Theory HEP Seminar

Cosmological Open Quantum Systems

Sarah Shandera

Penn State

The inflationary paradigm strongly suggests that we use a quantum open systems approach to study the evolution of the universe. I will review this argument in the context of inflation, emphasizing the features that are likely to apply to other systems involving gravity. Then, I will introduce a toy model with qubits that may help to reframe outstanding questions about cosmological evolution.