Physics

This course is part of the 2026 Undergraduate Summer School curriculum. This four-lecture course traces dark matter from the evidence that it must exist (Bullet Cluster, CMB, galactic rotation curves) through the two leading models — heavy thermal relics protected by a symmetry (WIMPs) and ultralight bosons produced non-thermally (axions). The final lecture turns to detection, and discusses how to build a dark matter experiment.

This course is part of the 2026 Undergraduate Summer School curriculum. This course introduces modern artificial neural network architectures and explores how they can be used to study quantum many-body systems as key models underlying quantum computation and condensed matter physics. Students will learn the basics of quantum many-body theory and artificial neural networks and see how these tools can be combined to represent quantum states, analyze data, and optimize quantum experiments. The course provides both conceptual foundations and practical insight into how artificial intelligence is transforming the study of complex quantum systems.

This course introduces Scientific Machine Learning, beginning with an overview of traditional and modern machine learning methods illustrated with examples from physics. It then transitions to physics-informed approaches, where physical laws, symmetries, and mechanistic models are embedded into learning frameworks. Tutorials and assignments will emphasize developing programming skills in Python.

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.

Mostly ignore the Introduction content of the Oct 27 lecture (up to 14:14). The content and direction of the course evolved such that different portions of the “Old Schedule” (at 0:27) were covered. The schedule on this page has been corrected and now accurately reflects the content of the lectures.

The “Supplements” on Oct 30 and Nov 06 are actually just Lectures.

Outline:
Oct 27: The Planimeter and the Weyl-Heisenberg Group of Kinematic Transformations
Oct 30: The Planimeter and the Weyl-Heisenberg Group of Canonical Transformations
Nov 03: No Class
Nov 06: Measuring Instruments, Indirect Quantum Measurement, and Positive Gaussian Kraus Operators
Nov 10: Gaussian Channels, Gaussian Random Unitaries, and Sequential Measurements
Nov 13: Wiener Increments and the Ito Rules
Nov 17: No Class
Nov 20: General Gaussian Kraus Operators, Lindblad Operators, and Diffusive Measurement
Nov 24: The Markov Property and The Central Limit Theorem
Nov 27: Instrumental Groups, von Neumann Measurement, and Diffusive Heterodyne
Dec 01: No Class
Dec 04: The Stratonovich Product, The Maurer-Cartan Stochastic Differential, and Indirect Homodyne
Dec 08: The Kraus-Operator Density and The Fokker-Planck-Kolmogorov Equation of a Diffusive Measurement
Dec 11: Simultaneous Diffusive Measurements of Non-Commuting Observables and the Instrument Manifold Program

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 [email protected].

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.

The aim of this course is to explore the main ideas of the statistical physics approach to critical phenomena. We will discuss phase transitions, using the ferromagnetic phase transition and the Ising model as our primary example. The renormalisation group approach will be an important part of this course.

Since its founding, training has been a cornerstone of Perimeter Institute’s mission. Over the years, we have supported nearly 1,000 postdoctoral researchers and graduate students along their academic journeys. Many have gone on to make remarkable contributions in academia and industry, while others have focused on creating positive change in the world.

To mark Perimeter’s 25th Anniversary, we are proud to host the inaugural Perimeter Circle Alumni Awards event.

A shortlist of Award nominees will be providing talks and networking sessions in this 2-day event. 

Join us to meet these outstanding alumni and hear their stories beyond Perimeter.

2025 Perimeter Circle Alumni Award Shortlisted Nominees:

Academic Leadership Excellence:

• Jonathan Barrett
• Claudia de Rham 
• Astrid Eichhorn
• Flaminia Giacomini
• Stefania Gori
• Andrei Olegovich Starinets
• Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
• Robert Raussendorf
• Rowan Thomson
• Will Witzak-Krempa

 

Industry Trailblazer:

• Natacha Altamirano
• Ciaran Gilligan-Lee
• David Louapre
• Brigette Oakes
• Henry Reich

 

Pathfinder

• Sarah Croke
• Anna Knörr
• Sonali Mohapatra
• Prince Osei
• Jessica Weitbrecht

 

This event is open to Perimeter Residents, Associates and Alumni. All talks will be broadcast online. Onsite participation registration deadline is September 22.

Separate registration was required for Commnitech Breakfast on Thursday. The breakfast is now fully booked! If you did not register in advance there are no more seats available for this event.

PARKING NOTICE for September 25. Perimeter Parking lot will be closed. Please park at the MUSEUM LOT entrance is on Father David Bauer Drive off of Erb Street.

Note: The Career Trajectories and Advancement departments at Perimeter Institute will provide the meals for Thursday’s event for all approved participants. If you are unable to attend after being approved, you must notify the organizers in advance. No-shows on the day of the event will be subject to a $20 cancellation fee.

This is a theoretical physics course that aims to review the basics of theoretical mechanics, special relativity, and classical field theory, with the emphasis on geometrical notions and relativistic formalism, thus setting the stage for the forthcoming courses in Quantum Mechanics, and Quantum Field Theory in particular, as well as in General Relativity and Quantum Gravity. Instructor: Aldo Riello Students who are not part of the PSI MSc program should review enrollment and course format information here: https://perimeterinstitute.ca/graduate-courses

 

Scientific Organizers:

• Anindita Maiti (Perimeter Institute)
• Matt Johnson (Perimeter Institute)
• Sabrina Pasterski (Perimeter Institute)

 

Advisory Committee:

• Achim Kempf (University of Waterloo)
• Cengiz Pehlevan (Harvard University)
• Hiranya Peiris (University of Cambridge)
• Roger Melko (University of Waterloo)

 

 

*virtual presentation

Scientific Organizers:

• Matthew Johnson (Perimeter Institute) 

• Anindita Maiti (Perimeter Institute) 

• Sabrina Pasterski (Perimeter Institute)

Advisory Committee:

• Mykola Semenyakin (Perimeter Institute)

 

Machine learning has become a very valuable toolbox for scientists including physicists. In this course, we will learn the basics of machine learning with an emphasis on applications for many-body physics. At the end of this course, you will be equipped with the necessary and preliminary tools for starting your own machine learning projects. Instructor: Mohamed Hibat Allah Students who are not part of the PSI MSc program should review enrollment and course format information here: https://perimeterinstitute.ca/graduate-courses