Why We Explore? by Robert Myers

Distinguished Lectures

Why We Explore?

Speaker: Robert Myers (Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Canada)

Date & Time: 28 August 2024, 16:00 to 17:00

Venue: Ramanujan Lecture Hall, ICTS, Bengaluru
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Title: Why We Explore?


Abstract: Humanity faces real and present problems. Our resources to address these problems are limited. It’s easy to think, then, that we should devote ourselves to our most promising solutions.

It’s easy, but it’s wrong.

The great paradox of scientific research is that pure exploration – research into deep questions motivated by pure curiosity, without concern for applications – is ultimately what transforms our lives in tangible, practical ways.

In this talk, I will speak not just as a physicist interested in puzzles of quantum entanglement and five-dimensional black holes, but as the director of an institute devoted to fundamental research. I make the case for blue-sky research, and for optimism about our shared future.

About the Speaker:

Robert Myers (PhD, Princeton University, 1986) is the Director and BMO Financial Group Isaac Newton Chair at Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. He joined Perimeter as a founding faculty in 2001, was the Interim Scientific Director from 2007 to 2008, served as Faculty Chair from 2011 to 2018, and became Director in 2019. Prior to coming to Perimeter, he was a Professor of Physics at McGill University.

Myers has broad interests in theoretical physics, with contributions ranging from quantum field theory to black holes, and cosmology. Several of his discoveries, such as the “Myers effect” and “linear dilaton cosmology” have been influential in seeding new lines of research. His current research focuses on the interplay of quantum entanglement and spacetime geometry, and on applying new perspectives and tools from quantum information science to the study of quantum gravity.

Among his many honours, Myers has been awarded the Herzberg Medal by the Canadian Association of Physicists (1999), the CAP-CRM Prize in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics by the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) and the Centre de Recherches Mathématiques (2005), the Vogt Medal by the CAP and TRIUMF (2012), the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Waterloo (2018), and the CAP Medal for Lifetime Achievements in Physics (2024). In 2006, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and he was named a Fellow of the Canadian Association of Physicists in 2024.

He has served on numerous advisory boards, including the Banff International Research Station (2001-05), the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (2012-16), the William I. Fine Theoretical Physics Institute (2015-20), and the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (2018-present). He has also served on the editorial boards of Annals of Physics (2002-12) and the Journal of High Energy Physics (2007-present).
This lecture is part of the program "Quantum Information, Quantum Field Theory and Gravity".