Abstract

Quantum information science was initially motivated by questions about information processing. For example, what are the consequences of quantum mechanics for computation? Or for cryptography? More recently, quantum information has also become a perspective through which we can study questions in theoretical physics more broadly, including in condensed matter and quantum gravity. While quantum information considers the constraints of quantum mechanics, there are additional constraints on information implied by relativity. In particular, it is impossible to send information faster than the speed of light. In this talk, I consider constraints on information processing imposed by quantum mechanics and relativity together, and the consequences of these constraints for quantum gravity. Doing so reveals novel aspects of how gravitational degrees of freedom can be recorded into a quantum mechanical system, and how an extra dimension can be recorded into ``holographic’’ field theories.