Quantum Theory

In August, 157 participants from 10 countries gathered at the Institute for the initial focus weeks of a workshop on Quantum Information and Physics. The workshop, which will continue through October 31, 2024, considers the relation of quantum complexity to physical systems such as many-body problems in quantum simulators, condensed matter physics, quantum field theory, and quantum gravity.

From July 8–26, the annual Prospects in Theoretical Physics (PiTP) program, an intensive workshop for advanced graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, took place at IAS. This year, the program brought together 213 participants from over 20 countries to discuss ultra-quantum matter.

This December, over 200 scholars from across the globe descended on the Institute for Advanced Study for a three-day Qubit workshop focused on applying ideas and concepts from quantum information theory to the study of spacetime.

The 2023 iteration of Park City Mathematics Institute (PCMI), an annual Institute outreach program held in Park City, Utah, took place between July 16–August 5. The choice of research topic, quantum computation, was motivated by the substantial current activity, both theoretical and practical, in this field.

Professor Emeritus Edward Witten, renowned physicist in the School of Natural Sciences, has been awarded the Hamburg Prize for Theoretical Physics. He is recognized “for his groundbreaking contributions to a unified mathematical description of fundamental forces of nature.”

In 2014, Nathan Seiberg, Charles Simonyi Professor in the School of Natural Sciences, "demonstrated that the most important symmetries of 20th-century physics could be extended more broadly to apply in quantum field theory, the basic theoretical framework in which physicists work today."

Research from IAS scholars, past and present, features prominently in the September 2022 issue of Scientific American. Past Director’s Visitor George Musser takes account of the recent groundbreaking work being done on the infamous black hole information paradox by researchers including Member Ahmed Almheiri, who authors his own essay on the solution to the paradox.

Ahmed Almheiri, past Member (2017–22) in the School of Natural Sciences, has received a 2022 IUPAP Early Career Scientist Award in Particles and Fields “for substantial and impactful contributions to the understanding of black holes and quantum gravity, specifically related to the information paradox and its connection to quantum information theory and quantum error correction.”

"As theorists study black holes and other objects in AdS space, they keep learning Wheeler-esque lessons. One is that the connectivity of space — the ability to get from one place to another — seems to stem from particles on the boundary linked by correlations known as quantum entanglement."

"Natalie Paquette spends her time thinking about how to grow an extra dimension. Start with little circles, scattered across every point in space and time—a curlicue dimension, looped back onto itself. Then shrink those circles down, smaller and smaller, tightening the loop, until a curious transformation occurs: the dimension stops seeming tiny and instead becomes enormous, like when you realize something that looks small and nearby is actually huge and distant."