Qubit Workshop 2023 Examined Spacetime and Quantum Information

In December 2023, over 200 scholars descended on the Institute for Advanced Study for a three-day Qubit workshop focused on applying ideas and concepts from quantum information theory to the study of spacetime. The workshop built upon the interesting and fruitful cross-disciplinary interactions between quantum information theory and quantum gravity that have occurred over the past few years. 

The event was truly global in nature. In addition to attracting participants from across the U.S., Canada, and Europe, scholars representing China, India, Israel, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates were in attendance. The bulk of the scientific program comprised speaker presentations held in Wolfensohn Hall, which interrogated questions involving black holes, black hole entropy, quantum information and the emergence of spacetime, quantum algebras of operators and spacetime, the reconstruction of the bulk spacetime from the quantum theory, complexity and quantum computation, and tensor networks and spacetime geometry. A highlight presentation was delivered by Mikhail Lukin of Harvard University on the subject of recent experimental progress on quantum computers using atoms and optical tweezers. 

Time was also dedicated to the discussion of important papers published in the year preceding the workshop. This provided participants with the opportunity to ask in-depth questions as well as explore the potential for new collaborations.

The workshop’s organizing committee was comprised of Netta Engelhardt and Daniel Harlow from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Juan Maldacena, Carl P. Feinberg Professor in the School of Natural Sciences. The event was funded by Institute for Advanced Study.

A playlist of talks from the workshop can be viewed on the IAS YouTube channel.