Lecture abstract

Time:   20. May 2022
Place:   Faculty of Physics
Title:   A review of a few results at the interplay between quantum gravity and quantum information theory
Abstract:
I will give a review of two (if time permits maybe three) results obtained in collaboration with Nikola Paunkovic, on research at the intersection between quantum gravity (QG) and quantum information theory (QI). The first result deals with the possible space of states in an abstract QG formalism, and the restrictions imposed by gauge symmetry, specifically diffeomorphisms. It turns out that these restrictions generically rule out gravity-matter product states as gauge-noninvariant. The second result deals with the motion of a point-particle in QG, in particular in a background gravitational field constructed as a quantum superposition of two distinct spacetime geometries. The resulting trajectory of the particle fails to be described by a geodesic equation with respect to either geometry, giving rise to a correction term due to quantum interference between two geometries. We will discuss the consequences of this for the weak equivalence principle. Finally, we may briefly mention a few other recent results trending in the QI community, such as the quantum switch protocol, del Santo-Dakic protocol, and their relationship to QG.