March 2005
Leading experts weigh-in on the interpretation of quantum theory: Lectures available on-line
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, in conjunction with the University of Waterloo, is offering a technical but pedagogical lecture series on the problems associated with developing a consistent understanding of the nature of objective reality in light of quantum theory.
The series is called "The Interpretations of Quantum Theory: Current Status and Future Directions" and includes invited lectures from leading theoretical and experimental physicists, including Anton Zeilinger (University of Vienna), Alain Aspect (Universit� de Paris, Orsay), Robert Griffiths (Carnegie Mellon), and several prominent Perimeter Institute scientists including Long Term Researcher Lucien Hardy.
Individual lectures are viewable via the PI website at http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/. The course began with introductory lectures on The Structure of Quantum Theory and Basic Problems of Interpretation, and these have been followed with lectures covering the best known proposals for resolving the paradoxes of quantum reality. The proposals covered include the Many Worlds Interpretation, the deBroglie-Bohm Causal Interpretation, the Statistical Interpretation, and Spontaneous Collapse Models. Leading experimentalists have provided lectures on the up-to-date experimental evidence confirming these paradoxical features of the quantum world, such as quantum non-locality (demonstrated violation of Bell's locality theorem), and the recent demonstration of wave-particle duality for macro-molecules.
The lecture series is coordinated by Perimeter Institute researchers Joseph Emerson and Raymond Laflamme and is being offered as a survey course for advanced undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Waterloo. The lectures continue until April of 2005 with notes and video recordings for new lectures added on-line as they become available. For more information about this series contact Joseph Emerson at [email protected].
Perimeter Institute is an independent research institute devoted to foundational issues in theoretical physics. The award winning facility is located just outside Toronto, Canada at 31 Caroline Street North, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 2Y5. For more information, call (519) 569-7600 ext. 7501 (initial contact via email is preferred).