2009 Annual Report - Perimeter Institute

Affiliates
Affiliates are select faculty members
at Canadian universities who are
invited for regular informal visits to
Perimeter Institute for scientific
collaboration and the opportunity to
be involved in the Institute’s research
activities. The goals of the Affiliate
program are to foster interaction
between PI and Canadian universities,
to play a role in strengthening the
Canadian physics research community,
and to broaden the base of research
at PI by fostering interaction with
Affiliates working in fields of research
related to PI’s. In 2008-09, 25 new Affiliate Members were added, and
there are now 91 Affiliates drawn from universities across Canada.
National linkages
Perimeter Institute aims to serve as a focal point for theoretical physics
in Canada. Memoranda of Understanding have been signed with nearly
30 Canadian universities and institutes, and PI cooperates with its
academic partners via cross-appointments, adjunct appointments, joint
postdoctoral fellowships, graduate training, and numerous joint research
events, such as the popular “PI-CITA days” held twice annually.
In addition to our longstanding and synergistic relationship with the
nearby Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) at the University of Waterloo,
Perimeter has forged strong ties with the Canadian Institute for Theoretical
Astrophysics (CITA), Canada’s world-class centre in theoretical astrophysics.
PI also has productive relationships with the Canadian Institute for
Advanced Research (CIFAR), the Fields Institute, the Institute for Particle
Physics (IPP), the Centre de Recherches Mathématiques (CRM), the
Pacific Institute for Mathematical Sciences (PIMS), Mathematics of Information
Technology and Complex Systems research networks (MITACS)
and the Shared Hierarchical Computing Network (SHARCNET).
Uniting Quantum
Foundations from
Top to Bottom
Both Canada and Australia have emerged
as hubs of scientific activity in quantum
foundations and the closely related areas
of quantum information and quantum
computing. In 2008, researchers at
Perimeter and several Australian
universities joined forces to form PIAF,
the Perimeter Institute — Australia
Foundations Collaboration to promote
progress in quantum foundations. PIAF
will fund four new postdoctoral training
positions, with fellows spending part
of their time in Australia and part of
their time at PI; a scientific exchange
program; and conferences to accelerate
research. In September 2008, PIAF held
its first major conference, “The Clock
and the Quantum: Time and Quantum
Foundations,” featuring Sir Roger
Penrose, Bill Unruh, and Gerard Milburn,
and conducted a joint workshop on
“Categories, Quanta, Concepts” in
June 2009.
Visiting scientist Amihay Hanany (Imperial College) and PI faculty member Laurent Freidel.
2009 Annual Report 19