» Past Conferences & Events

Wednesday, 17 February @ 5 PM

The Institute for Quantum Studies at Chapman University presents an online discussion between Dr. Rob Spekkens (Perimeter Institute) and Dr. Matthew Leifer (co-Director of the Institute for Quantum Studies at Chapman) on quantum causality.  Robert Spekkens received his B.Sc. in physics and philosophy from McGill University and completed his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Toronto.  He held a postdoctoral fellowship at Perimeter Institute and an International Royal Society Fellowship at the University of Cambridge.  He has been a faculty member at Perimeter Institute since November 2008.  His research is focused upon identifying the conceptual innovations that distinguish quantum theories from classical theories and investigating their significance for axiomatization, interpretation, and the implementation of various information-theoretic tasks.  His recent work includes new approaches to understanding causality in quantum mechanics and beyond.  The conversation will be broadcast live on YouTube at https://rebrand.ly/IQSSpekkens There will be an opportunity for audience Q&A after the event.

Wednesday, 18 November @ 5PM

The Institute for Quantum Studies at Chapman University presents an online discussion between Kate Greene, Anna Leahy and Doug Dechow.  Kate Greene is a science writer and poet, and the author of the book "Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars" about her experience participating in NASA’s first HI-SEAS mission, a simulated Martian environment located on the slopes of Mauna Loa in Hawai'i.  Anna Leahy is the director of Chapman's MFA program in Creative Writing, a poet, and nonfiction author.  Doug Dechow is Chapman's Engineering, Science and Digital Humanities Librarian.  A married couple, Anna and Doug are coauthors of the book "Generation Space: A Love Story" that describes their love affair with space travel and with each other.  The conversation will be streamed live on YouTube at https://rebrand.ly/IQSGreene and there will be a book giveaway and Q&A at the end of the event.

The Many Worlds of Quantum Mechanics by Sean Carroll. Wednesday, September 16 @5PM PDT.

The Institute for Quantum Studies presents an online discussion between Dr. Sean Carroll (Caltech) and Dr. Matthew Leifer (co-Director of the Institute for Quantum Studies) on the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. Dr. Carroll is a theoretical physicist, specializing in quantum mechanics, gravitation, cosmology, statistical mechanics, and foundations of physics. He is also a prolific author of popular science books, and his latest, Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime, argues that quantum mechanics is best explained in terms of multiple universes that are constantly splitting from one another, and explains how this point of view may help us to understand quantum gravity. This will be the topic of conversation with Dr. Leifer, which will be accessible to a general audience. The conversation will be broadcast live on YouTube at https://rebrand.ly/IQSCarroll. There will be an opportunity for audience Q&A and a book giveaway during the event.

On July 18th, 2020, The Fetzer Memorial Trust, in partnership with The Center for Consciousness Studies are proud to present a special screening event; Quantum Theories of Consciousness featuring Paul Howard's new film, Infinite Potential: The Life and Ideas of David Bohm.

Click here for more info.

Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going? by Anthony Aguirre. 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 4th 2020, in 201 Argyros Forum.

The physical universe has a 13.8 billion year history as told by modern cosmology, from the early ultrahot "big-bang" stages to the formation of stars, planets, life, and very recently and locally, civilization. Underlying this material history of matter following the laws of physics, however, is an often-untold history of information, and the processing of information through physical, computational, biological, mental and social systems. Aguirre, arguing that the information is perhaps even more fundamental than the matter, will trace this history to tell a new story of our origins, our nature as thinking systems, and our potential long-term future.

Reflections on Jazz and the Quantum World.

7 p.m. on Wednesday, February 12th in 201 Argyros Forum.

Dr. Alexander has straddled the two worlds of theoretical physics and jazz music for over two decades. He will delve into the secret link between music and the structure of the universe, the jazz of physics.

How to Be in Two Places at the Same Time by Sandu Popescu.
5 p.m. on Thursday, November 21st in 209 Argyros Forum.

Quantum theory tells us that microscopic particles, atoms, molecules, sub-atomic particles and so on, can be in many places at the same time. In this talk, Sandu Popescu will explain how science knows this, and what the implications of this fact are for understanding Nature.

Modern Physics and the Mind by Yakir Aharonov.
5 p.m. on Monday, October 21st in 404 Beckman Hall.

Modern physics has radically revised our common-sense assumptions about the world, including our concepts of time, free will, and physical reality. Many of our fundamental beliefs about the physical world lack a firm scientific foundation. In this talk, Professor Aharonov will discuss the tension between objective physical description and conscious experience. He will describe recent advances in the foundations of physics and quantum theory that offer the possibility of a fresh approach.

From Quantum Miracles to Many Worlds by Lev Vaidman.
February 8th at 2 p.m. in 404 Beckman Hall.

Abstract: Action at a distance is a miracle. Quantum phenomena such as interaction-free measurements, teleportation, Bell-type correlations apparently require such miracles. Accepting the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics avoids the necessity of action at a distance and thus removes paradoxes from quantum theory.

How Beauty Leads Physics Astray by Sabine Hossenfelder.
November 29th at 7 p.m. in 208 Argyros Forum.

To develop fundamentally new laws of nature, theoretical physicists often rely on arguments from beauty. Simplicity and naturalness in particular have been strongly influential guides in the foundations of physics ever since the development of the standard model of particle physics. In this lecture, Dr. Hossenfelder argues that arguments from beauty have led the field into a dead end, and discusses what can be done about it.

Dr. Philip Mannheim, Professor of Physics at the University of Connecticut presents, "The Crisis in Fundamental Physics" on Friday, August 31st at 3:30 p.m. in 404 Beckman Hall. 

Abstract: Cosmology deals with the astrophysical macroscopic universe on large scales, while fundamental physics deals with the particle physics microscopic universe on small ones. Recently, it has become apparent that large and small scale physics are actually intertwined, leading to an astro-particle picture of the universe. At the present time, this picture has achieved great success, but at the same it has led to many open questions and challenges - challenges which threaten to potentially undermine the entire picture. These challenges include: dark matter, dark energy, the cosmological constant problem, quantum gravity, the status of supersymmetry, the multiverse picture, extra space-time dimensions, and the nature of the Higgs boson. In this talk, we review these issues, and suggest that their resolution would require a paradigm shift in our view of the universe.

Dr. Neil Turok, Director of Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Canada, presents "Quantum Universe" on Thursday, March 1st at 5:30 p.m. in Fish Interfaith Center.

Abstract: Observations reveal the cosmos to be astonishingly simple, and yet deeply puzzling, on the largest scales. Why is it so nearly symmetrical? Why is there a cosmological constant, or dark energy, and what fixes its value? How did everything we see emerge from a singular "point" in the past?

Dr. Andrew Jordan (University of Rochester) and Dr. Kater Murch (Washington University in St. Louis) present, "The arrow of time in quantum mechanics" 

Abstract: The question of why we perceive time moving from past to future is perplexing, especially in light of the fact that microscopic laws of motion are the same running forward or backwards in time. Some have thought that the answer to this puzzle may lay in quantum wavefunction collapse. We will discuss how recent experiments have shown that quantum measurement may not be as irreversible as commonly thought, and discuss deep questions relating to the flow of time and quantum physics. We will approach the topic from three points of view, that of the experimentalist, the quantum theorist, and the philosopher.

Dr. Alyssa Ney (from UC Davis) presents, "Physics and Fundamentality"

Abstract: What justifies the allocation of funding to research in physics when many would argue research in the life and social sciences may have more immediate impact in transforming our world for the better? Many of the best justifications for such spending depend on the claim that physics enjoys a kind of special status vis-a-vis the other sciences, that physics or at least some branches of physics exhibit a form of fundamentality. The goal of this paper is to articulate a conception of fundamentality that can support such justifications. I argue that traditional conceptions of fundamentality in terms of dynamical or ontic completeness rest on mistaken assumptions about the nature and scope of physical explanations.

Dr. Kater Murch (from Washington University in St. Louis) presents, "Measurement and control in superconducting qubits: from the quantum Zeno effect to quantum enhanced metrology"

Abstract: The quantum Zeno effect is a feature of measurement-driven quantum evolution where frequent measurement inhibits the decay of a quantum state. We will explore how the opposite effect; the anti-Zeno effect - where frequent measurement accelerates decay - can also emerge from frequent measurement. The emergence of one effect or the other elucidates the nature of quantum measurement and the role measurement plays in controlling quantum evolution. In a second experiment, we investigate how control over a single qubit can be used achieve a quantum speedup in the precision of frequency measurements, demonstrating a frequency sensitivity that improves as 1/T^2, where T is the duration of the experiment.

Senior Taylor Lee Patti, triple Physics, Math, and Spanish Major (with a Chemistry Minor), receives Chapman's prestigious Cecil F. Cheverton Award, the highest honor the university awards to only one student annually.

She has 2 peer-reviewed journal publications: one in the field of biochemistry and food science in collaboration with Dr. Rosalee Hellberg, and the other in quantum foundations with Dr. Yakir Aharonov, National Medal of Science recipient and Director of Chapman's Institute for Quantum Studies.

Congratulations! Dr. Justin Dressel awarded Wang-Fradkin Professorship at Chapman's 22nd Annual Faculty Honors Convocation, May 2017.

Dr. Sandu Popescu, Professor of Physics at University of Bristol and a member of Chapman's Institute for Quantum Studies, is among 50 distinguished scientists to have been elected as Fellows of the Royal Society.

Congratulations to Institute for Quantum Studies!

The Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences will bestow the Cozzarelli Prize this year to Yakir Aharonov, Fabrizio Colombo, Sandhu Popescu, Irene Sabadini, Chapman University President Daniele C. Struppa, and Jeff Tollaksen in recognition for their article "Quantum violation of the pigeonhole principle and the nature of quantum correlations."

To read the story behind the science, click here!

Congratulations! Professor Sandhu Popescu to receive the Dirac Medal from the Institute of Physics in recognition for "his fundamental and influential research into non-locality and his contribution to the foundations of quantum physics."

Watch Professor Popescu's "Non-locality beyond quantum mechanics" recorded seminar at Chapman University.

Watch Professor Popescu's "The smallest possible thermal machines and the foundations of thermodynamics" recorded seminar at Chapman University.

Congratulations! Dr. Professor Roman Buniy awarded Wang-Fradkin Professorship at Chapman's 21st Annual Faculty Honors Convocation, May 2016.

Read the Quantum Studies: Mathematics and Foundations Article of the Year - Heisenberg scaling with weak measurement: a quantum state discrimination point of view.

Congratulations to the authors - Andrew Jordan, Jeff Tollaksen, James Troupe, Justin Dressel, Yakir Aharonov.

A Few Physics Wonders - Superoscillations series - Divergent series -

Sir Michael Berry came visiting Chapman campus ready to talk about some of the beautiful things that physicists actually do. Intentionally accessible to anybody, this free and open to the community colloquium uses non-technical language and a multi-media experience. A Few Physics Wonders is generally appealing to an audience interested in science, especially those who find the work of other great physicists, like Einstein or Hawking, inspirational.

Following his fun, standing-room-only popular talk, Sir Michael Berry hosted an open, five-part series of technical seminars focused on Superoscillations, and concluded with a supplementary sixth presentation from his Divergent Series: From Thomas Bayes's Bewilderment to Today's Resurgence Via the Rainbow.

Quantum Physics and Logic is an annual conference that brings together researchers working on mathematical foundations of quantum physics, quantum computing, and related areas, with a focus on structural perspectives and the use of logical tools, ordered algebraic and category-theoretic structures, formal languages, semantical methods, and other computer science techniques applied to the study of physical behaviour in general. Work that applies structures and methods inspired by quantum theory to other fields (including computer science) is also welcome.

Chapman University is honored to host the 7th International Workshop on Quantum Simulation and Quantum Walks 2018, in Orange, California from March 3 through 4, 2018.

Quantum walks, which are quantum-mechanical analogues of random walks, are promising models to understand quantum dynamics. These models have sparked various theoretical and experimental investigations covering areas in mathematics, physics, quantum information, and statistical mechanics. This workshop aims to bring interdisciplinary researchers from all areas of quantum walks, both theoretical and experimental, together to discuss recent work and find future directions of research.

Chapman University is honored to host a celebratory conference commemorating the 30th anniversary of the first paper on weak values by Aharonov, Albert, and Vaidman (click here to read it). The conference will be held from March 1 - 2, 2018.

Chapman University was honored to host the 2nd International Workshop "Towards Room Temperature Superconductivity: Superhydrides and More" in May, 2017.

View the 2010 agenda »