Talks

The covariant dynamics of Loop Quantum Gravity answers the question of what we can in principle predict and observe in quantum gravity. It features a characteristic discrete quantum evolution, as proposed in a seminal paper by Smolin and Markoupoulou in 1997. Spinfoam transition amplitudes are local exactly thanks to this form of discreteness. Another property of the amplitudes is to be exactly finite when their formulation includes a cosmological constant: this adds further to the fundamental discreteness of spacetime quanta, and again it is a feature rooted in Lee’s Smolin seminal works.

I will examine a foundational assumption in quantum probability assignments, that experimental data arise from an identically and independently distributed (i.i.d.) ensemble. However, this assumption becomes problematic in the regime of quantum gravity. I will outline a proposal to resolve this issue by leveraging the tool of quantum reference frames in the measurement context.

In a series of papers [Phys. Rev. D 102, 124027 (2020)], [Phys. Rev. D 102, 124028 (2020)] I had the pleasure to explore with Cortês, Elitzur and Smolin realist formulations of quantum theory which obey either retrocausality or disordered causality. After briefly presenting these works, I will attempt to extend them by addressing time as a quantum observable using the Page-Wootters formalism. Within this framework, the clock is treated as a quantum subsystem, endowing the remainder of the system with a notion of time through entanglement. I will show the fruitfulness of this approach by deriving new time-energy uncertainty relations [Quantum 6, 683 (2022)] and by elucidating aspects of dynamical nonlocality [Phys. Rev. A 105, 042207 (2022)]. Furthermore, I will demonstrate that in the post-Newtonian regime, perspective-dependent non-unitarity and a distinct form of time–asymmetry naturally emerge when the clocks experience acceleration or gravitational effects [Commun. Phys. 5, 298 (2022)]. Finally, I will discuss the more recent works viewing all the above as spatiotemporal quantum reference frames [Phys. Rev. A 109, 032205 (2024)], [arXiv:2503.20090].

Lee’s most philosophical work is a probing challenge to the "timeless" view prevailing in much of physics. I’’ll say why I think he is right that the idea of the universe as a fixed totality of events is a mirage, and one that arises– as he argued – from extending techniques appropriate for open subsystems to the universe as a whole. Time (for any system in the universe) is irresolubly open-ended, ongoing, and incomplete.

I show how to make sense of physical probability even for a single atom at a single time in an otherwise empty universe. The ideas are in https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.12954 and http://arxiv.org/abs/2505.06983. As applied to the EPRB setup, probability defined in this way is perfectly local.

A statistical mechanics of geometry based on the quasi-local energy of constantly accelerating observers outside black holes is proposed. By assuming particle statistics for the geometric quanta, the geometry condenses in the large area limit, providing a quantum gravity cutoff for the entropy of the thermal atmosphere of geometric excitations. These excitations model the fluctuating ``shape of the black hole" and form an effectively two dimensional quantum thermal geometric atmosphere. The entropy from these ``Debye" excitations is proportional to the area. Prospects of for the observation of the fluctuations are briefly discussed.