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Samuel Laliberté (Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology OIST)19/06/2026, 09:00
Our universe has many puzzles. For example, we do not fully understand why we live in a four-dimensional universe out of the ten that string theory predicts. Additionally, many observed cosmological features, such as the scale-invariant spectrum of cosmological perturbations on large scales, cannot be explained by standard Big Bang physics alone. In this short presentation, I will discuss a...
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Serge Hamoudou (McMaster University)19/06/2026, 09:45
It is well known that in the bulk of a background electromagnetic field, photons and gravitons convert into one another. This phenomenon is known as the Gertsenshtein effect. I use this result to examine what happens at a boundary separating a vacuum region from a background electromagnetic field, and I find that up to 34 % of an incoming gravitational wave's energy can get reflected and...
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Yanic Cardin (Polytechnique Montréal)19/06/2026, 09:45
Gaussian Boson Sampling (GBS) is a leading model of sub-universal quantum computation realizable with current photonic technologies. Despite recent experimental progress, the validation of GBS devices remains an open problem. In this talk, I present results on the asymptotic behavior of photon-number cumulants of multimode Gaussian states and discuss how these quantities can be used as...
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Mrs Kobra Mahdavipour (Institute for Quantum Science and Technology, University of Calgary)19/06/2026, 10:05
We aim to introduce an operational definition of a clock as a physical system and elucidate what
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makes a clock quantum in nature. We proceed by introducing an architectural framework for a
clock, which comprises a driver, an oscillator, a frequency reference, a readout, and a stabilizer. We
then apply our framework to three realizations, namely mechanical, atomic, and... -
Jean-Simon Côté (Université Laval)19/06/2026, 10:05
Gravitational-wave astronomy has opened a new observational window onto extreme astrophysical phenomena such as black-hole and neutron-star mergers. While current and next-generation interferometric detectors are primarily sensitive to the low-frequency regime, high-frequency gravitational waves (HFGWs) provide a promising probe of physics beyond the Standard Model, since no known conventional...
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Christian Capanelli (McGill University)19/06/2026, 10:25
In this talk, I will introduce the Fuzzy Dark Sector (FDS) scenario: a rich, interacting system and candidate for dark matter. This serves as a natural extension of the single-component, non-interacting Fuzzy Dark Matter (FDM) paradigm. Concretely, I will discuss an ultra-light Abelian-Higgs model, with interacting Higgs and dark photon degrees of freedom. In cosmology, the transfer function...
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Ayana Sarkar (Universite de Sherbrooke)19/06/2026, 10:25
We introduce a hybrid quantum-classical neural network whose quantum layer is based on the paradigm of fermionic quantum computing. This model broadens the scope of fermionic machine learning (FermiML) introduced in [arXiv:2404.19032] by extending its applicability to a wider range of learning tasks. Since fermionic quantum circuits are efficiently simulable classically in polynomial time, our...
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Prof. Igor Boettcher (University of Alberta)19/06/2026, 11:15
We derive exact critical-temperature bounds for the classical ferromagnetic Ising model on two-dimensional periodic tessellations of the plane. For any such tessellation or lattice, the critical temperature is bounded from a above by a universal number that is solely determined by the largest coordination number on the lattice. Crucially, these bounds are tight in some cases such as the...
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Lilianna Hariasz (Simon Fraser University)19/06/2026, 11:15
In the continued search for dark matter (DM), community interest has extended beyond the standard weakly-interacting-massive-particle paradigm to a richer set of scenarios and detection opportunities. A major focus of upcoming DM searches involves light dark matter (LDM): a class of candidates with masses on the electron to proton scale, characterized by a massive dark photon which mixes...
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James Cline (McGill University, (CA))19/06/2026, 11:35
It has long been believed that ordinary neutrinos cannot be the dark
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matter of the Universe. We present a loophole that allows for
neutrinos to be dark matter in the bulk of the Universe, while a light
scalar field, that can decay into neutrinos, is the main dark matter
component in galaxies, so that the Tremaine-Gunn limit is
satisfied. The cosmic neutrino background would have 100... -
Prof. Kirill Samokhin (Brock University)19/06/2026, 11:35
I will review several recent developments in the GL theory of superconductors and fermionic superfluids. In superconductors without inversion symmetry, first-order gradient terms known as the Lifshitz invariants appear in the GL functional in the presence of a magnetic field or even without any field, leading to a variety of novel nonuniform stable states. In multiband superconductors, the...
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Andrey Shkerin19/06/2026, 11:55
I will discuss dynamical effects during critical bubble nucleation in thermal first-order phase transitions. These effects arise due to lack of local thermal equilibrium and affect the parameters of the transition including the nucleation rate. I will present a general method of calculating the thermal nucleation rate that accounts both for statistical and dynamical effects. I will also...
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Alexander Hickey (University of Alberta)19/06/2026, 11:55
Infrared singularities of gapless Goldstone modes preclude magnetic long-range order at finite temperature in conventional two-dimensional systems. We show that this obstruction is avoided on lattices in negatively curved space by considering the spin-$S$ Heisenberg model on regular tilings of the hyperbolic plane. Using spin wave theory, we find that the global symmetry mode is separated from...
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Ilya Iakoub (Université de Montréal)19/06/2026, 12:15
The concept of bulk-boundary correspondence is essentially that the existence of edge states in topological insulators can be predicted from topological invariants of the bulk. The existing proofs of bulk-boundary correspondence in one dimension are usually not very physically insightful and rely on very involved mathematics. We provide a novel formulation of bulk-boundary correspondence for...
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Tianyi Xie (McGill University)19/06/2026, 12:15
We investigate a classically conformal extension of the Standard Model Higgs sector as a solution to the gauge hierarchy problem, in which electroweak symmetry breaking proceeds radiatively via the Gildener–Weinberg mechanism. In the minimal realization, two additional scalars are introduced: the first acquires a vacuum expectation value and mixes with the Standard Model Higgs, while the...
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Dr Federico Ambrosino (Perimeter Institute)19/06/2026, 14:00Contributed Talk
In this talk, based on upcoming work with J. Gomis and S. Kannagi, I will discuss an important class of defects in Cern simons theory that implement charge conjugation symmetry. These are monodromy defects and, although some of their properties have been studied in N=4 SYM, we study them for the first time in the context of CS theory. Their quantum dimensions can be computed exactly as...
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Natalia Gherghel (McMaster University)19/06/2026, 14:00
Minimal hypersurfaces are special because they are extrema of the area functional. They arise in various settings in mathematical physics. An important problem is to study their stability, that is, whether they are actually minima or saddle points (this means the surface can be deformed to one of smaller area). The problem reduces to finding the spectrum of the `stability operator' associated...
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Prof. Ariel Edery19/06/2026, 14:20
In this work, we find numerically static vortex solutions where the scalar and gauge fields have a non-singular profile under Einstein gravity in an AdS3 background. Vortices with different winding numbers n, VEV v and cosmological constant Λ are obtained. These vortices have positive mass and are not BTZ black holes as they have no event horizon. The mass is determined in two ways: by...
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Julia Pasiecznik (McGill University)19/06/2026, 14:20
We suggest a dynamical mechanism which explains why, in the supersymmetric Ishibashi-Kawai-Kitazawa-Tsuchiya matrix model, the $SO(9)$ symmetry of the Lagrangian is spontaneously broken to $SO(3) \times SO(6)$, allowing only three large classical spatial dimensions to emerge. The argument relies on the identification of D-strings as stable excitations of the matrices about the cosmological...
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Florian Girelli (University of Waterloo)19/06/2026, 14:40
Topological (quantum) field theories are mathematically rich frameworks that rely on generalized symmetry structures, such as quantum groups in 3d and higher symmetries in 4d, to probe topological properties of manifolds. They also play a central role in quantum gravity. In 2d and 3d, gravity itself is a topological theory, while in 4d, gravitational dynamics can be obtained from suitable...
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Prof. Hari Kunduri (McMaster University, Mathematics and Physics)19/06/2026, 14:40
A foundational result of general relativity is that the positive mass theorem. This states that the ADM mass of an asymptotically flat initial data set is non-negative and vanishes if and only if the initial data embeds into Minkowski spacetime. I will discuss some recent work with A. Alaee and M. Khuri on extending this result to toric Riemannian manifolds with non-negative scalar curvature...
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Dr Encieh Erfani (Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics)19/06/2026, 15:20
Primordial black holes (PBHs) provide a unique link between the physics of the early Universe and present-day observations. Formed in the early Universe, PBHs have attracted considerable attention as candidates for dark matter (DM) and as potential sources of gravitational wave (GW) signals.
In this talk, I will review the main mechanisms for PBH formation, their role as DM candidates, and...
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Dr Maryam Bibi (St. Francis Xavier University)19/06/2026, 16:00
We study the impact of Vector-Like Quarks (VLQs) on rare B-decay processes using updated lower mass bounds from LHCb to define a viable VLQ mass window. Combining symbolic and numerical calculations of one-loop effective vertices within and beyond the Standard Model, we evaluate VLQ contributions to rare decay amplitudes. By comparing our results with recent LHCb and Belle II measurements, we...
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Paul Fitzsimons (McMaster University)19/06/2026, 16:00
The spacetime geometry in a neighborhood of an extremal black hole (its near-horizon geometry) decouples from the exterior region. In Gaussian normal coordinates (GNC), the spacetime metric is completely fixed up to a function, a vector field and a metric on a horizon spatial cross-section. For non-extremal black holes, however, the geometry near the horizon does not decouple. We will...
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Antonia Seifert (Perimeter Institute & University of Waterloo)19/06/2026, 16:20
The initial-boundary value problem in general relativity has been the subject of extensive study. A central issue is the identification of boundary data and conditions on timelike boundaries that ensure well-posedness. In the work presented here, we approach the problem by considering perturbations of a background metric. We seek to disentangle the modes present in these perturbations,...
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Mohammad Ahmady19/06/2026, 16:20
Rare decays of B mesons provide a powerful window into physics beyond the Standard Model, offering complementary sensitivity to direct searches at high-energy colliders. With major contributions from the B factories (BaBar and Belle) and the ongoing high-precision program at LHCb, complemented by the rapidly accumulating data from Belle II, these processes have delivered some of the most...
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Alex Todd (McGill University)19/06/2026, 16:40
Neutrinoless double-beta ($0\nu\beta\beta$) decay is a key probe of lepton-number violation, the Majorana nature of neutrinos and their absolute mass scale. As upcoming experiments extend half-life sensitivities by up to two orders of magnitude, reliable calculations of nuclear matrix elements (NMEs) are essential to constrain neutrino masses and underlying decay mechanisms. The standard decay...
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Edward Wilson-Ewing (University of New Brunswick)19/06/2026, 16:40
The quantum field theory for a massless scalar field on a two-dimensional non-singular black hole spacetime gives a non-vanishing probability for a particle to tunnel out of the black hole. The black hole spacetime is non-singular, with an outer and an inner horizon, and the transition amplitude between a one-particle state localized inside the inner horizon, and a one-particle state localized...
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Rida Boumris (Montreal university)19/06/2026, 17:00
Latest measurements of branching ratios, related to hadronic decays of $B$ meson to charm and pseudo-scalar final states ($DP$), showed disagreements with theoretical predictions of QCD factorization. Meanwhile, SU(3) symmetry-breaking was found in recent studies to exceed the Standard Model threshold of 30% (in $B$ decays to two pseudo-scalars). In the light of these results, an analysis of...
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Prof. Luc Vinet (Université de Montréal)20/06/2026, 09:00
Superintegrable systems provide a natural laboratory in which to study symmetries, hidden structures and exactly solvable quantum models. A classical example is the hydrogen atom: the high degeneracy of its bound-state spectrum is explained by an o(4) symmetry, while the full collection of bound states can be organized using the larger dynamical algebra o(4,2), the Lie algebra of the conformal...
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lucas Brown (University of Western Ontario)20/06/2026, 09:45
We address a correction to A.Buchel and R.Monten's analysis of near-extremal membranes in M-theory. The original authors consider the holographic dual of a $2+1$ dimensional superconformal gauge theory with $U(1)_R \times U(1)_B$ global symmetry. We repeat their analysis of R-charged membranes and identify a mistake; the charge transport is now stable and only the alternative quantization...
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Dia Kalra (University of Alberta)20/06/2026, 09:45
We analyze the line ratio of the 13CO(2–1) to 12CO(2–1) rotational transitions observed from new Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations of 100 Giant Molecular Clouds that span the Large Magellanic Cloud. We measure a median line ratio of 13CO(2–1)/12CO(2–1) = 0.078 with 68% of the sample falling between 0.058 and 0.107. A regression analysis confirms a nearly linear...
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Batia Friedman-Shaw20/06/2026, 10:05
Recent Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) results have garnered attention from the cosmology community due to tension with the $\Lambda$CDM cosmological model when combined with cosmic microwave background (CMB) data. The tension suggests that a new model for dark energy may be warranted. Current alternative models focus mainly on a time-varying component of dark energy due in part to...
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Prof. Saeed Rastgoo (University of Alberta)20/06/2026, 10:05
I will present a model of generalized uncertainty-inspired quantum black hole, both in the static and axisymmetric cases. By comparing the shadow of the axisymmetric version of this black hole to the data from the Event Horizon Telescope, I will set bounds on the quantum parameters of the model. Moreover, We will see that there is an upper bound on this black hole's spin parameter that is...
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Paolo Fragolino (University of Alberta)20/06/2026, 10:25
In this work, we examine the quantum properties of a Kantowski-Sachs minisuperspace through the lense of Dirac quantization and relational evolution. The relational dynamic is obtained thanks to the use of quantum clocks, which are built from one of the two degrees of freedom of the metric. Gauge-invariant extension of gauge-dependent observables are built relationally with respect to the...
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Dr Farrukh Ahmed Chishtie20/06/2026, 10:25
I present the Unified Standard Model with Emergent Gravity-Effective Field Theory (USMEG-EFT), demonstrating for the first time a consistent unification of four-dimensional general relativity with the Standard Model within a fully renormalizable effective field theory framework. The approach employs a Lagrange multiplier field that enforces Einstein's equations at the path-integral level,...
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Celina Pasiecznik (McGill University)20/06/2026, 11:15
We derive bounds on Wilson coefficients in gravitational effective field theories using fully crossing symmetric dispersion relations. These sum rules naturally isolate finite subsets of low-energy couplings without relying on the forward limit or specific high-energy completions. We validate our method by matching bounds computed previously for scalar scattering with gravity as well as for...
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Rahul Nivash20/06/2026, 11:15
Experimental data demonstrates that continuous-wave (CW) theories of non-linear optics do not accurately model the optical turbulence (chaos) arising from delayed discrete feedback in nonlinear optical ring cavities (Ikeda, 1979). To accurately predict this onset of optical turbulence within a ring cavity, this study implements a high-performance computational architecture simulating the...
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Kylian Lionnet20/06/2026, 11:35
Recent advances in topological condensed matter physics have highlighted the importance of simple one-dimensional lattice models as building blocks for understanding more complex quantum systems. In particular, the Su–Schrieffer–Heeger (SSH) model has become a paradigmatic example of how topology controls the existence and robustness of eigenstates in low-dimensional systems. However, when the...
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Prof. Ruben Sandapen (Acadia University)20/06/2026, 11:35
We present a three-dimensional holographic picture of the pion in which both confinement and chiral symmetry breaking play important roles. We show that the internal transverse and longitudinal light-front QCD dynamics in the pion map onto the IR and UV limits of the scalar field equation of motion in 5-dimensional anti de Sitter spacetime (AdS) deformed by a quadratic dilaton. While conformal...
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Cyrus Robertson Orkish20/06/2026, 11:55
Recently, various authors have studied the vacua of strongly coupled field theories via the introduction of anomaly mediated supersymmetry breaking (AMSB) to supersymmetric (SUSY) gauge theories. This technique is powerful but it is known that in some cases, there is a phase transition as the SUSY-breaking scale crosses the confinement scale. We introduce AMSB to $\mathcal{N}=2$ SQCD...
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Ion Garate20/06/2026, 11:55
Electrostatic control is central to the operation of semiconductor
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junctions, but its interplay with band topology remains largely
unexplored. We investigate lateral junctions between two-dimensional
insulating phases with different Chern numbers in a perpendicular
magnetic field. From the electrostatic point of view, the spectral asymmetry of the Chern insulator acts as an intrinsic... -
Dr Zechuan Zheng (Perimeter Institute)20/06/2026, 12:15
The analytic functional approach has revealed fruitful new geometric features in higher-dimensional CFTs (particularly in 3D CFTs) that had not been seen before. We want to discuss its applications to the 3D conformal bootstrap and how it uncovers new structures such as kinks, plateaus, and “volcano”-like features.
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Sourav Biswas (University of Alberta)20/06/2026, 12:15
The platforms hosting synthetic quantum matter are known to exhibit a plethora of exotic many-body phenomena. The possibility of engineering different types of interactions and couplings has attracted significant attention, enabling the exploration of a variety of strongly correlated phases that are otherwise difficult to investigate. We are particularly interested in the nuances of...
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Dr Fereshteh Rajabi (McMaster University)20/06/2026, 14:00
Astrophysical environments provide natural laboratories for collective quantum phenomena on scales far beyond those accessible in conventional laboratory experiments. In this talk, I will discuss how large radiatively coupled ensembles in astrophysical media can develop macroscopic coherence and exhibit cooperative radiative behavior, including superradiant and subradiant dynamics. Using...
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Kam To Billy Sievers (McMaster University)20/06/2026, 14:00
The outer-most marginally-outer trapped surface (MOTS) is often used as a quasi-local boundary of a black hole — the apparent horizon. During a black hole merger, the original two apparent horizons ultimately becoming one involves considerations of MOTSs at each time-slice, and strikingly reveals key involvement of self-intersecting MOTSs. Self-intersecting MOTSs have then been numerically...
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Prof. Manu Paranjape20/06/2026, 14:20
We study the two qubit phase space which is very simply a seven sphere. However, the topological seven spheres come in 28 inequivalent differential structures. We study the non-abelian Berry connection on the Kaluza-Klein reduced seven sphere to the four sphere with Yang-Mills fields, to see how the exotic differential structure can affect the two qubit system.
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Lydia Taylor (University of Western Ontario)20/06/2026, 14:20
In linearized gravity there is a long-standing non-uniqueness problem regarding expressing the energy-momentum of the theory. Multiple distinct expressions exist in the literature, and there is not consensus which, if any, is the unique expression for the theory. Determining uniqueness is important as certain calculations require a unique expression. To address this problem, we use Noether’s...
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Thomas Baker (Department of Physics & Astronomy and also of Chemistry, University of Victoria)20/06/2026, 14:40
The eigenstate thermalization hypothesis formally connects time evolution in a quantum system with the micro-canonical ensemble system average in statistical physics. The formal reliance on random matrix theory is discussed, justifying the main statement, and then extended to the case of quantum circuits where the micro-canonical ensemble emerges explicitly without invoking random matrices....
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Sean Snider (Western University)20/06/2026, 14:40
Within the physics literature, there are multiple definitions of the energy-momentum tensor for Lagrangian field theories. The most common expressions are the ``canonical'' Noether formula, Hilbert's definition in terms of metric tensor derivatives, and Belinfante/Rosenfeld's improvement procedure. These definitions are not generally equivalent, but converge to the same result in cases such as...
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Doyeong Kim (University of Calgary)20/06/2026, 16:00
Abstract: Ontological models of quantum theory seek to realize quantum theory as a statistical theory over underlying degrees of freedom, whose measurement statistics are described by classical probability theory. Harrigan and Spekkens (2010) proposed a distinction between ontological models in which pure quantum states represent states of reality ($\psi$-ontic) or knowledge about reality...
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Chris Waddell (Perimeter Institute)20/06/2026, 16:00Contributed Talk
We consider rules for modifying holographic tensor networks proposed in two independent contexts: by Akers et al. (CO) to incorporate observers in holographic maps, and by Kaya-Rath-Ritchie (KRR) to derive the Bousso-Penington generalized entanglement wedge proposal. Interestingly, these two sets of tensor network rules are exactly equivalent, KRR = CO. This suggests a more general connection...
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Ali Pedram (University of Calgary)20/06/2026, 16:20
Equilibrium quantum metrology is often formulated under assumptions of weak system-bath coupling and thermodynamic limit scaling, which may not be valid for realistic finite-size (FS) quantum devices. Here, we establish how strong coupling (SC) and FS effects jointly modify achievable precision bounds for equilibrium quantum probes. Considering a transverse-field anisotropic XY spin chain...
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Robin Oberfrank (Perimeter Institute)20/06/2026, 16:20
Can short-distance quantum fluctuations leave an imprint at large distances? This question is especially important in gravity, where high-energy physics may influence low-energy observables. In this talk, I will discuss this question using the time delay of light rays in interferometer setups as a concrete observable. I will present the gauge-invariant definition of the time-delay noise and...
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Raz Firanko (Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, IQC)20/06/2026, 16:40
We propose a unifying framework for characterizing pure and mixed state phases of matter across equilibrium, non equilibrium, and metastable regimes. We introduce the concept of locally stable states, defined by the operational property that any local operation (including post selection) can be reversed by a local channel. We prove that local stability is equivalent to a state being short...
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Dr Vahid Kamali20/06/2026, 16:40
We propose a kinematical framework in which spacetime geometry is encoded directly in the Heisenberg commutators: the metric becomes an operator extracted from $[\,\hat x^\mu,\hat P_\nu\,]$, and the non-commutativity of translation generators follows from Jacobi closure. The construction naturally yields an operator analogue of metric compatibility and reproduces the familiar torsion/curvature...
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