Gravity, Particles, and Information:         Celebrating Robert B. Mann's Contributions to Physics

When: December 15-17, 2025

Where: University of Waterloo, Canada

About

This conference will celebrate Robert B. Mann’s scientific career and accomplishments after officially retiring from the University of Waterloo earlier this year. This conference will also roughly coincide with Robb's 70th Birthday, with more than 35 of those years spent as a Professor at the University of Waterloo.

Over the course of his career, Mann has contributed significantly and broadly to the field of gravitational physics, often working at its intersection with quantum physics. He has pioneered approaches to black hole thermodynamics, improved our understanding of black hole solutions, explored higher-dimensional and alternative theories of gravity, developed fundamental tests of classical and quantum aspects of gravitational physics, and fathered the field of relativistic quantum information. He has been prolific in his contributions, having published over five hundred research articles and supervised more than sixty doctoral students. He served as a past-President of the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) and a former chair of the Board of Directors of the CAP Foundation, and has received multiple awards for excellence in undergraduate teaching and graduate supervision. 

To celebrate Mann’s remarkable scientific legacy, this conference will bring together researchers whose interests align with the key themes of Mann’s work, including the thermodynamic properties of black holes, modified theories of gravity, and relativistic quantum information. Given Mann’s extensive and diverse contributions to the field, the conference will serve as a natural platform to foster networking and collaboration across different generations of physicists working on problems ranging from classical gravitational theory to the interface of gravity and quantum theory. It is our intention to invite speakers who not only share a strong connection to Mann, but also bring expertise that will contribute to a lively and engaging workshop on classical and quantum aspects of gravity.

Registration:

Please fill out the following Google Form to register: Registration for RBM 70

There will be no registration fee, thanks to our Sponsors.

Invited Speakers: 

• Niayesh Afshordi, Professor, University of Waterloo and Perimeter Institute

• Ivan Booth, Professor, Memorial University

• Wilson Brenna, Calian Advanced Technologies

• Wan Cong, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Vienna

• Paulina Corona-Ugalde, Ontario Power Generation

• Jack Davis, Postdoctoral Fellow, INRIA and ENS-PSL

• Joshua Foo, Banting Fellow, University of Waterloo

• Kensuke Gallock-Yoshimura, Assistant Professor, Kyushu University

• Finnian Gray, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Vienna

• Brayden Hull, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Lethbridge

• David Kubiznak, Professor, Charles University

• Hari Kunduri, Associate Professor, McMaster University

• Robert B. Mann, Professor, University of Waterloo

• John W. Moffat, Research Associate, Perimeter Institute

• Robert C. Myers, Research Chair, Perimeter Institute

• Sergey Solodukhin, Professor, Université de Tours

• Sean Stotyn, Associate Professor, University of Calgary

• Magdalena Zych, Researcher and Wallenberg Academy Fellow, Stockholm University

Other Details

The Schedule for each of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday can be found here.

Details about accommodations and transportation can also be found on this website.

Local Organizing Committee:

Everett A. Patterson (University of Waterloo),
Fil Simovic (University of Waterloo),
Jiayue Yang (University of Waterloo),
Maria Rosa Preciado-Rivas (University of Waterloo)

Scientific Organizing Committee:

Alexander R. H. Smith (Saint Anselm College),
Erickson Tjoa (Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics),
Everett A. Patterson (University of Waterloo),
Fil Simovic (University of Waterloo),
Robie A. Hennigar (Durham University)

Sponsors

We would like to acknowledge support from the following sources:

• Faculty of Science, University of Waterloo

• Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Waterloo

• Waterloo Centre for Astrophysics

• Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

• Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Waterloo

The Organizing Committee for the Gravity, Particles, and Information Conference expects all attendees to adhere by the Code of Conduct.