back Фізичні семінари по інтернету

Доповіді відомих фізиків з усього світу

November 12 (Thursday) 2015

18:30

Download a poster for this seminar

Watch video recording of the seminar posted by the American Physical Society

Mikhail Katsnelson

University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands

The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Quantum Theory: Logical Inference Approach

We propose a purely phenomenological way to build the quantum theory as the most robust description of reproducible experiments and have shown that this may be done independently of any assumptions on underlying onthology, based purely on logical inference approach and a minimal amount of additional physical postulates, such as applicability of Hamilton-Jacoby equations at the average [1]. We analyse basic experiments of quantum physics, such as Stern - Gerlach or Einstein - Podolsky - Rosen - Bohm experiments, without any preassumptions on wave function and Born rule. We derive nonrelativistic Schrödinger equation and Pauli equation for a particle with a spin [2]. In a sense, our approach is a formalization of a well-known quasi-philosophical motto, “quantum theory describes our knowledge of atomic world rather than the atomic world itself” which can be now analyzed by conventional powerful tools of mathematical physics.

[1] H. De Raedt, M. I. Katsnelson, and K. Michielsen, Quantum theory as the most robust description of reproducible experiments Ann. Phys. (N.Y.) 347, 47 (2014).

[2] H. De Raedt, M. I. Katsnelson, H. C. Donker, and K. Michielsen, Quantum theory as a description of robust experiments: Derivation of the Pauli equation Ann. Phys. (N.Y.) 359, 166 (2015).

About the speaker

Mikhail Katsnelson is a recipient of many prestigious awards, including the Spinoza Prize (highest scientific award in the Netherlands), and is well known for his pioneering theoretical work on graphene. His contributions to several other areas of physics are as impressive. Read more