IIP News 02

news
INTERNATIONAL
INSTITUTE OF
PHYSICS
Natal,
March, 2017
Year II Number 02
QUANTUM WORLD:
NOW EVEN LESS
LOCAL
“What we found out
was that quantum
mechanics is even
odder than what we
thought”
Professor Rafael Chaves
Ref.: Science Advances 10 Aug 2016: Vol. 2, no. 8, e1600162
In a recent paper, published in
Science Advances, a team of
researchers from the University
of Queensland and the Heriot-Watt
University, in collaboration
with IIP Professor Rafael
Chaves, performed an experiment
that helped to prove that
the tension between causality
and quantum mechanics
is even more surprising than
what was imagined so far.
Quantum mechanics allows
the entanglement between
two particles, a connection so
strong that if we could entangle
two light bulbs we would
see them turn on and off in
perfect synchrony, no matter
how far they are from each
other, and even without an obvious
light switch.
Einstein called this phenomenon
spooky action at distance
and as a result of his famous
debate with Niels Bohr, proposed
that it should be a light
switch “hidden” somewhere,
which would work as a common
cause to the effect of
turning the entangled lights
on and off. This “hidden switch”
would be a kind of hidden variable
that was not described
by quantum mechanics that
therefore it would be an incomplete
theory of nature.
In the 1960´s physicist John
Bell proposed an experiment
to put an end to the debate
and showed mathematically
that quantum mechanics was
incompatible with the theory
dreamed by Einstein, a phenomenon
known as “quantum
non-locality”. The final
proof of those results came
in 2015 through a series of experiments
made in the Netherlands,
Austria and United
States.
Even odder results
The paper published in Science
Advances puts to the
test a more complex version of
Bell’s Theorem, testing a theory
in which a light bulb could
have a non-local causal effect
on another one, propagating
even faster than the speed of
light. Surprisingly the correlations
obtained in the experiment
could not be explained,
even allowing the “spooky”
model of cause and effect.
Professor Chaves (IIF-UFRN),
responsible for the theoretical
analysis in the publication,
explains that the researchers
created entangled twin photons
to achieve these results.
“What we found out was that
quantum mechanics is even
odder than what we thought.
In the paper we derived new
Bell Inequalities, which should
be respected by the theories
that allow the information to
be transmitted instantaneously
between two particles. However,
the experimental results
violated the limits imposed
by those inequalities, showing
that quantum entanglement
is even stronger than was
thought before”.

2
IIP News - Year II, number 02
The IIP has opened a call for a new post-doctoral
program for professors in Brazil. This proposal
offers a funding opportunity for physicists who
already have a position in a public educational
institution in Brazil and wish to strengthen their
academic curriculum.
In this first call the IIP is offering five research
scholarships for 2017, with a monthly payment
of R$ 4.100,00 (as a supplement to the professor’s
salary) during a one year internship, renewable
at the end of each year.
During this period the participant must take a
The meeting will be held
at the IIP and will be presided
by the IAC chairman,
Professor Itamar
Procaccia, member of
the Weizmann Institute
of Science (Israel), and
Doctor Honoris Causa by
the UFRN. The University
Rector, Professor Ângeleave
of absence from his/her institution and
join one of the IIP research groups.
Candidates who are not allowed to take a longer
leave from their institutions can decide to
take shorter internship periods with a minimum
stay of 4 to 6 months at the IIP.
Interested parties must send a copy of their
research project, CV, list of publications and
two recommendation letters. The applications
will be analyzed continuously. All documents
should be sent electronically to posdocbrasil@
iip.ufrn.br.
IIP hosts the 2017 annual
IAC meeting
Prof. David Nelson presents
colloquium at the IIP in March
The International Institute
of Physics of the
Federal University of Rio
Grande do Norte (IIP-
UFRN) is hosting from
March 20 to 21 the annual
meeting of its International
Advisory Council
(IAC).
During these two days
the academic directives
and the program
of events for 2018 will be
defined. This is also the
moment to evaluate the
results achieved during
the previous year and to
discuss the development
of new projects at the IIP.
la Paiva, will also be
present on the first day
of the meeting to welcome
the Members.
Among the subjects
that will be discussed
during the meeting,
the renowned scientists
that form the IAC
will evaluate the research
activities at the
IIP during the past year,
select the projects to
be part of the Institute’s
2018 events program
and approve prospective
candidates for collaboration
visits for the
coming year.
About the IAC
The Council is constituted
by scientists from
Brazil and abroad with
outstanding contributions
to science in different
areas of Physics, including
two Nobel Prize
Laureates.
Professor David R. Nelson,
a physicist from Harvard
and IAC member,
will present a colloquium
at the IIP on March
17, entitled “Gene Surfing
and the Survival of the
Luckiest”, when he will
discuss physics views on
the evolutionary history of
the live species. This event will be open to the scientific
community and will take place at the IIP auditorium at
03:30 p.m.
Professor Nelson will be visiting the IIP as part of the annual
IAC (International Advisory Council) meeting, that
will be held from March 20 to 21, will reunite leading scientists
that form the IAC.
Nelson’s research is in a range of theoretical problems,
focusing on attempts to gain new insights into fluids,
liquid crystals, polymers, phase transitions, glasses, superfluids,
superconductors, and biophysics problems.
The prediction of Halperin and Nelson of a fourth “hexatic”
phase of matter, interposed between the usual solid
and liquid phases, has now been confirmed in experiments
on thin films and bulk liquid crystals.
David Nelson is a recipient of the “Award for Initiatives
in Research from the National Academy of Sciences”
(1986); the “Guggenheim Fellowship” (1993-1994); the
“Harvard Ledlie Prize of Harvard University” (1995) and
the “Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize” (2004).

March, 2017 3
Interview with
Prof. Rafael Chaves
Graduated from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, and former researcher at CBPF, UFRJ (Brazil), ICFO (Spain) and
the Universities of Freiburg and Cologne, Germany, Professor Rafael Chaves started his position as a full professor at
IIP last July 2016. He will work on Quantum Information, Foundations of Quantum mechanics and Causal Inference.
In this interview he talks about his plans for the future in IIP.
IIP NEWS - Why did you choose
to study Physics?
PROF. RAFAEL CHAVES - I was
very young, around 17 years
old, and I liked computers and
technology, this was my first
choice, but then in my last year
of high school I started reading
a lot about science, in popular
science books by Carl Sagan,
Marcelo Gleiser and some other
classic books in physics, also
in biology and other areas.
I started thinking that all of that
was very interesting and maybe
I could combine my interest
in technology with science. So
it was a natural choice.
I had to choose something and
somehow my latest interest
was in science, so I thought:
‘why not this career?’ I was very
young and did not know if I
would continue doing that. So I
would say that it was very lucky
that I chose the right field for
me.
IIP NEWS - When did you start
getting interested in quantum
information?
PROF. RAFAEL CHAVES - My
first contact with quantum information
was in the second
half of my studies, during my
undergraduate, so this was
back in 2003 if I am not mistaken.
It was still a very young field
back then. Basically no one in
Brazil was working in this field,
and a professor called Reinaldo
Vianna was changing fields
and decided to move to quantum
information. He had two
scholarships for people who
wanted to learn about this new
field with him.
I liked the idea of studing this
completely new field in Brazil.
I had this scholarship for two
years, quantum error correcting
codes.
This change was also something
natural for me, because
I always liked computers and
technology, and instead of doing
the ordinary high school, I
went to a technical school in
industrial informatics, where
we basically learned to develop
and fix hardware and softwares.
Instead of doing computing
classes I was now doing
quantum computing classes.
IIP NEWS - How did you decide
to dedicate your career to
research?
PROF. RAFAEL CHAVES - This
was when I realized that science
could be really fun. Quantum
information was a very
young and interesting field. No
one knew very much about it
in Brazil. Further, it was a field
with the promise of unifying
technology and science towards
something really important.
So this was the point when
I decided to continue doing
physics and dedicate my career
to research.
IIP NEWS - How did you get to
know the IIP?
PROF. RAFAEL CHAVES - It
was in 2013, I had never heard
about the Institute before. It
was through a collaborator, that
at that time was working in
Minas Gerais, Professor Marcelo
Terra Cunha, invited me to an
event at IIP’s old building.
Before that, I had never been
in Natal, so this was my first
time here and I realized that if
I would ever come back to Brazil,
this city would be one of my
first choices, for many reasons.
First I liked the city itself, this
was on a personal side, and
from the academic point of
view, the Institute seemed like
a really rare case in Brazil, where
you can focus on research. I like
teaching, but to have this focus
on research is something very
important. I thought “If I come
back to Brazil, this place has all
I like”.
Another thing that attracted
me academically to apply for
the position here was the fact
Photo by Cyro Lucas Souza
Professor Rafael Chaves
that quantum information
is growing a lot in Brazil, but
there are still very few researchers
working on the kind of research
I’m involved. So, I liked
the idea of starting something
new here.
IIP NEWS - What are your plans
of research for the future?
PROF. RAFAEL CHAVES - I
think that the IIP has a bright
future. For me it’s a very nice
opportunity to bring quantum
information here as my own
subfield, and help develop this
area of research in the northeast
of the country.
To this goal the IIP will be very
important, since I will be able
to teach students about it, from
the very basic to the frontier
topics.
We are also organizing seminars
and scientific international
events, so I will be able to bring
the best researchers in quantum
information to exchange
their experience with local scientists.
I would also like to talk about
science to non-experts, give
open lectures to high school
students, or from their earlier
years at the University, to talk
about physics with them. Also
to develop my research here
and collaborate in new fields.

4
New IIP researchers
IIP News - Year II, number 02
A new group of post-doctoral researchers is arriving at the IIP in 2017 to work in one of its six areas
of research. Some of those physicists are already in Natal, conducting research jointly with IIP
professors and external collaborators.
SAMURAÍ BRITO
Born in Rio de Janeiro, but already living in Natal
for many years, Samurai Brito finished her master’s
and doctorate degree at the UFRN focusing
on statistical and computational physics.
Now as a member of the IIP, Dr. Brito is working
in the field of Quantum information under the
supervision of IIP’s Professor Rafael Chaves.
“This certainly is a new challenge in my career.
I am working a lot in this new project. For now I
am reviewing some famous experiments to get
to know better this field (quantum information), but I hope to make new contributions soon”.
ANDREA PRUDENZIATI
Andrea Prudenziati was born in Milan (Italy) and concluded his doctorate at SISSA, Trieste, where
he started his work in the field of String Theory. Later, Dr Prudenziati moved to Japan, to work
at the University of Kyoto. “What attracted me to the
researcher career was the opportunity to work in
different places around the world and the flexibility
that I would have to develop my work in my own time”,
says Prudenziati.
After some time in Japan he had the opportunity to
come to Brazil and joined the University of São Paulo
(USP), where he worked on String Theory and ADS/
CFT Correspondence. “I wanted to visit other centers
in Brazil when I heard about the IIP in Natal. At the
time I did not know about the post-doc position here,
but when I got the opportunity I came”. At the IIP Dr.
Prudenziati is also working on holographic description
of entanglement and is collaborating with Professors
Dmitry Melnikov and Rafael Chaves.
Post-Doctoral Positions in Quantum Information
The starting date for the positions can
be negotiated but is expected to be in
the period between May 2017 and November
2017. The post-doctoral appointments
will be for two years (extendible
to two more years depending on mutual
agreement) with a tax free monthly
salary of R$ 7.000,00 (seven thousand
Brazilian Reais).
Interested candidates should send their
CV with a list of publications,a short research
statement and at least two letters
of reference (in English) to Prof. Rafael
Chaves (rchaves@iip.ufrn.br).
The IIP-UFRN is located in the city of
Natal in the Northeast of Brazil. It is a
research institute of an international
character, focused on the theoretical
research in the modern areas of fundamental
physics.
Aiming at a leading role in the region,
the Institute supports vast exchange,
visitor and conference programs. It is
also connected to the graduate program
in physics of the UFRN, where
it assists in providing excellence in
post-graduate education in Brazil.

Next Schools & Workshops
March, 2017 5
Conferences to Come
Workshop Topological States of Matter
March 21 to April 12, 2017
Workshop Collective Spin Transport in Electrical
Insulators
April 24 to May 26, 2017
16th International Workshop on Vortex Matter
May 28 to June 03, 2017
Workshop Physics and Biology of Protein
June 12 to June 30, 2017
Workshop Quantum Devices
July 03 to August 24, 2017
Workshop Black Holes Across the Scales
July 31 to August 18, 2017
IX Brazilian Meeting on Simulational Physics
(BMSP)
August 21 to 25, 2017
Workshop Out of Equilibrium Dynamics in Soft
and Condensed Matter
August 28 to September 10, 2017
Seminars and Colloquia
March 07, 2017
Seminar On The Notion of Singular Space-Time in General Relativity and Beyond
with Prof. Gonzalo J. Olmo;
March 17, 2017
Colloquium Gene Surfing and Survival of the Luckiest
with Prof. David R. Nelson;
March 31, 2017
Seminar Quantum Certification of Many-Body Quantum Simulations
with Prof. Leandro Aolita.
Contact us at press@iip.ufrn.br to receive news about our seminars and colloquia in your email.

6
IIP News - Year II, number 02
IIP Photo Galery
IIP Events in 2016
Workshop Interference of Magnetism and Superconductivity
Colloquium with Sir Michael Berry
CIENTEC 2016
Workshop Quantum Non-Equlibrium Phenomena
Brazilian Physics Day
Brazilian Physics Day
Workshop Strings at Dunes
International School on Laser-Beam Interactions (Brazil, France, Italy)
INTERNATIONAL
INSTITUTE OF
PHYSICS
Visit our website to know more about our programs and events:
www.iip.ufrn
To see the guidelines for scientific proposals at the IIP visit:
www.iip.ufrn.br/proposalsforeventsdetail
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www.facebook.com/iipufrn
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Newsletter produced by the IIP Communication Office.
Contact us at:
+55 (84) 3342-2249 (ext. 208) / press@iip.ufrn.br.