From: Emil Gilliam (emil@emilgilliam.com)
Date: Sun Mar 06 2005 - 15:13:44 MST
http://www.msri.org/calendar/specialevents/SpecialEventInfo/183/show_specialevent
John Conway on "The Free Will Theorem"
March 18, 2005
JOHN CONWAY speaks on "The Free Will Theorem"
FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2005 at 7:30 to 9 p.m. • FREE ADMISSION
An MSRI Presentation at the Roda Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre at
2015 Addison Street, Berkeley (near the Downtown Berkeley BART station
on Shattuck)
Ever since the early days of quantum mechanics, physicists have debated
the foundations of the subject, and in particular, if the standard
statistical interpretation is an accurate depiction of the real world,
or if there are so called "hidden variables" that lie behind the quantum
description of elementary particles such as electrons.
Recently, John Conway and Simon Kochen proved, on the basis of three
little "axioms" from physics, that if there exist experimenters with a
limited amount of free will, then elementary particles also have their
own small amount of free will, meaning that on occasion their behavior
is not determined by the prior history of the entire universe. This is
believed to be the strongest "no hidden variable" theorem established so
far.
JOHN HORTON CONWAY is the von Neumann Professor of Mathematics at
Princeton University. Educated at the University of Cambridge, Professor
Conway is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, and a master of
nearly every field of mathematics. Colleagues consider him to be one of
the most electrifying and entertaining lecturers in pure mathematics
today. Conway has written and co-authored several books, and in 2004,
Volume Four of "Winning Ways for Your Mathematical Plays" by co-authors
John Conway, Elwyn Berlekamp and Richard Guy was released.
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