Professor to give Scientia talk on ‘weird’ quantum theory

Professor to give Scientia talk on ‘weird’ quantum theory

Quantum theory
is weird. So says Paul Stevenson, the next speaker in the
Scientia series of talks.

Stevenson, professor
of physics and astronomy at Rice, will deliver the lecture “‘Impossible’ Probabilities and Quantum Reality” Nov. 14 at 4 p.m. in the Kyle Morrow Room, Fondren Library.
A wine-and-cheese reception will follow the talk.

“Quantum
theory is weird. It needs to be because reality is weird,
as many recent experiments have quantitatively demonstrated,”
Stevenson writes in the abstract of his talk. “I will
try to explain the essence of this ‘quantum weirdness’ in a completely nontechnical way. My talk is aimed at an
audience with no physics background.”

The talk will
address the notion of probability, which is central to quantum
theory, Stevenson explains in the abstract.

“However,
probabilities do not combine in ‘common sense’
manner of classical studies,” he writes. “Situations
arise where the theory predicts (and experiment confirms)
probabilities that are ‘impossible’ by ordinary
logic. This effect is sometimes referred to as ‘quantum
nonlocality,’ but I side with those who find this term
unhelpful, and I argue the real lesson is that arguments
about ‘What would have happened if …’ are
just not legitimate in the quantum world.”

A panel including
Richard Grandy, the Carolyn and Fred McManis Professor of
Philosophy, Peter Hartley, professor of economics, and Terrence
Doody, professor of English, will respond to the speaker’s
remarks. A question-and-answer session with the audience
will follow.

The topic of
the 2000-2001 Scientia Colloquia is “Taking Chances:
Risk and Randomness in Science and Society.”

Scientia is
an institute of Rice faculty founded in 1981 by mathematician
and science historian Salomon Bochner. It provides an opportunity
for scholarly discussion across disciplinary boundaries.