Talks

Recently I pointed out that reconstruction of interior operators can be interpreted as the Hayden-Preskill recovery. Building on this observation, I will propose a resolution of the firewall puzzle by describing a state-independent reconstruction of interior operators which does not lead to the non-local signaling. 

We show how the extended thermodynamics of hyperbolic black holes in AdS describes features of quantum information measures in quantum field theory, and discuss prospects for making further connections. In particular, the second law of thermodynamics is seen in this context to map to the generalized Zamolodchikov c-theorem, connecting these two firmly for the first time. Some projects for getting further lessons and perhaps new tools from  these connections (perhaps using holographic heat engines) are outlined. 

Clifford V. Johnson is a theoretical physicist passionate about sharing science with the public. He resolved to write a book explaining physics to a lay audience, but he felt that words on a printed page did not fully convey the dynamic, collaborative nature of fundamental research.

What if, he wondered, you could represent multiple voices and points of view? What if one could make the reader feel immersed in scientific discourse, rather than reading the words of an expert sharing a single perspective?

He wanted to write a book that would give readers a fly-on-the-wall experience of the process of fundamental science.

Johnson realized that graphic novels are the unique narrative medium he was searching for. Through the written word and compelling visuals, graphic novels immerse the reader in a sensory world of ideas.

This realization led Johnson to write and draw The Dialogues: Conversations About the Nature of the Universe (MIT Press), which allows readers to eavesdrop on a series of dialogues, set in locations around the world, about cutting-edge scientific topics.

In this public lecture, Johnson will discuss the process of turning complex scientific topics into compelling visual narratives.

Recently, a new formulation of quantum mechanics was suggested which is based on the evolution of classical particles, provided with a sign, rather than standard wave functions. This allows several advantages over other approaches: from a theoretical perspective, it offers a more intuitive framework while, from a numerical point of view, it allows the simulation of complex systems with relatively small computational resources. In this talk, I will first go through the tenets of this new approach. In particular, I will focus on the derivation of such theory and the peculiar view it provides in the passage from the quantum to the classical regime. Then, I will discuss the various applications which have been performed so far, especially for systems of Fermions. Finally, a list of possible future works will be presented and discussed.