# Video Library

Since 2002 Perimeter Institute has been recording seminars, conference talks, and public outreach events using video cameras installed in our lecture theatres.  Perimeter now has 7 formal presentation spaces for its many scientific conferences, seminars, workshops and educational outreach activities, all with advanced audio-visual technical capabilities.  Recordings of events in these areas are all available On-Demand from this Video Library and on Perimeter Institute Recorded Seminar Archive (PIRSA)PIRSA is a permanent, free, searchable, and citable archive of recorded seminars from relevant bodies in physics. This resource has been partially modelled after Cornell University's arXiv.org.

## $\rho$-ontism: thermodynamics and the interpretation of quantum theory

Friday Dec 03, 2010
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Can a density matrix be regarded as a description of the physically real properties of an individual system? If so, it may be possible to attribute the same objective significance to statistical mechanical properties, such as entropy or temperature, as to properties such as mass or energy. Non-linear modifications to the evolution of a density matrix can be proposed, based upon this idea, to account for thermodynamic irreversibility.

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## Algorithm for the shortest path through time

Friday Dec 03, 2010
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Feynman showed that the path of least action is determined by quantum interference. The interference may be viewed as part of a quantum algorithm for minimising the action. In fact, Lloyd describes the Universe as a giant quantum computer whose purpose is to calculate its own state. Could the direction of time that the universe is apparently following be determined by a quantum algorithm? The answer lies in the violation of time reversal (T) invariance that is being observed in an increasing number of particle accelerator experiments.

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## Mathematical Physics (PHYS 624) - Lecture 10

Friday Dec 03, 2010
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## The status of determinism in noncontextual models of quantum theory

Thursday Dec 02, 2010
Speaker(s):

In an ontological model of quantum theory that is Bell-local, one can assume without loss of generality that the outcomes of measurements are determined deterministically by the ontic states (i.e. the values of the local hidden variables). The question I address in this talk is whether such determinism can always be assumed in a noncontextual ontological model of quantum theory, in particular whether it can be assumed for nonprojective measurements.

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## Evolution of Circumbinary Disks Following Super-massive Black Hole Mergers

Thursday Dec 02, 2010
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There has been a growing interest in electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational wave signals. Of particular interest here, are counterparts to gravitational wave signals from super-massive black hole mergers. We consider a circumbinary disk, hollowed out by torques from the binary, and provide an analytic solution to its response following merger. There are two changes to the potential which occur during the merger process: an axisymmetric mass-energy loss and asymmetric recoil kick given to the resulting super-massive black hole.

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## Preparation Noncontextuality and Continuous Transformations of Quantum Systems

Thursday Dec 02, 2010
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Traditionally, the focus on determining characteristic properties of quantum mechanics has been on properties such as entanglement. However, entanglement is a property of multiple systems. Another interesting question is to ask what properties are characteristic of single quantum systems. Two answers to this question are:

1.There is a continuous path of pure quantum states connecting any two quantum states [1], and,

2.Quantum mechanics is preparation noncontextual [2].

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## Change of quantum reference frames; towards a quantum relativity principle?

Thursday Dec 02, 2010
Speaker(s):

Matt Palmer
An explicit description of a physical system is necessarily written with respect to a particular reference frame. It is important to know how to adapt the description when a different, equally valid, reference frame is chosen. In the case of classical frames there is a well-defined covariance of the description. The question we want to address is: How can we extend this description of change of reference frame to the case where the frames are quantum objects?

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## A generalization of Noether's theorem and the information-theoretic approach to the study of symmetric dynamics

Thursday Dec 02, 2010
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Information theory provides a novel approach to study of the consequences of symmetry of dynamics which goes far beyond the traditional conservation laws and Noether's theorem. The conservation laws are not applicable to the dissipative and open systems. In fact, as we will show, even in the case of closed system dynamics if the state of system is not pure the conservation laws do not capture all the consequences of symmetry.

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## Action Duality: A Constructive Principle for Quantum Foundations

Thursday Dec 02, 2010

Ken Wharton

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## Quantum control in foundational experiments: what can we say?

Thursday Dec 02, 2010
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Wheeler's delayed choice (WDC) is one of the "standard experiments in foundations". It aims at the puzzle of a photon simultaneously behaving as wave and particle. Bohr-Einstein debate on wave-particle duality prompted the introduction of Bohr's principle of complementarity, ---`.. the study of complementary phenomena demands mutually exclusive experimental arrangements" . In WDC experiment the mutually exclusive setups correspond to the presence or absence of a second beamsplitter in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI).

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## Next Public Lecture

### ENGINEERING CHANGE IN MEDICINE

Wednesday Dec 07, 2016

## RECENT PUBLIC LECTURE

### Michael Cates: Bulletproof Custard: Fluids That Stop Flowing When You Push Them Too Hard

Speaker: Michael Cates