Talks

the no-cloning theorem is an essential result in quantum information on top of which many quantum cryptography protocols are built. In this talk we examine the cloning question in the context of classical mechanics/Hamiltonian mechanics. We find the answer is quite subtle: whether a mechanical system can be cloned depends on the topological structure of its phase space. In particular, for a system to be clonable, its phase space must be contractible. This means certain systems (e.g. particle moving on a line) is clonable, while others (e.g. the simple pendulum) cannot be cloned. We explain the idea of the proof, which uses tools from algebraic topology (homotopy groups and Whitehead’s theorem). Finally we discuss the physical interpretations of this result: how do we reconcile this theorem with the experience that generally speaking, classical information is clonable? Can we use this no-cloning theorem to build secure communication protocols in classical systems instead of quantum ones?

The Celestial Holography conjecture posits the existence of a codimension two theory whose correlators compute the S-matrix in a conformal primary basis. Although resembling a CFT in several respects, the intrinsic definition of this proposed dual theory remains elusive. In this talk, I will discuss a conjecture suggesting that Celestial CFT (CCFT) is related to a dimensionally reduced CFT on the Lorentzian cylinder and present some concrete examples of celestial amplitudes constructed in this way.