Robert Spekkens

Robert Spekkens's picture
Faculty

Area of Research:
Quantum Foundations
Website: www.rwspekkens.com
Phone: (519) 569-7600 x7601

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

PhD students who wish to be supervised by Perimeter Institute faculty normally apply through the PSI program. To apply directly to a PhD program, students should submit an application to the Physics and Astronomy Department at the University of Waterloo.

Students interested in pursuing an MSc degree should apply to Perimeter Institute's PSI program.

Research Interests

E. T. Jaynes famously described quantum theory as an omelette of epistemological and ontological elements, all scrambled up in a way that no one has yet seen how to unscramble. One of the central aims of my research is to unscramble the quantum omelette. In recent years I have been focussed upon distinguishing causation from correlation---i.e., influence from inference---in the quantum formalism, In particular, I have been developing the concepts of quantum Bayesian inference and quantum causal models, as well as their applications for inferring causal structure from observed correlations. This framework provides a novel perspective on the topics of locality and noncontextuality in quantum theory. I also work on quantum resource theories, where various properties of quantum states and operations are formalized as resources. Resources of current interest include asymmetry, thermal nonequilibrium, coherence, incompatibility, and nonclassicality.

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

  • The Itamar Pitowsky Memorial Lecture for the academic year 2016-2017. This series of lectures at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem features leading thinkers in the philosophy of physics.
  • First prize winner of the 2012 FQXI Essay contest "Questioning the Foundations: Which of Our Assumptions Are Wrong?" for my essay "The Paradigm of Kinematics and Dynamics Must Yield to Causal Structure"
  • Winner of the 2008 Birkhoff-von Neumann Prize of the International Quantum Structures Association.

Recent Publications

  • Iman Marvian, Robert W. Spekkens, A no-broadcasting theorem for quantum asymmetry and coherence and a trade-off relation for approximate broadcasting, Phys. Rev. Lett 123, 020404 (2019), arXiv: 1812.08766 (quant-ph)
  • David Schmid, Katja Ried, and Robert W. Spekkens, Why initial system-environment correlations do not imply the failure of complete positivity: a causal perspective, Phys. Rev. A 100, 022112 (2019), arXiv: 1806.02381 (quant-ph)
  • D. Schmid, R. W. Spekkens, E. Wolfe, All the noncontextuality inequalities for arbitrary prepare-and-measure experiments with respect to any fixed sets of operational equivalences, Phys. Rev. A 97, 062103 (2018), arXiv: 1710.08434
  • R. Kunjwal and R. W. Spekkens, From statistical proofs of the Kochen-Specker theorem to noise-robust noncontextuality inequalities, Phys. Rev. A 97, 052110 (2018), arXiv: 1708.04793
  • Katja Ried, Jean-Philippe W. MacLean, Robert W. Spekkens, Kevin J. Resch, Quantum to classical transitions in causal relations, Phys. Rev. A 95, 062102 (2017), arXiv: 1707.06131 (quant-ph)
  • David Schmid and Robert W. Spekkens, Contextual advantage for state discrimination, Phys. Rev. X 8, 011015 (2018), arXiv: 1706.04588 (quant-ph)
  • Anirudh Krishna, Robert W. Spekkens, and Elie Wolfe, Deriving robust noncontextuality inequalities from algebraic proofs of the Kochen-Specker theorem: the Peres-Mermin square, New. J Phys 19, 123031 (2017), arXiv: 1704.01153 (quant-ph)
  • Dax Enshan Koh, Mark D. Penney, and Robert W. Spekkens, Computing quopit Clifford circuit amplitudes by the sum-over-paths technique, accepted for publication in Quantum Information and Computation, arXiv: 1702.03316 (quant-ph)
  • I. Marvian and R. W. Spekkens, How to quantify coherence: distinguishing speakable and unspeakable notions, Phys. Rev. A 94, 052324 (2016), arXiv: 1602.08049 (quant-ph)
  • Elie Wolfe, Robert W. Spekkens, Tobias Fritz, The Inflation Technique for Causal Inference with Latent Variables, J. Causal Inference 7(2), (2019) [available online], arXiv: 1609.00672 (quant-ph)
  • John-Mark A. Allen, Jonathan Barrett, Dominic C. Horsman, Ciaran M. Lee, and Robert W. Spekkens, Quantum common causes and quantum causal models, Phys. Rev. X 7, 031021 (2017), arXiv: 1609.09487 (quant-ph)
  • Dominic Horsman, Chris Heunen, Matthew F. Pusey, Jonathan Barrett, Robert W. Spekkens, Can a quantum state over time resemble a quantum state at a single time?, accepted for publication in Proceedings of the Royal Society A, arXiv: 1607.03637 (quant-ph)
  • Jean-Philippe W. MacLean, Katja Ried, Robert W. Spekkens, Kevin J. Resch, Quantum-coherent mixtures of causal relations, Nat. Commun. 8, 15149 (2017), arXiv: 1606.04523 (quant-ph)
  • Mark D. Penney, Dax Enshan Koh, and Robert W. Spekkens, Quantum circuit dynamics via path integrals: Is there a classical action for discrete-time paths?, New J. Phys. 19, 073006 (2017), arXiv: 1604.07452 (quant-ph)
  • I. Marvian, R. W. Spekkens, and P. Zanardi, Quantum speed limits, coherence and asymmetry, Phys. Rev. A 93, 052331 (2016), Phys. Rev. A 93, 052331 (2016), arXiv: 1510.06474 (quant-ph)
  • C. M. Lee and R. W. Spekkens, Causal inference via algebraic geometry: necessary and sufficient conditions for the feasibility of discrete causal models, accepted for publication in Journal of Causal Inference, arXiv: 1506.03880 (stat.ML)
  • R. Kunjwal and R. W. Spekkens, From the Kochen-Specker theorem to noncontextuality inequalities without assuming determinism, Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 110403 (2015), arXiv: 1506.04150 (quant-ph)
  • M. D. Mazurek, M. F. Pusey, R. Kunjwal, K. J. Resch, R. W. Spekkens, An experimental test of noncontextuality without unphysical idealizations, Nat. Commun. 7, 11780 (2016), arXiv: 1505.06244 (quant-ph)
  • B. Coecke, T. Fritz and R. W. Spekkens, A mathematical theory of resources, Information and Computation, online 2 March (2016), arXiv: 1409.5531 (quant-ph)
  • R. W. Spekkens, Quasi-quantization: classical statistical theories with an epistemic restriction, in book "Quantum Theory: Informational foundations and foils", eds. G. Chiribella and R. W. Spekkens, arXiv: 1409.5041 (quant-ph)
  • Katja Ried, Megan Agnew, Lydia Vermeyden, Dominik Janzing, Robert W. Spekkens, Kevin J. Resch, Inferring causal structure: a quantum advantage, Nature Physics 11, 414 (2015); arXiv: 1406.5036 (quant-ph)
  • I. Marvian and R. W. Spekkens, Extending Noether"s theorem by quantifying the asymmetry of quantum states, Nature Communications 5, 3821 (2014); arXiv: 1404.3236 (quant-ph)
  • I. Marvian and R. W. Spekkens, Modes of asymmetry: the application of harmonic analysis to symmetric quantum dynamics and quantum reference frames, Phys. Rev. A 90, 062110 (2014); arXiv: 1312.0680 (quant-ph)
  • R. W. Spekkens, The status of determinism in proofs of the impossibility of a noncontextual model of quantum theory, Found. Phys. 44, 1125 (2014); arXiv: 1312.3667 (quant-ph)
  • G. Gour, M. P. Muller, V. Narasimhachar, R. W. Spekkens, and N. Yunger Halpern, The resource theory of informational nonequilibrium in thermodynamics, Phys. Rep. 583, 1 (2015); arXiv: 1309.6586 (quant-ph)
  • F. G. S. L. Brandão, M. Horodecki, J. Oppenheim, J. M. Renes, R. W. Spekkens, The Resource Theory of Quantum States Out of Thermal Equilibrium, Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 250404 (2013); arXiv: 1111.3882 (quant-ph)
  • I. Marvian and R. W. Spekkens, The theory of manipulations of pure state asymmetry: basic tools and equivalence classes of states under symmetric operations, New J. Phys. 15, 033001 (2013), arXiv: 1104.0018 [quant-ph]
  • C. J. Wood, R. W. Spekkens, The lesson of causal discovery algorithms for quantum correlations: Causal explanations of Bell-inequality violations require fine-tuning, New J. Phys. 17, 033002 (2015); arXiv: 1208.4119 (quant-ph)
  • I. Marvian and R. W. Spekkens, A generalization of Schur-Weyl duality with applications in quantum estimation, Comm. Math. Phys. 331, 431 (2014); arXiv: 1112.0638 (quant-ph)
  • S. D. Bartlett, T. Rudolph, R. W. Spekkens, Reconstruction of Gaussian quantum mechanics from Liouville mechanics with an epistemic restriction, Phys. Rev. A 86, 012103 (2012) arXiv: 1111.5057 (quant-ph)
  • M. S. Leifer and Robert W. Spekkens, A Bayesian approach to compatibility, improvement, and pooling of quantum states, J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 47 , 275301 (2014); arXiv: 1110.1085 (quant-ph)
  • M. S. Leifer, R. W. Spekkens, Formulating Quantum Theory as a Causally Neutral Theory of Bayesian Inference, Phys. Rev. A 88, 052130 (2013); arXiv: 1107.5849 (quant-ph)
  • I. Marvian and R. W. Spekkens, Pure state asymmetry, Phys. Rev. A 90, 014102 (2014); arXiv: 1105.1816 (quant-ph)
  • B. Coecke, R. W. Spekkens, Picturing classical and quantum Bayesian inference, Synthese 186, 651 (2012), arXiv: 1102.2368 (quant-ph)
  • Y.-C. Liang, R. W. Spekkens, H. M. Wiseman , Specker's Parable of the Over-protective Seer: A Road to Contextuality, Nonlocality and Complementarity, Physics Reports 506, 1-39 (2011), arXiv: 1010.1273 (quant-ph)
  • L. Hardy and R. Spekkens, Why Physics Needs Quantum Foundations, Physics in Canada 66 (2), 73-76 (2010), arXiv: 1003.5008 (quant-ph)
  • B. Coecke, B. Edwards, R. W. Spekkens, Phase groups and the origin of non-locality for qubits, Electronic Notes in Theoretical Computer Science 270, 15 (2011), arXiv: 1003.5005 (quant-ph)
  • Nicholas Harrigan and Robert W. Spekkens, Einstein, incompleteness, and the epistemic view of quantum states, Found. Phys. 40, 125 (2010), arXiv: 0706.2661 (quant-ph)
  • 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 (quant-ph)
  • 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/602069
  • 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/512139
  • 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/507214
  • 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/506260
  • 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/412179
  • 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/412178
  • 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/412158
  • R. W. Spekkens, Contextuality for preparations, transformations, and unsharp measurements, Phys. Rev. A 71, 052108 (2005), arxiv:quant-ph/406166
  • 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/403161
  • Robert W. Spekkens, Evidence for the epistemic view of quantum states: a toy theory, Phys. Rev. A 75, 032110 (2007), arxiv:quant-ph/401052
  • Stephen D. Bartlett, Terry Rudolph, Robert W. Spekkens, Optimal measurements for relative quantum information, Phys. Rev. A 70, 032321 (2004), arxiv:quant-ph/310009
  • 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/306199
  • Terry Rudolph, Robert W. Spekkens, Peter Shipley Turner, Unambiguous discrimination of mixed states, Phys. Rev. A 68, 010301(R) (2003), arxiv:quant-ph/303071
  • 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/302111
  • 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, 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, 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, Spatial fragmentation of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a double-well potential, Phys. Rev. A 59, 3868 (1999), arXiv: quant-ph/9810094
  • Robert W. Spekkens, The ontological identity of empirical indiscernibles: Leibniz's methodological principle and its significance in the work of Einstein, arXiv: 1909.04628 (physics.hist-ph)
  • Elie Wolfe, David Schmid, Ana Belen Sainz, Ravi Kunjwal, Robert W. Spekkens, Bell Quantified: The Resource Theory of Nonclassicality of Common-Cause Boxes, arXiv: 1903.06311 (quant-ph)
  • Michael D. Mazurek, Matthew F. Pusey, Kevin J. Resch, Robert W. Spekkens, Experimentally bounding deviations from quantum theory in the landscape of generalized probabilistic theories, arXiv: 1710.05948 (quant-ph)
  • I. Marvian and R. W. Spekkens, An information-theoretic account of the Wigner-Araki-Yanase theorem, arXiv: 1212.3378 (quant-ph)
  • J. Oppenheim, R. W. Spekkens, A. Winter, A classical analogue of negative information, arxiv:quant-ph/511247
  • Giulio Chiribella and Robert W. Spekkens (editors), Quantum Theory: Informational Foundations and Foils, Springer (2016) This book collects together fourteen original contributions from leading experts in the field, covering some of the most promising research directions that have emerged in the new wave of quantum foundations.
  • R. W. Spekkens, The paradigm of kinematics and dynamics must yield to causal structure, In "Questioning the Foundations of Physics: Which of Our Fundamental Assumptions Are Wrong?" edited by A. Aguirre, B. Foster, and Z. Merali; arXiv: 1209.0023 [quant-ph]

Seminars

  • Experimentally bounding deviations from quantum theory in the landscape of generalized probabilistic theories (invited talk), Conference on Quantum Information and Quantum Control VIII, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario
  • A survey of causal discovery algorithms (invited tutorial), Summer school of the Quantum Causal Structures consortium, Oxford, UK
  • Experimentally bounding deviations from quantum theory in the landscape of generalized probabilistic theories, QuICS seminar, Univ. of Maryland College Park, Maryland, USA
  • Cause and Effect in a Quantum World, Philosophy seminar, Univ. of Maryland College Park, Maryland, USA
  • A generalization of Noether's theorem and the information-theoretic approach to the study of symmetric dynamics, The Philosophy and Physics of Noether's Theorems, The University of Notre Dame, London, UK
  • The invasion of physics by information theory, Workshop on Thermodynamics as a Resource Theory, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
  • Experimentally bounding deviations from quantum theory in the landscape of generalized probabilistic theories, Conference on Quantum Physics and Logic, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
  • The epistemic view of quantum states (invited lecture in series on the foundations of science: Scientific Realism), University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
  • Contextuality as a Noise-robust Witness of Nonclassicality: Beyond the Cabello-Severini-Winter Framework (contributed talk, presented by R. Kunjwal), APS March meeting, Los Angeles, USA
  • Quantifying nonlocality: a resource theory of nonclassicality of common-cause processes (contributed talk with co-authors R. Kunjwal, A. B. Sainz, D. Schmid, R. W. Spekkens, E. Wolfe, pressed by D. Schmid), APS March meeting, Los Angeles, USA
  • The resource theory of incompatibility (contributed talk with co-authors G. Gour and T. Heinosaari), APS March meeting, Los Angeles, USA
  • Cause and Effect in a Quantum World (invited talk), APS March meeting, Los Angeles, USA
  • Quantum causal models as a natural framework for understanding not completely positive maps in open-system dynamics (presented by David Schmid), Quantum Networks conference, Oxford, UK
  • Irreducible noncontextuality inequalities from the Kochen-Specker theorem (presented by Ravi Kunjwal), Quantum Physics and Logic Conference, Nijmegen, Netherlands
  • Translating proofs of the Kochen-Specker theorem into noncontextuality inequalities that are robust to noise, Contextuality workshop, ETH, Zurich, Switzerland
  • Quantum reference frames, quantum asymmetry, and quantum information, colloquium, Physics department, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France
  • Cause and Effect in a Quantum World, Itamar Pitowsky Memorial Lecture, Edelstein Center for the History and Philosophy of Science, Technology and Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
  • Why I am not a psi-ontologist, Seminar for the Philosophy of Physics group, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
  • Applications of the inflation technique for causal inference, Kickoff meeting of the international consortium on Quantum Causal Structures (funded by JTF), Vienna, Austria
  • Noncontextuality inequalities for Specker's compatibility scenario, and beyond (presented by R. Kunjwal), Quantum Physics and Logic Conference, Glasgow, UK
  • Leibniz's principle of the identity of indiscernibles as a foundational principle for quantum theory, Conference on Information-Theoretic Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
  • A quantum-coherent mixture of cause-effect and common-cause relations, Conference on Quantum Networks, ICFO, Barcelona, Spain
  • Noncontextuality violation as a robust quantum resource (presented by M. Pusey) Quantum Information Processing, Banff Centre, Alberta, Canada
  • Non-classical causal structures in theory and experiment (presented by K. Ried) Workshop on Quantum Nonlocality, Causal Structures and Device-Independent Quantum Information, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan
  • Experimental test of noncontextuality without unwarranted idealizations (invited talk), Conference on Quantum Information and Quantum Control, Fields Institute, Toronto, Canada
  • Causal models for the quantum world (presented by K. Ried) Workshop on The Causal Power of Information in a Quantum World, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
  • A quantum advantage for causal inference, contributed talk, Quantum Physics and Logic Conference, Oxford, UK, talk presented by K. Ried
  • Experimental tests of noncontextuality without unwarranted idealizations, invited talk, Workshop on Foundations of Quantum Information, Kelowna, Canada
  • From the Kochen-Specker theorem to noncontextuality inequalities without assuming determinism, contributed talk, Quantum Physics and Logic Conference, Oxford, UK, talk presented by R. Kunjwal
  • The Invasion of Physics by Information Theory, seminar, Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, Vienna, Austria
  • On causal explanations of quantum correlations, Philosophy department seminar, Oxford University, UK
  • The invasion of physics by information theory, departmental seminar, Glasgow University, Glasgow, United Kingdom
  • Inferring causal structure: a quantum advantage, quantum information seminar, Controlled quantum dynamics group, Imperial college, London, UK
  • The invasion of physics by information theory, seminar, physics department, Stanford University, Palo Alto, USA
  • On causal explanations of quantum correlations (keynote speaker), workshop on Causal Inference: Learning and Prediction, Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence 2014, Quebec City, Canada
  • On causal explanations of quantum correlations (invited speaker), CIFAR meeting, Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier, Quebec, Canada
  • On causal explanations of quantum correlations, Quantum [Un]Speakables II: 50 Years of Bell's Theorem, Vienna, Austria
  • On causal explanations of quantum correlations, colloquium, Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science, Minneapolis, USA
  • How to experimentally test the assumption of noncontextuality, quantum information seminar, Institute for Quantum Computing, Waterloo, Canada
  • Unscrambling the omelette: distinguishing reality from information in quantum theory (invited talk), Incompatible quantum measurements workshop, Munich, Germany
  • On causal explanations of quantum correlations, QI seminar, Max Planck Institute for quantum optics, Garching, Germany
  • On causal explanations of quantum correlations (plenary speaker), 17th UK and European Meeting on the Foundations of Physics, Munich, Germany
  • If Correlation Doesn't Imply Causation, What Does? Workshop on Causal Structure in Quantum Theory, Benasque, Spain
  • On causal explanations of quantum correlations (invited speaker), Quantum Information and Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, UBC, Vancouver, Canada
  • On causal explanations of quantum correlations (invited speaker), workshop for EU funded quantum projects DIQIP, QALGO and QCS, LARSIM, Paris, France
  • On causal explanations of quantum correlations, seminar ETH Zurich, Switzerland
  • Lecture course on quantum contextuality, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
  • Formulating quantum theory as a causally neutral theory of Bayesian inference, Asia-Pacific Conference and Workshop on Quantum Information Science, Putrajaya, Malaysia
  • Formulating quantum theory as a causally neutral theory of Bayesian inference, Centre for Quantum Technology, National University of Singapore, Singapore
  • Quantum correlations from the perspective of causal discovery algorithms, Q+ seminar, online seminar series on quantum information and quantum foundations, streamed live, recorded version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcIA-yRVze0
  • Lecturer at International Summer School on Quantum Information, Computation and Control (QuICC), Aberystwyth, United Kingdom
  • The resource theory of quantum states that break symmetry (invited speaker) The XXIXth International Colloquium on Group-Theoretical Methods in Physics at Chern Institute of Mathematics, Tianjin, China
  • Why I am not a psi-ontologist (invited speaker), New Directions in Foundations of Physics Conference, Washington D.C., USA
  • Unscrambling the omelette: distinguishing reality from information in quantum theory, Colloquium, Physics department, University of Waterloo, Canada
  • Formulating quantum theory as a causally neutral theory of Bayesian inference (invited speaker), South-West Quantum Information network (SQUINT), Albuquerque, New Mexico
  • Formulating quantum theory as a causally neutral theory of Bayesian inference (invited speaker), Why the Quantum? Workshop, Beyond Centre, Phoenix, USA
  • Formulating quantum theory as a causally neutral theory of Bayesian inference (invited speaker), Quantum Foundations in the Light of Quantum Information, Montreal, Canada
  • Formulating quantum theory as a causally neutral theory of Bayesian inference, virtual seminar for Centre for Quantum Dynamics, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia
  • Formulating quantum theory as a causally neutral theory of Bayesian inference (invited speaker), Quantum Physics and Logic conference, Nijmegen, Netherlands
  • Lecture series on the foundations of quantum theory at the Brazilian summer school on quantum information, Paraty, Brazil
  • Bell correlations from the perspective of causal discovery algorithms, Computing lab seminar, Oxford University, UK
  • Thermodynamics as a quantum resource theory, Workshop on Quantum Information and the Foundations of Thermodynamics, Zurich, Switzerland
  • Almost quantum theory: Classical theories with a statistical restriction, MaxEnt 2011, 31st International workshop on Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering, Waterloo, Canada
  • The invasion of physics by information theory, 14th Congress of logic, methodology and philosophy of science, Nancy, France
  • Beyond quantum contextuality, New Directions in the Foundations of Physics Conference, Washington D.C., USA
  • Bell correlations from the perspective of causal discovery algorithms, First Clemson University Perimeter Institute Workshop, Clemson University, South Carolina, USA
  • Almost quantum theory: Classical theories with a statistical restriction, Colloquium, Physics department, University of Rochester, USA
  • Specker's Parable of the Over-protective Seer: Implications for Contextuality, Nonlocality and Complementarity, Australian Institute of Physics meeting, Melbourne, Australia
  • The status of determinism in noncontextual models of quantum theory, Perimeter Institute Australia Foundations conference, Brisbane, Australia
  • Contextuality Inequalities and Multiplexing, Colloquium at Centre for Quantum Dynamics, Griffith University, Australia
  • Specker's Parable of the Over-protective Seer: Implications for Contextuality, Nonlocality and Complementarity, Seminar at the Institute for Quantum Information Science, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
  • 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
  • Specker's Parable of the Over-protective Seer: Implications for Contextuality, Nonlocality and Complementarity, Quantum Information seminar, DAMTP, Cambridge
  • Picturing Classical and Quantum Bayesian Inference, Conference on quantum physics and logic, Oxford, UK
  • 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:18070058, Can Quantum Correlations be Explained Causally?, 2018-07-17, ISSYP 2018
  • PIRSA:18050065, Why initial system-environment correlations do not imply the failure of complete positivity: a causal perspective, 2018-05-16, Perimeter Institute Quantum Discussions
  • PIRSA:18040073, Motility of the internal-external cut as a foundational principle, 2018-04-04, Observers in Quantum and Foil Theories
  • PIRSA:18020072, PSI 2017/2018 - Foundations of Quantum Mechanics - Lecture 13, 2018-02-14, PSI 2017/2018 - Foundations of Quantum Mechanics (Spekkens, Hardy)
  • PIRSA:18020071, PSI 2017/2018 - Foundations of Quantum Mechanics - Lecture 12, 2018-02-13, PSI 2017/2018 - Foundations of Quantum Mechanics (Spekkens, Hardy)
  • PIRSA:18020070, PSI 2017/2018 - Foundations of Quantum Mechanics - Lecture 11, 2018-02-12, PSI 2017/2018 - Foundations of Quantum Mechanics (Spekkens, Hardy)
  • PIRSA:18020069, PSI 2017/2018 - Foundations of Quantum Mechanics - Lecture 10, 2018-02-09, PSI 2017/2018 - Foundations of Quantum Mechanics (Spekkens, Hardy)
  • PIRSA:18020008, Robert Spekkens: The riddle of the quantum sphinx: quantum states and category mistakes, 2018-02-07, Perimeter Public Lectures
  • PIRSA:18020065, PSI 2017/2018 - Foundations of Quantum Mechanics - Lecture 6, 2018-02-05, PSI 2017/2018 - Foundations of Quantum Mechanics (Spekkens, Hardy)
  • PIRSA:18020064, PSI 2017/2018 - Foundations of Quantum Mechanics - Lecture 5, 2018-02-02, PSI 2017/2018 - Foundations of Quantum Mechanics (Spekkens, Hardy)
  • PIRSA:18020063, PSI 2017/2018 - Foundations of Quantum Mechanics - Lecture 4, 2018-02-01, PSI 2017/2018 - Foundations of Quantum Mechanics (Spekkens, Hardy)
  • PIRSA:18010068, PSI 2017/2018 - Foundations of Quantum Mechanics - Lecture 3, 2018-01-31, PSI 2017/2018 - Foundations of Quantum Mechanics (Spekkens, Hardy)
  • PIRSA:17070035, Noncontextuality: how we should define it, why it is natural, and what to do about its failure, 2017-07-24, Contextuality: Conceptual Issues, Operational Signatures, and Applications
  • PIRSA:17070032, Welcome and Opening Remarks, 2017-07-24, Contextuality: Conceptual Issues, Operational Signatures, and Applications
  • PIRSA:16090058, Welcome, 2016-09-23, Experimental Quantum Foundations
  • PIRSA:16090056, Experimental implementation of quantum-coherent mixtures of causal relations, 2016-09-23, Experimental Quantum Foundations
  • PIRSA:16070066, Rob Spekkens ISSYP Keynote - Can Quantum Correldatins be Explained Causally, 2016-07-20, Experimental Quantum Foundations
  • PIRSA:16070014, Entanglement Theory, part 2, 2016-07-19, It from Qubit Summer School
  • PIRSA:16070008, Entanglement Theory, part 1, 2016-07-18, It from Qubit Summer School
  • PIRSA:16060060, From quantum reference frames to quantum asymmetry, 2016-06-22, Concepts and Paradoxes in a Quantum Universe
  • PIRSA:16060102, Reassessing claims of nonclassicality for quantum interference phenomena, 2016-06-16, Quantum Foundations
  • PIRSA:15060039, Cause and Effect in a Quantum World, 2015-06-22, Convergence
  • PIRSA:15050081, Nonclassicality as the failure of noncontextuality, 2015-05-12, Information Theoretic Foundations for Physics
  • PIRSA:14070026, Can Quantum Correlations be Explained Causally?, 2014-07-21, ISSYP 2014
  • PIRSA:14030085, The invasion of physics by information theory, 2014-03-26, Colloquium
  • PIRSA:14030114, Are superselection rules fundamental?, 2014-03-14, Condensed Matter
  • PIRSA:14010110, Experimental Metaphysics, 2014-01-30, PI Day 2014
  • PIRSA:13070084, Quantum Foundations - 1, On Causal Explanations of Quantum Correlations, 2013-07-26, Loops 13
  • PIRSA:13070030, Can Quantum correlations be Explained Causally?, 2013-07-15, ISSYP 2013
  • PIRSA:13050085, Constraints on generalizations of quantum theory, 2013-05-28, The Quantum Landscape 2013
  • Foundations of Quantum Mechanics Review, 2012/2013, Perimeter Scholars International, All lectures available at http://pirsa.org
  • PIRSA:12070006, Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics, 2012-07-25, ISSYP 2012
  • PIRSA:12050021, Why I Am Not a Psi-ontologist, 2012-05-08, Quantum Foundations
  • Foundations of Quantum Mechanics Review, 2011/2012, Perimeter Scholars International, All lectures available at http://pirsa.org/C12002
  • PIRSA:11110114, Formulating Quantum Theory as a Causally Neutral Theory of Bayesian Inference, 2011-11-08, Quantum Foundations
  • PIRSA:11100102, The applications of symmetry in physics, 2011-10-14, Conceptual Gems of Theoretical Physics
  • PIRSA:11100077, Researcher Presentation: Robert Spekkens, 2011-10-07, 11/12 PSI - Researcher Presentations
  • Foundations of Quantum Mechanics Review, 2010/2011, Perimeter Scholars International, All lectures available at http://pirsa.org/C10038
  • PIRSA:10120065, The status of determinism in noncontextual models of quantum theory, 2010-12-02, PIAF Workshop Brisbane
  • PIRSA:10100060, Specker's parable of the overprotective seer: Implications for Contextuality, Nonlocality and Complementarity, 2010-10-12, Quantum Foundations
  • PIRSA:10070035, The Strange Quantum - What does it mean and how can we use it?, 2010-07-20, ISSYP 2010
  • Foundations of Quantum Mechanics Review (PHYS 639), 2009/2010, Perimeter Scholars International, All lectures available at http://pirsa.org/C09040
  • 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:08080019, The Strange Quantum: What does it mean and how can we use it?, 2008-08-15, ISSYP 2008
  • PIRSA:08080096, The Strange Quantum: What does it mean and how can we use it?, 2008-08-15, ISSYP Virtual
  • 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:07080041, Operationalism, hidden variable models, and contextuality (Part 1B), 2007-08-27, Quantum Foundations Summer School
  • PIRSA:07080040, Operationalism, hidden variable models, and contextuality (Part 1A), 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, 2006-03-22, Perimeter Institute Quantum Discussions
  • 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, 2005-07-19, Quantum Information, Computation and Logic: Exploring New Connections - 2005
  • 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, 2004-10-27, Perimeter Institute Quantum Discussions
  • PIRSA:04100017, Contextuality for Preparations, Transformations, and Unsharp Measurements, Perimeter Institute Quantum Discussions
  • PIRSA:04080002, A Toy Story (Part 2), 2004-08-23, ISSYP 2004
  • PIRSA:04080001, A Toy Story, 2004-08-23, ISSYP 2004
  • PIRSA:04070002, Quantizing and Dequantizing Reference Frames, 2004-07-12, Workshop on Reference Frames and Superselection Rules in Quantum Information Theory - 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