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Time: 7. February 2025, 11:00h
Place: Faculty of Physics, room 661
Speaker: Igor Salom
Title: Mesaurement problem in quantum mechanics and the hard problem of consciousness
Abstract:
The topic of the lecture is understanding quantum mechanics, or rather, examining its deepest problem - the "measurement problem". For this reason, we will first carefully examine the so-called "Wigner's friend paradox" - a thought experiment that most profoundly illustrates the famous measurement problem and at the same time represents perhaps the only (potential) quantum-mechanical experiment for which there is no scientific consensus on what the expected outcome is.
Then we will point out the existence of a mapping between interpretations of quantum mechanics and views on the problem of consciousness (and establish a specific "dictionary" between the "hard problem" of consciousness and the "measurement problem" of quantum mechanics). Then we will consider what possibilities quantum mechanics offers to avoid the "hard problem" of consciousness that was the topic of the previous lecture, and argue that this also contains a possible solution to the Wigner's friend paradox. As we shall see, these simultaneous solutions to both major problems of modern science ("hard problem" and "measurement problem") require abandoning the paradigm of materialism, which is still prevalent in the wider scientific community.
Time: 29. January 2025, 13:00h
Place: Faculty of Physics, room 665
Speaker: Maria Del Pilar Garcia Del Moral Zabala
Title: Higher form symmetries of the M2-brane
Abstract:
In this talk I will describe the existence of invertible Higher form symmetries on the M2-brane. I will explain the cancellation of the 't Hooft anomaly and how in the cases of compactified spaces this is related to the existence of a 1-Gerbe structure over the M2-brane that when projected on the spatial part of the worldvolume represents a flux condition. Interestingly, the major part of the sectors of the M2-brane that have been found with good quantum properties are associated to the imposition of a worldvolume flux condition. I will also comment briefly on the extension of these symmetries to the non-invertible case.
Seminars for the year:
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
Follow our seminars online via: GPF BigBlueButton server
