Date: 27th November 2024 Time: 9:00 AM Venue: Sala Consiglio, VII Floor, Mathematics Department, Politecnico di Milano (Leonardo Campus)
The existence of open systems in physics poses outstanding philosophical issues. Indeed, while closed systems can be studied in isolation from the rest of the universe, open systems interact with the environment by exchanging heat and work, information, or matter. As such, open systems are subjected to changes due to uncontrollable external influences, thereby making it challenging to precisely determine their properties. Since typical systems in the physical universe are not isolated, providing an adequate description of open systems lies at the heart of contemporary physics. In quantum theory, the issue is further complicated by the presence of entanglement between distant systems. Even more puzzling, at a cosmological scale, it is still a controversial matter whether the whole universe should be considered a closed or open system.
This workshop brings together philosophers and mathematical physicists to discuss the foundations of open systems both from a formal and a conceptual point of view. The invited speakers are Mike Cuffaro (Munich), Michele Correggi (PoliMi), Karim Thebault (Bristol) and Sebastien Rivat (Munich).
Organizing Committee: Antoine Brandelet, Massimo Moscolari and Giovanni Valente – Mathematics Department, Politecnico di Milano
PROGRAMME
9:00 Karim Thebault (Bristol): “The Universe as an Open Quantum System”
9:45 Mike Cuffaro (Munich): “The Open Systems View (and Algebraic Quantum Field Theory)”
Coffee break
11:00 Sebastien Rivat (Munich): “The Open Systems View in Field Theory”
11:45 Michele Correggi (PoliMi): Quasi-classical Limit of a Spin Coupled to a Reservoir
Participation is free of charge.
Funding: The conference is funded by Line 3 of the “Dipartimento di Eccellenza 2023-2027” on Mathematical features of quantum mechanics (Principal Investigator: Prof. Correggi), and by the Italian Ministry of University and Research within the PRIN 2022 project Analogical Reasoningin Contemporary Physical Theories (ID: 2022F4Z8YH, Principal Investigator: Giovanni Valente).
Speakers’ Slides: Correggi Michele – Cuffaro Michael E. – Thébault Karim
