EQuaLS

HISHAMUDDIN ZAINUDDIN
INSTITUTE FOR MATHEMATICAL RESEARCH
PHYSICS DEPARTMENT, FACULTY OF SCIENCE, UNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA

Fig. 1: EQuaLS 1 line-up (from left to right): B.A. Tay, M. Sieber, L. Takhtajan, S.T. Ali, A. Vourdas, K. Zyczkowski, L.P. Teo & H. Zainuddin.

EQuaLS is the acronym for the "Expository Quantum Lecture Series", a lecture series hosted by the Institute for Mathematical Research (INSPEM) at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). A primary objective of the lecture series is to expose and update researchers and students, especially those from Malaysia, with the latest developments in quantum sciences, mathematical physics and other related areas. These lecture series were grown out of a preexisting lecture series organized by a loose grouping of local theorists and colleagues from Malaysia and abroad. With EQuaLS, the lecture series has since become a successful, regular event at INSPEM, UPM. The first EQuaLS event was held on November 2007, and the subsequent events were held almost annually. The list of events organized were as follows:

• EQuaLS1: Geometry, Number Theory & Quantum Physics 2007, 5-9 November 2007
• EQuaLS2: Foundations of Quantum Science & Technology 2008, 24-28 November 2008
• EQuaLS3: Quantum Information Science 2009, 9-13 November 2009
• EQuaLS4: Cosmology, Gravitation & High Energy Physics 2010, 28 June-1 July 2010
• EQuaLS5: Geometry, Topology & Physics 2012, 9-13 January 2012
• EQuaLS6 was double billed as a workshop section in the 6th Asia-Pacific Conference & Workshop
in Quantum Information Science, 3-7 December 2012
• EQuaLS7 (renamed EQuaLS 2013): Complex Systems 2013, 22-24 November 2013

The invited speakers at EQuaLS are specifically selected from internationally renowned experts in their respective research fields and include S.T. Ali (Concordia University, Montreal), K. Zyczkowski (Jagiellonian University, Krakow), L. Takhtajan (State University of New York at Stony Brook), Paul Busch (University of York), Bob Coecke (University of Oxford), Andreas Doering (Imperial College, London), Karl Svozil (Technical University at Wien, Vienna), Berthold Georg Englert (Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore), Leong Chuan Kwek (Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University), M. Suhail Zubairy (Institute for Quantum Studies, Texas A&M University), Sigbjorn Hervik (University of Stavanger, Norway), Jiro Soda (Kyoto University), John Baez (University of California at Riverside), Mathai Varghese (Institute for Geometry & its Applications, University of Adelaide), Mason Porter (University of Oxford), and many others.

Fig. 2: (A) EQuaLS5 group photo with F. Stroemberg, J. Baez, D.N. Diep (front), S.T. Ali (middle, rightmost) & Mathai Varghese (back, rghtmost); (B) EQuaLS6 as part of the 6th Asia-Pacific Conference & Workshop in Quantum Information Science; (C) EQuaLS7 group photo, front row (from left to right): H. Shima (4th), Richard Sear (6th) & Mason Porter (7th); (D) Bob Coecke, Hishamuddin Zainuddin & Robert Spekkens at EQuaLS6; (E) Mathai Varghese at EQuaLS5; (F) Takayuki Miyadera and wife with Bob Coecke at EQuaLS2; (G) L.C. Kwek at EQuaLS3; (H) Thomas Durt and Stefan Weigert at EQuaLS2: (I) Karol Zyczkowski at EQuaLS1.

EQuaLS has since proven to be successful in helping the local community of theoretical physicists as well as physicists from regional countries to grow and be acquainted internationally through networking with the invited international experts and participants. Some students have gone on to pursue further degrees in science, either locally or abroad. Several students have also received further training under these experts, strengthening the ties that they have established during the lecture series. Overall, these lecture series has also helped promote regional cooperation in various ways. Future EQuaLS activities are currently being planned with invaluable advice from S. Twareque Ali and Leong Chuan Kwek. We provide some photographs that were taken from past EQuaLS events.

Hishamuddin Zainuddin is a member of the theoretical physics group at the Department of Physics, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) since December 1990. He is also a fellow of the Malaysian Institute of Physics (IFM), a member of the Malaysian Society of Solid State Science and Technology (MASS) and a member of the Malaysian Society for Mathematical Sciences. Currently, he is the deputy director of the Institute for Mathematical Research, UPM.