Broken Symmetry and Spacetime

June 1 2010
Types d’événements
Séminaire LARSIM
David Baker
SPEC Bât 774, p.50
01/06/2010
from 11:00

The phenomenon of broken spacetime symmetry in the quantum theory of infinite systems may force us to adopt an unorthodox ontology. We must abandon the standard conception of the physical meaning of these symmetries, or else deny the attractive “liberal” notion of which physical quantities are significant. A third option, more attractive but less well understood, is to abandon the existing (Halvorson-Clifton) notion of intertranslatability for quantum theories.

University of Michigan