Ian Durham

• Member, American Physical Society (APS)
• Elected treasurer of the APS' Topical Group on Quantum Information (GQI), 2012-2014
• Founding Editor of the APS GQI publication The Quantum Times
• Fellow, Royal Astronomical Society (RAS)
• Scientific Advisory Board member, Foundational Questions Institute

These days, I work mostly at the intersection of quantum mechanics, AI, and consciousness. I am particularly interested in the interplay of consciousness with the foundations of quantum mechanics. I also study the nature of time, often where it intersects with consciousness and quantum foundations. 

I’m a founding member of the Association for Mathematical Consciousness Science (amcs.science) which is now one of the largest scientific organizations in the world dedicated to the study of consciousness and am currently leading an effort by the Foundational Questions Institute (fqxi.org) to fund research at the intersection of quantum mechanics, AI, and consciousness.

This work has led me to an interest in understanding the “black box” aspect of AI and, in particular, understanding how it differs from human neural networks. This has then further led to an interest in legal and ethical issues of AI and how AI will shape the future of humanity.

In addition to this main thrust of my research, I also have a quantum optics lab that I use both for teaching and for research into foundational questions in quantum mechanics and I have a long-standing interest in relativistic quantum information as well as the history and philosophy of physics and mathematics.

I have dabbled in many other research areas over the years from earth science to astronomy to hypersonics, some of which comes from my experience in industry. I am a veteran of five startup companies working in a wide range of disciplines from science education to meal preparation. I continue to work closely with industry in my main areas of research, in particular the AI and quantum computing communities.

One of the most rewarding things I do is teach quantum mechanics to Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns in India and elsewhere through the Science for Monks and Nuns (https://www.scienceformonksandnuns.org) program sponsored by the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamsala. Recently I was joined in this effort by Saint Anselm alumna Emma Goulet ’23.

KJ McQueen, IT Durham, MP Müller, “Quantum Superpositions of Conscious States in a Minimal Integrated Information Model”, Entropy 28 (4), 394 (2026).

L Albantakis, R Prentner, I Durham, “Computing the integrated information of a quantum mechanism”, Entropy 25 (3), 449 (2023).

I Durham, “Commentary: Teaching quantum concepts”, Physics Today 75 (1), 10-11 (2022).

I Durham, “A formal model for adaptive free choice in complex systems”, Entropy 22 (5), 568 (2019).

K Kożdoń, IT Durham, A Dragan, “Measuring acceleration using the Purcell effect”, Quantum 2, 83 (2018).

IT Durham, D Rickles (eds.), Information and Interaction: Eddington, Wheeler, and the Limits of Knowledge, Springer, Berlin, (2017).

IT Durham, “An order-theoretic quantification of contextuality”, Information 5 (3), 508-525 (2014).

M Skotiniotis, B Toloui, IT Durham, and BC Sanders, “Quantum resource theory for charge-parity-time inversion”, Physical Review A 90 (1), 012326 (2014).

M Skotiniotis, B Toloui, IT Durham, and BC Sanders, "Quantum Frameness for CPT Symmetry," Physical Review Letters, 111 (2), 020504 (2013).

• American Physical Society
• Association for Mathematical Consciousness Science
• Royal Astronomical Society

• The intersection of quantum mechanics, AI, and consciousness
• The foundations of quantum mechanics
• The nature of consciousness
• The nature of time
• The history and philosophy of physics and mathematics