28 January 2012 , 3:00pm, LPS seminar room (cancelled)
Topic: Adrian Wüthrich on locality, causality, and realism in the derivation of Bell's inequality
Readings: Please read Adrian's new paper on the topic. As background, you may want to reread his older work which appeared in BJPS.
14 January 2012 , 3:00pm, LPS seminar room
Topic: John Manchak on the relationship between spacetime singularities, holes, and extensions
Readings: Please read John's paper in advance of the meeting.
3 December 2011, 3:00pm, LPS seminar room
Topic: Jim Weatherall on theoretical equivalence
Readings: Please read his draft in preparation for the meeting.
19 November 2011, 3:00pm, LPS seminar room
Topic: Erik Curiel on connecting surface gravity and temperature for classical black holes
Readings: Please read his draft in preparation for the meeting.
12 November 2011, 3:00pm, LPS seminar room
Topic: Alexei Grinbaum on quantum observers and Kolmogorov complexity
Readings: Please read Alexei's paper in preparation for the meeting.
17 September 2011, 3:00pm, LPS seminar room
Topic: Yakir Aharonov and Jeff Tollaksen: "Can the future affect the present without violating causality?"
Readings: Please read their recent Physics Today paper in preparation for the meeting.
Abstract: We will discuss properties of pre- and post-selected ensembles in quantum mechanics and the way to observe these properties through the use of a new type of non-disturbing measurement called 'weak measurement'. A number of these new experiments have already been successfully performed.
We will also discuss another type of measurements which does not disturb the observed quantum system, called 'measurement of the set of deterministic operators'. The main result of this new approach is the realization that the basic difference between classical and quantum mechanics is the non-local aspects of quantum dynamics.
Theoretical analysis of the outcomes of these experiments have produced several very rich results. First, it has shed new light on the most puzzling features of quantum mechanics, such as interference, entanglement, etc. Secondly, it has uncovered a host of new quantum phenomena, which were previously hidden.