Scientific Series

We propose a new method of unifying gravity and the Yang-Mills fields by introducing a spin-foam model. We realize a unification between an SU(2) Yang-Mills interaction and 3D general relativity by considering a constrained Spin(4) ~SO(4) Plebanski action. The theory is quantized a la spin-foam by implementing the analogue of the simplicial constraints for the Spin(4) symmetry, providing a way to couple Yang-Mills fields to spin-foams. We also present a way to recover 2-point correlation functions between the connections as a first way to implement scattering amplitudes  between particle states. We conclude with speculations about extension of the model to 4D and  incorporate a newly developed model of Dark Energy.

Large quantum fluctuations in certain quantum spin systems destroy long range magnetic order such as antiferromagnetism. Resulting paramagnetic states are called a quantum spin liquids. These states support emergent gauge fields [1]. Under certain conditions, emergent gauge fields condense in the ground state, leading to a chiral spin liquid state [2]. A condensed `magnetic field' for example, correspond to presence of spontaneous circulating spin current or spin `chirality'[3]. In the light of recent search for spin liquids in frustrated quantum antiferromagnets, we revive our earlier approach and show that a variety of chiral spin liquid states are possible in 2D lattices.   [1] G. Baskaran and P.W. Anderson, Phys. Rev., B 37, 580 (1988) [2] V. Kalmeyer and R. B. Laughlin, Phys. Rev. Lett., 59, 2095 (1987) [3] X.-G. Wen, F. Wilczek and A. Zee, Phys. Rev., B 39, 11413 (1989) [4] G Baskaran, Phys. Rev. Lett., 63, 2524 (1989)

Shape Dynamics first arose as a theory of particle interactions formulated without any of Newton's absolute structures. Its fundamental arena is shape space, which is obtained by quotienting Newton's kinematic framework with respect to translations, rotations and dilatations. This leads to a universe defined purely intrinsically in relational terms. It is then postulated that a dynamical history is determined by the specification in shape space of an initial shape and an associated rate of change of shape. There is a very natural way to create a theory that meets such a requirement. It fully implements Mach's principle and shows how time and local inertial frames are determined by the universe as whole. If the same principles are applied to a spatially closed universe in which geometry is dynamical, they lead rather surprisingly to a theory that, modulo some caveats, is dynamically equivalent to general relativity but dual to it in that refoliation invariance is traded for three-dimensional conformal invariance. This shows that there is a hidden three-dimensional conformal symmetry within general relativity. It is in fact what underlies York's crucial method of solution of the initial-value problem in general relativity. It is also remarkable that, as in York's work, shape dynamics inescapably introduces a mathematically distinguished notion of absolute simultaneity, the desirability of which has been found in two currently popular approaches to quantum gravity: causal dynamical triangulations and Horava gravity. I aim to express the key ideas and techniques of shape dynamics as simply as possible.

The distinction between a realist interpretation of quantum theory that is psi-ontic and one that is psi-epistemic is whether or not a difference in the quantum state necessarily implies a difference in the underlying ontic state. Psi-ontologists believe that it does, psi-epistemicists that it does not. This talk will address the question of whether the PBR theorem should be interpreted as lending evidence against the psi-epistemic research program. I will review the evidence in favour of the psi-epistemic approach and describe the pre-existing reasons for thinking that if a quantum state represents knowledge about reality then it is not reality as we know it, i.e., it is not the kind of reality that is posited in the standard hidden variable framework. I will argue that the PBR theorem provides additional clues for "what has to give" in the hidden variable framework rather than providing a reason to retreat from the psi-epistemic position. The first assumption of the theorem - that holistic properties may exist for composite systems, but do not arise for unentangled quantum states - is only appealing if one is already predisposed to a psi-ontic view. The more natural assumption of separability (no holistic properties) coupled with the other assumptions of the theorem rules out both psi-ontic and psi-epistemic models and so does not decide between them. The connection between the PBR theorem and other no-go results will be discussed. In particular, I will point out how the second assumption of the theorem is an instance of preparation noncontextuality, a property that is known not to be achievable in any ontological model of quantum theory, regardless of the status of separability (though not in the form posited by PBR). I will also consider the connection of PBR to the failure of local causality by considering an experimental scenario which is in a sense a time-inversion of the PBR scenario.

It is well known that on-shell recursion relation can be applied to tree-level amplitude in string theory. One technical issue of the application is the sum of infinite middle on-shell states. We discuss how we can do the sum exactly to reproduce the known result.

With the emergence of the dark sector in cosmology,  a variety of modified theories of gravity have come to the fore. I will discuss a framework which can be used to test gravity on large scales and the observational programmes that might lead to the tightest constraints.

I will discuss string cosmology and the dynamics of multiple scalar fields in potentials that can become negative, and their features as (Early) Dark Energy models. The point of departure is the ``String Axiverse'', a scenario that motivates the existence of cosmologically light axion fields as a generic consequence of string theory. These fields can constitute part of the Dark Matter, suppressing structure formation in a manner similar to massive neutrinos. Future observations will constrain their existence to percent level accuracy. I couple such an axion to its corresponding modulus and give a detailed presentation of the rich cosmology of such a model, ranging from the setting of initial conditions on the fields during inflation, to the asymptotic future. A dynamical systems analysis reveals the existence of many fixed point attractors, repellers and saddle points, which I analyse in detail, and provide a geometric interpretation of. These fixed points can be used to bound the couplings in the model. A systematic scan of certain regions of parameter space reveals that the future evolution of the universe in this model can be rich, containing multiple epochs of accelerated expansion.

(Given time) I will also discuss the relevance of isocurvature perturbations in these models, and the motivation to study negative (terminal) vauca in the context of eternal inflation and the string landscape, as recently discussed by Susskind.

(based primarily on Marsh, Tarrant, Copeland and Ferreira (to appear) but also arXiv:1102.4851  arXiv:1110.0502)

Joint work with Earl Campbell (FU-Berlin) and Hussain Anwar (UCL)   Magic state distillation is a key component of some high-threshold schemes for fault-tolerant quantum computation [1], [2]. Proposed by Bravyi and Kitaev [3] (and implicitly by Knill [4]), and improved by Reichardt [4], Magic State Distillation is a method to broaden the vocabulary of a fault-tolerant computational model, from a limited set of gates (e.g. the Clifford group or a sub-group[2])  to full universality, via the preparation of mixed ancilla qubits which may be prepared without fault tolerant protection.    Magic state distillation schemes have a close relation with quantum error correcting codes, since a key step in such protocols [5] is the projection onto a code subspace. Bravyi and Kitaev proposed two protocols; one based upon the 5-qubit code, the second derived from a punctured Reed-Muller code. Reed Muller codes are a very important family of classical linear code. They gained much interest [6] in the early years of quantum error correction theory, since their properties make them well-suited to the formation of quantum codes via the CSS-construction [7]. Punctured Reed-Muller codes (loosely speaking, Reed-Muller codewords with a bit removed) in particular lead to quantum codes with an unusual property, the ability to implement non-Clifford gates transversally [8].    Most work in fault-tolerant quantum computation focuses on qubits, but fault tolerant constructions can be generalised to higher dimensions [9]  - particularly readily for prime dimensions. Recently, we presented the first magic state distillation protocols [10] for non-binary systems, providing explicit protocols for the qutrit case (complementing a recent no-go theorem demonstrating bound states for magic state distillation in higher dimensions [11]). In this talk, I will report on more recent work [12], where the properties of punctured Reed-Muller codes are employed to demonstrate Magic State distillation protocols for all prime dimensions. In my talk, I will give a technical account of this result and present numerical investigations of the performance of such a protocol in the qutrit case. Finally, I will discuss the potential for application of these results to fault-tolerant quantum computation.     This will be a technical talk, and though some concepts of linear codes and quantum codes will be briefly revised, I will assume that listeners are familiar with quantum error correction theory (e.g. the stabilizer formalism and the CSS construction) for qubits.   [1] E. Knill. Fault-tolerant postselected quantum computation: schemes, quant-ph/0402171 [2] R. Raussendorf, J. Harrington and K. Goyal, Topological fault-tolerance in cluster state quantum computation, arXiv:quant-ph/0703143v1 [3] S. Bravyi and A. Kitaev. Universal quantum computation based on a magic states distillation, quant- ph/0403025 [4] B. W. Reichardt, Improved magic states distillation for quantum universality, arXiv:quant-ph/0411036v1 [5] E.T. Campbell and D.E. Browne, On the Structure of Protocols for Magic State Distillation, arXiv:0908.0838
[6] A. Steane, Quantum Reed Muller Codes, arXiv:quant-ph/9608026 [7] Nielsen and Chuang, Quantum Information and Computation, chapter 10 [8] E. Knill, R. Laflamme, and W. Zurek, Threshold accuracy for quantum computation, quant-ph/9610011 [9] D. Gottesman, Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computation with Higher-Dimensional Systems, quant-ph/9802007 [10] H. Anwar, E.T Campbell and D.E. Browne, Qutrit Magic State Distillation, arXiv:1202.2326 [11] V. Veitch, C. Ferrie, J. Emerson, Negative Quasi-Probability Representation is a Necessary Resource for Magic State Distillation, arXiv:1201.1256v3 [12] H. Anwar, E.T Campbell and D.E. Browne, in preparation

Majorana disappeared under mysterious circumstances in 1938 and the particle that bears his name remains elusive to experiments. There is growing interests in realizing the Majorana bound state in the Laboratory because it is expected to possess unusual properties such as non-abelian statistics. I shall discuss various proposals to produce  Majorana bound states and the associated topological superconductors which support them.

It is sometimes pointed out as a curiosity that the state space of quantum theory and actual physical space seem related in a surprising way: not only is space three-dimensional and Euclidean, but so is the Bloch ball which describes quantum two-level systems. In the talk, I report on joint work with Lluis Masanes, where we show how this observation can be turned into a mathematical result: suppose that physics takes place in d spatial dimensions, and that some events happen probabilistically (dropping quantum theory and complex amplitudes altogether). Furthermore, suppose there are systems that in some sense behave as “binary units of direction information”, interacting via some continuous reversible time evolution. We prove that this uniquely determines d=3 and quantum theory, and that it allows observers to infer local spatial geometry from probability measurements.

We review the notion of a quantum state of the universe and its role in fundamental cosmology. Then we discuss recent work which points towards a profound connection, at the level of the quantum state, between (asymptotic) Euclidean AdS spaces and Lorentzian de Sitter spaces. This gives a new framework in which (a mild generalization of) AdS/CFT can be applied to inflationary cosmology.   For the specific case of the Hartle-Hawking no-boundary quantum state the ADS/ de Sitter connection yields a natural proposal for a more precise `dual' formulation of the wave function, in terms of field theories on the future de Sitter boundary that are certain relevant deformations of the CFTs that occur in AdS/CFT.