Conference

The variational quantum eigensolver (VQE) is the leading candidate for practical applications of Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum (NISQ) devices. The method has been widely implemented on small NISQ machines in both superconducting and ion trap implementations. I will review progress to date and discuss two questions . Firstly, how quantum mechanical are small VQE demonstrations? We will analyze this question using strong measurement contextuality. Secondly, can VQE be implemented at the scale of devices capable of exhibiting quantum supremacy, around 50 qubits? I will discuss some recent techniques to reduce the number of measurements required, which again use the concept of contextuality.

We take a resource-theoretic approach to the problem of quantifying nonclassicality in Bell scenarios. The resources are conceptualized as probabilistic processes from the setting variables to the outcome variables which have a particular causal structure, namely, one wherein the wings are only connected by a common cause. The distinction between classical and nonclassical is then defined in terms of whether or not a classical causal model can explain the correlations. The relative nonclassicality of such resources is quantified by considering their interconvertibility relative to the set of operations that can be implemented using a classical common cause (which correspond to local operations and shared randomness). Among other results, we show that the information contained in the degrees of violation of facet-defining Bell inequalities is not sufficient for quantifying nonclassicality, even though it is sufficient for witnessing nonclassicality. In addition to providing new insights on Bell nonclassicality, our work sets the stage for quantifying nonclassicality in more general causal networks and thus also for a resource-theoretic account of nonclassicality in computational settings. (Joint work with Elie Wolfe, David Schmid, Ana Belen Sainz, and Ravi Kunjwal)

Measurement-based quantum computation (MBQC) is a computational scheme to simulate spacetime dynamics on the network of entanglement using local measurements and classical communication. The pursuit of a broad class of useful entanglement encountered a concept of symmetry-protected topologically ordered (SPTO) phases in condensed matter physics. A natural question is "What kinds of SPTO ground states can be used for universal MBQC in a similar fashion to the 2D cluster state?" 2D SPTO states are classified not only by global on-site symmetries but also by subsystem symmetries, which are fine-grained symmetries dependent on the lattice geometry. Recently, all ground states within SPTO cluster phases on the square and hexagonal lattices have been shown to be universal, based on the presence of subsystem symmetries and associated structures of quantum cellular automata. Motivated by this observation, we analyze the computational capability of SPTO cluster phases on all vertex-translative 2D Archimedean lattices. We show that there are four different "fundamental" subsystem symmetries, called here ribbon, cone, fractal, and 1-form symmetries, for cluster phases, and the former three types one-to-one correspond to three classes of Clifford quantum cellular automata. We conclude that nine out of the eleven Archimedean lattices support universal cluster phases protected by one of the former three symmetries, while the remaining lattices with the 1-form symmetry have a different capability related to error correction.

The interplay of symmetry and topology in quantum many-body systems can lead to novel phases of matter, with applications in quantum memories and resources for quantum computing. While we understand the range of phenomena quite well in 2-d systems, there are many open questions for the 3-d case, in particular what kind of symmetries and topology can allow for thermal stability in 3-d models. I’ll present some of the results and open questions in this direction, using the 3-d toric code and the RBH models as examples.

Cosmologists wish to explain how our universe, in all its complexity, could ever have come about. For that, we assess the number degrees of freedom in our Universe now. This plays the role of entropy in thermodynamics of the Universe, and reveals the magnitude of the problem of initial conditions to be solved. In our budget, we account for gravity, thermal motions, and finally the vacuum energy whose entropy, given by the Bekenstein bound, dominates the entropy budget today. There is however one number which we have not accounted for: the number of degrees of freedom in our complex biosphere. What is the entropy of life? Is it sizeable enough to need to be accounted for at the Big Bang, or negligible compared to vacuum entropy?

Recent developments on asymptotic symmetries and soft modes have deepened our understanding of black hole entropy and the information paradox. The asymptotic symmetry charge algebra of certain classes of spacetimes could have a nontrivial central extension, which plays a crucial role in black hole physics. The Cardy formula of the asymptotic density of states of the dual CFT has been famously used to reproduce the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy formula. However, without assuming holography, it remains obscure from the point of view of gravity how such a constant on the gravitational phase space encodes the information about the density of black hole microstates, and what the gravitational degrees of freedom accounting for the black hole entropy truly are. I will discuss my ongoing efforts of understanding these questions in the covariant phase space formalism.

Higher spin symmetries are gauge symmetries sourced by massless particles with spin greater than two. When coupled with diffeomorphism, they give rise to higher spin gravity. After a review on higher spin gravity, I will discuss its holography and its embedding in the string theory. Finally I will talk about some applications of higher spin symmetry, both in string theory and in QFT.

A spectral triple consists of an algebra, a Hilbert space and a Dirac operator, and if these three fulfill certain relations to each other they contain the entire information of a compact Riemannian manifold. Using the language of spectral triples makes it possible to generalize the concept of a manifold to include non-commutativity. While it is possible to write down finite spectral triples, often categorized as fuzzy spaces, that describe discretized geometries, classical geometries are encoded in infinite dimensional spectral triples. However working in numerical systems (and maybe ultimately in physical systems), only a finite part of this information can be encoded, which opens the question; If we know a part of the spectrum, how clearly can we characterise a geometry. In this talk I will present first steps towards answering this question.

I describe a radical proposal for the cosmological constant problem: perhaps Lambda really is very large, but is "hidden" in Planck-scale fluctuations of geometry and topology. I show that an enormous set of initial data describe a universe with such a hidden cosmological constant at an initial time. The question of whether this structure is preserved under time evolution is still open, but I provide some evidence that it may be. I close with a discussion of open questions that might lead to further insight (or perhaps kill the idea).