Robert Spekkens profile picture

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

Research Faculty

Areas of research: Fondements Quantiques

(519) 569-7600 x7601

https://www.rwspekkens.com

Overview

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 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.

Teaching Affiliations
If you are interested in working with me as a PhD student, please send me an email at rspekkens@perimeterinstitute.ca. Perimeter Institute is committed to diversity within its community and I welcome applications from underrepresented groups.
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 in the quantum formalism, that is, influence from inference. 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.
Positions Held
  • Adjunct research faculty, Centre for Quantum Dynamics, Griffith University, 2010-2016
  • Junior Research Faculty, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, 2008-2015
  • Adjunct faculty, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, 2008-present
  • Royal Society International Research Fellow, University of Cambridge, 2006-2008
  • Postdoctoral Researcher, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, 2003-2006
  • Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Physics, University of Toronto, 2001-2002
Awards
  • The Itamar Pitowsky Memorial Lecture, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2017
  • Discovery Grant "Strong notions of nonclassicality: experimental signatures and applications", Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), 2017-2022
  • FQXI Essay Contest, 1st prize, FQXI, 2012
  • Paper selected by editors of NJP for IOP Select, New Journal of Physics, 2009
  • Article highlighted as an Editor's Suggestion, Physical Review Letters, 2008
  • Paper award, "Best of 2008", New Journal of Physics, 2008
  • Birkhoff-von Neumann Prize, International Quantum Structures Association, 2008
Recent Publications
  • Zhang, Y., Schmid, D., Ying, Y., & Spekkens, R. W. (2025). Reassessing the boundary between classical and nonclassical for individual quantum processes. arxiv:2503.05884v1
  • Ansanelli, M. M., Wolfe, E., & Spekkens, R. W. (2025). The Observational Partial Order of Causal Structures with Latent Variables. arxiv:2502.07891v2
  • Centeno, D., Erba, M., Schmid, D., Selby, J. H., Spekkens, R. W., Soltani, S., . . . Ying, Y. (2024). Twirled worlds: symmetry-induced failures of tomographic locality. doi:10.48550/arxiv.2407.21688
  • Daley, P., Resch, K. J., & Spekkens, R. W. (2024). Reply to "Comment on 'Experimentally adjudicating between different causal accounts of Bell-inequality violations via statistical model selection'". arxiv:2412.02829v1
  • Smith, I. D., Wolfe, E., & Spekkens, R. W. (2025). Fully quantum inflation: quantum marginal problem constraints in the service of causal inference. arxiv:2501.12320v2
  • Daley, P. J., Resch, K. J., & Spekkens, R. W. (2025). Reply to “Comment on ‘Experimentally adjudicating between different causal accounts of Bell-inequality violations via statistical model selection' ”. Physical Review A, 111(1), 016201. doi:10.1103/physreva.111.016201
  • Gonda, T., & Spekkens, R. W. (n.d.). Monotones in General Resource Theories. Compositionality, 5, 7. doi:10.32408/compositionality-5-7
  • Catani, L., Leifer, M., Schmid, D., & Spekkens, R. W. (n.d.). Why interference phenomena do not capture the essence of quantum theory. Quantum, 7, 1119. doi:10.22331/q-2023-09-25-1119
  • Schmid, D., Fraser, T. C., Kunjwal, R., Sainz, A. B., Wolfe, E., & Spekkens, R. W. (n.d.). Understanding the interplay of entanglement and nonlocality: motivating and developing a new branch of entanglement theory. Quantum, 7, 1194. doi:10.22331/q-2023-12-04-1194
  • Schmid, D., Selby, J. H., & Spekkens, R. W. (2024). Addressing some common objections to generalized noncontextuality. Physical Review A, 109(2), 022228. doi:10.1103/physreva.109.022228
  • Schmid, D., Selby, J. H., Pusey, M. F., & Spekkens, R. W. (n.d.). A structure theorem for generalized-noncontextual ontological models. Quantum, 8, 1283. doi:10.22331/q-2024-03-14-1283
  • Ying, Y., Gonda, T., & Spekkens, R. (2024). Conceptual and formal groundwork for the study of resource dependence relations. arxiv:2407.00164v2
  • Ansanelli, M. M., Wolfe, E., & Spekkens, R. W. (2024). Everything that can be learned about a causal structure with latent variables by observational and interventional probing schemes. doi:10.48550/arxiv.2407.01686
  • Schmid, D., Baldijão, R. D., Selby, J. H., Sainz, A. B., & Spekkens, R. W. (2024). Noncontextuality inequalities for prepare-transform-measure scenarios. doi:10.48550/arxiv.2407.09624
  • Polino, E., Poderini, D., Rodari, G., Agresti, I., Suprano, A., Carvacho, G., . . . Sciarrino, F. (n.d.). Experimental nonclassicality in a causal network without assuming freedom of choice. Nature Communications, 14(1), 909. doi:10.1038/s41467-023-36428-w
  • Catani, L., Leifer, M., Schmid, D., & Spekkens, R. W. (2022). Reply to "Comment on 'Why interference phenomena do not capture the essence of quantum theory' ". doi:10.48550/arxiv.2207.11791
  • Catani, L., Leifer, M., Scala, G., Schmid, D., & Spekkens, R. W. (2022). What is Nonclassical about Uncertainty Relations?. Physical Review Letters, 129(24), 240401. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.129.240401
  • Daley, P. J., Resch, K. J., & Spekkens, R. W. (2022). Experimentally adjudicating between different causal accounts of Bell-inequality violations via statistical model selection. Physical Review A, 105(4), 042220. doi:10.1103/physreva.105.042220
  • Grabowecky, M. J., Pollack, C. A. J., Cameron, A. R., Spekkens, R. W., & Resch, K. J. (2022). Experimentally bounding deviations from quantum theory for a photonic three-level system using theory-agnostic tomography. Physical Review A, 105(3), 032204. doi:10.1103/physreva.105.032204
  • Schmid, D., Selby, J. H., & Spekkens, R. W. (2023). Addressing some common objections to generalized noncontextuality. doi:10.48550/arxiv.2302.07282
  • Selby, J. H., Schmid, D., Wolfe, E., Sainz, A. B., Kunjwal, R., & Spekkens, R. W. (2023). Contextuality without Incompatibility. Physical Review Letters, 130(23), 230201. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.130.230201
  • Selby, J. H., Schmid, D., Wolfe, E., Sainz, A. B., Kunjwal, R., & Spekkens, R. W. (2023). Accessible fragments of generalized probabilistic theories, cone equivalence, and applications to witnessing nonclassicality. Physical Review A, 107(6), 062203. doi:10.1103/physreva.107.062203
  • Suprano, A., Polino, E., Poderini, D., Rodari, G., Agresti, I., Milani, G., . . . Sciarrino, F. (n.d.). Nonlocality detection in photonic triangle networks. In CLEO 2023 (pp. ff3a.2). Optica Publishing Group. doi:10.1364/cleo_fs.2023.ff3a.2
  • Catani, L., Leifer, M., Scala, G., Schmid, D., & Spekkens, R. W. (2023). Aspects of the phenomenology of interference that are genuinely nonclassical. Physical Review A, 108(2), 022207. doi:10.1103/physreva.108.022207
Seminars
  • Lecture - Causal Inference, PHYS 777, Causal Inference (Elective), PHYS 777, March 31 - May 2, 2025, 2025/04/15, PIRSA:25040042
  • Lecture - Causal Inference, PHYS 777, Causal Inference (Elective), PHYS 777, March 31 - May 2, 2025, 2025/04/14, PIRSA:25030003
  • Lecture - Causal Inference, PHYS 777, Causal Inference (Elective), PHYS 777, March 31 - May 2, 2025, 2025/04/11, PIRSA:25040040
  • Causal Inference Meets Quantum Physics, Theory + AI Workshop: Theoretical Physics for AI, 2025/04/09, PIRSA:25040086
  • Lecture - Causal Inference, PHYS 777, Causal Inference (Elective), PHYS 777, March 31 - May 2, 2025, 2025/04/08, PIRSA:25040039
  • Lecture - Causal Inference, PHYS 777, Causal Inference (Elective), PHYS 777, March 31 - May 2, 2025, 2025/04/07, PIRSA:25040038
  • Lecture - Causal Inference, PHYS 777, Causal Inference (Elective), PHYS 777, March 31 - May 2, 2025, 2025/04/04, PIRSA:25040037
  • Lecture - Causal Inference, PHYS 777, Causal Inference (Elective), PHYS 777, March 31 - May 2, 2025, 2025/04/01, PIRSA:25040036
  • Tutorial: Causal Inference Meets Quantum Physics, Causalworlds, 2024/09/16, PIRSA:24090083
  • Causal Inference, Conference Board of Canada meeting., Myant X, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2024/05/29
  • Quantum-inspired causal inference, Quantum Days, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada, 2024/02/23
  • Quantum-inspired causal inference, Perimeter-MILA-iVADO: Quantum and AI workshop, 2023/11/29
  • Quantum Foundations meets Causal Inference, ICTQT, University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland, 2023/05/31
  • Unscrambling the omelette of causation and inference in quantum theory, New Directions in the Foundations of Physics, Viterbo, Italy, 2023/05/27
  • Tutorial 1, Causal Inference & Quantum Foundations Workshop, 2023/04/17, PIRSA:23040103
  • Causal Inference Lecture - 230412, Causal Inference: Classical and Quantum, 2023/04/12, PIRSA:23040003
  • Causal Inference Lecture - 230405, Causal Inference: Classical and Quantum, 2023/04/05, PIRSA:23040001
  • Causal Inference Lecture - 230403, Causal Inference: Classical and Quantum, 2023/04/03, PIRSA:23040000
  • Causal Inference Lecture - 230322, Causal Inference: Classical and Quantum, 2023/03/22, PIRSA:23030074
  • Causal Inference Lecture - 230320, Causal Inference: Classical and Quantum, 2023/03/20, PIRSA:23030073
  • Causal Inference Lecture - 230315, Causal Inference: Classical and Quantum, 2023/03/15, PIRSA:23030072
  • Causal Inference Lecture - 230313, Causal Inference: Classical and Quantum, 2023/03/13, PIRSA:23030071
  • Causal Inference Lecture - 230308, Causal Inference: Classical and Quantum, 2023/03/08, PIRSA:23030070
  • Causal Inference Lecture - 230306, Causal Inference: Classical and Quantum, 2023/03/06, PIRSA:23030069
  • Quantum Foundations Meets Causal Inference, Duke University, Durham, United States, 2022/11/02
  • Tips for giving a great talk, , 2022/10/17, PIRSA:22100109