The Vancouver-based Quantum Gravity Society is leading an international mission to discover the theory of quantum gravity
VANCOUVER, British Columbia , July 21, 2022 /CNW/ – More than two dozen of the world’s top physicists, including three Nobel Prize winners, will gather in Vancouver this August for a conference on quantum gravity hosted by the launch of the Vancouver-based Quantum Gravity Institute (QGI) and a new global research collaboration that could greatly advance our understanding of physics and gravity and profoundly change the world as we know it.
For about 100 years, the world’s understanding of physics was based on Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity (Grelativity), which explored the theory of space, time and gravity, and Quantum Mechanics (QM), which focused on the behavior of matter and light on the atomic and subatomic scale. GR gave us a deep understanding of space, leading to space travel and technologies like atomic clocks that drive global GPS systems. QM is responsible for most of the equipment that runs our world today, including electronics, lasers, computers, cellular phones, plastics, and other technologies that support modern transportation, communications, medicine, agriculture, energy systems, and more.
While each theory has led to countless scientific breakthroughs, in many cases they are inconsistent and seem contradictory. Discovering a unifying link between these two fundamental theories, the elusive theory of quantum gravity, could provide the world with a deeper understanding of time, gravity and matter and how they can potentially be controlled. It could also lead to new technologies that would affect most aspects of everyday life, including how we communicate, grow food, provide health care, transport people and goods, and produce energy.
“The discovery of the theory of quantum gravity could lead to the possibility of time travel, new quantum devices or even vast new energy resources that produce clean energy and help us tackle climate change,” said Philip Stamp, professor, department in Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia and Visiting Fellow in Theoretical Astrophysics at Caltech. “The potential long-term implications of this discovery are so incredible that life on earth 100 years from now may seem as miraculous to us now as today’s technology would have seemed to people living 100 years ago.”
The new Quantum Gravity Institute and conference are founded by the Quantum Gravity Society, which was established in 2022 by a group of Canadian technology, business and community leaders and leading physicists. Among its goals are to advance the science of physics and facilitate research on the theory of quantum gravity through initiatives such as the conference and the collection of the world’s leading archive of scientific papers and lectures related to attempts to reconcile these two theories over the past century.
The Quantum Gravity Conference in Vancouver (August 15-19) will feature two dozen of the world’s top physicists, including Nobel laureates Kip Thorne, Jim Peebles and Sir Roger Penrose, as well as physicists Baron Martin Rees, Markus Aspelmayer, Vyacheslav Mukhanov and Paul Steinhardt. On Wednesday, August 17, the conference will be open to the public, providing them with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend keynote addresses by the world’s foremost physicists. (See graphic below.) A lunchtime discussion on the importance of the research will be given by Kip Thorne, former Feynman Professor of Physics at Caltech. Thorne is well known for his popular books and for developing the original idea for the 2014 film Interstellar. He was also crucial to the development of the book Contact by Carl Sagan, which was also made into a film.
“We look forward to welcoming many of the world’s brightest minds to Vancouver for our first Quantum Gravity Conference,” said Frank Giustra, CEO Fiore Group and co-founder of the Quantum Gravity Society. “One of the goals of our society will be to establish Vancouver as a supportive base for research and to facilitate the scientific collaboration that will be necessary to unlock this mystery that has eluded some of the world’s most brilliant physicists for so long.”
“Format is key,” explains Terry Hui, a UC Berkley physics graduate student and co-founder of the Quantum Gravity Society. “Like the Solvay Conference almost 100 years ago, the Quantum Gravity Conference will bring together top scientists in salon-style gatherings. The relaxed evening format following the conference will lower barriers and allow these great minds to freely exchange ideas. I hope that this hundred-year-old problem will be solved soon in relative terms.”
“As amazing as our journey of scientific discovery has been over the past century, we still have so much to learn about how the universe works at the macro, atomic and subatomic levels,” added Paul Lee, Managing Partner, Vanedge Capital, and Co. – Founder of the Quantum Gravity Society. “New experiments and observations capable of advancing work on this scientific challenge are increasingly possible in today’s physics laboratories and with the help of new astronomical instruments.” The quantum gravity community looks forward to harnessing this growing technical capacity with collaborative theory and experimental work that leverages the collective expertise of the world’s great physicists.”
For the Quantum Gravity Society
The Quantum Gravity Society was founded in Vancouver, Canada in 2020 by a group of Canadian business, technology and community leaders and leading international physicists. The company’s founding members include Frank Giustra (Fiore Group), Terry Hui (Concord Pacific), Paul Lee and Mo Kermani (Vanedge Capital) and Marcus Frind (Frind Estate Winery), along with renowned physicists Abhay Ashtekar, Sir Roger Penrose, Philip Stamp, Bill Unruh and Birgitta Whaley. For more information, visit the Quantum Gravity Society.
About the Quantum Gravity Conference (Vancouver 2022)
The inaugural Quantum Gravity Conference (August 15-19) is presented by the Quantum Gravity Society, Fiore Group, Vanedge Capital, Concord Pacific, The Westin Bayshore, Vancouver and Frind Estate Winery. For conference information, visit conference.quantumgravityinstitute.ca. To register for the conference, visit Eventbrite.com.
SOURCE Quantum Gravity Society
For additional information: Media Contact: Greg Descantes, [email protected]604-417-1379
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