Computing Resources

Below is basic information for the three computing lab courses. Each of these will be held in one of Bard's computing labs and all the software you need will be installed before you arrive at the school. However, you are welcome, and even encouraged, to work on your own laptop computer.

Except for Mathematica, all the software used in the computing labs is free and available online. Brief instructions explaining how to access and begin the installation process for this software is included for Labs B & C in their respective sections. Bard has a site license for Mathematica that you will be able to use in the campus computer labs.

All three lab sections have a Lab 0 that you can download here and use to check your installations and/or become familiar with the basics of the computing language leading up to the school. If you are in Lab A and do not already have access to Mathematica, you can wait until you arrive at Bard to do Lab 0; this is not a problem.

Lab A: Numerical Methods in LQG with Pietro Doná—Albee (ALB) 100
If you have access to Mathematica install it. If not, you can use the computers at Bard.

Lab B: Tensor Network Renormalization with Sebastian Steinhaus—Henderson (HDR) 106

Lab C: The Cosmic Microwave Background with Boris Bolliet—Reem-Kayden Center (RKC) 100

Videos

The Story of Loop Quantum Gravity - From the Big Bounce to Black Holes

A video by Phil and Monica Halper (May 2019)

What happens at the centre black holes? What happened before the big bang? A quantum theory of gravity is needed to answer these questions . Many of the leading scientists who developed Loop Quantum Gravity, one of the most promising attempts, tell the story of how it was developed in this film. We also go on to explore how the theory may be tested via observations of black holes or probing the very early universe. We interview Abhay Ashtekar, Aurélien Barrau, Sir Roger Penrose, Lee Smolin, Carlo Rovelli, and Francesca Vidotto. The film tackles some of the biggest questions of existence.

After the school, we will post videos of the shool lectures here according to the approval of the lecturer.