Fundamental Problems in Quantum Physics

Session

Gravity and Cosmology

27 Mar 2015, 09:30

Erice (Sicily) - Italy

28. Fundamental issues in gravity theory and its relation to Quantum Mechanics

Domenico Giulini (University of Hannover)

27/03/2015, 09:30

I will discuss several conceptually interesting open problems in General Relativity, including those relating to Quantum Mechanics.

29. Prospects of experimental tests of a fundamentally semi-classical gravitation theory

Andre Grossardt (University of Trieste)

27/03/2015, 10:15

I discuss the hypothetical possibility of a theory in which only matter is quantised, but gravity is described by the classical theory of General Relativity, even at the fundamental level. From the most naive approach for such a theory, one obtains the Schrödinger-Newton equation as a non-relativistic limit. I present possibilities of experimental tests of such an alternative to Quantum Gravity.

30. Must space-time be singular?

Ward Struyve (LMU Munich)

27/03/2015, 11:30

According to Einstein's theory of general relativity space-time singularities such as a big bang may occur. Moreover, the Penrose-Hawking theorems showed that such singularities are actually generic. It has been believed that a quantum theory for gravity might avoid such singularities. The answer will of course depend on which approach to quantum gravity one considers. It will also depend on...

31. Gravity related spontaneous decoherence: from Wheeler-Bekenstein-Hawking to optomechanics

Lajos Diosi (Wigner Research Center for Physics)

27/03/2015, 12:15

The inception of a universal gravity-related irreversibility took place originally in quantum cosmology but it turned out soon that a universal non-unitary dynamics is problematic itself. Independent investigations of the quantum measurement postulate clarified that a non-unitary dynamics is of interest already in the non-relativistic context. An intricate relationship between Newton gravity...