Scientific Series

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The invasion of physics by information theory

Robert Spekkens Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
March 26, 2014

PIRSA:14030085
Quantum Physics
GeV Gamma-Rays from the Central Milky Way and the Case for Annihilating Dark Matter

Tracy Slatyer Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Department of Physics
March 26, 2014

PIRSA:14030120
High Energy Physics
Far from equilibrium energy flow in quantum critical systems
March 25, 2014

PIRSA:14030089
High Energy Physics
Naturalness and the Weak Gravity Conjecture

Clifford Cheung California Institute of Technology (Caltech) - Physics Office
March 25, 2014

PIRSA:14030119
High Energy Physics
Cosmic initial conditions and the CMB

Daniel Grin California Institute of Technology
March 25, 2014

PIRSA:14030112
Astrophysics
Ambiguities in order-theoretic formulations of thermodynamics

Harvey Brown University of Oxford
March 21, 2014

PIRSA:14030093
Quantum Physics
Universal topological quantum computation from a superconductor/Abelian quantum Hall heterostructure

Roger Mong University of Pittsburgh
March 19, 2014

PIRSA:14030118
Quantum Physics
Exact results in supersymmetric gauge theories in various dimensions

Sara Pasquetti University of Milan
March 19, 2014

PIRSA:14030084
High Energy Physics
A histories perpective on bounding quantum correlations

Joe Henson BNP Paribas Asset Management London
March 18, 2014

PIRSA:14030111
Quantum Physics
Before the Bang

Raman Sundrum University of Maryland, College Park
March 18, 2014

PIRSA:14030113
High Energy Physics
Inflation After Planck
March 18, 2014

PIRSA:14030116
Astrophysics
Seeing is Believing: Direct Observation of a General Quantum State

Jeff Lundeen University of Ottawa
March 17, 2014

PIRSA:14030110
Quantum Physics

The invasion of physics by information theory

Robert Spekkens Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
March 26, 2014

PIRSA:14030085
Quantum Physics
When we think of a revolution in physics, we usually think of a physical theory that manages to overthrow its predecessor. There is another kind of revolution, however, that typically happens more slowly but that is often the key to achieving the first sort: it is the discovery of a novel perspective on an existing physical theory. The use of least-action principles, symmetry principles, and thermodynamic principles are good historical examples. It turns out that we can refine our understanding of many of these principles by characterizing certain properties of physical states as resources. I will discuss some of the highlights of two resource theories: the resource theory of asymmetry, which characterizes the relations among quantum states that break a symmetry; and the resource theory of athermality, which characterizes the relations among quantum states that deviate from thermal equilibrium. In particular, I will discuss how Noether's theorem does not capture all of the consequences of symmetries of the dynamics, and how the second law of thermodynamics does not capture all of the constraints on thermodynamic transitions. Finally, I will show that both asymmetry and athermality are informational resources, and that rehabilitated versions of Noether's theorem and the second law can both be understood as constraints on data processing. Considerations such as these---as well as evidence from other fronts of the invasion---make a compelling case for the revolutionary cause of reconceiving physics from an information-theoretic perspective.
GeV Gamma-Rays from the Central Milky Way and the Case for Annihilating Dark Matter

Tracy Slatyer Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Department of Physics
March 26, 2014

PIRSA:14030120
High Energy Physics
Past studies have identified a spatially extended excess of ~1-3 GeV gamma rays from the Galactic Center and inner Galaxy, consistent with the emission expected from annihilating thermal relic dark matter. I will describe recent improvements in the characterization of this signal, which demonstrate that it is spherically symmetric, centered on the Galactic Center, and with a spatial profile consistent with annihilation from a cusped NFW profile. The excess can be detected out to 10 degrees from the Galactic Center, which poses challenges for a millisecond pulsar origin; I will discuss the implications of a dark matter interpretation.
Far from equilibrium energy flow in quantum critical systems
March 25, 2014

PIRSA:14030089
High Energy Physics
We investigate far from equilibrium energy transport in strongly coupled quantum critical systems. Combining results from gauge-gravity duality, relativistic hydrodynamics, and quantum field theory, we argue that long-time energy transport after a local thermal quench occurs via a universal steady-state for any spatial dimensionality. This is described by a boosted thermal state. We determine the transport properties of this emergent steady state, including the average energy flow and its long-time fluctuations.
Naturalness and the Weak Gravity Conjecture

Clifford Cheung California Institute of Technology (Caltech) - Physics Office
March 25, 2014

PIRSA:14030119
High Energy Physics
The weak gravity conjecture (WGC) asserts a powerful consistency condition on gauge theories coupled to quantum gravity: an Abelian, long-range force requires a state of charge q and mass m such that q > m/mPl. Failure of this condition implies the existence of stable black hole remnants and is in tension with no-hair theorems. In this paper, we argue that the WGC creates a non- perturbative obstruction to naturalness, which is the notion that dimensionless coefficients should take on O(1) values in the absence of enhanced symmetry. As an illustration, we show that for scalar quantum electrodynamics, a natural spectrum can actually be forbidden by the WGC, which bounds a radiatively unstable quantity, m, by a radiatively stable quantity, q. More generally, the WGC can be at odds with naturalness in any theory containing charged fundamental scalars. We extend the conditions of the WGC to more complicated theories with multiple gauge symmetries and particles. Finally, we discuss implications for the hierarchy problem and construct a simple model in which the natural value of the electroweak scale—at the cutoff—is forbidden by the WGC.
Cosmic initial conditions and the CMB

Daniel Grin California Institute of Technology
March 25, 2014

PIRSA:14030112
Astrophysics
One new frontier in cosmology is the frequency spectrum of the CMB. Future instruments may be precise enough to measure deviations from the nearly-perfect blackbody, measuring a chemical potential and thus probing energy injection at extremely high redshift. I will discuss ($\mu$ and $y$-type) CMB spectral distortions from the dissipation of entropy (isocurvature)-sourced acoustic modes. I will then discuss how a high-energy phase transition could also source such distortions. I will then switch gears and talk about the possibility of measuring a spatial fluctuation in the baryon/DM ratio using the CMB, including recent observational results. I may also muse on the surprising possible connection between these compensated isocurvature modes and the anomalously low large-scale scalar power hinted at by Planck observations of the CMB temperature power spectrum and the recent claimed BICEP2 detection of primordial tensor modes
Ambiguities in order-theoretic formulations of thermodynamics

Harvey Brown University of Oxford
March 21, 2014

PIRSA:14030093
Quantum Physics
Since the 1909 work of Carathéodory, an axiomatic approach to thermodynamics has gained ground which highlights the role of the the binary relation of adiabatic accessibility between equilibrium states. A feature of Carathédory's system is that the version therein of the second law contains an ambiguity about the nature of irreversible adiabatic processes, making it weaker than the traditional Kelvin-Planck statement of the law. This talk attempts first to clarify the nature of this ambiguity, by defining the arrow of time in thermodynamics by way of the Equilibrium Principle (``Minus First Law''). It then examines the extent to which the 1989 axiomatisation of Lieb and Yngvason shares the same ambiguity, despite proposing a very different approach to the second law.
Universal topological quantum computation from a superconductor/Abelian quantum Hall heterostructure

Roger Mong University of Pittsburgh
March 19, 2014

PIRSA:14030118
Quantum Physics
Non-Abelian anyons promise to reveal spectacular features of quantum mechanics that could ultimately provide the foundation for a decoherence-free quantum computer. The Moore-Read quantum Hall state and a (relatively simple) two-dimensional p+ip superconductor both support Ising non-Abelian anyons, also referred to as Majorana zero modes. Here we construct a novel two-dimensional superconductor in which charge-2e Cooper pairs are built from fractionalized quasiparticles, and like the Z3 Read-Rezayi state, harbors Fibonacci anyons that--unlike Ising anyons--allow for universal topological quantum computation solely through braiding.
Exact results in supersymmetric gauge theories in various dimensions

Sara Pasquetti University of Milan
March 19, 2014

PIRSA:14030084
High Energy Physics
One of the central challenges in theoretical physics is to develop non-perturbative methods to describe quantitatively the dynamics of strongly coupled quantum fields. Much progress in this direction has been made for theories with a higher degree of symmetry, such as conformal symmetry or supersymmetry. In recent years the method of localisation has allowed to obtain a great deal of exact results for supersymmetric gauge theories in various dimensions which has led to the discovery of new surprising correspondences such as the celebrated Alday-Gaiotto-Tachikawa correspondence. I will review some recent results which indicate that partition functions of supersymmetric theories formulated on compact manifolds can be expressed in terms of a small set of fundamental building blocks.
A histories perpective on bounding quantum correlations

Joe Henson BNP Paribas Asset Management London
March 18, 2014

PIRSA:14030111
Quantum Physics
There has recently been much interest in finding simple principles that explain the particular sets of experimental probabilities that are possible with quantum mechanics in Bell-type experiments. In the quantum gravity community, similar questions had been raised, about whether a certain generalisation of quantum mechanics allowed more than quantum mechanics in this regard. We now bring these two strands of work together to see what can be learned on both sides.
Before the Bang

Raman Sundrum University of Maryland, College Park
March 18, 2014

PIRSA:14030113
High Energy Physics
The simplest black hole solution in asymptotic AdS spacetime, the eternal 3-dimensional BTZ black hole, is studied from the viewpoint of AdS/CFT duality. We identify a class of non-local correlators on the CFT side that allow us to generalize the notion of quantum gravity "S-matrix" to scattering inside the horizon. Since the interior of the horizon is a cosmological spacetime with a big bang/crunch-like singularity, our construction can be interpreted as identifying generally coordinate invariant observables of quantum gravity in a simple cosmology. We show in a certain precise sense, that these holographic observables lie "before the big bang" in a region of spacetime containing closed timelike curves. A central tool in our analysis is the realization of BTZ as a quotient of 3-dimensional AdS.
Inflation After Planck
March 18, 2014

PIRSA:14030116
Astrophysics
The Planck satellite measurement of the cosmic microwave background has provided spectacular confirmation of the predictions of inflationary cosmology, putting inflation on a firm footing as the leading theory of the very early universe. I will discuss the implications of Planck for the simplest canonical single-field inflation models, which are favored by the data. Then I will discuss the most general question: How strong is the case that inflation is the "right" theory of the early universe?
Seeing is Believing: Direct Observation of a General Quantum State

Jeff Lundeen University of Ottawa
March 17, 2014

PIRSA:14030110
Quantum Physics
Central to quantum theory, the wavefunction is a complex distribution associated with a quantum system. Despite its fundamental role, it is typically introduced as an abstract element of the theory with no explicit definition. Rather, physicists come to a working understanding of it through its use to calculate measurement outcome probabilities through the Born Rule. Tomographic methods can reconstruct the wavefunction from measured probabilities. In contrast, I present a method to directly measure the wavefunction so that its real and imaginary components appear straight on our measurement apparatus. I will also present new work extending this concept to mixed quantum states. This extension directly measures a little-known proposal by Dirac for a classical analog to a quantum operator. Furthermore, it reveals that our direct measurement is a rigorous example of a quasi-probability phase-space (i.e. x,p) distribution that is closely related to the Q, P, and Wigner functions. Our direct measurement method gives the quantum state a plain and general meaning in terms of a specific set of simple operations in the lab.

Title	Speaker(s)	Date	Talk Type	Info link
The invasion of physics by information theory	Robert Spekkens	2014-03-26	Scientific Series	View details
GeV Gamma-Rays from the Central Milky Way and the Case for Annihilating Dark Matter	Tracy Slatyer	2014-03-26	Scientific Series	View details
Far from equilibrium energy flow in quantum critical systems		2014-03-25	Scientific Series	View details
Naturalness and the Weak Gravity Conjecture	Clifford Cheung	2014-03-25	Scientific Series	View details
Cosmic initial conditions and the CMB	Daniel Grin	2014-03-25	Scientific Series	View details
Ambiguities in order-theoretic formulations of thermodynamics	Harvey Brown	2014-03-21	Scientific Series	View details
Universal topological quantum computation from a superconductor/Abelian quantum Hall heterostructure	Roger Mong	2014-03-19	Scientific Series	View details
Exact results in supersymmetric gauge theories in various dimensions	Sara Pasquetti	2014-03-19	Scientific Series	View details
A histories perpective on bounding quantum correlations	Joe Henson	2014-03-18	Scientific Series	View details
Before the Bang	Raman Sundrum	2014-03-18	Scientific Series	View details
Inflation After Planck		2014-03-18	Scientific Series	View details
Seeing is Believing: Direct Observation of a General Quantum State	Jeff Lundeen	2014-03-17	Scientific Series	View details

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The invasion of physics by information theory

GeV Gamma-Rays from the Central Milky Way and the Case for Annihilating Dark Matter

Far from equilibrium energy flow in quantum critical systems

Naturalness and the Weak Gravity Conjecture

Cosmic initial conditions and the CMB

Ambiguities in order-theoretic formulations of thermodynamics

Universal topological quantum computation from a superconductor/Abelian quantum Hall heterostructure

Exact results in supersymmetric gauge theories in various dimensions

A histories perpective on bounding quantum correlations

Before the Bang

Inflation After Planck

Seeing is Believing: Direct Observation of a General Quantum State

The invasion of physics by information theory

GeV Gamma-Rays from the Central Milky Way and the Case for Annihilating Dark Matter

Far from equilibrium energy flow in quantum critical systems

Naturalness and the Weak Gravity Conjecture

Cosmic initial conditions and the CMB

Ambiguities in order-theoretic formulations of thermodynamics

Universal topological quantum computation from a superconductor/Abelian quantum Hall heterostructure

Exact results in supersymmetric gauge theories in various dimensions

A histories perpective on bounding quantum correlations

Before the Bang

Inflation After Planck

Seeing is Believing: Direct Observation of a General Quantum State