From laws to limits: Thermodynamic constraints on quantum correlations

In a nutshell, the project aims to explain the maximum strength of correlations in nature. In quantum physics, the strongest correlations defy classical notions of cause and effect. Yet, they could be even stronger while still respecting relativity. It is not well understood why such superquantum correlations are impossible. To provide an answer, we will take the laws of thermodynamics as fundamental principles, which any physical correlations must respect. This turns the usual understanding of thermodynamics on its head, taking it not as an effective theory arising out of quantum mechanics, but instead as fundamental, constraining quantum physics. Understanding the thermodynamic limits to correlations will provide novel insight into the foundations of quantum mechanics and thermodynamics. Recovering quantum correlations exactly would solve a 100-year-old open question in the foundations of physics.