Latest from KITP
KITP Announces Research Programs for 2027-2028
Working with KITP's Advisory Board and the international physics community, KITP has developed new programs for the 2027-2028 academic year.
Applications are now open for participation in all programs.
View upcoming 2027-2028 programs and apply at https://www.kitp.ucsb.edu/scientific-activities/visit/future-programs.
Annual Report 2025
Established in 1979 with an originating grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), KITP is a facility for the theoretical physics community. Our major activities are programs and conferences, which convene more than 1,400 visitors at KITP for both prolonged stays (usually three weeks or longer) and four-day conferences. The institute also benefits from international participation, as over 40% of visitors come from outside the United States. KITP’s mission is to be “the place” where new research is initiated, collaborations are formed and new connections are made across disciplines. High demand keeps our facilities full 50 weeks out of the year!
Talks Schedule
KAVLI INSTITUTE FOR THEORETICAL PHYSICS
TELEPHONE: (805) 893-4111
TELEFAX: (805) 893-2431
speakers@kitp.ucsb.edu
TELEFAX: (805) 893-2431
speakers@kitp.ucsb.edu
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
SANTA BARBARA, CA 93106-4030
http://www.kitp.ucsb.edu
SANTA BARBARA, CA 93106-4030
http://www.kitp.ucsb.edu
KITP Program of Scientific Activities
Day of Oct 20, 2026
Day of Oct 20, 2026
2026
Tuesday, Oct 20, 2026
-
Fred Kavli Auditorium
10:00AM Intermediate-Scale AI for Physics
- Lance Dixon (SLAC/Stanford), Julie Pagès (SLAC) The 9-loop 6-gluon MHV amplitude
- Hirosi Ooguri (Caltech) Positive eigenvalues of the relative SU(2) BFSS Hamiltonian
- Clay Córdova (U. Chicago) Scale vs conformal invariance
-
Fred Kavli Auditorium
01:30PM Intermediate-Scale AI for Physics
- Boris Alexeev (OpenAI) Verification in mathematics and physics (discussion)
-
Simons Amphitheater
02:00PM Engineering Fractionalization in Quantum Many-Body Systems: From New Quantum Materials to Quantum Simulators
- Biao Lian (Princeton) Quantum Breakdown Model: from Disorder-free Glass to SPT
-
Fred Kavli Auditorium
03:30PM Intermediate-Scale AI for Physics
- Sirui Lu (MPQ) Bridging Gaps with Tensor Networks: The Haldane Gap Proof and Beyond
- Zohar Komargodski (SCGP), Maissam Barkeshli (Maryland), Ven Chandrasekaran (OpenAI) Humans in the loop (discussion)
-
Simons Amphitheater
03:30PM Physics Colloquium
- Chenhao Jin (UCSB) “Shining Light on Quantum Phenomena in Real-World Materials”
-
Simons Amphitheater
10:00AM Intermediate-Scale AI for Physics
- Nathaniel Craig (UCSB), Xiaoliang Qi (Stanford), Daniel Roberts (OpenAI), Eva Silverstein (Stanford) Welcome & Introductions
- Surya Ganguli (Stanford) AI, Math and Physics: the State of Play
-
Fred Kavli Auditorium
01:30PM Intermediate-Scale AI for Physics
- Michael Douglas (Harvard), Luca Iliesiu (UC Berkeley), Matthew Schwartz (Harvard), Thomas Hartman (Stanford), Patrick Hayden (Stanford) The AI math/physics gap? (panel)
-
Simons Amphitheater
02:30PM Engineering Fractionalization in Quantum Many-Body Systems: From New Quantum Materials to Quantum Simulators
- Sarang Gopalakrishnan (Princeton) Long-lived local quantum coherences at high temperature
-
Fred Kavli Auditorium
03:30PM Intermediate-Scale AI for Physics
- Christian Bauer (LBNL), Adam Brown (Google DeepMind), Ethan Dyer (Anthropic), Jeongwan Haah (Stanford), Juan Maldacena (IAS), Daniel Roberts (OpenAI), Subir Sachdev (Harvard), Clifford Johnson (UCSB), Vedika Khemani (Stanford) The theoretical physics / frontier lab interface (discussion)
-
Fred Kavli Auditorium
10:00AM Intermediate-Scale AI for Physics
- Lance Dixon (SLAC/Stanford), Julie Pagès (SLAC) The 9-loop 6-gluon MHV amplitude
- Hirosi Ooguri (Caltech) Positive eigenvalues of the relative SU(2) BFSS Hamiltonian
- Clay Córdova (U. Chicago) Scale vs conformal invariance
-
Fred Kavli Auditorium
01:30PM Intermediate-Scale AI for Physics
- Boris Alexeev (OpenAI) Verification in mathematics and physics (discussion)
-
Simons Amphitheater
02:00PM Engineering Fractionalization in Quantum Many-Body Systems: From New Quantum Materials to Quantum Simulators
- Biao Lian (Princeton) Quantum Breakdown Model: from Disorder-free Glass to SPT
-
Fred Kavli Auditorium
03:30PM Intermediate-Scale AI for Physics
- Sirui Lu (MPQ) Bridging Gaps with Tensor Networks: The Haldane Gap Proof and Beyond
- Zohar Komargodski (SCGP), Maissam Barkeshli (Maryland), Ven Chandrasekaran (OpenAI) Humans in the loop (discussion)
-
Simons Amphitheater
03:30PM Physics Colloquium
- Chenhao Jin (UCSB) “Shining Light on Quantum Phenomena in Real-World Materials”
-
Fred Kavli Auditorium
10:00AM Intermediate-Scale AI for Physics
- David Tong (Cambridge), Daniel Green (UCSD), Dam Son (U. Chicago), Clifford Johnson (UCSB) Academics-only session (discussion)
-
Fred Kavli Auditorium
01:30PM Intermediate-Scale AI for Physics
- Daniel Green (UCSD), Surya Ganguli (Stanford), Gordon Watts (Washington), Andreas Kronfeld (Fermilab) AI at the interface with data (panel)
-
Simons Amphitheater
02:30PM Engineering Fractionalization in Quantum Many-Body Systems: From New Quantum Materials to Quantum Simulators
- Carolyn Zhang (Harvard) TBD
-
Fred Kavli Auditorium
03:30PM Intermediate-Scale AI for Physics
- Juan Maldacena (IAS), Paul Ginsparg (Cornell), Leon Balents (UCSB) How will research communication look in the AI era? (panel)
-
Fred Kavli Auditorium
10:00AM Intermediate-Scale AI for Physics
- Cenke Xu (UCSB), Marina Krstic Marinkovic (ETH Zurich) Formulating frameworks based on observed phenomena
-
Simons Amphitheater
11:00AM Engineering Fractionalization in Quantum Many-Body Systems: From New Quantum Materials to Quantum Simulators
- Yan Qi Wang (Maryland) Defects as Probes: From Chiral Topological Phases to Higher-Charge Superconductivity
-
Fred Kavli Auditorium
01:30PM Intermediate-Scale AI for Physics
- David Tong (Cambridge), Clifford Johnson (UCSB) Academics-only session (discussion)
-
Simons Amphitheater
02:15PM High Energy Theory / Gravitation Seminar
- Jacqueline Caminiti (Perimeter Inst) Inner Horizon Saddles and a Spectral KSW Criterion
-
Fred Kavli Auditorium
10:00AM Intermediate-Scale AI for Physics
- Program participants () Theoretical physics / frontier lab interface: takeaway messages (discussion)
-
Simons Amphitheater
10:00AM Ultracold Molecules for Fundamental Physics, Controlled Chemistry, and Quantum Information
- Simon Cornish (Durham Univ.) 1, 2, 3, 4, 8 - Quantum Science using the Rich Internal Structure of Ultracold Molecules
-
Fred Kavli Auditorium
11:00AM Enigmatic Explosions: Observations, Modelling, and Microphysics of Extreme Transients
- Philipp Moesta (Univ. of Amsterdam), Francois Foucart (UNH), Raffaella Margutti (UC Berkeley), Rebecca Surman (Notre Dame) Welcome to the program
-
Simons Amphitheater
01:00PM Ultracold Molecules for Fundamental Physics, Controlled Chemistry, and Quantum Information
- Paul Julienne (Maryland) Forty years of progress with cold molecules
-
Simons Amphitheater
10:00AM Ultracold Molecules for Fundamental Physics, Controlled Chemistry, and Quantum Information
- Jun Ye (CU Boulder) Quantum gas of molecules – play spin games without chemistry drama
-
Fred Kavli Auditorium
11:00AM Enigmatic Explosions: Observations, Modelling, and Microphysics of Extreme Transients
- Itai Sfaradi (UC Berkeley), Jean Somalwar (Caltech) What's new in Radio
- Ryan Chornock (UC Berkeley) The new era of UVEX
-
Founders' Room
11:00AM Enigmatic Explosions: Observations, Modelling, and Microphysics of Extreme Transients
- Luc Dessart (IAP-UPMC), Daniel Kasen (UC Berkeley) Modelling kilonovae and supernovae
-
Simons Amphitheater
01:00PM Ultracold Molecules for Fundamental Physics, Controlled Chemistry, and Quantum Information
- Marianna Safronova (Delaware) Atomic theory in the 21st century: breakthrough advances and neural networks
-
Simons Amphitheater
10:00AM Ultracold Molecules for Fundamental Physics, Controlled Chemistry, and Quantum Information
- Steven Hoekstra (Univ. of Groningen) Testing fundamental symmetries using barium-containing diatomic and polyatomic molecules
KAVLI INSTITUTE FOR THEORETICAL PHYSICS
TELEPHONE: (805) 893-4111
TELEFAX: (805) 893-2431
speakers@kitp.ucsb.edu
TELEFAX: (805) 893-2431
speakers@kitp.ucsb.edu
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
SANTA BARBARA, CA 93106-4030
http://www.kitp.ucsb.edu
SANTA BARBARA, CA 93106-4030
http://www.kitp.ucsb.edu
KITP Program of Scientific Activities
Week of Oct 19 - Oct 25, 2026
Week of Oct 19 - Oct 25, 2026
2026
Monday, Oct 19, 2026
2026
Tuesday, Oct 20, 2026
2026
Wednesday, Oct 21, 2026
2026
Thursday, Oct 22, 2026
2026
Friday, Oct 23, 2026
2026
Saturday, Oct 24, 2026
No talks scheduled.
2026
Sunday, Oct 25, 2026
No talks scheduled.
KAVLI INSTITUTE FOR THEORETICAL PHYSICS
TELEPHONE: (805) 893-4111
TELEFAX: (805) 893-2431
speakers@kitp.ucsb.edu
TELEFAX: (805) 893-2431
speakers@kitp.ucsb.edu
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
SANTA BARBARA, CA 93106-4030
http://www.kitp.ucsb.edu
SANTA BARBARA, CA 93106-4030
http://www.kitp.ucsb.edu
KITP Program of Scientific Activities
Week of Oct 26 - Nov 01, 2026
Week of Oct 26 - Nov 01, 2026
2026
Monday, Oct 26, 2026
2026
Tuesday, Oct 27, 2026
2026
Wednesday, Oct 28, 2026
2026
Thursday, Oct 29, 2026
2026
Friday, Oct 30, 2026
2026
Saturday, Oct 31, 2026
No talks scheduled.
2026
Sunday, Nov 01, 2026
No talks scheduled.
KAVLI INSTITUTE FOR THEORETICAL PHYSICS
TELEPHONE: (805) 893-4111
TELEFAX: (805) 893-2431
speakers@kitp.ucsb.edu
TELEFAX: (805) 893-2431
speakers@kitp.ucsb.edu
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
SANTA BARBARA, CA 93106-4030
http://www.kitp.ucsb.edu
SANTA BARBARA, CA 93106-4030
http://www.kitp.ucsb.edu
KITP Program of Scientific Activities
Month of October, 2026
Month of October, 2026
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
| 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
Exploring New Frontiers
