FQXi announced this morning that Canada Research Chair in Optical Quantum Technologies, Kevin Resch and IQC Affiliate Robert Spekkens will be awarded nearly $100,000 over two years to experimentally test quantum causal relations.
When two variables are found to be statistically correlated, we can explain this in a number of different ways. One variable could causally influence the other, or there could be a common cause that affected both variables. When probability is introduced, it could be that with some probability it’s because of a cause-effect mechanism, or with some probability, it’s a common-cause relation. Or the two could act simultaneously.
In the quantum world, there are even more possibilities. The proposed investigation by Resch and Spekkens will examine which circumstances are necessary for the nonclassical causal structures from a theoretical perspective. The researchers will also investigate how they can detect the presence of the causal structures and then test it in a lab using single photons.
“This funding will help us begin to understand the nature of causation in a quantum world,” said Resch. “It’s anticipated to shed light on foundational problems in quantum theory such as Bell's theorem, as well as problems in quantum gravity, where space and time must be given a quantum description.”
FQXi received 240 applications for the award from most of the world’s top institutions in physics and cosmology, as well as other universities, labs, think tanks and businesses from around the world. Only twenty of those were selected for funding.
Related research news: Quantum correlation can imply causation