*ITAMP Lunch Seminar*
*Speaker:* Prof. Christopher Fuchs (University of Massachusetts Boston)
*Date:* Thursday, May 18th
*Time:* 12:00-1:30 pm
Includes Pizza.
* Title: *QBism's Playground: Introducing the Qplex
*Abstract: *
Some time ago, Steven Weinberg wrote an article for the New York Review of
Books with the title, “Symmetry: A `Key to Nature’s Secrets’.” So too, I
would like to say of quantum theory itself: Only by identifying Hilbert
space’s most stringent and hard-to-attain symmetries will we be able to
unlock quantum theory’s deepest secrets and greatest potential. In this
talk, I introduce the “symmetric informationally complete” (SIC) sets of
quantum states as a candidate for such a symmetry. When these structures
exist (and it seems they do for all finite dimensions, though no one has
proven it!), one can use them to rewrite quantum states so that they become
simply probability distributions and unitary transformations so that they
become doubly stochastic matrices. Most importantly, they also give a very
clean way of rewriting the Born rule to be in purely probabilistic terms,
never once making a mention of operators on a complex vector space. This
sort of thing is music to a Quantum Bayesian's ears and gives the hope that
all the mathematical structure of quantum theory might be derivable from a
single, very basic physical scenario. It’s not the double-slit experiment
that Feynman argued for in his Feynman Lectures, but one that might still
appeal to his intuition and hope, “In reality, [this scenario] contains the
only mystery [of quantum mechanics].”
*Location: *B-106 @ Center for Astrophysics (60 Garden Street)
*Directions: *After entering the lobby of the CfA, turn right to enter the
hallway of the B building. In the hallway, turn right again, B-106 will be
at the end of the hallway on the left side.
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