Organizers :
- Julian Sonner (UNIGE)
- Erik Verlinde (Amsterdam)
- Samson Shatashvili (Dublin & Stony Brook)
Abstract: this workshop will revolve around the question "what is quantum gravity?". It is designed to bring novel physical concepts and mathematical ideas to the discussion. Recent years have seen spectacular progress on old issues in quantum gravity, in particular pertaining to the unitarization of Hawking radiation. This progress has been made possible by the in ux of ideas from statistical physics, quantum information and quantum chaos into quantum gravity. As is often the case with big steps ahead, this revolution has not come without raising an entirely new set of intriguing questions and puzzles that go to the very heart of the nature of quantum gravity. Is semiclassical gravity a coarsegrained theory? If so in what sense? Is gravity a notion that only emerges once we average over ensembles of quantum systems? What is the space of consistent gravitational theories, e.g. in asymptotically AdS spaces, but also beyond? This conference will bring together a group of international experts in their various disciplines, in order to present and discuss possible answers, motivate new research avenues, and forge new collaborations.
