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The conference is open for all master students in physics from Dutch universities. Among the confirmed speakers are many great names in theoretical physics such as Leonard Susskind (Stanford University), Robbert Dijkgraaf (IAS Princeton), Carlo Rovelli (CPT, Marseille), David Tong (DAMTP, Cambridge) and Jan Zaanen (Leiden University).

 Start date 14 June 2021 18 June 2021 14:45

In particular we would like to point out the colloquium by Robbert Dijkgraaf (IAS Princeton) on ’The Future of Fundamental Physics’, on Wednesday evening June 16th, 19:00, to which you are all (virtually) invited.

== Abstract:

The reports of the death of physics are greatly exaggerated. Instead, I would argue, we are living in a golden era and the best is yet to come. Not only did the past decades see some amazing breakthrough discoveries and show us the many unknowns in our current understanding, but more importantly, science in general is moving from studying what is’ to what could be.’  There will be many more fundamental laws of nature hidden within the endless number of physical systems we could fabricate out of the currently known building blocks. This demands an open mind about the concepts of unity and progress in physics.

An overview, timetable and contribution list of the conference can be found on the Indico page, https://indico.cern.ch/event/1027683/.

### Selected highlights for theoretical physicists

Monday June 14th:

15:00 hr Carlo Rovelli (CPT Marseille) - Quantum Gravity, where are we?

Professor Rovelli will discuss Loop Quantum Gravity: its ideas, results and open issues and the perspectives to connect it to observation.

19:00 Discussion session: Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics

Panelists: Carlo Rovelli, F.A. Muller, Jasper van Wezel

Tuesday June 15th:

17:00 hr Jesse Thaler (MIT) - Artificial Intelligence and High-Energy Physics

In this talk Dr. Thaler will draw on examples from collider phenomenology and quantum chromodynamics to highlight the fascinating interplay between theoretical principles and machine learning strategies.

Wednesday June 16th:

11:00 hr Jan Zaanen (Leiden University) - Quantum supreme matter and the strange metals.

Professor Zaanen will tell us how holography is a tool for understanding dense, many-body entangled states of matter which aids in the search for high Tc superconductors in strange metal states.

17:00 hr David Tong (DAMTP) - Are we living in the matrix?

No. Obviously not. It's a daft question. But, buried beneath this daft question is an extremely interesting one: is it possible to simulate the known laws of physics on a computer?

19:00 hr Robbert Dijkgraaf (IAS Princeton) - The Future of Fundamental Physics

The reports of the death of physics are greatly exaggerated. Instead, I would argue, we are living in a golden era and the best is yet to come. Not only did the past decades see some amazing breakthrough discoveries and show us the many unknowns in our current understanding, but more importantly, science in general is moving from studying 'what is’ to 'what could be.’ There will be many more fundamental laws of nature hidden within the endless number of physical systems we could fabricate out of the currently known building blocks. This demands an open mind about the concepts of unity and progress in physics.

Friday June 18th

9:00 hr Rick van Bijnen (IQOQI, Innsbruck) - Quantum Information and Quantum Optics

Dr. van Bijnens current research focus is quantum information science, specifically hybrid quantum-classical variational optimization, which is applied by the Zoller group to atomic physics platforms such as Rydberg atoms and trapped ions.

15:00 hr Danielle Bassett (University of Pennsylvania & Santa Fe Institute) - The Physics of the Human Brain

Professor Bassett is a physicist and system neuroscientist. Her research is focused on the application of network science to study the learning process of the human brain.

19:00 hr Leonard Susskind (Stanford University) - Entanglement, Complexity, and Spacetime

The two things that make quantum physics so different from classical physics are the phenomenon of entanglement and a vastly larger capacity for complexity. Both of these play a profound role in understanding how smooth large-scale spacetime emerges from the principles of quantum mechanics.

== The Master Your Physics Event is organised by master students from the University of Amsterdam, with support from Delta ITP.