International Workshop on Relativistic Quantum Information (N) 2011

Quantum theory and general relativity are famously at loggerheads. Their mathematical languages are different and conceptual bases are discordant, if not outright conflicting. For more than sixty years this conceptual gap and scant experimental evidence has been preventing unification of the two theories.

At the close of the last century a seemingly unrelated development of quantum information theory helped to resolve some of the long-standing conceptual problems in quantum mechanics. The scientific and technological breakthroughs followed a realization that information is physical, so its acquisition and processing are ultimately determined by the laws of physics. While originally discussed in terms of non-relativistic quantum mechanics, recent years have seen increasing research interest and activities in placing quantum information in a more rigorous framework of quantum field theory. Moreover, information theory is often appealed to in black hole physics, particularly in relation to the information loss paradox, as well as to the treatment of relational observables in the problem of time.

A relationship of “R” and “QI” is twofold. On the one hand, quantum field theory is an instrumental tool in proposed designs of quantum computing and communication, and to comprehend the meaning and possibilities of quantum non-locality, and entanglement in the quantum vacuum . On the other hand, the role of “R” in RQI is perhaps best captured by what a relativist does traditionally, encompassing special and general relativity, geometry and topology, quantum field theory in curved space-time and quantum gravity. The aim of this international workshop is to serve as platform for joint explorations of this nascent yet fast growing interdisciplinary field.

Organizing Committee

Ivette Fuentes,  Nottingham, UK
Juan León,  CSIC, ES
Robert  Mann,  Waterloo, CA
Daniel Terno,  Sydney, AU

Local Organizing Committee

Juan José García Ripoll,  CSIC
Alberto Ibort, UCIII
Miguel Ángel Martín Delgado, UCM
Eduardo Martín-Martínez
Vicente Martín, UPM
David Pérez García, UCM
Diego Porras, UCM

Advisory Committee

Rodolfo Gambini,  Montevideo, UY
Bei-Lok Hu,  College Park, US
Seth Lloyd,  Cambridge, US
Jorma Louko,  Nottingham, UK
Gerard Milburn,  Brisbane, AU
Francesco Petruccione,  Durban, ZA
John Preskill,  Pasadena, US
William Unruh,  Vancouver, CA