Faculty

	Robert Spekkens PhD Toronto (2001) Quantum Foundations
	Phone:	(519) 569-7600 x7601
	Email:	rspekkens[at]perimeterinstitute.ca
	Personal Webpage:	http://www.rwspekkens.com

Robert Spekkens received his B.Sc. in physics and philosophy from McGill University and completed his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Toronto.  He held a postdoctoral fellowship at Perimeter Institute and an International Royal Society Fellowship at the University of Cambridge.  He has been a faculty member at Perimeter Institute since November 2008.  His research is focused upon identifying the conceptual innovations that distinguish quantum theories from classical theories and investigating their significance for axiomatization, interpretation, and the implementation of various information-theoretic tasks.

Affiliations

Adjunct faculty, Department of Physics, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada

Adjunct Reserach Fellow, Centre for Quantum Dynamics, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia

Positions Held

• Adjunct research faculty, Centre for Quantum Dynamics, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia
• Adjunct faculty, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo
• 1/2006 - 10/2008. Royal Society International Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
• 1/2003 - 1/2006. Postdoctoral fellow at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

Awards

• Recipient of the Birkhoff-von Neumann Prize of the International Quantum Structures Association.

Recent Publications

• Nicholas Harrigan and Robert W. Spekkens, Einstein, incompleteness, and the epistemic view of quantum states, Found. Phys. 40, 125 (2010), arxiv: 0706.2661
• H. Barnum, J. Barrett, L. O. Clark, M. Leifer , R. Spekkens, N. Stepanik, A. Wilce and R. Wilke, Entropy and information causality in general probabilistic theories, New J. Phys. 12, 033024 (2010), arxiv: 0909.5075
• Gilad Gour, Iman Marvian, Robert W. Spekkens, Measuring the quality of a quantum reference frame: the relative entropy of frameness, Phys. Rev. A 80, 012307 (2009), arxiv: 0901.0943
• Stephen D. Bartlett, Terry Rudolph, Robert W. Spekkens, Peter S. Turner, Quantum communication using a bounded-size quantum reference frame, New J. Phys. 11, 063013 (2009), arxiv: 0812.5040
• Robert W. Spekkens, D. H. Buzacott, A. J. Keehn, Ben Toner, G. J. Pryde, Preparation contextuality powers parity-oblivious multiplexing, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 010401 (2009), arxiv: 0805.1463
• Dennis Kretschmann, David W. Kribs, Robert W. Spekkens, Complementarity of Private and Correctable Subsystems in Quantum Cryptography and Error Correction, Phys. Rev. A 78, 032330 (2008), arxiv: 0711.3438
• Gilad Gour, Robert W. Spekkens, The resource theory of quantum reference frames: manipulations and monotones, New J. Phys. 10 (2008) 033023, arxiv: 0711.0043
• Robert W. Spekkens, Negativity and contextuality are equivalent notions of nonclassicality, Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 020401 (2008), arxiv: 0710.5549
• Robert W. Spekkens, H. M. Wiseman, Pooling quantum states obtained by indirect measurements, Phys. Rev. A 75, 042104 (2007), arxiv: quant-ph/0612190
• Stephen D. Bartlett, Terry Rudolph, Robert W. Spekkens, Reference frames, superselection rules, and quantum information, Rev. Mod. Phys. 79, 555 (2007), arxiv: quant-ph/0610030
• David W. Kribs, Robert W. Spekkens, Quantum Error Correcting Subsystems are Unitarily Recoverable Subsystems, Phys. Rev. A 74, 042329 (2006), arxiv: quant-ph/0608045
• Mark R. Dowling, Stephen D. Bartlett, Terry Rudolph, Robert W. Spekkens, How to observe a coherent superposition of an atom and a molecule, Phys. Rev. A, 74, 052113 (2006), arxiv: quant-ph/0606128
• Stephen D. Bartlett, Terry Rudolph, Robert W. Spekkens, Peter S. Turner, Degradation of a quantum reference frame, New J. Phys. 8, 58 (2006), arxiv: quant-ph/0602069
• Gilad Gour, Robert W. Spekkens, Entanglement of Assistance is not a bipartite measure nor a tripartite monotone, Phys. Rev. A 73, 062331 (2006), arxiv: quant-ph/0512139
• Stephen D. Bartlett, Terry Rudolph, Robert W. Spekkens, Dialogue Concerning Two Views on Quantum Coherence: Factist and Fictionist, International Journal of Quantum Information, Vol. 4, No. 1 (2006) 17-43, arxiv: quant-ph/0507214
• Stephen D. Bartlett, Patrick Hayden, Robert W. Spekkens, Random subspaces for encryption based on a private shared Cartesian frame, Phys. Rev. A, 72, 052329 (2005), arxiv: quant-ph/0506260
• M. S. Leifer, R. W. Spekkens, Logical Pre- and Post-Selection paradoxes, measurement-disturbance and contextuality, Proceedings of QS 2004, Int. J. Theor. Phys. 44:1977-1987 (2005), arxiv: quant-ph/0412179
• M. S. Leifer, R. W. Spekkens, Pre- and Post-selection paradoxes and contextuality in quantum mechanics, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 200405 (2005), arxiv: quant-ph/0412178
• Stephen D. Bartlett, Andrew C. Doherty, Robert W. Spekkens, H. M. Wiseman, Entanglement under restricted operations: Analogy to mixed-state entanglement, Phys. Rev. A, 73, 022311 (2006), arxiv: quant-ph/0412158
• R. W. Spekkens, Contextuality for preparations, transformations, and unsharp measurements, Phys. Rev. A 71, 052108 (2005), arxiv: quant-ph/0406166
• Stephen D. Bartlett, Terry Rudolph, Robert W. Spekkens, Decoherence-full subsystems and the cryptographic power of a private shared reference frame, Phys. Rev. A 70, 032307 (2004), arxiv: quant-ph/0403161
• Robert W. Spekkens, Evidence for the epistemic view of quantum states: a toy theory, Phys. Rev. A 75, 032110 (2007), arxiv: quant-ph/0401052
• Stephen D. Bartlett, Terry Rudolph, Robert W. Spekkens, Optimal measurements for relative quantum information, Phys. Rev. A 70, 032321 (2004), arxiv: quant-ph/0310009
• J.-C. Boileau, D. Gottesman, R. Laflamme, D. Poulin, R.W. Spekkens, Robust polarization-based quantum key distribution over collective-noise channel, Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 17901 (2004), arxiv: quant-ph/0306199
• Terry Rudolph, Robert W. Spekkens, Peter Shipley Turner, Unambiguous discrimination of mixed states, Phys. Rev. A 68, 010301(R) (2003), arxiv: quant-ph/0303071
• Stephen D. Bartlett, Terry Rudolph, R. W. Spekkens, Classical and quantum communication without a shared reference frame, Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 027901 (2003), arxiv: quant-ph/0302111
• R. W. Spekkens, Terry Rudolph, A quantum protocol for cheat-sensitive weak coin flipping, Phys. Rev. Lett. vol 89, 227901 (2002), arxiv: quant-ph/0202118
• R. W. Spekkens, T. Rudolph, Optimization of coherent attacks in generalizations of the BB84 quantum bit commitment protocol, Quantum Inform. Compu. 2, 66 (2002), arxiv: quant-ph/0107042
• R. W. Spekkens, T. Rudolph, Degrees of concealment and bindingness in quantum bit commitment protocols, Phys. Rev. A 65, 012310 (2001), arxiv: quant-ph/0106019
• R. W. Spekkens, J. E. Sipe, Non-Orthogonal Core Projectors for Modal Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics, Found. Phys. 31, 1403 (2001), arxiv: quant-ph/0003092
• R. W. Spekkens, J. E. Sipe, A Modal Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics Based on a Principle of Entropy Minimization, Found. Phys. 31, 1431 (2001), arxiv: quant-ph/0003092
• R. W. Spekkens, J. E. Sipe, Spatial fragmentation of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a double-well potential, Phys. Rev. A 59, 3868 (1999), arxiv: quant-ph/9810094
• L. Hardy and R. Spekkens, Why Physics Needs Quantum Foundations, arxiv: 1003.5008
• B. Coecke, B. Edwards, R. W. Spekkens, Phase groups and the origin of non-locality for qubits, arxiv: 1003.5005
• A classical analogue of negative information, Jonathan Oppenheim, Robert W. Spekkens, Andreas Winter, arxiv: quant-ph/0511247

Seminars

• Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, lectures at the 10th Canadian summer school on quantum information, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
• Specker's Parable of the Over-protective Seer: Implications for Contextuality, Nonlocality and Complementarity, Workshop on Fundamentals of Physics and Information, Zurich, Switzerland
• Picturing Classical and Quantum Bayesian Inference, Conference on quantum physics and logic, Oxford, UK
• Specker's Parable of the Over-protective Seer: Implications for Contextuality, Nonlocality and Complementarity, Quantum Information seminar, DAMTP, Cambridge
• Noncontextuality Inequalities, Invited talk, Topical group on Quantum Information, APS March meeting
• Why the quantum? Insights from classical theories with a statistical restriction, Quantum Information Seminar, McGill University, Quebec
• Why the quantum? Insights from classical theories with a statistical restriction, Departmental Colloquium, University of Ottawa, Ontario
• Contextuality Inequalities and Multiplexing, Quantum Information Seminar, Sherbrooke University, Quebec
• Noncontextuality Inequalities and Multiplexing, CIFAR Workshop, Caledon, Ontario
• An information-theoretic application of contextuality, QICS Workshop on Foundational Structures for Quantum Information and Computation, Obergurgl, Austria
• Reference frames and relationalism in quantum theory, Conference on Perspective in Physics and Philosophy, Paris, France
• The power of epistemic restrictions in axiomatizing quantum theory: from trits to qutrits, Workshop on Information Primitives and Laws of Nature, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
• Quantum analogues of Bayes' theorem, sufficient statistics and the pooling problem, Sydney Quantum Information Theory Workshop, Sydney, Australia
• Generalized contextuality and notions of nonclassicality, Applied Quantum Measurement Workshop, Leyden, Netherlands
• Generalized contextuality and notions of nonclassicality, Vienna Symposium on Foundations of Physics, Vienna, Austria
• Insights into wave-particle duality from an epistemic interpretation of quantum states, Philosophical and Formal Foundations of Modern Physics, Fondation des Treilles, Tourtour, France
• Almost quantum theory: classical theories with a constraint on knowledge (Invited talk), APS March meeting, Denver, USA
• PIRSA:09120092, Foundations of Quantum Mech. (PHYS 639) - Lecture 15, 2009-12-18, Perimeter Scholars International
• PIRSA:09120091, Foundations of Quantum Mech. (PHYS 639) - Lecture 14, 2009-12-17, Perimeter Scholars International
• PIRSA:09120090, Foundations of Quantum Mech. (PHYS 639) - Lecture 13, 2009-12-16, Perimeter Scholars International
• PIRSA:09120089, Foundations of Quantum Mech. (PHYS 639) - Lecture 12, 2009-12-15, Perimeter Scholars International
• PIRSA:09120088, Foundations of Quantum Mech. (PHYS 639) - Lecture 11, 2009-12-14, Perimeter Scholars International
• PIRSA:09120074, Foundations of Quantum Mech. (PHYS 639) - Lecture 10, 2009-12-11, Perimeter Scholars International
• PIRSA:09120073, Foundations of Quantum Mech. (PHYS 639) - Lecture 9, 2009-12-10, Perimeter Scholars International
• PIRSA:09120072, Foundations of Quantum Mech. (PHYS 639) - Lecture 8, 2009-12-09, Perimeter Scholars International
• PIRSA:09120071, Foundations of Quantum Mech. (PHYS 639) - Lecture 7, 2009-12-08, Perimeter Scholars International
• PIRSA:09120070, Foundations of Quantum Mech. (PHYS 639) - Lecture 6, 2009-12-07, Perimeter Scholars International
• PIRSA:09120069, Foundations of Quantum Mech. (PHYS 639) - Lecture 5, 2009-12-04, Perimeter Scholars International
• PIRSA:09120068, Foundations of Quantum Mech. (PHYS 639) - Lecture 4, 2009-12-03, Perimeter Scholars International
• PIRSA:09120067, Foundations of Quantum Mech. (PHYS 639) - Lecture 3, 2009-12-02, Perimeter Scholars International
• PIRSA:09120066, Foundations of Quantum Mech. (PHYS 639) - Lecture 2, 2009-12-01, Perimeter Scholars International
• PIRSA:09110168, Foundations of Quantum Mech. (PHYS 639) - Lecture 1, 2009-11-30, Perimeter Scholars International
• PIRSA:09100013, Lecture Series presented by KPMG - Quantum Foundations: From Plato's Cave to Bertlmann's Socks, 2009-10-25, Quantum to Cosmos Festival - Tickets Available starting TUE. Sep 8, 2009
• PIRSA:09100011, The Art of Guesstimation, 2009-10-17, Quantum to Cosmos Festival - Tickets Available starting TUE. Sep 8, 2009
• PIRSA:09090098, Panel Discussion, 2009-09-30, PIAF 09' New Perspectives on the Quantum State
• PIRSA:09080009, The power of epistemic restrictions in reconstructing quantum theory, 2009-08-10, Reconstructing Quantum Theory
• PIRSA:09060021, Quantum analogues of Bayes' theorem, sufficient statistics and the pooling problem, 2009-06-03, Categories, Quanta, Concepts (CQC)
• PIRSA:08080096, The Strange Quantum: What does it mean and how can we use it?, 2008-08-15, ISSYP Virtual
• PIRSA:08080019, The Strange Quantum: What does it mean and how can we use it?, 2008-08-15, ISSYP 2008
• PIRSA:08020051, Why the quantum? Insights from classical theories with a statistical restriction, 2008-02-27, Colloquium
• PIRSA:07100032, The resource theory of quantum reference frames: manipulations and monotones, 2007-10-22, Colloquium
• PIRSA:07080040, Operationalism, hidden variable models, and contextuality (Part 1A), 2007-08-27, Quantum Foundations Summer School
• PIRSA:07080041, Operationalism, hidden variable models, and contextuality (Part 1B), 2007-08-27, Quantum Foundations Summer School
• PIRSA:07080062, The Strange Quantum: What does it mean and how can we use it? ISSYP Keynote Session, 2007-08-25, ISSYP 2007
• PIRSA:07060037, Categorizing nonclassical phenomena: the explanatory power of epistemic restrictions and contextuality, 2007-06-04, Operational Quantum Physics and the Quantum-Classical Contrast
• PIRSA:06030019, Liouville mechanics with an epistemic restriction and Bohr's response to EPR, Perimeter Institute Quantum Discussions
• PIRSA:05070100, Preparation contextuality in its myriad forms, Quantum Information, Computation and Logic: Exploring New Connections
• PIRSA:04100017, Contextuality for Preparations, Transformations, and Unsharp Measurements, Perimeter Institute Quantum Discussions
• PIRSA:04080001, A Toy Story, 2004-08-23, ISSYP 2004
• PIRSA:04080002, A Toy Story (Part 2), 2004-08-23, ISSYP 2004
• PIRSA:04070002, Quantizing and Dequantizing Reference Frames, Workshop on Reference Frames and Superselection Rules in Quantum Information Theory
• PIRSA:03050009, In defense of the epistemic view of quantum states, 2003-05-21, Perimeter Institute Quantum Discussions