Monday, July 8, 2024
8:45 – 9:15 a.m. | Welcome and Introduction
9:15 – 10:45 a.m. | “Using quantum theory and the free energy principle to develop non-reductive explanations” with Chris Fields (Tufts University, USA)
The Free Energy Principle (FEP) developed over the last two decades by Karl Friston and colleagues reformulates physics as a theory of interactions between approximately Bayes-optimal agents. Recasting the FEP in the language of quantum information theory simplifies this description. These methods combined allow non-reductive models of complex agents that employ the same descriptive language and same behavioral rules at every scale. Developmental and evolutionary biology provide many examples to illustrate the approach.
10:45 – 11:00 a.m. |Break
11:00 – 12:30 p.m. | “The place of mind in Bohmian quantum reality” with Paavo Pylkkänen (University of Helsinki, Finland and University of Skövde, Sweden)
The physicist David Bohm made a number of suggestions about how quantum theory might help us to understand the relation of mind and matter. In his 1951 text-book Quantum theory he drew attention to strong analogies between thought and quantum processes. His 1952 “pilot-wave” interpretation developed later into a view in which a “thought-like” quantum field containing active information is guiding a “rock-like” particle, analogous to how information in our thoughts can guide our behavior. In his later “implicate order” theory he presented a more general framework in which we can understand how our every-day “explicate order” of things in space in time unfolds from a deeper implicate and non-local ground, providing yet another new way of understanding how mental and physical phenomena relate. This talk provides an introduction to Bohmian ideas and considers how these might be relevant to social scientists.
12:30-1:00 p.m. | Break
1:00-2:00 p.m. | Open discussion
2:00-4:30 p.m. | “Project Q: War, Peace and Quantum Mechanics” a film by James Der Derian and Project Q
From atomic fission and the nuclear revolution to semiconductors and the information revolution, the ideas of quantum mechanics triggered profound shifts in scientific paradigms, altered philosophical realities and reconfigured global power. A third quantum transformation, in computing, communication, simulation, sensing and artificial intelligence, is now on the horizon. A philosophical travelogue, scientific investigation and cautionary tale, Project Q journeys from Q Station, Sydney’s former quarantine site, to Berlin, Copenhagen, Singapore, Silicon Valley, Shanghai and New Delhi, in search of the origins and consequences of the next quantum revolution. Project Q explores how quantum could mitigate climate change, create new materials and optimise the flow of people, goods and money – and warns how it could also break encrypted messages, take surveillance data-mining and face-recognition to Orwellian levels of omniscience, change the nature of warfare on land, air and sea, and produce an artificial intelligence that is superior to humans, and learns to know it. As university labs, big tech and major powers race for supremacy in new quantum technologies, Project Q travels in space and time, asking who will win, what are the risks, what will it mean for war and peace?
Tuesday, July 9, 2024
9:00 – 10:30 a.m. | “Quantum Social Theory: Entanglement, Responsibility, and the Question of Relevance” with Chris McIntosh (Bard College, USA)
Debates about the role of IR scholarship in contemporary politics historically privilege “policy relevance” as both a goal and site of debate. The role of scholarship, scholars and scholarly collectives have become increasingly resonant given the overlapping crises of white supremacy, police violence, and state repression in the United States, the worldwide pandemic, and the anti-democratic nationalist politics throughout Europe and the United States. Critical IR and critical security studies typically resist policy engagement entirely, positioning critical thought and inquiry as political intervention in and of itself. Here I explore that claim using quantum concepts that foreground the inextricability of entanglement in thinking politics, ethics, and action. Ultimately, I argue that IR should move toward engaging and being responsible to the/a political present. Drawing on the temporality in IR literature, I argue that we are always already entangled with a heterotemporal present. Framing the question of political relevance as a binary of for/against precludes an effective assessment of the politics and normative meaning of scholarly interventions into contemporary politics. By reformulating our understanding of scholarship as produced by and reproducing a political present, something with which we are inevitably entangled whether we choose to be or not, the question of relevance becomes reoriented toward scholarly relationships with a/many presents, and consequently, a/many pasts and futures. Negotiating this dynamic is a more complex question than the narrow formulation of policy and/or political recommendations, and requires a fundamental rethinking of the presumption that scholarship in and of itself is sufficient.
10:30– 11:00 a.m. |Break
11:00 – 12:30 p.m. | “Quantum Mechanics and the Subject-Object Relation” with Amanda Gefter (Science writer and author)
The distinction between subject and object is so baked into the foundations of modern science that it’s rarely questioned, yet it has led to seemingly intractable puzzles, such as the measurement problem in quantum mechanics and the hard problem in cognitive science. Quantum mechanics undermines this classic subject/object split. Recognizing this can help us re-examine our notions of the world, the self, the mind, even our relationships with the planet and with other people.
12:30-1:00 p.m. | Break
1:00-2:00 p.m. | Open discussion
2:00-4:30 p.m. | “QuSTEAM: Transforming Science Through Better Education” with Russell Ceballos (University of Chicago, USA)
QuSTEAM, a newly incorporated non-profit organization spun out of NSF’s Convergence Accelerator Program, is to facilitate the national scale-up of equitable and effective undergraduate quantum education by leveraging a convergent approach to establish a collaborative network that spans all 3 sectors of government, academia, and industry that provides customized and holistic support to truly broaden participation among ALL groups and demographics (e.g. particularly among 1st generation college students) entering the area of quantum information science and engineering (QISE). In order to accomplish this, QuSTEAM utilizes evidence-based pedagogical best practices developed across the entire STEAM ecosystem (e.g. including backwards and inverted curricular design, culturally relevant and responsive pedagogy, formative assessment, as well as active and student led project-based learning strategies) to establish an iterative process to develop, disseminate, research, curate, and deliver instructional content using methods that engage students and promote equity that engages with and involves industry partners early and often in this curriculum design and development process. This serves the ultimate function of fostering a culture of inclusivity in QISE by reducing the barriers of entry into the field for ALL students, instructors, and industry stakeholders. Innovative approaches and examples leveraging culturally relevant and responsive pedagogical best practices at the undergraduate level that help foster a culture of inclusivity and an authentic sense of belonging in the field of QISE will be shared.
Wednesday, July 10, 2024
9:00 – 10:30 a.m. | “Emptiness and Relation: The Convergence of Mahāyāna Buddhist Metaphysics and Quantum Mechanics” with Jay Garfield (Smith College, USA)
While there has been speculation for some time about the possible synergy between Buddhist philosophy and quantum theory, it is not until the advent of relational quantum mechanics that this synergy has been made precise and interesting. But even discussions of the relationship between Buddhist philosophy and RQM have been limited to the consideration of the Madhyamaka tradition following Nāgārjuna. The Yogācāra tradition also has insights to offer to quantum theory. Garfield will explore the way that both of these major strands of Mahāyāna Buddhist philosophy can be useful to those thinking about quantum theory.
10:30– 11:00 a.m. |Break
11:00 – 12:30 p.m. | “Global Constellations of Affect and Memory: Emptiness, Experience, and Entanglement” with Karin Fierke (University of St. Andrews, Scotland)
This session will explore questions raised by a project that was first explored in ‘To see is to break an entanglement’ (Fierke and Mackay 2020) and deepened in the context of exploratory research, funded by the Human Family Unity Foundation, on a three-year project titled Mapping the Empire: The Contemporary Legacy of Historical Trauma and Forced Displacement. The inspiration for the project was an experience of ‘quantum effects’ arising in the context of an experiential systems modality (systemic constellations). The project explored the potential to adapt the modality to the analysis of global entanglements, and in particular the relationship between affective resonances of historical trauma in the past and memory in the present.
12:30-1:00 p.m. | Break
1:00-2:00 p.m. | Open discussion
2:00-4:30 p.m. | “Shut Up and Calculate Contemplate!”: What Zen Practice taught me about Quantum Theory” with Michael Schnabel (Vanderbilt University, USA)
Building on my previous talk, “The Scientific Method, Quantum Theory and Mahayana Buddhism” given at the first Quantum Bootcamp in 2021, I will describe the principles of Chan/Zen meditation, which emphasizes contemplation (as contrasted with: cogitation), the practice of settling the mind in the present moment. This allows seeing through and letting go of discursive thinking and habitual patterns. I will explain the importance of meditation practice within the larger context of the core Buddhist teaching of dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda). This causal principle illuminates the dynamics of consciousness within Mind. Finally, I will draw parallels to quantum theory that include implications for the measurement problem and for our struggles to arrive at an ultimate interpretation of quantum mechanics.
Thursday, July 11, 2024
9:00 – 10:30 a.m. | “Quantum Law and Economics and Newtonian Law and Economics” with William Hubbard (University of Chicago, USA)
Just as Newtonian mechanics breaks down when we look at the constituent pieces of our universe—subatomic particles—neoclassical economics breaks down when we look at the constituent pieces of our society—individual people. At the scale of subatomic particles, quantum mechanics provides new foundations for understanding the physical world; at the scale of individual decisionmaking, behavioral economics promises new foundations for understanding the social, economic, and legal worlds. In this talk, I argue that the analogy between Newtonian and quantum physics, on the one hand, and neoclassical and behavioral economics, on the other hand, provides fundamental insights for law and economics.
10:30– 11:00 a.m. |Break
11:00 – 12:30 p.m. | “Rationality (?) in legal decision making” with Emmanuel Pothos (University of London, UK)
We expect that the agents in a legal process will act as rationally as humans can be. Is there empirical evidence which might challenge our sense of rationality in legal decision making? We review some relevant work, including results with legal professionals (prosecutors, attorneys, and judges) as participants. We discuss how we can assess rational standards in legal decision making, using Bayesian theory, and how we can understand (possible) biases, using quantum theory. The perspective from quantum theory allows insight into how and when irrational behaviour might emerge, and how we could mitigate its impact.
12:30-1:00 p.m. | Break
1:00-2:00 p.m. | Open discussion
2:00-4:30 p.m. |“Develop and Test Computational Models for Cognition and Decision Based on Quantum Theory” with Joyce Wang (The Ohio State University, USA)
Quantum theory provides a unified and powerful explanation for a wide variety of paradoxes found in human cognition and decision research ranging from attitude, inference, causal reasoning, judgment and decision, to perception and memory. I will briefly review applications of quantum cognition where classical models fail. Quantum cognition provides a new theoretical and modeling approach to a wide variety of empirical cognitive phenomena using a unified, common set of theoretical principles.
Friday, July 12, 2024
9:00 – 10:30 a.m. | “International Interaction Game Revisited: Quantum-Inspired Model of Militarized Interstate Disputes” with Jakub Tesař (Charles University, Prague) and Catarina Moreira (University of Technology Sydney, Australia)
The International Interaction Game (IIG) is a game-theoretical model that seeks to capture the dynamics and decision-making processes involved in interstate disputes. In our contribution, we argue that the model cannot fully account for real-world scenarios if built on the unrealistic assumption of mutual independence of players and their reasoning about each other (methodological individualism). Our quantum-inspired model for the IIG incorporates the possibility of quantum interference effects, which allow for more nuanced and context-dependent decision-making processes.
10:30– 11:00 a.m. |Break
11:00 – 12:30 p.m. | “Superposition, Coloniality, Law and Sovereignty: Thou Shalt Not Murder” with Mark Salter (University of Ottawa, Canada)
Leveraging the quantum theory concepts of superposition and entanglement gives new analytical purchase to our understanding of the expansion of colonial sovereignty over the Canadian Arctic. By examining two murder cases by Indigenous peoples, the Crown attempted to impose one set of law over an ungoverned space in ways that are best understood through quantum concepts.
12:30-1:00 p.m. | Break
1:00-3:00 p.m. | Open discussion and closing remarks