Inside the Perimeter Fall2010

www.perimeterinstitute.ca 31 Caroline Street North, Waterloo, ON, Canada N2L 2Y5 I 519.569.7600

FALL 2010

InsIde the

PerImeter

whaTs InsIde UPCOMING SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 2

NEILS NOTES: FALL CHALLENGE 3

A CHAT WITH NEW FACULTY NATALIA TORO AND PHILIP SCHUSTER 4

FOUR LEADING SCIENTISTS JOIN SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE 6

DAVIDE GAIOTTO JOINS PI FACULTY 7

SUN LIFE PARTNERS ON PUBLIC LECTURES 7

CHRIS FUCHS WINS QUANTUM COMMUNICATION AWARD 8

TWO FACULTY MEMBERS NAMED FELLOWS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY 9

AN EARLY WARNING SYSTEM FOR BLACK HOLE MERGERS 10

NEW LIGHT ON THE UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE 11

GOOGLE RECOGNIZES AIMS AS WORLD CHANGING IDEA 12

PI PUBLICATIONS 13

CONFERENCE RECAPS 14

THE STRANGE TRUE STORY OF LIFSHITZ AT A GRAVITY POINT 15

THE WELCOME SECTION 18

OUTREACH OUTLOOK 24

THE LIFE OF PI IN PHOTOS 28

InsIde the PerImeter

02 Fall 2010

COLLOQUIAFor up-to-date information on colloquia, please visit: www.perimeterinstitute.ca/Scientifi c/Seminars/Colloquium

Steve giddings, University of California at Santa Barbara TBA OCTOBER 27 AT 2 PM, Bob Room

kristen menou, Columbia University TBA NOVEMBER 3 AT 2 PM, Bob Room

Andrew Hamilton, University of Colorado TBA NOVEMBER 10 AT 2 PM, Bob Room

Dmitry Abanin, Princeton University TBA NOVEMBER 17 AT 2 PM, Bob Room

Carl bender, Washington University making sense of non-Hermitian Hamiltonians NOVEMBER 24 AT 2 PM, Bob Room

SemINARSFor up-to-date information and locations, please visit: www.perimeterinstitute.ca/Scientifi c/Seminars/Series

yacine Ali-Haimoud, California Institute of Technology Cosmology & Gravitation OCTOBER 21 AT 11 AM

Derek Teaney, State University of New York at Stony Brook Particle Physics OCTOBER 22 AT 2:30 PM

esther Hanggi, ETH Zurich Quantum Information OCTOBER 25 AT 4 PM

brian Swingle, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Condensed Matter OCTOBER 26 AT 2 PM

Cora Dvorkin, University of Chicago Cosmology & Gravitation OCTOBER 26 AT 2 PM

uPComIng sCIenTIFIC evenTs

ConFerenCe CornerHOW TO SUBMIT A CONFERENCE PROPOSAL

You should submit your conference proposal as far in advance as possible. The budgeting period begins in February of each year for the coming fi scal year, which runs from August to July. Some funds are set aside for hot topic workshops which come up throughout the year; however, the more lead time the better. The online application for conference proposals is available at the Conference Proposals page on the PI website. Please click on Online Application. Once you have completed the online application, it will automatically be emailed to the Conference Coordinator. Once your conference proposal has been submitted, it will be reviewed by the Conference Committee Chair with input from the committee members. You will be notifi ed once the proposal has been scientifi cally approved. You will then meet with the Conference Coordinator to discuss the conference budget. Once the budget has been approved, planning will begin. If you have questions about this process, please feel free to ask Stephanie mohl, Conference Coordinator (top right), or Jodie Carriere, Scientifi c Programs Assistant (bottom right).

gabriela gonzalez, Louisiana State University Strong Gravity OCTOBER 28 AT 1 PM

guy moore, McGill University Particle Physics OCTOBER 29 AT 2:30 PM

eugenio bianchi, CPT, Marseille Quantum Gravity NOVEMBER 3 AT 4 PM

Andrea Lommen, Franklin & Marshall College Strong Gravity NOVEMBER 4 AT 1 PM

UPCOmINg CONFeReNCeS AT PIFor more details on PI conferences, please visit: www.perimeterinstitute.ca/Scientifi c/Conferences/Conferences

IR Issues and Loops in de Sitter Space OCTOBER 27 30, 2010

Fall 2010 03

Fall Challenge

F or me, and for many of us I suspect, fall feels like a new beginning. As the academic year commences, the gorgeous autumn leaves and vivid skies bring a sense of renewed potential. In these pages, you will meet many new faces, and read about many developments. If youve been in the Bistro bright and early, youve probably already met some of our 31 new PSI Masters students, who come from 15 countries (see page 23). They are a fun crew, as I discovered for myself when they dunked me in a water-filled bin to measure my volume, or so they claimed. For three weeks in early September I returned the favour, by immersing them in general relativity and mentally journeying with them into spinning black holes. The non-stop questions reminded me of just why we started PSI: young people are better than anyone at questioning everything you think you know. I would like to extend a specially warm welcome to our many new staff: Brian Abbott, Mark Brown, Diana Gonalves, Natalia Klein, Stephanie Mohl, Katherine Sage, Troy Schlueter, Marie Strickland, and Dustin Windibank, and to our two newest Faculty members, Philip Schuster and Natalia Toro. They drove all the way from California to get here! In addition to being top-notch theorists, Philip and Natalia work with experimental teams at the Large Hadron Collider, and are leading an experiment to search for dark forces at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator in Virginia. Another very warm welcome to Davide Gaiotto, a brilliant theorist at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton who will join our Faculty beginning next September. Davide was here for a week at the end of September, helping us recruit new Faculty in condensed matter physics and quantum gravity. Perhaps as a newcomer youre wondering about where youve landed. Over the summer one of Canadas leading columnists, Paul Wells, came and stayed for a month. His article about Perimeter did a wonderful job of capturing PIs spirit and vibrancy. If you havent read it yet, I urge you to do so (see Solving The Universe in Macleans September 27 issue). One has only to look north to The Stephen Hawking Centre, docked alongside us, to see where were going. The SHCs spacy lines make it appear closer to lift-off every day. This time next year, it will be full of researchers; within a few years Perimeter will be the largest institute for theoretical physics in the world. Were aiming to assemble an exceptional community with broad expertise, capable of fostering scientific breakthroughs and insights of genuine significance. Lets allow the chill in the air to energize us and sharpen our focus. Together, at Perimeter, all things seem possible.

Neil Turok

Physics in Canada: The all PI Issue The most recent issue of Physics in Canada is a themed issue devoted to us! Physics in Canada is a quarterly publication produced by the Canadian Association of

Physicists (CAP), and PIs Communications department worked with CAP to produce

an engaging issue that provides a glimpse of some of the exciting science being done

at PI. It features articles from across the spectrum of the Institutes science and

researchers, including PI Faculty, Associate Faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and

Distinguished Research Chair William Unruh. The entire issue is available online at

http://www.cap.ca/en/publications/physics-canada-pic/issue/66/2.


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Natasha: Welcome! Could you tell me a little about your educational background and research experience?

Philip: Im from Oregon City, Oregon -- a relatively small town near Portland, but known for being the end of the Oregon Trail. I went to MIT as an undergrad, and Harvard for graduate work. My PhD advisor was Nima Arkani-Hamed (now at the IAS). Before coming to PI, I was a postdoc at SLAC.

Natalia: Im from Boulder, Colorado. Immediately before coming to PI, I was a postdoc at Stanford. Like Philip, I went to MIT as an undergrad, and Harvard for graduate work with Nima Arkani-Hamed.

Natasha: I understand that you drove all the way to Waterloo from California. How was the trip?

Philip: We did drive. Its a big continent, but the trip was good. In Yellowstone Park, we had a close run-in with a grizzly bear while hiking along the side of a mountain. Im not sure if that was impressive, odd, funny, or a little scary.

Natasha: What are the results you are best known for?

Philip: A lot of the work Im most excited about was done in collaboration with Natalia. We proposed and justified the validity of a method for characterizing data from the LHC that closely links collider observables to quantities useful for figuring out the underlying theory. This was meant to address the so-called LHC Inverse problem, or the problem of how physicists can construct the underlying theory of the weak-scale from LHC data. These methods, and variants of them, are being applied in CMS and ATLAS. Ive also devel-oped new theories of dark matter and, with Natalia and other collaborators, proposed a series of experimental approaches to look for GeV-scale vector bosons, motivated in part by recent dark matter related data. We proposed an experiment to search for light vector bosons using existing equipment at Jefferson Lab. The experiment, APEX, was conditionally approved and we had a test run in June of 2010. Analysis of the data is ongoing.

Natasha: What is the current focus of your work?

Philip: Im focused on understanding what early data from the LHC can and does tell us about weak-scale dynamics, and Im continuing to explore new theories of dark matter motivated by recent data. Recently, Ive also started to think about new ways that we might test quantum mechanics.

Natalia: Nows a very exciting time for the two more experi-mental directions that Ive been involved in for a few years now. On the one hand, the LHC is taking data, and the ATLAS and CMS detectors are performing beautifully. We have a great opportunity to impact how the LHC experiments search for new physics, and help maximize the clarity, reach, and long-term impact of those search results. Likewise, making the most of the APEX test run data is very important to me. Helping to run an experiment has been a tremendous learning experience for me, and even more fun than I anticipated. There are several more formal things that Ive been curious about for a while, but right now Im just trying to catch up on the literature.

Natasha: What made PI attractive to you?

Philip: I like the researchers as well as the atmosphere. PI is particularly special in that identifying and addressing the most important problems in fundamental physics is the primary focus, with minimal distraction. This is a unique situation, and so I feel a strong sense of obligation to make good use of this opportunity.

Natalia: There are several things I like about PI. The first is the researchers in particular, Im excited about some of the pio-neering work being done by the string theory group, but quite broadly I was struck by how many people here are tackling really major questions, earnestly and matter-of-factly, without a lot of pretense. Everyone staff and researchers is really pleasant to work with. The second thing that struck me about PI was that its a really great place to focus and get work done. There is a huge amount of activity and there are many people to talk to, but its also very easy to focus without much day-to-day distraction.

Natasha: Whats your first memory of being fascinated by physics?

Philip: Actually, my childhood obsession (still the case) was with all aspects of aircraft and spaceflight. My introduction to physics occurred as I tried to understand how flight works. Of course, this introduction to physics was oriented at very practical questions (I used to design and build my own radio controlled planes as a hobby), but the fact that there were basic rules that I could use to understand how flight works really impressed me -- it still strikes me as amazing that there are any rules at all in nature. It wasnt until later that I started to appreciate that its possible to frame and answer questions in extremely simple terms that, when applied appropriately, work to explain most of what we encounter in nature. The book A Brief History of Time had a strong impact on me

a ChaT wITh new FaCulTy members naTalIa Toro and PhIlIP sChusTer Interview by Natasha Waxman

Co-spokespersons for the APEX experiment gathered in the Hall A control room after completing their test run in June of 2010. Pictured, left to right, are JLab experimentalist Bogdan Wojtsekhowski, Philip Schuster, Natalia Toro, and Rouven Essig, SLAC.

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I think before reading that book I didnt realize that it was possible to spend time identifying and understanding the rules of nature professionally.

Natalia: I had really great math and science teachers in grade school. My grade-school math teacher used lots of mechanics examples, and my science teacher had us do things like model rockets. I was one of those little kids who just couldnt get enough of the science outreach programs at the University of Colorado. But one very specific moment when things clicked was when I read George Gamows Thirty Years That Shook Physics for a 6th-grade book report. Its a fantastic book about the discoveries and theoretical ideas that paved the way to modern quantum mechanics. I think that book gave me a really clear understanding of how scientific ideas evolve and mature, and the crucial role that experimental data can play in this process.

Natasha: What are your hobbies or interests outside of physics?

Philip: I spend most of my free time doing physics of one form or another. Thats not to say I dont have other interests. I love history and politics but I dont devote a lot of time to those topics at the moment.

Natalia: I love to read, especially novels, ancient history and archaeology, and history of science. I try to hike a lot, and have wanted to try climbing for years but havent found the time. And, when I have the time (which I rarely do any more), I really enjoy baking bread.

Natasha: What are your impressions of Canada so far has anything surprised you?

Philip: Canada is great so far! I really like the feel of Kitchener-Waterloo in particular, and the Fall here is beautiful. I enjoy painfully cold weather (and the blue sky that can accompany it), so Im looking forward to winter. One thing that has surprised me was Highway 401 its completely nuts. Im used to busy highways, but traffic on that highway works in unusually mysterious ways.

PI Profiled in MacleansOver the summer, journalist Paul Wells spent nearly a month

at Perimeter, hanging out with the locals and soaking up the

atmosphere. His article on the adventure, called Solving the

Universe recently appeared in Macleans, Canadas weekly

news magazine, in its Rethink Issue (Sept 27, 2010).

If you missed picking up a copy, you can read it online at:

http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/09/17/solving-the-universe/

Poster for the 2009 workshop Dark Forces: Searching for New Forces at the GeV Scale, co-organized by Natalia Toro and Philip Schuster at SLAC. Source images used courtesy of CERN and V. Springel et al./Millennium Simulation

Natalia: Canadas great! People really are friendlier here even the border guards are nice. So far Im surprised by how balmy the weathers been, but I guess I should watch out!

Natasha: What is something that might surprise folks about you?

Natalia: Our most prized possession is a partially-built scale P-51. We started building it as an RC plane in grad school, and since then weve been hauling a near-complete wing, several boxes of supplies, and an elaborate makeshift work-bench around North America but making very little progress.

FURTHeR ReADINg:On the LHC inverse problem: http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-ph/0703088 and http://arxiv.org/abs/0810.3921 http://indico.cern.ch/conferenceDisplay.py?confId=94910 http://indico.cern.ch/conferenceDisplay.py?confId=107769 http://www-conf.slac.stanford.edu/topologies10/

ReCeNT FINDINgS IN DARk mATTeR DATA: http://arxiv.org/abs/0903.3941 and http://arxiv.org/abs/0906.0580

ON THe APeX eXPeRImeNT AT JeFFeRSON LAbORATORy:Description of the experiment: http://arxiv.org/abs/1001.2557, APEX web page: http://hallaweb.jlab.org/experiment/APeX/


06 Fall 2010

Four leadIng sCIenTIsTs joIn PerImeTer InsTITuTes sCIenTIFIC advIsory CommITTee

bRIAN gReeNeBrian Greene is a Professor of Mathematics and Physics at Columbia University, where he is co-Director of the Institute for Strings, Cosmology, and Astroparticle Physics (ISCAP). Profes-sor Greene has made groundbreaking discoveries in superstring theory, exploring the physical implications and mathematical properties of the extra dimensions the theory posits. His cur-rent research centres on string cosmology, seeking to understand the physics of the universes first moments. Professor Greene is well known for his work on communicating theoretical physics for general audiences, and his books include The Elegant Universe, which has sold more than a million copies worldwide; The Fabric of the Cosmos, which spent six months on the New York Times Best Seller List; and Icarus at the Edge of Time, A Childrens Tale. A three-part NOVA special based on The Elegant Universe won both the Emmy and Peabody Awards.

ReNATe LOLLRenate Loll is a Professor of Theoretical Physics and a member of the Institute for Theoretical Physics in the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy at Utrecht University. Her research centres on quantum gravity, the search for a consistent theory that describes the microscopic constituents of spacetime geometry and the quantum-dynamical laws governing their interaction. She has made major contributions to loop quantum gravity and, with her collaborators, has proposed a novel theory of quantum gravity via Causal Dynamical Triangulations. Dr. Loll heads one of the largest research groups on nonperturbative quantum gravity worldwide, and is the recipient of a prestigious personal VICI-grant of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. Professor Loll is a Perimeter Institute Distinguished Research Chair, and is also a lecturer in the Perimeter Scholars International program at the Institute.

eRIk veRLINDeErik Verlinde is a Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of Amsterdam. Professor Verlinde is world-renowned for his many contributions, which include Verlinde algebra and the Verlinde formula, which are important in conformal field theory and topological field theory. His research centres on string theory, gravity, black holes and cosmology. He recently proposed a holographic theory of gravity which appears to lead naturally to the observed values of dark energy in the universe.

bIRgITTA WHALeyBirgitta Whaley is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, where she is Director of the Berkeley Quantum Information and Computation Center. Professor Whaleys research centres on understanding and manipulating quantum dynamics of atoms, molecules and nanomaterials in complex environments to explore fundamental issues in quantum behavior. She has made major contributions to the analysis and control of decoherence and universality in quantum information processing, as well as to analysis of physical implementations of quantum computation. Professor Whaley is also known for her theory of molecular solvation in nanoscale superfluid helium systems. Current research includes theoretical aspects of quantum information science, quantum simulation of exotic topological phases and exploration of quantum effects in biological systems.

Natasha Waxman

Perimeter Institute Director Neil Turok is pleased to announce the appointment of an additional four eminent international scientists to serve on Perimeter Institutes Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC).

In making the announcement, Dr. Turok stated, These outstanding scientists will provide crucial guidance as the Institute expands, ensuring that our research and training programs continue to grow and flourish in exciting new directions.

Fall 2010 07

davIde gaIoTTo joIns PerImeTer InsTITuTe FaCulTy Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI) is pleased to announce the appointment of Davide Gaiotto to its research faculty. Dr. Gaiotto joins PI from the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. In making the announcement, PIs Director Neil Turok said, Davide is an exceptionally cre-ative young theoretical physicist. His work has provided powerful new approaches to our fundamen-

tal understanding of quantum fields, which are the basis of our description of all of particle physics, nuclear and condensed matter physics, as well as early universe cosmology. With Davide joining PI, we will have one of the strongest groups worldwide in what I would call high powered quantum field theory.

Dr. Gaiotto works at the interface of quantum field theory and string theory, and has already achieved several important advances. In a paper published in 2009 (Arxiv:09042715), for example, he presented a new way of constructing and studying supersymmetric gauge theories which has led to novel techniques for probing the quantum dynamics of gauge theories.

Dr. Gaiotto received his PhD from Princeton University in 2004 under the supervision of Leonardo Rastelli. He was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard from 2004 to 2007, and has been a long-term Member at the Institute for Advanced Study since 2007. He will arrive at Perimeter Institute in 2011 as a junior Faculty member.

Natasha Waxman

breaKIng news: PI distinguished research Chair yakir aharonov wins us national medal of scienceProfessor yakir Aharonov has been named by US President barack Obama as one of the 2010 recipients of the National medal of Science, the highest scientific honour bestowed by the United States government. Prof. Aharonov was honoured for his contributions to the foundations of quantum physics and for drawing out unexpected implications of that field, ranging from the Aharonov-bohm effect to the theory of weak measurement. Prof. Aharonov is internationally recognized for his many contributions to physics, and is the recipient of numerous prizes, including the Wolf Prize, the elliot Cresson medal of the Franklin Institute, the Hewlett-Packard europhysics Prize, and others. In addition to being a Perimeter Distinguished Research Chair, Prof. Aharonov is the James J. Farley Professor in Natural Philosophy at Chapman University and Professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University.

PI welComes sun lIFe ParTnershIPThe Development team is pleased to announce that through a leadership gift to the Expanding the Perimeter campaign, Sun Life has partnered with PI to become the exclusive sponsor of the Perimeter Institute Public Lecture Series for the 2010-2011 season.

The Perimeter Institute Lecture Series, presented by Sun Life, will continue to bring great thinkers from around the world to Waterloo to share their ideas on a wide variety of thought-provoking topics in science. The 2010-2011 season kicked off October 6 with William R. Newman, a Distinguished Professor in History and Philosophy of Science from Indiana University, discussing, Why did Isaac Newton Believe in Alchemy?

PI is grateful for Sun Lifes contribution to promoting the wonder and mystery of science to the public.

Carrie Gabla


08 Fall 2010

with the award include the quantum no-broadcasting theorem [5], which formal-ized key differences between classical and quantum information and had impor-tant implications for quantum cryptography. Quantum cryptography seeks to harness the laws of quantum mechanics to provide unconditional data and communications security based on the fact that eaves-dropping inevitably disturbs quantum information, and is therefore detected.

In [3] Dr. Fuchs demonstrated that quantum states can sometimes carry more classical information than classical states themselves. Dr. Fuchs also found the minimal tradeoff between information gain and quantum state disturbance in quantum channel theory [1, 4]. He used these ideas to define criteria for successful quantum teleportation [2] in a paper which was recognized by the journal Science as one of the Top 10 Breakthroughs of the Year. Quantum teleportation is a quantum protocol by which quantum infor-mation held in a quantum superposition can, in principle, be transmitted exactly from one location to another. Intensive research is now underway seeking to harness quantum teleportation for quantum communication and, ultimately, to build quantum computers.

Dr. Fuchs previous honours include having been Lee DuBridge Prize Postdoctoral Fellow at the California Institute of Technology and a winner of the Albert A. Michelson award. He is Chair-Elect of the 1,000-member American Physical Society Topical Group on Quantum Information. Dr. Fuchs was also recently named as the 2011 Clifford Lecturer by Tulane University in New Orleans. His second book, Coming of Age with Quantum Information: Notes on a Paulian Idea, was recently published by Cambridge University Press.

Mike Brown

ReFeReNCeS AND FURTHeR ReADINg: [1] C. A. Fuchs. Information Gain vs. State Disturbance in Quantum Theory. Fortschritte der Physik 46(4,5), 535-565 (1998). http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9611010

[2] A. Furusawa, J. L. Srensen, S. L. Braunstein, C. A. Fuchs, H. J. Kimble, and E. S. Polzik. Unconditional Quantum Teleportation. Science 282(5389), 706-709 (1998).

[3] C. A. Fuchs. Nonorthogonal Quantum States Maximize Classical Informa-tion Capacity. Physical Review Letters 79(6), 1162-1165 (1997). http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9703043

[4] C. A. Fuchs and A. Peres. Quantum State Disturbance vs. Information Gain: Uncertainty Relations for Quantum Information. Physical Review A 53(4), 2038-2045 (1996). http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9512023

[5] H. Barnum, C. M. Caves, C. A. Fuchs, R. Jozsa, and B. Schumacher. Noncommuting Mixed States Cannot Be Broadcast. Physical Review Letters 76(15), 2818-2821 (1996). http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9511010

ChrIs FuChs wIns InTernaTIonal quanTum CommunICaTIon awardPI researcher Christopher Fuchs was awarded the Internation-al Quantum Communication Award at the 10th International Conference on Quantum Communication, measurement and Computation (QCmC) for his outstanding contributions to the theory of quantum communication including quantum state disturbance. The award was given at a ceremony in Brisbane, Australia, on July 21.

The International Quantum Communication Award is bestowed every two years during the QCMC conference. This year, Dr. Fuchs was honoured alongside Masanao Ozawa of Nagoya University, Alexander Lvovsky of the University of Calgary, and Perimeter Institute Scientific Advisory Commit-tee Chair, Gerard Milburn of the University of Queensland. Previous years winners have included many of the pioneers of the field of quantum information, such as Charles Bennett (1996), Peter Shor (1998), David Deutsch (2002), Ignacio

Cirac (2006), and Anton Zeilinger (2008). In learning of the award, PI Director Neil Turok said, We are delighted by this timely recognition of Dr. Fuchs work. His foundational work on the structure of quantum mechanics has provided genuinely new insights into quantum information and quantum cryptography and shows once again the fruitful in-terplay of these subjects. We are also naturally pleased that the Chair of our Scientific Advisory Committee, Gerard Mil-burn, has likewise been honoured. Dr. Fuchs said, I feel deeply honoured to be ranked in the company

of scientists whose work has shaped the field of quantum information. For years, I have tried to understand what is at the root of quantum mechanics, which appears to have so many strange and counterintuitive aspects. It struck me early on that many of these mysteries may be solved, or at least better understood, by recasting them in the terms of infor-mation theory. This is why I took a PhD in the subject even though there wasnt really a field of quantum information to be employed in yet. The fact that these foundational ideas have found wider use for practical quantum communication systems and engineering is very satisfying.

Dr. Fuchs publications include two books and more than 60 scientific papers, with over 4,200 citations to date (Google Scholar). Some of Dr. Fuchs key contributions recognized

Fall 2010 09

School of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo, has played a key role in building Canadas interna-tional leadership in quantum computing. He helped to open up the field of quantum com-munication complexity, where quantum information can be used to drastically reduce communication costs in some scenarios, and co-discovered quantum-walk algorithms that can provide exponential speed-up over classical computers.

Professor Cleve is a Fellow in the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Quantum Information Program, and was the 2008 winner of the CAP-CRM Prize in Theoreti-cal and Mathematical Physics, awarded by the Canadian Asso-ciation of Physicists and Centre de recherches mathmatiques.

In learning of his election, Professor Smolin said, I am especially grateful for this because I am a very happy immigrant to Canada. I see Canada as the country of the future and I am very proud to be able to contribute to that future, through PI and otherwise.

Professors Smolin and Cleve will be formally inducted as Fellows at a ceremony to be held on November 27, 2010, in Ottawa.

Natasha Waxman

On September 13, Faculty member Lee Smolin and Associate Faculty member Richard Cleve were elected as Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC), Canadas highest academ-ic accolade. Professors Smolin and Cleve join PI Faculty members Robert Myers, Cliff Burgess, and Raymond Laflamme, who are also RSC Fellows. On receiving the announcement, PI

Director Neil Turok commented, These are welcome and well-deserved honours. Lee Smolin and Richard Cleve are both outstanding scientists who have played pioneering roles in their respective fields of quantum gravity and quantum computation. Professor Smolin is a founding Faculty member at Perim-eter Institute whose contributions span several fields of theo-retical physics, most notably quantum gravity, which seeks to unify Einsteins theory of special relativity with quantum mechanics. He co-founded a leading candidate theory called loop quantum gravity, and has led the development of a new approach to the phenomenology of quantum gravity known as deformed special relativity. He has also authored three popular books addressing the major conceptual and philosophical puzzles confronting modern physics. Professor Smolins previous honours include the Majorana Prize (2007), Fellowship in the American Physical Society (2007), and the Klopsteg Memorial Award from the American Association of Physics Teachers (2009), for his extraordinary accomplishment in communicating the excitement of physics to the general public. Professor Cleve, who is jointly appointed as a Faculty member at the Institute for Quantum Computing and the

two faculty members named fellows of the royal society of canada

Faculty member Lee Smolin (top) and Associate Faculty member Richard Cleve.

you may now call me doctorRecently, the PI community got together to celebrate

Chanda Prescod-Weinsteins successful completion of her

doctorate. Niayesh Afshordi, who supervised Chandas

thesis along with Lee Smolin, arranged for this magnificent

cake, which (deliciously) highlights part of the work that

she did. We wish Chanda all the best in her new position

as a postdoctoral fellow in the Observational Cosmology

Lab at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center.


10 Fall 2010

within the decade. It is hoped that they will open a new window on the universe that could be as transformative to our understanding as the optical telescope. However, the detec-tion and understanding of these new signals will rely on the theoretical underpinning provided by the complex numerical simulations performed by Prof. Lehner and others.

According to Prof. Lehner, One thing that gravitational wave detectors such as LISA wont tell us is the precise location that the signal is coming from. We need a counter-part. Electromagnetic waves can be precisely localized, so by combining the two, you remove the ambiguity.

Prof. Brian McNamara, University Research Chair in Astro-physics at the University of Waterloo, commented, One of the outstanding questions in science that we hope to answer in coming decades is how supermassive black holes black holes that are a billion times more massive than the Sun came into being. We believe they achieved their great sizes in part by gobbling up other black holes during the process of galaxy formation. This new result by Luis and his collabora-tors suggests that by combining data from powerful radio telescopes and from the future, Earth-orbiting gravitational wave telescope, LISA, we may be able to witness the process of black hole formation in exquisite detail. Prof. Lehner and his colleagues are now developing more detailed models of black hole merger dynamics that will incorporate factors such as spin and black holes of differing sizes. He says, This is just the tip of the iceberg. There is a whole family of different systems that we havent been able to understand because we only see the big burst of electromagnetic radiation afterwards that helps, but we cannot probe deeply enough to see whats going on at the very core. For that, gravi-tational waves are the key to understanding. Now with the two together you can do some amazing science.

Natasha Waxman

FURTHeR ReADINg: - C. Palenzuela, L. Lehner, S. Leibling, Dual Jets From Binary Black Holes, Science 20 August 2010:Vol. 329. no. 5994, pp. 927 930, DOI: 10.1126/science.1191766.

- Talks from the recent conference, Theory Meets Data Analysis at Comparable and Extreme Mass Ratios held at PI in June 2010 can be viewed on PIRSA at: http://pirsa.org/C10015

an early warnIng sysTem For deTeCTIng blaCK hole mergers

A new paper published in Science by PI Associate Faculty member Luis Lehner, Carlos Palenzuela (Louisiana State University and the Canadian Institute of Theoretical Astrophys-

ics) and Steven Liebling (Long Island University) indicates that as two supermassive black holes move toward each other and ultimately coalesce, powerful jets of electromag-netic radiation are released. Because the jets are released in advance of the merger, they may provide an early warning system to astronomers seek-ing to observe these events directly with gravitational wave detectors that are now being developed.

According to Prof. Lehner, This gives us a chance of getting there to see the main event. Most galaxies are thought to contain supermassive black holes, which are as yet poorly understood. Since many galaxies collide and merge, many may in fact contain two-black hole systems which orbit one another and ultimately coalesce. Data from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory and the Hubble Space telescope have given observational evidence of black hole mergers (see image at top of page). The model developed by Prof. Lehner and his colleagues is the first to incorporate the interaction of two black holes with their surrounding plasma of electrons and positrons, which is created by orbiting disks of gas and dust around them. The merging black holes orbital motion stirs the plas-ma, inducing two extremely powerful jets of radiation from each black hole. These jets are theoretically detectable from two to six billion light years away, and thus could provide tracers of impending black hole mergers. The work provides an important tool for the emerging field of gravitational wave astronomy. Predicted by the theory of relativity, gravitational waves are small disturbances in the fabric of spacetime that result from huge masses interacting with one another. Black hole mergers are expected to be the most powerful sources of gravitational waves in the universe.Unlike electromagnetic radiation (such as visible light), gravitational waves are not scattered by intervening objects as they travel through space. Thus, they carry pristine information about the forces and fields that created them, and for this reason are highly sought to provide clues to many puzzles in theoretical physics. Gravitational wave detectors such as the Laser Interfer-ometry Space Antenna (LISA) and the Laser Interferometer gravitational Wave Observatory (LIgO) should be deployed

Fall 2010 11

maKIng heIsenbergs unCerTaInTy PrInCIPle less unCerTaInA paper published in Nature Physics in late July by PI post-doctoral researcher Roger Colbeck and colleagues at several European universities has made Heisenbergs uncertainty principle one of the central (and strangest) features in quantum physics a lot less uncertain in some situations.

One question addressed by the uncertainty principle is whether it is possible to predict both the position and momentum (or other pairs of observables) of a subatomic particle. In its original formulation, the uncertainty principle implies that it is not. However, the paper shows that in the presence of quantum memory, a device capable of reli-ably storing quantum states, it is possible to predict both precisely. Intensive research efforts are currently focused on producing such a memory and there is hope that one will be available in the near future.

To illustrate the main ideas, the paper outlines an imaginary uncertainty game (illustrated below) in which two people, Alice and Bob, begin by agreeing on two measurements, R and S, one of which will be performed. Bob then prepares a particle in a quantum state of his choosing. Without telling Alice what he has done, he sends the particle (over a channel) to Alice. Alice performs one of the two measurements (chosen at random) and tells Bob which observable she has measured, though not the measurements value. Bob wants to correctly guess the measurement value. If Bob had only a classical memory (e.g. a piece of paper), he would not be able to guess correctly all of the time this is what Heisen-bergs uncertainty relation implies. However, if Bob is able to entangle the particle he sends with a quantum memory, for any measurement Alice makes on the particle, there is a measurement on Bobs memory that always gives him the same outcome. His uncertainty has vanished. The paper provides a new uncertainty relation valid in the presence of a quantum memory. More precisely, it proves

a lower bound on the uncertainties of the measurement outcomes which depends on the amount of entanglement be-tween the measured particle and the quantum memory. This had been conjectured by former PI researcher J.C. Boileau and J.M. Renes in 2008 (http://arxiv.org/abs/0806.3984) but was unproven until Colbeck et als work.

There are a number of potential applications arising from this work, notably for the burgeoning field of quantum cryptography. Although it was realized in the 1970s that the uncertainty principle could be used as the basis for ultra-secure communications, most quantum cryptographic approaches to date have not made use of it directly. The results may also yield a new method of witnessing entangle-ment. Creating entangled states between particles (such as photons) is notoriously difficult, and once created, the states are easily destroyed by noise in the environment. A more straightforward witnessing method would be of great value to experimentalists striving to generate this precious resource, a necessary step towards developing quantum computers.

Natasha Waxman

Entanglement is a property of two or more particles which links them such that when one particle is measured, it collapses the state of the other (no matter how far away it is). Certain observable properties of the particles are shared in the sense that a measurement of that property on one of the particles implies the value of that property on the other. However, these correlations cannot be classically explained and are often referred to as nonlocal correlations. Although counterintuitive, the existence of entanglement has been experimentally confirmed many times.


12 Fall 2010

as part of a project to fund world-changing ideas, Google has awarded US$2 million to the African Institute for mathematical Sciences (AImS) for its Next einstein Initiative (NeI), a plan that will accelerate higher education in math and science across Africa. PI has adopted AIMS-NEI as the centrepiece of its Global Outreach program. AIMS is one of the winners of Googles Project 10100, which gathered over 150,000 ideas from the public to change the world by helping as many people as possible. In late September, Google donated US$10 million to five organizations who will bring to life the top five ideas, as voted on by the public. The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) is a globally recognized centre of excellence for postgraduate education and research based in Cape Town, South Africa. Its mission is to rapidly and cost-effectively expand Africas scientific and technological capacity by providing advanced training to exceptional African graduates. The AIMS-Next Einstein Initiative took off in 2008 when Perimeter Institute (PI) Director Neil Turok, founder of AIMS in South Africa, won the TeD Prize and announced his vision to unlock and nurture scientific talent across Africa, by building a network of 15 AIMS centres spanning the continent. Googles award to AIMS-NEI will support the creation of three new AIMS centres by 2013, planned in Sngal, Ghana and Ethiopia. The investment builds upon googles earlier contribution of US$1 million for scholarships at AIMS, which helped spur support from other private and public groups, including funding of CDN$20 million announced by the Government of Canada this past July. Prof. Turok said, We are deeply honoured to receive this support from Googles Project 10100. The goal of AIMS and of the Next Einstein Initiative is simple: to enable Africas bright-est students to gain the high-level scientific and technical skills they need to propel Africas future economic, educational and technological self-sufficiency. In the process of training many gifted students, we expect to uncover people of rare creative talent, capable of scientific and technical breakthroughs which will serve all of humanity.

nexT eInsTeIn InITIaTIve reCognIzed as world ChangIng Idea wITh us$2m award From google

Support from African leaders is also adding momentum to the AIMS-Next Einstein Initiative (NEI). In May 2010, Sngals President Abdoulaye Wade announced on national television that his government will contribute US$1.3 million toward AImS-Sngal, and declared its establishment a top national priority. He also supported the designation of AIMS-Sngal as a Fondation dutilit publique, making it a state-sanc-tioned charitable institution. President Wade also used the occasion to award Prof. Turok with la mdaille de lOrdre National du Lion, Sngals highest state honour. Similar honours were conferred upon Professor Vincent Rivasseau (Universit Paris-Sud XI), co-founder of AIMS-Sngal, and Professor Maxim Kontsevich (lInstitut des Hautes tudes Scientifiques), an eminent mathematician who is a patron of AIMS-Sngal. Plans for the new centre are being finalized, and construction should commence shortly, with the first students expected in September 2011. His Excellency President Abdoulaye Wade has been an inspirational figure promoting science, enlightenment and pan-Africanism for many years, said Prof. Turok. To receive his governments full commitment of support for AIMS-Sn-gal, and then this extraordinary medal from him, alongside my colleagues Professors Maxim Kontsevich and Vincent Rivas-seau, was an unforgettable experience. In return, I can promise our absolute commit-ment to helping AIMS-Sngal emerge as a centre of excel-lence which President Wade, Sngal and Africa can truly be proud of. The success of AIMS-South Africa has been recognized by the African Union and the New Partnership for Africas Development (NePAD) who have also endorsed the AImS-NeI plan. PI Global Outreach is now coordinating support from the North American academic community for the One For Many Scholarship Program, which partners international universities with AIMS centres by supporting African students and promoting a two-way flow of students and lecturers. In addition, leading Canadian mathematical institutes have expressed interest in working with AIMS-NEI.

Neil Turok receives la mdaille de lOrdre National du Lion from President Abdoulaye Wade.

Fall 2010 13

The following table lists recent publications by PI Researchers. The list is organized alphabetically by publication title. To search all publications by PI scientists, please visit www.perim-eterinstitute.ca/en/Scientific/Papers/Publications_Search/.

A Direct Proof of BCFW Recursion for Twistor-Strings, David Skinner, arXiv:1007.0195 A formalism-local framework for general probabilistic theories including quantum theory, Lucien Hardy, arXiv:1005.5164 A Note on G-Fluxes for F-theory Model Building, Joseph Marsano, Natalia Saulina, Sakura Schafer-Nameki, arXiv:1006.0483 A Theory of a Spot, Niayesh Afshordi (Perimeter/Waterloo), Ane Slosar (Brookhaven), Yi Wang (McGill), arXiv:1006.5021 Abelian Chern-Simons theory, Stokes Theorem, and generalized connections, Hanno Sahlmann, Thomas Thiemann, arXiv:1004.2834 Amplitudes at Weak Coupling as Polytopes in AdS_5, Lionel Mason, David Skinner, arXiv:1004.3498 An Operator Product Expansion for Polygonal null Wilson Loops, Luis F. Alday, Davide Gaiotto, Juan Maldacena, Amit Sever, Pedro Vieira, arXiv:1006.2788 Bimetric structure formation: non-Gaussian predictions, Joao Magueijo, Johannes Noller, Federico Piazza, arXiv:1006.3216 Black Strings, Low Viscosity Fluids, and Violation of Cosmic Censorship, Luis Lehner, Frans Pretorius, arXiv:1006.5960 Boundary entropy of supersymmetric Janus solutions, Marco Chiodaroli, Michael Gutperle, Ling-Yan Hung, arXiv:1005.4433 Breakdown of Semiclassical Methods in de Sitter Space, C.P. Burgess, R. Holman, L. Leblond, S. Shandera, arXiv:1005.3551 Bs Mixing and Electric Dipole Moments in MFV, Brian Batell, Maxim Pospelov, arXiv:1006.2127 Charged rotating noncommutative black holes, Leonardo Modesto, Piero Nicolini, arXiv:1005.5605 Classical paradoxes of locality and their possible quantum resolutions in deformed special relativity, Lee Smolin, arXiv:1004.0664 Clifford Gates by Code Deformation, H. Bombin, arXiv:1006.5260 Consistent Probabilities in Wheeler-DeWitt Quantum Cosmology, David A. Craig, Parampreet Singh, arXiv:1006.3837 Critical phenomena in N=4 SYM plasma, Alex Buchel, arXiv:1005.0819 Discreteness of Space from GUP II: Relativistic Wave Equations, Saurya Das, Elias C. Vagenas, Ahmed Farag Ali, Phys.Lett.B690:407-412,2010, arXiv:1005.3368 Dual Jets From Binary Black Holes, C. Palenzuela, L. Lehner, S. Leibling, Science 20 August 2010:Vol. 329. no. 5994, pp. 927 930, DOI: 10.1126/science.1191766 Dual Jets from Binary Black Holes, Carlos Palenzuela, Luis Lehner, Steven L. Liebling, arXiv:1005.1067 Enhanced Peculiar Velocities in Brane-Induced Gravity, Mark Wyman, Justin Khoury, arXiv:1004.2046 Entanglement verification with finite data, Robin Blume-Kohout, Jun O.S. Yin, S. J. van Enk Comments: 4 pages, 3 pretty pictures, arXiv:1005.0003 EPRL/FK Group Field Theory, Joseph Ben Geloun, Razvan Gurau, Vincent Rivasseau, arXiv:1008.0354 Evolutions of Magnetized and Rotating Neutron Stars, Steven L. Liebling, Luis Lehner, David Neilsen, Carlos Palenzuela, arXiv:1001.0575v1 Fast quantum algorithms for traversing paths of eigenstates, S. Boixo, E. Knill, R.D. Somma, arXiv:1005.3034 From twistors to twisted geometries, Laurent Freidel, Simone Speziale, arXiv:1006.0199 Functional Renormalization of Noncommutative Scalar Field Theory, Alessandro Sfondrini, Tim A. Koslowski, arXiv:1006.5145 Gauss-Codazzi thermodynamics on the timelike screen, Federico Piazza, arXiv:1005.5151 Generalized self-testing and the security of the 6-state protocol, Matthew McKague, Michele Mosca, Proceedings of TQC 2010, arXiv:1006.0150 Geometric phase with nonunitary evolution in presence of a quantum critical bath, F. M. Cucchietti, J.-F. Zhang, F. C. Lombardo, P.I. Villar, R. Laflamme, arXiv:1006.1468 Graphical calculus for Gaussian pure states with applications to continuous-variable cluster states, Nicolas C. Menicucci, Steven T. Flammia, Peter van Loock, arXiv:1007.0725 Holographic studies of quasi-topological gravity, Robert C. Myers, Miguel F. Paulos, Aninda Sinha, arXiv:1004.2055 How to Run Through Walls: Dynamics of Bubble and Soliton Collisions, John T. Giblin Jr, Lam Hui, Eugene A. Lim, I-Sheng Yang, arXiv:1005.3493 Inflationary solutions in asymptotically safe f(R) gravity, Alfio Bonanno, Adriano Contillo, Roberto Percacci, arXiv:1006.0192 Information preserving structures: A general framework for quantum zero-error information, Robin Blume-Kohout, Hui Khoon Ng, David Poulin, Lorenza Viola, arXiv:1006.1358 Inverting a permutation is as hard as unordered search, Ashwin Nayak, arXiv:1007.2899 Limited Holism and Real-Vector-Space Quantum Theory, Lucien Hardy, William K. Wootters, arXiv:1005.4870 Logic is to the quantum as geometry is to gravity, Rafael D. Sorkin, G.F.R. Ellis, J. Murugan and A. Weltman (eds), Foundations of Space and Time (Cambridge University Press), arXiv:1004.1226 Lost in Translation: Topological Singularities in Group Field Theory, Razvan Gurau, arXiv:1006.0714

PI PublICaTIons Magnetospheres of Black Hole Systems in Force-Free Plasma, Carlos Palenzuela, Travis Garrett, Luis Lehner, Steven L.Liebling, arXiv:1007.1198 Mergers of Magnetized Neutron Stars with Spinning Black Holes: Disruption, Accretion and Fallback, Sarvnipun Chawla, Matthew Anderson, Michael Besselman, Luis Lehner, Steven L. Liebling, Patrick M. Motl, David Neilsen, arXiv:1006.2839 Metastable GeV-scale particles as a solution to the cosmological lithium problem, Maxim Pospelov, Josef Pradler, arXiv:1006.4172 Minimum-error discrimination of entangled quantum states, Yang Lu, Nick Coish, Rainer Kaltenbaek, Deny R. Hamel, Sarah Croke, Kevin J. Resch, arXiv:1008.0843 No-go Theorem for One-way Quantum Computing on Naturally Occurring Two-level Systems, Jianxin Chen, Xie Chen, Runyao Duan, Zhengfeng Ji, Bei Zeng, arXiv:1004.3787 Non-relativistic metrics from back-reacting fermions, Ling-Yan Hung, Dileep P. Jatkar, Aninda Sinha, arXiv:1006.3762 Non-standard primordial fluctuations and nongaussianity in string inflation, C.P. Burgess, M. Cicoli, M. Gomez-Reino, F. Quevedo, G. Tasinato, I. Zavala, arXiv:1005.4840 On 1-loop diagrams in AdS space and the random disorder problem, Ling-Yan Hung, Yanwen Shang, arXiv:1007.2653 On limitations of the extent of inertial frames in non-commutative relativistic spacetimes, Lee Smolin, arXiv:1007.0718 On plane gravitational waves in real connection variables, Franz Hinterleitner, Seth Major, arXiv:1006.4146 On the instantons and the hypermultiplet mass of N=2* super Yang-Mills on S^4, Takuya Okuda, Vasily Pestun, arXiv:1004.1222 On the Possibility of Anisotropic Curvature in Cosmology, Tomi S. Koivisto, David F. Mota, Miguel Quartin, Tom G. Zlosnik, arXiv:1006.3321 Perfect porcupines: ideal networks for low frequency gravitational wave astronomy, Latham Boyle, arXiv:1003.4946 Properties of Quantum Graphity at Low Temperature, Francesco Caravelli, Fotini Markopoulou, arXiv:1008.1340 Prospects and Constraints for Vector-like MFV Matter at LHC, Jonathan M. Arnold, Bartosz Fornal, Michael Trott, arXiv:1005.2185 Quantum computational renormalization in the Haldane phase, Stephen D. Bartlett, Gavin K. Brennen, Akimasa Miyake, Joseph M. Renes, arXiv:1004.4906 Reviving Gravitys Aether in Einsteins Universe, Niayesh Afshordi (Perimeter Institute/ University of Waterloo), arXiv:1004.2901 Ruling Out Multi-Order Interference in Quantum Mechanics, Urbasi Sinha, Christophe Couteau, Thomas Jennewein, Raymond Laflamme, Gregor Weihs, Journal-ref: Science Vol 329 23rd July 2010 pg 418-421, arXiv:1007.4193 Searching for axions and other exotics with dark matter detectors. Maxim Pospelov, (Perimeter Inst. Theor. Phys.) . 2010. 9pp. Published in Int.J.Mod.Phys.A25:564-572,2010. Journal Server doi:10.1142/S0217751X10048858 Seeing a c-theorem with holography, Robert C. Myers, Aninda Sinha, PACS numbers: 11.25.Tq, 11.25.Hf, arXiv:1006.1263 Semi-Analytic Stellar Structure in Scalar-Tensor Gravity, M.W. Horbatsch, C.P. Burgess, arXiv:1006.4411 Shape in an Atom of Space: Exploring quantum geometry phenomenology, Seth A. Major, arXiv:1005.5460 Spin foams with timelike surfaces, Florian Conrady, arXiv:1003.5652 Spinning Loop Black Holes, Francesco Caravelli, Leonardo Modesto, arXiv:1006.0232 Stability of self-dual black holes, Eric Brown, Robert Mann, Leonardo Modesto, arXiv:1006.4164 Symmetry, Compact Closure and Dagger Compactness for Categories of Convex Operational Models, Howard Barnum, Ross Duncan, Alexander Wilce, arXiv:1004.2920 The effect of extra dimensions on gravity wave bursts from cosmic string cusps, Eimear OCallaghan, Sarah Chadburn, Ghazal Geshnizjani, Ruth Gregory, Ivonne Zavala, arXiv:1005.3220 The new vertices and canonical quantization, Sergei Alexandrov, arXiv:1004.2260 The space complexity of recognizing well-parenthesized expressions in the streaming model: the Index function revisited, Rahul Jain, Ashwin Nayak, arXiv:1004.3165 Axio-electric effect, A. Derevianko, V. A. Dzuba, V. V. Flambaum, M. Pospelov, PACS numbers: 14.70.Pw,95.35.+d,32.80.F, arXiv:1007.1833 Topological boundary conditions in abelian Chern-Simons theory, Anton Kapustin, Natalia Saulina, arXiv:1008.0654 Topological Order with a Twist: Ising Anyons from an Abelian Model, H. Bombin, Phys.Rev. Lett.105:030403,2010, arXiv:1004.1838 Tricolored Lattice Gauge Theory with Randomness: Fault-Tolerance in Topological Color Codes, Ruben S. Andrist, Helmut G. Katzgraber, H. Bombin, M. A. Martin-Delgado, arXiv:1005.0777 Uber-naturalness: unexpectedly light scalars from supersymmetric extra dimensions, C.P. Burgess, Anshuman Maharana, F. Quevedo, arXiv:1005.1199 U(N) Coherent States for Loop Quantum Gravity, Laurent Freidel, Etera R. Livine, arXiv:1005.2090 Unification of gravity, gauge fields, and Higgs bosons, A. Garrett Lisi, Lee Smolin, Simone Speziale, arXiv:1004.4866 Unitary irreducible representations of SL(2,C) in discrete and continuous SU(1,1) bases, Florian Conrady (Perimeter Inst. Theor. Phys.), Jeff Hnybida (Perimeter Inst. Theor. Phys. and Waterloo U.), arXiv:1007.0937 Universal quantum computer from a quantum magnet, Jianming Cai, Akimasa Miyake, Wolfgang Dr, Hans J. Briegel, arXiv:1004.1907 Viscosity Bound and Causality in Superfluid Plasma, Alex Buchel, Sera Cremonini, arXiv:1007.2963


14 Fall 2010

A few of the talks did not fit into any of the above catego-ries and gave the meeting a broader perspective. Ruth Durrer aimed to sharpen the question of how large-scale magnetic field correlations could have been produced. Curt Cutler explained how the Big Bang Observer, a proposed gravita-tional wave satellite experiment originally designed to pursue the gravitational wave background produced by primordial inflation, would also measure various properties of the late universe with unparalleled precision. Finally, Alex Maloney gave evidence that astrophysical black holes (i.e. non-extre-mal asymptotically-flat Kerr spacetimes in 3+1 dimensions) are, in some sense, dual to 2-dimensional conformal field theories. All in all, the talks presented a very stimulating menu of current ideas and recent results. Thanks especially to Holly Hatch and Neenah Navasero of PIs Conference department for all of their help in making it a success! Latham Boyle and Rob Myers, Conference Co-organizers

editors note: All conference talks may be viewed on PIRSA at http://pirsa.org/C10014.

Junes Cosmological Frontiers in Fundamental Physics meeting was excellent! This was the fourth in a series of workshops jointly organized by the International Solvay Insti-tute, the APC (Universit Paris VII, Paris) and the Perimeter Institute. The previous two meetings were held in Paris in 2008 and Brussels in 2009. This year, it was Perimeters turn to host the workshop. The purpose of these meetings is broad: to discuss recent developments at the inter face of modern cosmology and fundamental physics. Although the topics varied over a wide range, cer tain themes were discernible. Talks by Ben Freivogel, Steve Giddings, Thomas Hertog, Rich Holman, Leonardo Senatore and Leonard Susskind aimed to clarify issues connected to infrared effects in de Sitter space and the related phenomenon of eternal inflation. Other talks dealt with beyond-the-standard-model physics: Maxim Pospelov and Neil Weiner discussed astrophysical clues that might already be pointing to new physics, whereas Jonathan Heckman and Alexander Westphal investigated avenues suggested by string theory. Another collection of talks, by Gary Horowitz, Eva Silverstein, Kostas Skendaris and Neil Turok, dealt with insights from string theory about cosmological spacetimes and cos-mological singularities. Skendaris and Turok, in particular, presented perspectives on the very early universe that were quite different from the standard picture of primordial infla-tion. On the more astrophysical side, Dick Bond, Ue-Li Pen, Licia Verde and Mattias Zaldarriaga discussed various ideas concerning the possible detection of primordial gravitational waves or primordial non-gaussianities.

Theory meeTs daTa analysIs aT ComParable and exTreme mass raTIosAlmost a hundred researchers met at Perimeter Institute at the end of July for the Theory Meets Data Analysis at Compa-rable and Extreme Mass Ratios conference, organized by L. Lehner, E. Poisson, H. Pfeiffer, S. Fairhurst, G. Gonzalez and Y. Liu. The workshop was a great success in its goal of bringing together researchers from three communities experiment, theory, and data analysis towards realizing the goal of detecting and analyzing gravitational waves.

Gravity waves, expected to be detected by the end of the decade, will provide a new and powerful way to scrutinize our universe and answer fundamental questions about gravity, astrophysics and cosmology. This lively meeting included discussions by theorists, responsible for understanding characteristics of the waves expected from different sources, together with data analysts dedicated to exploiting these models in the search, and analysis of gravitational waves in the data stream.

About 60 talks spread over one week, together with many lively discussions at the PI Black Hole Bistro, provided an excellent atmosphere for discussion. With so much packed in seven days, there were many highlights. Several of the main and contributed talks highlighted the tremendous progress achieved in the detector level, the understanding of key comparable-mass systems and the data analysis techniques required for searching for their signals.

For instance, M. Boyle and P. Ajith reviewed the status of incorporating results from numerical relativity where this problem is well understood for comparable masses into techniques developed and deployed for searching for signals from binary black hole systems. Progress and future plans for advanced detectors were described by S. Waldman.

On the other hand, the workshop helped to further discuss other important systems which are still poorly understood, spurring collaborations and new ideas to tackle them. In

CONFERENCE RECAPS

CosmologICal FronTIers In FundamenTal PhysICs

PI Distinguished Research Chair Leonard Susskind delivering his seminar on Phases of eternal inflation.

particular, J. Read and Z. Etienne reviewed current efforts to understand neutron star and black hole-neutron star binaries and binary neutron star systems. These talks highlighted the increased complexity required for describing these systems, as further physical ingredients are to be considered. Particularly exciting is the fact that these details have a clear impact in the expected signals which can shed light into the equation of states of neutron stars. Talks by L. Barak and A. Le Tiec discussed important advances and open problems in the description of extreme mass ratio binaries which will be prime sources for space-based detectors. Going 0beyond just gravitational wave detection, talks by S. Hughes, C. Palenzuela and A. Broderick concentrated on the tremendously exciting scientific possibilities to be opened by multi-messenger astronomy, where the combination of gravitational, electromagnetic and even neutrino signals will

I n early 2009, Prof. Petr Horava, an eminent physicist at the University of California at Berkeley, proposed that decoupling, or separating, space and time at very high energies, such as those found in the early universe, might lead to a new theoretical framework for quantum gravity. He posited that at low energies, general relativity might emerge in the same way that new properties arise in some exotic phase changes that are described by the concept of a Lifshitz point in condensed matter physics. Prof. Horavas paper, Quantum Gravity at a Lifshitz Point, Phys.Rev.D79:084008, 2009, ArXiv: 0901:3775, generated enormous interest in the international physics community so much so, in fact, that PI decided to hold the first conference worldwide to discuss the proposal and its implications last fall. The workshop, called Gravity at a Lifshitz Point, was organized by PIs own Rob Myers and Dario Benedetti, and Prof. Horava. In the course of managing logistics for the 40 attendees, PIs (now former) Conference Coordinator extraordinaire, Holly Hatch, sent an email to the participants, with the following subject line: REMINDER: More information for the Lifshitz at a Gravity Point conference at the Perimeter Institute. The chance transposition in the emails title was noticed by one of Prof. Horavas graduate students and led to some chuckles around Berkeley, and Holly was a little embarrassed when it was pointed out to her. But as she learned later, the mix-up also helped spark some new scientific developments Apparently, Horava and his group took up Lifshitz at a Gravity Point as a challenge. As he later wrote, We started speculating whether one could actually come up with a phys-ics idea that would realize Lifshitz at a gravity point. The ideas started percolating, and then Horava realized that a

likely revolutionize our understanding of our cosmos. The talks can be viewed online at http://pirsa.org/C10015. The excitement of a near detection with all fronts progressing nicely experiment, theory and analysis towards making this a reality was clear during the meeting, but there were a few distractions. Abraham Harte was describing Spin-induced bobbing effects in relativistic systems when a slide being projected started bobbing on the screen. We later learned that this was caused by an earthquake north of Ottawa. Other small disturbances came throughout the week courtesy of World Cup action, with the nationality of the celebrators alerting the rest of us to how each match was going.

Luis Lehner, Conference Co-organizer

project he had been working on actually did! The work, done with Cenke Xu, a Harvard Junior Fellow and a postdoc in their Condensed Matter Theory Group, delineated the properties of a new class of algebraic bose liquids (ABLs). Such ABL phases are in strong demand in condensed matter: They are characterized by the presence of stable bosonic excitations which persist at very low energies, and change dramatically the physical behavior of conventional condensed matter systems. According to Prof. Horava, We realized that my project with Cenke actually qualifies: Because it starts as a con-densed matter system which apparently has nothing to do with gravity, but it does already have a Lifshitz-type behavior at short distances where it is defined. Then you follow the behavior of this Lifshitz system at long distances, and surpris-ingly, what you find is that it flows to a system described by a fixed point which has emergent gravity in it! Hence, at very low energies, this Lifshitz system gets to a gravity point. In April, Dr. Xu gave a colloquium talk at PI about this work (Algebraic Bose Liquid and Emergent Lifshitz gravity, http://pirsa.org/10040001/), although as Prof. Horava added, I probably never told this story to my collaborator Cenke, since he was not involved in the PI workshop last November and therefore did not know about the mixup. As for Holly, who recently left PI to seek new challenges on the West Coast, she has added Physics Muse to her list of accomplishments. Natasha Waxman

editors note: In case you missed it, the talks given at Gravity at a Lifshitz Point are archived on PIRSA at: http://www.pirsa.org/CO9026.

The sTrange True sTory oF lIFshITz aT a gravITy PoInT

Fall 2010 15

Holly Hatch

Prof. Petr Horava


16 Fall 2010

random maTrIx TeChnIques In quanTum InFormaTIon TheoryThis joint Fields InstitutePI workshop, which was held at PI, July 4 - 6, 2010, brought researchers from probability theory and random matrix theory in mathematics together with specialists from quantum information theory. Organized jointly by Benot Collins (University of Ottawa), Patrick Hayden (McGill/Perimeter) and Ion Nechita (University of Ottawa), the workshop was motivated by the recent resolution of quantum information theorys (QIT) best-known conjecture, the additivity conjecture, using random matrix techniques (RMT), and benefited greatly from the presence of almost all the researchers currently working in this area. A deeper level of interaction between the quantum informa-tion theory community and mathematics had already been recognized as fundamental. Indeed, it was discovered over the last decade that in order to tackle important questions in quantum information theory such as additivity problems, probabilistic methods and in particular random matrix methods could be of critical help. While some previous events had been held with the operator algebra and operator space communities, bringing together mathematicians working in probability theory and quantum information theorists with an interest in statistical methods had not been yet done. This workshop efficiently filled that gap, and was very timely, given that huge breakthroughs had been achieved over the last few years, especially culminating in M. Hastings breakthrough results on the additivity of the minimum output entropy. The workshop was attended by over 40 participants, including more than a dozen students. We believe that many mathema-ticians attending the conference used the workshop to orient themselves in preparation for reading the physics literature in QIT and to become aware of the beautiful, still-open math-ematical problems raised by QIT. QIT people, on the other hand, used the opportunity to develop awareness of the cutting- edge technology in RMT available to tackle their problems. Twenty lectures were delivered, and since the audience members backgrounds were extremely diverse, every speaker received the unusual (and hopefully innovative!) instruction to split their talks into two parts, a first part that had to be completely accessible to the other community, and a second part addressing research questions of relevance to the con-ference. For the mathematicians, this was a unique chance to learn firsthand about the quantum information techniques and important problems. For the quantum information com-munity, this was a unique opportunity to learn about recent and more classical techniques in random matrix theory. The additivity conjecture was first stated by C. King and M. Ruskai, both of whom attended, and updates on develop-ments surrounding it provided some of the highlights of the workshop. After several classes of channels were shown to satisfy the conjecture, P. Hayden and A. Winter showed that a stronger version of it, which was widely believed to hold at the time, was false; they used a random construction and their proof relied on concentration of measure techniques, developed earlier in a joint work with D. Leung, also a par-ticipant. The counterexample for the original conjecture was

constructed by M. Hastings in 2009, and his proof also relies on random matrix techniques. Talks on this subject occupied a whole day of the schedule: C. King and M. Fukuda gave an introduction to the conjecture and to M. Hastings proof. F. Brandao presented an alternative approach to the problem, using concentration of measure techniques. S. Szarek talked about a very recent joint work of his, G. Aubruns and E. Werners on another proof of the Hastings result using Dvoretzkys theorem. B. Collins introduced free probability techniques useful in studying random quantum channels which can be used to give precise results on the minimal output entropies. Finally, the additivity problem day was concluded by A. Harrows talk on the computational com-plexity of approximating entropies of channels. This session was emblematic of the workshop, with mathematicians and quantum theorists alternating at the podium and presenting their research to a wide audience. Ample time was left in the schedule to allow discussions between the participants. In particular, a problem session gave rise to many new and very interesting questions, providing, we hope, material for future research work. Audience members par ticipated enthusiastically in these sessions, offering problems, suggestions and even making a start on some solutions. Last but not least, this collaboration between the Fields Institute and the Perimeter Institute enjoyed some unexpected national media coverage when Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper turned up: he took the occasion to greet Dr. Stephen Hawking (who was visiting PI at the time) and to make an important announcement about the funding of post-doctoral fellowships in Canada. No doubt foreign participants did not expect to see so much of Canada during this work-shop which had already filled everybody with new scientific ideas and projects! We believe that the workshop was very timely, and hope that it will prove to be a first milestone on the road towards a fruitful and intensive collaboration between the two communities.

Benot Collins, Patrick Hayden and Ion Nechita, Conference Co-organizers

editors note: All conference talks may be viewed on PIRSA at http://pirsa.org/C10016.

Fall 2010 17

PIRSA Pick of the Issue

Experimental detection of stimulated Hawking thermal radiation from analog white holes (http://pirsa.org/10090068/)

William Unruh, University of British Columbia

Series: Colloquium

IntegRAbIlIty And ScAtteRIng AmPlItudeS Recent advances in the computations of scattering amplitudes reveal unexpected and extraordinary properties that are completely invisible in the usual textbook formulation. These ndings have led many of us to feel that we are on the verge of a revolution in our understanding of quantum chromody-namics (QCD) in general and N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory (SYM) in particular. With this background, in September, PI hosted a workshop on Integrability in Scattering Amplitudes. The workshop was organized by Freddy Cachazo, Amit Sever and Pedro Vieira from PI, together with PI Distinguished Research Chair Nima Arkani-Hamed from the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS). This was the second workshop in a series of very informal gatherings which started in April 2010 at the IAS. Many topics and new results were explained and discussed in the meeting. To name a few:

Zvi Bern explained state-of-the-art precision QCD computations extremely relevant for collider physics and for analysis of the data from the Large Hadron

Collider in Switzerland. The presentation was followed by a discussion on the niteness of a maximally supersym-

metric theory of gravity, known as N=8 SUGRA. Finally, remarkable new relations between non-planar and planar structures in perturbative computations in Yang-Mills

and gravity were presented.

Alexander Goncharov (a special mathematician guest) beautifully introduced the theory of Motives, Symbols and

Generalized Polylogarithms. A discussion on the application of these to scattering amplitudes followed.

Nima Arkani-Hamed led a discussion on the recent breakthrough in the computation of all orders integrand of

supersymmetric gauge theories such as N=4 SYM and its manifest Yangian invariance. Yangian symmetry is the signaling feature of integrability in the theory.

David Skinner and Simon Caron-Huot introduced their solution to a long-standing problem, a supersymmetric generalization of polygon Wilson loops that computes N=4 scattering amplitudes with all possible helicities in N=4 SYM.

Juan Maldacena introduced a new operator product expansion for polygon Wilson loops and the application of this method for the determination of scattering amplitudes in particular kinematics. The main building blocks of this construction are the energies of excitations of the N=4 flux tube.

Dealing more with the integrability side of the workshop, Juan Maldacena explained how integrability and in particular Thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz techniques are used in the computation of scattering amplitudes at strong coupling.

Finally, Benjamin Basso presented in detail his exact results for the excitations around the N=4 flux tube obtained using integrability.

All in all, these were two outstanding days of discussions with an enormous number of absolutely fresh and remarkable results certainly a workshop we hope to see repeated!

Freddy Cachazo, Pedro Vieira, Amit Sever andNima Arkani-Hamed, Conference Co-organizers


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THE WELCOME SECTION

ProFIles oF PosTdoCToral researChersNEW PI POSTDOCS SHARE THEIR INTERESTS

JOO PeNeDONeS

ReSeARCH AReA(S) String theory, or more precisely, gauge/gravity dualities.

mOST INTeReSTINg THINg AbOUT THeOReTICAL PHySICS The quest to discover and understand the most basic laws of nature.

eARLIeST PHySICS memORy I decided to study physics after reading the book The Character of Physical Law by Richard Feynman. I was 16 years old and I remember being deeply impressed by the simplicity and clarity of the authors explanations of many phenomena.

PHySICS ROLe mODeL I dont know much about the life stories of famous physicists and I dont think I have a role model. However, I strongly admire the scientific achievements of many physicists. For example, the new perspective Wilson brought to quantum field theory was a remarkable change of paradigm in theoretical physics.

LOOkINg FORWARD TO AT PI I think PI is an excellent institute where Ill have all the conditions to develop my research projects. I look forward to that.

ReSeARCH AReA(S) I am currently working in quantum gravity, more specifically in the group field approach of quantum gravity. But I have other interests, including supersymmetry quantum mechanics, coherent states, q-mathematics, noncommutative geometry and its applications to

quantum fields.

mOST INTeReSTINg THINg AbOUT THeOReTICAL PHySICS From my humble point of view of a theoretician, one of the most interesting things in physics is the fact that it gives another dimension to human beings: the capability to understand the world with only theoretical tools, leaving far behind the technology and awaiting patiently the day that the world agrees with an unravelled idea. I relate to the famous quote from Einstein: The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is at all comprehensible.

FAmILy I came alone, but my partner, Melissa, might join me later on.

INTeReSTS/HObbIeS I like to play soccer and go rock climbing.

FAvOURITe bOOk/mUSIC/FILm One of my favourite books is Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. The simplicity with which the author tells us his amazing story is truly remarkable.

WHeRe ARe yOU COmINg FROm? Before coming here, I was a postdoc at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara, California.

PHySICS ROLe mODeL If you asked me, In science in general, who is your icon?, I would say J. Carl F. Gauss. But in pure physics, it is difficult to say, because there are a bunch of great men who deserve to be in the heart of every physicist, each in equal proportion.

LOOkINg FORWARD TO AT PI Working at PI is a huge opportunity to collaborate with many of the greatest theoreticians in the entire world. As an African, I would also like to make more connections between PI and other institutes (that I will certainly visit) and my continent.

FAmILy My spouse and daughter accompanied me to Waterloo.

INTeReSTS/HObbIeS My favourite sports are football (or soccer, as its known in North America) and basketball, and I really enjoy going to the movie theatres.

WHeRe ARe yOU COmINg FROm? I am coming from Senegal (West Africa).


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JOSePH beN geLOUN

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mARkUS mUeLLeR

ReSeARCH AReA(S) Quantum information theory, and quantum foundations. On the QIT side, this involves foundational questions on quantum statistical mechanics. For example: How and when do closed systems thermalize? What are typical properties of random quantum states? Another question that Im interested in: Are there simple axioms that characterize quantum theory among all general probabilistic theories? What about natural theories beyond it?

mOST INTeReSTINg THINg AbOUT THeOReTICAL PHySICS Science in general is a great tool to overcome typically human prejudices on our world. We are all born with great curiosity about why and how our universe works as it does, but also with a bunch of misconceptions on how to address those questions. For example, humans naturally assume things like complicated objects do not arise on their own, but have to be built by some intelligent being. Science lets us sometimes discover that, surprisingly, such assumptions are wrong. In theoretical physics, it is mathematics that makes this possible, and maths is surprisingly successful in this task. For me, this moment of surprising insight, in connection with the reliability of a mathematical proof, is what makes theoretical physics such a great and valuable experience.

eARLIeST PHySICS memORy Definitely reading science fiction books as a child. And in elementary school, I was terrifying my teacher by asking her how we could ever have been born, if there are infinitely many conceivable humans, but only finitely many of them really exist. It turned out that not too many class fellows were interested in probability zero events.

PHySICS ROLe mODeL Carl Sagan, and his book The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark.

LOOkINg FORWARD TO AT PI There are some very nice people from PI that I had the pleasure to meet on earlier occasions, and I am very much looking forward to meeting with them at greater length in Waterloo. In general, I think PI is a great, stimulating place for research, definitely one of the best in the world. Personally, I am also looking forward to exploring more of Canadas outdoor life, and to having more time for research than in Berlin, where I was teaching a lot.

INTeReSTS/HObbIeS I like skiing and snowboarding, and Im a great fan of indie rock music. I like to go to concerts, and I play the drums myself from time to time (with lots of fun but little talent). Im also interested in human rights issues and am a member of Amnesty International.

FAvOURITe bOOk/mUSIC/FILm Maybe Hermann Hesse or Franz Kafka ... and Gary Larsons cartoons. Films by David Lynch.

WHeRe ARe yOU COmINg FROm? From Berlin. Before coming to PI, I was a postdoc at Jens Eiserts group at the University of Potsdam, and I was teaching mathematical physics at the TU Berlin.

CHAD HANNA

ReSeARCH AReA(S) Gravitational-wave astronomy/astrophysics.

mOST INTeReSTINg THINg AbOUT THeOReTICAL PHySICS That is tough to answer. I think the most interesting thing about our universe is that, despite its immense complexity, it

seems comprehensible. Physics as a discipline is about understanding every complex layer and finding all the surprises along the way. It is fun. What can I say?

eARLIeST PHySICS memORy When I was young I was interested in electromagnetism and electronics. I often constructed small circuits (radios, etc.). I couldnt do that to save my life these days ...

PHySICS ROLe mODeL When I was young, Newton. As I aged, Einstein. But I am sort of looking for a new one right now.

LOOkINg FORWARD TO AT PI I think PI is a fantastic place to interact. I look forward to the possibilities!

FAmILy My wife, Jenny, will be coming to Waterloo with me.

INTeReSTS/HObbIeS I enjoy cooking, photography, music, sci-fi.

WHeRe ARe yOU COmINg FROm? LIGO Laboratory, California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA.

Fall 2010 19


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JeAN-LUC LeHNeRS

ReSeARCH AReA(S) Cosmology and string theory.

mOST INTeReSTINg THINg AbOUT THeOReTICAL PHySICS It allows us to find out certain aspects of how the universe evolves, and of the universes past, despite the fact that we are stuck on Earth.

eARLIeST PHySICS memORy Discovering the Moon and the planets when I was about 10 years old, and when I started getting interested in astronomy.

PHySICS ROLe mODeL I dont have a physics role model most famous physicists were crazy, utterly self-absorbed or otherwise deranged!

LOOkINg FORWARD TO AT PI The particularly open-minded atmosphere, and the fact that

mISHA SmOLkIN

ReSeARCH AReA(S) High energy physics. In particular, Im interested in all kind of aspects related to general relativity and cosmology.

mOST INTeReSTINg THINg AbOUT THeOReTICAL PHySICS It enslaves minds.

PHySICS ROLe mODeL

There are many outstanding physicists who deserve (at least) respect. So let us keep the symmetry.

mATT JOHNSON

ReSeARCH AReA(S) Im interested in cosmology and string theory.

mOST INTeReSTINg THINg AbOUT THeOReTICAL PHySICS That sometimes even a crude, spherical-cow-like model can actually be a good enough description to yield new insights or meaningful predictions.

eARLIeST PHySICS memORy One day when I was in middle school, I was in the library procrastinating, and came across a book called The Big Bang Never Happened. Being the rebellious punk that I was, this seemed interesting. After reading the book, I guess I was hooked since Im still trying to figure out if the Big Bang ever happened ...

PHySICS ROLe mODeL I always thought Frank Oppenheimer had an interesting life, and that the exploratorium was a neat idea.

PI is continually improving, growing and providing opportunities.

FAmILy My family is moving with me: my wife, Linda (who is a dancer, choreographer and dance writer), our son Julien (two years old) and our daughter Caroline (six months).

WHeRe ARe yOU COmINg FROm? Princeton, more specifically the Princeton Center for Theoretical Science.

LOOkINg FORWARD TO AT PI Doing good research.

FAmILy I have the minimal possible family: me and my wife. She is accompanying me to Waterloo.

FAvOURITe bOOk/mUSIC/FILm Favourite is too strong. Let us say instead that I like Kafka, Akutagawa, Oe, Hesse, and many others.

WHeRe ARe yOU COmINg FROm? Im coming from Israel. I graduated at the Hebrew U. in Jerusalem.

LOOkINg FORWARD TO AT PI Collaborating with all of the fantastic people!

INTeReSTS/HObbIeS Hiking, making music, gardening, cooking, reading ...

WHeRe ARe yOU COmINg FROm? Caltech in Pasadena, California.

Fall 2010 00 Fall 2010 21

ROgeR COLbeCk

ReSeARCH AReA(S) Quantum information and quantum foundations.

mOST INTeReSTINg THINg AbOUT THeOReTICAL PHySICS The fact that a few seemingly simple equations describe so much of our world and in such great detail.

eARLIeST PHySICS memORy When I was around six years old, our teacher asked us to select from a given set of materials which we thought would be best to wrap around a can to keep its contents of hot water warm for the longest, and which would keep cold water cold for the longest. Almost everyone thought that the thick, furry material would keep the water warm longest and that the thin material would keep the cold water cold longest (after all, we wear thin clothes to keep cool, right?). The experimental result provided much surprise.

PHySICS ROLe mODeL Not sure I really have one, although reading Roger Penrose enthused me a lot about physics as a student.

LOOkINg FORWARD TO AT PI Being part of the fantastic scientific community PI has to offer.

INTeReSTS/HObbIeS I enjoy playing racquet sports and skiing.

WHeRe ARe yOU COmINg FROm? I was previously at ETH (the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, in English) in Zurich, Switzerland.

vALeNTIN bONzOm

ReSeARCH AReA(S) Quantum gravity.

FAmILy My wife and our two-and-a-half-year-old son.

WHeRe ARe yOU COmINg FROm? Lyon, France.

SImONe gIOmbI

ReSeARCH AReA(S) High energy theoretical physics, primarily string theory and related topics.

mOST INTeReSTINg THINg AbOUT THeOReTICAL PHySICS To me, the most interesting thing is how we are getting closer and closer to understanding how nature works at the most fundamental level, based on just a relatively small set of unifying principles and ideas.

eARLIeST PHySICS memORy I think my first real contact with modern physics was sometime during high school, when I read The Evolution of Physics by Einstein and Infeld.

PHySICS ROLe mODeL Its difficult to pick one. If I had to choose among some great physicists of the last century, I would mention Albert Einstein and Richard Feynman as quite inspirational to me.

LOOkINg FORWARD TO AT PI I am looking forward to new friends, new collaborators and new opportunities to grow as a scientist.

FAmILy My wife and our newborn daughter will be accompanying me to Waterloo.

INTeReSTS/HObbIeS In my free time, I like watching movies and reading comic books.

FAvOURITe bOOk/mUSIC/FILm Id mention Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg among my favourite movie directors.

WHeRe ARe yOU COmINg FROm? I am coming from Harvard, where I have been a postdoc for the past three years. I got my PhD from Stony Brook University in 2007.


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NATALIA kLeINNatalia Klein joined the Perimeter Institute in August as an assistant, enhancing and providing administrative support both to the Office of the Director and the Director of Global Outreach. She holds a teaching degree in German, Russian, and English from the University of Mannheim, Germany, and an MA in German & Russian Studies from the University of Waterloo. Originally born in Kazakhstan, Natalia lived most of her life in Germany, where she worked as a teaching assistant in various educational institutions and gained her administrative experience through two-and-a-half years of employment in both industry and university settings. After living in Waterloo while studying her Masters in 2006-2007, she decided to come back and make Canada her permanent home in 2009. Natalia is excited to fuse both her teaching and multicultural backgrounds at PI, cherishing its global outre

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Inside the Perimeter Fall2010