From the First Quantum to the Second Quantum Revolution

Join three quantum scientists at UBC at different stages of their careers as they discuss past and future quantum revolutions in their field. 

Led by Dr Anthony Ayari, senior researcher from the Light and Matter Institute at the University of Lyon, the panelists will interrogate how they respectively approach strange quantum phenomena in their day-to-day work. Topics discussed will range from experimental and instrumental aspects, applications, theory, epistemology and philosophy, and right through to the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics, before opening up the floor for discussion with the audience.

This event is open to the general public and does not require registration (but please note that our seating is limited). The discussion will be followed by a reception in the Piano Lounge, Graham House.

Co-organized with the French Embassy in Canada. 

Dr James Day is an experimental physicist and research associate with the Quantum Matter Institute. He completed his PhD from the University of Alberta in 2008, and spent his time there exploring the fundamental properties of quantum solid helium-4. He has been at UBC, in various capacities, ever since. His expertise is in low temperature physics, scanning tunneling microscopy, microwave spectroscopy, and physics education. Roughly speaking, he studies how electrons behave in exotic materials, and how students behave in first-year physics labs.

Max McGinley's group uses theoretical ideas from quantum information theory to understand the behaviour of complex many-body systems, and to develop strategies for simulating them using quantum computers. The systems we are interested in are made up of many correlated quantum degrees of freedom (e.g. electrons in a material, or atoms in a superfluid), which can exhibit a diverse range of collective phenomena that are believed to be too complex simulate on a classical computer. I seek to understand where this intrinsic complexity comes from, and to develop quantum algorithms that could allow us to probe these systems using current and future generations of quantum information processors.

Jonah Townsend is a Master’s student in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UBC. He researches theoretical condensed matter physics at the Quantum Matter Institute. Jonah completed his undergraduate at UBC with a double major in physics and computer science. During this time, he participated in research projects spanning both theory and experiment, including quantum photonics and scanning tunnelling microscopy.

Dr Anthony Ayari is a senior researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), based in the Physics Department of the University of Lyon at the Light and Matter Institute. His research explores the behaviour of matter and electrons at the atomic scale, where classical and quantum physics intersect. He earned his PhD in Physics from Université Grenoble Alpes, France, with a focus on exotic electronic states in cryogenic environments. Following his doctoral studies, Dr Ayari joined the Nanoscience Group in the Department of Physics at the University of Maryland (USA) as a research associate, where he conducted pioneering work on ultrathin transistors. In Lyon, his research on vacuum electron sources achieved record-high-temperature quantum emission and enabled the creation of highly coherent electromechanical devices, leading to multiple patents and collaboration with industrial partners. Dr Ayari serves on the scientific steering committee of the Center for Nanoscience and previously chaired the NanoElectroMechanical Systems committee at the Observatory for Micro and Nanotechnology.

Dr Ayari will be in residence at Green College for three months, beginning in early September 2026. During this time, he will be working in collaboration with Dr Alireza Nojeh, in UBC's Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute. His residency is in partnership with the French Embassy in Canada.

Header image: detail of Second Dream, from "Le Magasin Pittoresque" JJ Grandville, 1820-27, wood engraving, open access courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.