How, and why, to combine high energy physics and quantum information theory
In recent years a growing number of theorists have been exploring whether qubits -- those curious quanta of information -- may hold the answer to combining quantum theory and general relativity into a quantum theory of gravity.
But there's a hitch. As Perimeter Institute Faculty Chair Robert Myers and Distinguished Visiting Research Chair Patrick Hayden write in this month's Physics World, specialist knowledge is usually encoded in specialist language.
That's why the It from Qubit Simons Collaboration -- and the related It from Qubit workshop and summer school held at Perimeter in July, 2016 -- could prove vital to forging a united path forward.
"A huge number of new ideas get found in translation," they write. "It’s given us new perspectives on our own fields. Things that we thought were routine and uninteresting are revealed to be much more profound, while things that we thought were crucially important recede a little into the background."
Dive into the scientific background that led to It from Qubit, and read about the sparks it ignited, in the full article at Physics World.
About PI
Perimeter Institute is the world’s largest research hub devoted to theoretical physics. The independent Institute was founded in 1999 to foster breakthroughs in the fundamental understanding of our universe, from the smallest particles to the entire cosmos. Research at Perimeter is motivated by the understanding that fundamental science advances human knowledge and catalyzes innovation, and that today’s theoretical physics is tomorrow’s technology. Located in the Region of Waterloo, the not-for-profit Institute is a unique public-private endeavour, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada, that enables cutting-edge research, trains the next generation of scientific pioneers, and shares the power of physics through award-winning educational outreach and public engagement.
