Robert Spekkens

Robert Spekkens profile picture
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Research Faculty
Areas of research:
Quantum Foundations
(519) 569-7600 x7601
https://www.rwspekkens.com
If you are interested in working with me as a PhD student, please send me an email at [email protected]. Perimeter Institute is committed to diversity within its community and I welcome applications from underrepresented groups.
E. T. Jaynes famously described quantum theory as an omelette of epistemological and ontological elements, all scrambled up in a way that no one has yet seen how to unscramble. One of the central aims of my research is to unscramble the quantum omelette. In recent years I have been focussed upon distinguishing causation from correlation in the quantum formalism, that is, influence from inference. In particular, I have been developing the concepts of quantum Bayesian inference and quantum causal models, as well as their applications for inferring causal structure from observed correlations. This framework provides a novel perspective on the topics of locality and noncontextuality in quantum theory. I also work on quantum resource theories, where various properties of quantum states and operations are formalized as resources.
  • Adjunct research faculty, Centre for Quantum Dynamics, Griffith University, 2010-2016
  • Junior Research Faculty, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, 2008-2015
  • Adjunct faculty, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, 2008-present
  • Royal Society International Research Fellow, University of Cambridge, 2006-2008
  • Postdoctoral Researcher, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, 2003-2006
  • Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Physics, University of Toronto, 2001-2002
  • The Itamar Pitowsky Memorial Lecture, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2017
  • Discovery Grant "Strong notions of nonclassicality: experimental signatures and applications", Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), 2017-2022
  • FQXI Essay Contest, 1st prize, FQXI, 2012
  • Paper selected by editors of NJP for IOP Select, New Journal of Physics, 2009
  • Article highlighted as an Editor's Suggestion, Physical Review Letters, 2008
  • Paper award, "Best of 2008", New Journal of Physics, 2008
  • Birkhoff-von Neumann Prize, International Quantum Structures Association, 2008
  • Ansanelli, M. M., Wolfe, E., & Spekkens, R. W. (2024). Everything that can be learned about a causal structure with latent variables by observational and interventional probing schemes. arxiv:2407.01686v1
  • Ying, Y., Gonda, T., & Spekkens, R. (2024). Conceptual and formal groundwork for the study of resource dependence relations. arxiv:2407.00164v2
  • Schmid, D., Selby, J. H., Pusey, M. F., & Spekkens, R. W. (n.d.). A structure theorem for generalized-noncontextual ontological models. Quantum, 8, 1283. doi:10.22331/q-2024-03-14-1283
  • Schmid, D., Selby, J. H., & Spekkens, R. W. (2024). Addressing some common objections to generalized noncontextuality. Physical Review A, 109(2), 022228. doi:10.1103/physreva.109.022228
  • Schmid, D., Fraser, T. C., Kunjwal, R., Sainz, A. B., Wolfe, E., & Spekkens, R. W. (n.d.). Understanding the interplay of entanglement and nonlocality: motivating and developing a new branch of entanglement theory. Quantum, 7, 1194. doi:10.22331/q-2023-12-04-1194
  • Catani, L., Leifer, M., Schmid, D., & Spekkens, R. W. (n.d.). Why interference phenomena do not capture the essence of quantum theory. Quantum, 7, 1119. doi:10.22331/q-2023-09-25-1119
  • Gonda, T., & Spekkens, R. W. (n.d.). Monotones in General Resource Theories. Compositionality, 5, 7. doi:10.32408/compositionality-5-7
  • Catani, L., Leifer, M., Scala, G., Schmid, D., & Spekkens, R. W. (2023). Aspects of the phenomenology of interference that are genuinely nonclassical. Physical Review A, 108(2), 022207. doi:10.1103/physreva.108.022207
  • Selby, J. H., Schmid, D., Wolfe, E., Sainz, A. B., Kunjwal, R., & Spekkens, R. W. (2023). Contextuality without Incompatibility. Physical Review Letters, 130(23), 230201. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.130.230201
  • Selby, J. H., Schmid, D., Wolfe, E., Sainz, A. B., Kunjwal, R., & Spekkens, R. W. (2023). Accessible fragments of generalized probabilistic theories, cone equivalence, and applications to witnessing nonclassicality. Physical Review A, 107(6), 062203. doi:10.1103/physreva.107.062203
  • Polino, E., Poderini, D., Rodari, G., Agresti, I., Suprano, A., Carvacho, G., . . . Sciarrino, F. (n.d.). Experimental nonclassicality in a causal network without assuming freedom of choice. Nature Communications, 14(1), 909. doi:10.1038/s41467-023-36428-w
  • Schmid, D., Selby, J. H., & Spekkens, R. W. (2023). Addressing some common objections to generalized noncontextuality. arxiv:2302.07282v2
  • Suprano, A., Polino, E., Poderini, D., Rodari, G., Agresti, I., Milani, G., . . . Sciarrino, F. (n.d.). Nonlocality detection in photonic triangle networks. In CLEO 2023 (pp. ff3a.2). Optica Publishing Group. doi:10.1364/cleo_fs.2023.ff3a.2
  • Catani, L., Leifer, M., Scala, G., Schmid, D., & Spekkens, R. W. (2022). What is Nonclassical about Uncertainty Relations?. Physical Review Letters, 129(24), 240401. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.129.240401
  • Catani, L., Leifer, M., Schmid, D., & Spekkens, R. W. (2022). Reply to "Comment on 'Why interference phenomena do not capture the essence of quantum theory' ". doi:10.48550/arxiv.2207.11791
  • Daley, P. J., Resch, K. J., & Spekkens, R. W. (2022). Experimentally adjudicating between different causal accounts of Bell-inequality violations via statistical model selection. Physical Review A, 105(4), 042220. doi:10.1103/physreva.105.042220
  • Grabowecky, M. J., Pollack, C. A. J., Cameron, A. R., Spekkens, R. W., & Resch, K. J. (2022). Experimentally bounding deviations from quantum theory for a photonic three-level system using theory-agnostic tomography. Physical Review A, 105(3), 032204. doi:10.1103/physreva.105.032204
  • Chaves, R., Moreno, G., Polino, E., Poderini, D., Agresti, I., Suprano, A., . . . Sciarrino, F. (2021). Causal Networks and Freedom of Choice in Bell’s Theorem. PRX Quantum, 2(4), 040323. doi:10.1103/prxquantum.2.040323
  • Zjawin, B., Wolfe, E., & Spekkens, R. W. (n.d.). Restricted Hidden Cardinality Constraints in Causal Models. Electronic Proceedings in Theoretical Computer Science, 343, 119-131. doi:10.4204/eptcs.343.6
  • Zjawin, B., Wolfe, E., & Spekkens, R. W. (2021). Restricted Hidden Cardinality Constraints in Causal Models. doi:10.48550/arxiv.2109.05656
  • Finkelstein, N., Zjawin, B., Wolfe, E., Shpitser, I., & Spekkens, R. W. (2021). Entropic Inequality Constraints from $e$-separation Relations in Directed Acyclic Graphs with Hidden Variables. doi:10.48550/arxiv.2107.07087
  • Mazurek, M. D., Pusey, M. F., Resch, K. J., & Spekkens, R. W. (2021). Experimentally Bounding Deviations From Quantum Theory in the Landscape of Generalized Probabilistic Theories. PRX Quantum, 2(2). doi:10.1103/prxquantum.2.020302
  • Schmid, D., Selby, J. H., Wolfe, E., Kunjwal, R., & Spekkens, R. W. (2021). Characterization of Noncontextuality in the Framework of Generalized Probabilistic Theories. PRX Quantum, 2(1). doi:10.1103/prxquantum.2.010331
  • Quantum Foundations meets Causal Inference, ICTQT, University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland, 2023/05/31
  • Unscrambling the omelette of causation and inference in quantum theory, New Directions in the Foundations of Physics, Viterbo, Italy, 2023/05/27
  • Tutorial 1, Causal Inference & Quantum Foundations Workshop, 2023/04/17, PIRSA:23040103
  • Causal Inference Lecture - 230412, Causal Inference: Classical and Quantum, 2023/04/12, PIRSA:23040003
  • Causal Inference Lecture - 230405, Causal Inference: Classical and Quantum, 2023/04/05, PIRSA:23040001
  • Causal Inference Lecture - 230403, Causal Inference: Classical and Quantum, 2023/04/03, PIRSA:23040000
  • Causal Inference Lecture - 230322, Causal Inference: Classical and Quantum, 2023/03/22, PIRSA:23030074
  • Causal Inference Lecture - 230320, Causal Inference: Classical and Quantum, 2023/03/20, PIRSA:23030073
  • Causal Inference Lecture - 230315, Causal Inference: Classical and Quantum, 2023/03/15, PIRSA:23030072
  • Causal Inference Lecture - 230313, Causal Inference: Classical and Quantum, 2023/03/13, PIRSA:23030071
  • Causal Inference Lecture - 230308, Causal Inference: Classical and Quantum, 2023/03/08, PIRSA:23030070
  • Causal Inference Lecture - 230306, Causal Inference: Classical and Quantum, 2023/03/06, PIRSA:23030069
  • Quantum Foundations Meets Causal Inference, Duke University, Durham, United States, 2022/11/02
  • Tips for giving a great talk, , 2022/10/17, PIRSA:22100109
  • Why interference phenomena do not capture the essence of quantum theory, Quantum Information and Quantum Control IX, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada, 2022/01/01
  • Time Symmetry in Quantum Theory, Quantum Information Structure of SpaceTime (QISS) Conference, Western University, London, ON, Canada, 2022/01/01
  • Quantum Foundations Meets Causal Inference, Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) Conference, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada, 2022/01/01
  • Quantum Foundations Meets Causal Inference, International Conference on Quantum Information and Foundations (ICQIF-2022), Kolkata, India, 2022/01/01
  • Adjudicating Between Different Causal Accounts of Bell Inequality Violations, Quantum Physics and Statistical Causal Models, Simons Institute, Berkeley, California, 2022/01/01