Jeffrey Bub University of Maryland, Philosophy, IPST, QuICS
Jeffrey Bub is a Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of Maryland, and member of the Institute for Physical Science and Technology, and the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science. He holds a PhD in Mathematical Physics from London University. Bub has made countless contributions to the project of interpreting quantum mechanics. His 1997 book Interpreting the Quantum World (Cambridge University Press) won the Lakatos Award for outstanding contribution to philosophy of science. Recently, he has developed an influential view, applying the concepts of quantum information science to the interpretation of quantum theory. The culmination of this project is his forthcoming book Bananaworld: Quantum Mechanics for Primates (Oxford University Press).
Gilles Brassard Université de Montréal, Computer Science
Gilles Brassard is a Full Professor and Canada Research Chair Holder at the Université de Montréal. He obtained his Master’s degree from the Université de Montréal in 1975, and his PhD in Computer Science from Cornell University in 1979. “Brassard is one of the earliest pioneers of quantum information science in the world. His most celebrated breakthroughs are the invention of quantum cryptography and quantum teleportation, both universally recognized as fundamental cornerstones of the entire discipline. […] Through his visionary thinking and groundbreaking research, Professor Brassard has played a pivotal role in transforming the field of quantum information science from what was initially perceived to be merely a fringe pursuit into an area of vigorous and dynamic international activity.” (Royal Society nomination text, 2013)
Armond Duwell University of Montana, Philosophy
Armond Duwell is an Associate Professor at the University of Montana. He obtained his Ph.D. in History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Pittsburgh in 2004, and completed his postdoctoral research at the University of Konstanz in Germany in 2005. Duwell specialises in the philosophy of quantum computation and information, as well as in the interpretation of quantum theory. He has published articles on the ontological status of quantum information, on reconceiving quantum theory in terms of information-theoretic constraints, and on Bayesianism’s relation to the mathematical structure of quantum theory.
Laura Felline Roma Tre University, Philosophy
Laura Felline is a postdoctoral researcher at the Università Roma Tre. She obtained her Ph.D. in Philosophy of Science from the Università Roma Tre in 2008, and completed previous postdocs at Cagliari, Bristol, Aberdeen, Barcelona, and Louvain-la-Neuve. She has published papers on structural explanation as it relates to quantum information theory, on the Everett interpretation of quantum theory, on mechanistic explanation, and on explanations in mathematics. Her current research focuses on information-theoretic axiomatic reconstructions of quantum theory, their relevance for our understanding of quantum phenomena, and the senses in which they can be said to explain.
Marissa Giustina University of Vienna, Physics
Marissa Giustina is a PhD student in Physics in the Zeilinger Group at the University of Vienna. She is a member of the Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology and the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information. She is the lead author on a recent paper detailing an experimental result from her laboratory, entitled “Significant-Loophole-Free Test of Bell’s Theorem with Entangled Photons”. They devised a way to finally close the “loopholes” in the experimental demonstration of one of the most important fundamental concepts in the quantum information approach: Bell’s Theorem.
Lucien Hardy Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Lucien Hardy is a faculty member at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. He holds a PhD in Physics from Durham University. Professor Hardy is one of the leading figures in quantum information science. He has made countless contributions to the field, including being part of the team to first demonstrate quantum teleportation, and his development of what has become known as Hardy’s Theorem. His recent research has been focused on developing a reformulation of quantum theory in terms of quantum information-theoretic concepts defined in an operational framework.
Richard Healey University of Arizona, Philosophy
Richard Healey is a Professor of Philosophy at The University of Arizona. He holds a PhD in Philosophy from Harvard University, and an MSc in Theoretical Physics from Sussex University. His work on issues related to the interpretation of quantum theory has been very influential, most notably his book The Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics. He has recently developed an interpretation based on the principles of contemporary pragmatism. His most recent project has been a book assessing the philosophical significance of the quantum revolution. His book Gauging What’s Real was awarded the Lakatos Award in 2009.
Leah Henderson University of Groningen, Philosophy
Leah Henderson is a Rosalind Franklin Fellow at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. She holds both a PhD in Philosophy from M.I.T. and a DPhil in Physics from Oxford University. Her research in physics is in the field of quantum information theory. With Vlatko Vedral in 2001, she introduced an influential measure of the purely classical part of a correlated quantum system. Her research in philosophy focuses on topics in the philosophy of science, the philosophy of physics, metaphysics, and epistemology. She focuses especially on Bayesianism and has published papers on, e.g., Bayesianism and quantum measurement, Bayesianism and inference to the best explanation, and Bayesianism and the structure of scientific theories.
Matthew Leifer Chapman University, Physics
Matthew Leifer is an Assistant Professor of Physics at the Schmid College of Science and Technology at Chapman University, and a member of Chapman’s Institute for Quantum Studies. He received his Ph.D. in 2003 from the School of Mathematics at the University of Bristol. He is interested in quantum information theory and the foundations of quantum theory, and especially in topics at the intersection of the two areas. He is well known for his work on the reality of the quantum state, on Bayesian approaches to the foundations of quantum mechanics, on entropy and information causality, and on generalised probability frameworks for characterising quantum theory.
Matthew Pusey Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Matthew Pusey is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. He holds a PhD in Physics from Imperial College, London. He was the lead author of a seminal paper in the quantum information literature, which contained the Pusey-Barrett-Rudolph (PBR) theorem. His team claimed to have shown that it is impossible that a quantum state be purely epistemic—a feature of the state of knowledge of the observer. Rather, their argument suggests that the quantum state must be interpreted as a physically real object. This result has been one of the main points of debate in the foundations of quantum information since its publication.
Rüdiger Schack Royal Holloway University of London, Mathematics
Rüdiger Schack is a Professor of Mathematics at Royal Holloway University of London. He earned his PhD in Theoretical Physics from University of Munich, and has held postdoctoral positions at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, the University of Southern California, the University of New Mexico, and Queen Mary and Westfield College. He is one of the leading proponents of Quantum Bayseianism, or QBism, an interpretation of quantum theory based on the principles of Bayesian Epistemology.
Robert Spekkens Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Robert Spekkens is a faculty member at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. He holds a PhD in Physics from the University of Toronto, and previously held a postdoctoral position at Perimeter and an International Royal Society Fellowship at the University of Cambridge. His work in the foundations of physics has focused on the thesis that the quantum state represents a state of incomplete knowledge rather than a state of the world.
Allen Stairs University of Maryland, Philosophy
Allen Stairs is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Maryland. He holds a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Western Ontario. He has published extensively on interpretational issues in quantum mechanics and quantum logic, including “POVMs and Hidden Variables”, “A loose and separate certainty: Caves, Fuchs and Schack on Probability One”, and “Correlations and Counterfactuals: the EPR Illusion”, and in collaboration with Jeffrey Bub, “Correlations, Contexts and Quantum Logic”, “Quantum Interactions with Closed Timelike Curves and Superluminal Signaling” and “Contextuality and Nonlocality in ‘No Signaling’ Theories”.
Organizers:
Wayne Myrvold Western University, Philosophy
Markus Mueller Western University, Philosophy and Applied Mathematics & Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Lucas Dunlap Western University, Rotman Institute of Philosophy
Michael Cuffaro Western University, Rotman Institute of Philosophy & LMU Munich, Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy