08-04-2011: Colloquium Claus Kiefer

23 december 2010

Friday 8 April 2010, 11:00h, at Nikhef in H331

Speaker: Claus Kiefer (University of Cologne)

Title: DECOHERENCE – From Schrödinger’s Cat to the Classical World

Abstract:
How does the classical behaviour emerge in a world that is fundamentally described by quantum theory? The key to the answer is given by a process that was described for the first time forty years ago – decoherence. Decoherence is the irreversible emergence of classical properties of a quantum system through the unavoidable interaction with its environment. In my talk I shall give a general introduction into decoherence and present its most important theoretical and experimental applications. These include, in particular, the localization of objects.
I shall then discuss the relevance of decoherence for the interpretation of quantum theory and end with an outlook on quantum cosmology and the origin of the direction of time.

link to colloquia pagina

link naar colloquia overzicht in de Nikhef agenda