex operational framework for possible physical theories, and present results from a project to characterize quantum mechanics in terms of principles tightly linked to the possibility or impossibility of various information processing protocols. Previous results identified properties, like the existence of information-disturbance tradeoffs and restrictions on cloning and broadcasting, common to all nonclassical theories. In this talk I will focus on recent results involving protocols that are less generic. These are: the existence of exponentially secure bit commitment in non-classical theories without entanglement, the consequences for theories of the existence of a conclusive teleportation scheme, and sufficient conditions for the existence of a deterministic teleportation scheme. I\'ll also discuss sufficient conditions for \'remote steering\' of ensembles using entanglement, rendering insecure bit commitment protocols of the form shown to be secure in the unentangled case. Connections to the category-theoretic approach of Coecke and Abramsky, Selinger, Baez, and collaborators may be touched on if time permits. Joint work with various groups of collaborators including Jonathan Barrett, Matthew Leifer, Alexander Wilce, Oscar Dahlsten, and Ben Toner.

I would like to provide a short, possibly elementary, introduction to the problem of computing string amplitudes at higher genus for superstrings. Essentially, I will recall which is the mathematical problem in defining the path integral measure (which has a well defined algebraic geometry realization for bosonic strings) and the solution proposed by d~@~YHocker and Phong for the genus 2 case. Their main results are the chiral splitted form of the measure, and its explicit expression in genus two. They proposed the splitting form to work at any genus and assumed some restriction for the explicit form which however did not permitted them to find a solution for genera higher then 2. I will tell something about the technology which permitted us to find explicit solutions for genus 3 and four. Indeed, we showed that the restrictions imposed by d~@~YHocker and Phong have no solution whereas the most general form compatible with modular invariance and clustering provide a unique solution, at least for genus 3 and 4. I will try to be as less technical as possible.

In this talk I will give an introduction to the simulation of quantum many-body systems using the so-called tensor networks. After a brief historical review, I will introduce the basics on tensor network representations of quantum states, and will explain some recent developments. In particular, in the last part of my talk I will focus on recent results obtained in the simulation of 2-dimensional quantum lattice systems of infinite size.

There are a number of arguments in the philosophical, physical and cosmological literatures for the thesis that time is not fundamental to the description of nature. According to this view, time should be only an approximate notion which emerges from a more fundamental, timeless description only in certain limiting approximations. My first task is to review these arguments and explain why they fail. I will then examine the opposite view, which is that time and change are fundamental and, indeed, are perhaps the only aspects of reality that are not emergent from a more fundamental, microscopic description. The argument involves several aspects of contemporary physics and cosmology including 1) the problem of the landscape of string theory, 2) cosmological inflation and the problem of initial conditions, 3) the interpretation of the “wavefunction of the universe,” and the problem of what is an observable in classical and quantum general relativity. It also involves issues in the foundations of mathematics and the issue of the proper understanding of the role of mathematics in physics. The view that time is real and not emergent is, I will argue, supported by considerations arising from all these issues It leads finally to a need for a notion of law in cosmology which replaces the freedom to choose initial conditions with a notion of laws evolving in time. The arguments presented here have been developed in collaboration with Roberto Mangabeira Unger .

I discuss how we can give a satisfactory account of theory confirmation for theories with random data, such as Copenhagen quantum theory, despite the lack of a completely satisfactory definition of probabilistic theories of nature. I also explain why neither this nor any other proposed account of scientific confirmation works for many-worlds theories

I will identify six \'problems of time\' that arise in connection with quantum gravity and review the extent to which some of them can be regarded as solved, highlighting the very different aspects that they assume depending on one\'s starting point: Hamiltonian vs. path-integral, discrete vs continuous.

The evidence for the big bang is now overwhelming. However, the basic question of what caused the bang remains open. One possibility is that time somehow \'emerged,\' placing the universe in an inflationary state. Another, perhaps more conservative possibility, is that the big bang was a violent event in a pre-existing universe. I will describe model calculations employing the AdS/CFT correspondence which show how this is possible, and which point to a new explanation for the origin of large scale structure in the universe.

In recent work with Bob Coecke and others, we have developed a categorical axiomatization of quantum mechanics. This analyzes the main structural features of quantum mechanics into simple and general elements, which admit an elegant diagrammatic representation. This enables an illuminating and effective analysis of quantum information protocols and computational structures. One aspect which is brought to light in this analysis is that protocols such as teleportation use entanglement to achieve a logical information flow which has an apparent retro-causal (or even `backward-in-time\') component. However, there is also a physical or operational description of the same systems, based on an abstract structural characterization of quantum measurements, which is entirely causally consistent. The systematic relationship between these two descriptions suggests a novel perspective on the flow of time and information in the quantum realm.