On August 18, 2009 Jochen Rau (Goethe University, Frankfurt) will be delivering a lecture entitled “Quantum versus Classical Probability“.

Location: 2231 French Family Science Center

Time: 4:30pm

Abstract: Recent advances in quantum computation and quantum information theory have led to revived interest in, and cross-fertilisation with, foundational issues of quantum theory. In particular, it has become apparent that quantum theory may be interpreted as but a variant of the classical theory of probability and information. While the two theories may at first sight appear widely different, they actually share a substantial core of common properties; and their divergence can be reduced to a single attribute only, their respective degree of agent-dependency. I propose a mathematical description for this “degree of agent-dependency” and show how assuming different values allows one to derive the classical and the quantum case from their common core. Finally, I explore – and eventually dismiss – the possibility that beyond quantum theory there might be other variants of classical probability theory that are relevant to physics.