The 1st Ockham Debate - The Problem of Quantum Measurement - 13th May 2013

Professor Simon Saunders, Professor of Philosophy of Physics and Fellow of Linacre College, Oxford vs. Professor James Binney FRS, Professor of Physics, Director of the Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, and Fellow of Merton College, Oxford. Quantum mechanics is part deterministic, part probabilistic. According to the 'standard' quantum theory, states evolve with certainty between measurements, but 'collapse' randomly when we measure them. But what is measurement? And why does it (appear to) enjoy a privileged position in the theory? The measurement problem has been one of the hottest topics in physics ever since quantum theory was proposed and, despite much progress, remains so today. This Occam meeting for the first time offered the different perspectives of not one but two expert speakers: • Prof. Saunders is a leading proponent of the 'many worlds' interpretation of quantum mechanics, which argues that the Universe we see is emergent, and constantly subject to 'splitting' - including during measurements. • Prof. Binney advocates an alternative programme, suggesting that we should gain insight into measurement by better understanding the dynamics of the system's interactions with the measuring apparatus. The debate took place on Monday 13th May 2013 in the T.S. Eliot Theatre at Merton College, Oxford. It was moderated by Dr Alan Barr and Dr Ralf Bader, and introduced by Dr Alexander Schekochihin - all three are Fellows of Merton College.