Registration on this page is to watch the event online. To attend in-person at the Oxford Martin School, please register at:

https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/events/portals-to-a-new-reality

In his new book 'Portals to a New Reality', Prof Vlatko Vedral argues that we are on the brink of a new revolution in physics. In this talk, he will describe a number of key thought experiments that test the foundations of physics, namely the interface between quantum physics and general relativity.

Some of the thought experiments aim to test how quantum physics alters the concepts of space and time that are fundamental to understanding general relativity, while others explore how the key principle of general relativity —the so-called equivalence principle —could impact quantum physics and lead to its modification. They are all underpinned by our understanding of what quantum physics is telling us about reality and how it applies to macroscopic objects.  Our rapid development of quantum technologies has now put us within a close range of performing these experiments, and rewriting our understanding of the Universe.

Vlatko Vedral (PhD and BSc at Imperial College) is a professor of quantum information at Oxford. He has published over 400 research papers on various topics in quantum physics and quantum computing and is one of the Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers. He has given numerous invited plenary and public talks during his career. 

He was awarded the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award in 2007, the World Scientific Medal and Prize in 2009, the Marko Jaric Award in 2010 and was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Physics in 2017 and a member of the European Academy of Sciences in 2020. He is consulting the World Economic Forum on the Future of Computation. Vlatko is the author of 4 textbooks and 3 popular books, the latest one being “Portals to a New Reality” (Basic Books and Penguin 2025).

Book talk - 'Portals to a New Reality' with Prof Vlatko Vedral