Abstract:  Quantum platforms are approaching a scale at which they will enable the realization of a vast number of quantum circuits. Some of these will solve computational problems of interest to industry and commerce; others will address longstanding questions about quantum systems; and still others will vindicate Wigner and Dyson. Yet even this will leave ample room for posing entirely new questions about many-body quantum systems.In this talk, I will describe two possibilities. The first is a concrete proposal: defining and studying quantum games of various kinds. The second is a broader vision: using quantum platforms in a “discovery mode,” analogous to the role particle accelerators have played in uncovering new particle physics.

Shivaji Sondhi is a theoretical condensed matter physicist whose work spans quantum many-body physics and statistical mechanics. Born in India, he received his PhD from UCLA and spent twenty-five years on the faculty at Princeton University. He is currently the Wykeham Professor of Physics in the Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics at the University of Oxford. His research has made foundational contributions to the quantum Hall effect, including the discovery of skyrmions; to quantum magnetism, sharing the Europhysics Prize for the discovery of magnetic monopoles; and to the theoretical discovery of time crystals. His work continues to shape modern understanding of emergent phenomena in quantum matter.