I am a Research Group Leader at the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) Vienna, a Lecturer at the University of Vienna, and a Visiting Fellow at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Canada.

My research is motivated by Wheeler’s “It From Bit” paradigm: to understand the foundations of physics, we have to take an information-theoretic perspective. I have worked on deriving quantum theory from simple principles, on the resource-theoretic approach to thermodynamics, and I have suggested a view (“Inductive Idealism”) in which not the external world, but a mathematical notion of the first person is fundamental (more topics and details below).

My research has led to several awards, including a Canada Research Chair, the Birkhoff-von Neumann prize, and ÖAW’s Best Paper Award. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to work with a group of talented and enthusiastic young researchers at IQOQI Vienna.

Spring 2024

  • Welcome Manuel Mekonnen to our group at IQOQI! We will look at “Local operations on quantum fields” in the context of a new Quantum Science Austria project.
  • Our new FWF project “Generalized contextuality in large quantum systems” is starting. Looking forward to collaborating with our experiment and theory colleagues in Zurich and Gdańsk.
  • Continuing our FWF project on “Black-box quantum information under spacetime symmetries” and the Adversarial Collaboration with philosopher Kelvin McQueen. Thinking more about infinite-dimensional GPTs, quantum field theory, and observer-relative chances.

Upcoming

  • 24 May 2024: Lange Nacht der Forschung, Wien.
  • 30 May – 02 June 2024: New Directions in the Foundations of Physics, Logar Valley, Slovenia.
  • 26 Nov 2024: Public talk at Urania Graz. “Quantenphysik und Realität: was wir wissen, was wir vermuten, und worüber wir uns wundern”.

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