Quantum Foundations, Beer, and Pizza Night

We invite you to the final Wolfson Quantum Foundations Discussion of the academic year. Bringing together intellectuals from a variety of backgrounds, the Quantum Foundations are an opportunity to ask really big questions about the universe in a fun, relaxed, and interdisciplinary atmosphere.

Tim Palmer will be leading a discussion about “Rational Quantum Mechanics: Testing Quantum Theory with Quantum Computers”. Pizza, beer and alternatives will be provided. Sign up here.

Abstract:
Rational Quantum Mechanics (RaQM) is a novel theory of quantum physics where Hilbert Space is discretised (by gravity). There are three key reasons in favour of RaQM. 1) It is a simpler theory than QM – Born’s Rule is emergent in RaQM and not axiomatic. 2) It is a more comprehensible theory than QM – quantum nonlocality (Alice’s measurement outcome dependent on Bob’s choice of measurement setting) is not required to explain the violation of Bell’s inequality. 3) As John Wheeler predicted, excising the continuum from Hilbert Space allows the information theoretic nature of the quantum state to be revealed explicitly. RaQM makes definite predictions which distinguish it from QM: notably that the quantum advantage of algorithms like Shor’s will saturate in quantum computers with more than a few hundred error-corrected qubits (for fundamental rather than technical reasons). If QM fails this test, the most important application of quantum computers in the coming years will be in developing new fundamental theories of physics, notably ones which synthesise quantum and gravitational physics in novel ways.

References:
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2523350123
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/3189/1/012006

Bio:
Tim Palmer is a Royal Society Research Professor Emeritus in the Department of Physics at the University of Oxford. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, International Member of the US National Academy of Sciences and Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Physics where he won their Dirac Gold Medal, amongst many awards worldwide. His PhD from the University of Oxford was in general relativity theory but he is also known for work on the dynamics and predictability of climate where he pioneered the development of probabilistic ensemble prediction techniques. He is author of the popular book The Primacy of Doubt, on the science of uncertainty.