EMERGENCE AT ALL SCALES - KICKOFF MEETING
27th of October 2025 | @Tolhuistuin (room Zonzij), IJpromenade 2, 1031 KT Amsterdam, Netherlands
KICK OFF MEETING
T​he NWA ORC Consortium Emergence at all Scales invites all associated members for a community building event with expert talks, status updates on the various work packages and societal initiatives, ending with a fun evening in a Science and Cocktails event with Neil Turok - a world-leading cosmologist who was Professor of Physics at Princeton, Chair of Mathematical Physics at Cambridge, Director of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Canada and is now the Higgs Chair of Theoretical Physics in Edinburgh.
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Programme:
12:00 - 12:45: Lunch
12:45 - 13:00: Opening remarks
13:00 - 14:00: Neil Turok on a simpler theory of the universe
14:00 - 14:15: Coffee break
14:15 - 14:30: Status update on WP7 - festivals and calls
14:30 - 14:45: Status update on WP1 - origin of spacetime symmetries
14:45 - 15:00: Status update on WP2 - emergence of hydrodynamics
15:00 - 15:15: Coffee break
15:15 - 15:30: Status update on WP3 - quantum matter
15:30 - 16:30: Hermann Schulz-Baldes on numerical K-theory
16:30 - 16:45: Coffee break
16:45 - 17:00: Status update on WP4 - collective behaviour
17:00 - 17:15: Status update on WP5 - gravity and dark structure
17:15 - 17:30: Status update on WP6 - cosmic structures
17:30 - 17:45: Status update on WP7 - PAL programme
17:45 - 18:00: Closing remarks
19:00 - 22:30: Science and Cocktails with Neil Turok
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Location: Tolhuistuin (room Zonzij), IJpromenade 2, 1031 KT Amsterdam, Netherlands
External speakers
Neil Turok
(U. Edinburgh)
Hermann Schulz-Baldes
(Friedrich-Alexander-UniversitätErlangen-Nürnberg)
Abstract (Neil Turok): A simpler theory of the universe
I’ll outline a simpler and more minimal approach to the basic physics of the universe. Inspired by the success of the Standard Model and LCDM, we attempt to identify the principles which unify them. A key assumption is that the universe respects CPT symmetry. This provides a boundary condition at the bang, allowing us to calculate the gravitational entropy of realistic cosmologies. Flat, homogeneous and isotropic cosmologies predominate so an early inflationary phase is not required. CPT symmetry also suggests a new resolution of the puzzles associated with black holes. Motivated by observations of the large-scale perturbations, we introduce dimensionless (4-derivative) scalar fields. We find these can cancel all stress-energy divergences and Weyl anomalies in the Standard Model. They also suggest a new solution to the gauge hierarchy puzzle.
Abstract (Hermann Schulz-Baldes): The spectral localizer as a tool for numerical K-theory
Initially introduced for the computation of invariants of topological insulators, the spectral localizer has by now become a universal numerical and theoretical way to access noncommutative topological invariants. The talk gives an overview of recent progress.
Registration
Registration is required before October 20th, please register here.
Organisers
Jácome (Jay) Armas
(University of Amsterdam)
Mark Golden
(University of Amsterdam)
