The Physics of Information

这个信息物理学研究项目的长期核心是为数学物理的工具箱增加新的工具，这些工具可以帮助解决量子引力和宇宙学的最深层问题。这些问题包括，人们长期追求的统一广义相对论和量子理论的理论是什么？它将告诉我们关于宇宙起源和早期演化的什么？在短期内，计划是研究这些新工具在量子技术和工程中的应用。这些新工具计划在本质上是信息论的。关注信息理论工具的原因是它们的多功能性——因为它们可以应用于任何过程，无论物理环境多么极端或违反直觉，无论是在宇宙学还是量子技术中。例如，该研究计划的核心部分是创建更好的理论工具来跟踪基本物理相互作用开始时量子信息的转移。这样的工具也可以应用于使量子处理器更不容易向环境泄漏量子信息，这是量子计算技术的关键瓶颈问题。为此，研究人员计划训练深度神经网络来使用这些新的信息流跟踪工具，以便持续地引导量子处理器围绕那些最容易发生量子信息泄漏的量子态进行操作。这样，该研究项目就有了一个坚定而雄心勃勃的长期核心，即为推进量子引力和宇宙学创造新的工具，同时也有了这些工具在应用物理和工程中的新应用的短期和中期研究计划。因此，这个信息物理学的研究项目为各个层次的学生提供了合适的项目，从本科暑期学生到博士生。学生们将受益于在研究前沿做出贡献的机会，以及以通用数学技术和经典和量子信息专业知识的形式获得高度市场化的技能，以及机器学习经验。在量子技术行业，训练有素的人才严重短缺，该研究计划将有助于解决这一问题。因此，这项研究计划的预期好处包括培养学生成功的学术生涯和提高加拿大在基础物理学方面的地位，以及培养学生从事工业职业，特别是在缺乏合格人才的量子技术领域，从而加强加拿大在经济上日益重要的高科技产业中的竞争力。

The long-term core of this research program into the physics of information is to add to the toolbox of mathematical physics novel tools that could help tackle the deepest questions of quantum gravity and cosmology. These are questions such as what is the long sought-after theory that unifies general relativity and quantum theory, and what will it tell us about the beginning and early evolution of the universe? In the shorter term, the plan is to research applications of these same new tools to quantum technologies and engineering. The novel tools are planned to be information-theoretic in nature. The reason for the focus on information theoretic tools is their great versatility - as they can be applied to any processes, no matter how extreme or counterintuitive the physical circumstances are, be it in cosmology or in quantum technologies. Part of the core of the research program is, for example, to create better theoretical tools to track the transfer of quantum information at the onset of fundamental physical interactions. Such tools can then also be applied to making quantum processors less prone to leaking quantum information to the environment, the problem which is the key bottleneck in quantum computing technologies. To this end, research is planned into training deep neural networks to use these new information flow tracking tools in order to continually steer the operations of a quantum processor around those quantum states that are most prone to quantum information leakage. In this way, the research program possesses a hard and highly ambitious long-term core, which is to create novel tools for advancing quantum gravity and cosmology, while also possessing plans for shorter and medium term research into novel applications of these tools in applied physics and engineering. This research program into the physics of information therefore provides suitable projects for students of all levels, from undergraduate summer students to Ph.D. students. The students will benefit from opportunities to contribute at the forefront of research as well as from acquiring highly marketable skills in the form of versatile mathematical techniques and expertise in classical and quantum information, along with experience in machine learning. In the quantum technology industry, there is a significant shortage of trained talent that this research program will help to address. The anticipated benefits of this research program therefore include the training of students for successful academic careers and advancing Canada's standing in fundamental physics, as well as the training of students for industrial careers, especially in the field of quantum technologies where there is shortage of qualified talent, thereby strengthening Canada's competitiveness in an economically increasingly important high tech industry.