PIAF '09 New Perspectives on the Quantum State

This is the 2nd Annual conference of the Perimeter Institute-Australia Foundations collaboration. In the field of quantum foundations, the interpretation of the quantum state is an issue that has received much attention in recent years.  One question that has gained prominence is whether the quantum state describes reality (the ontic view) or an agent's knowledge of reality (the epistemic view).  Others reject this dichotomy and suggest that it might be best interpreted as a dynamical law (the nomological view) or in an entirely different manner.  Other issues of interest include whether the quantum state describes absolute or relational degrees of freedom, and whether the universal wavefunction might be interpreted differently from that of a subsystem.  This conference will bring together leading researchers representing a diversity of positions to share their knowledge and insight, to develop a broader perspective on the issues, and to focus on outstanding problems.

Speakers:

Yakir Aharonov, Tel Aviv University
Leslie Ballentine, Simon Fraser University, Canada
Stephen Bartlett, University of Sydney, Australia
Gian-Paolo Beretta, Università di Brescia
Robin Blume-Kohout, Perimeter Institute, Canada 
Caslav Brukner, University of Vienna, Austria
Sheldon Goldstein, Rutgers University, United States
Claus Kiefer, University of Koeln, Germany
N. David Mermin, Cornell University, United States
Alberto Montina, Università di Firenze, Italy
Travis Norsen, Marlboro College, United States
Philip Pearle, Hamilton College, United States
Nelson Pinto-Neto, ICRA, Brazil
Terry Rudolph, Imperial college, London
Rüdiger Schack, University of London, United Kingdom
Daniel Terno, Macquarie University, Australia
Christopher Timpson, Oxford University, United Kingdom
Antony Valentini, Imperial College, London
Howard Wiseman, Griffith University, Australia

Funding has been provided in part by:

Perimeter Institute
Griffith University
University of Queensland
University of Sydney