Lamar University Academic Lecture Series: Einstein vs. Quantum Theory
1/28/2008
As part of Lamar University’s Academic Lecture Series, David Clark of the State University of New York at New Paltz will present a lecture on “The EPR Experiment: Einstein vs. Quantum Theory” at the John Gray Center Auditorium on Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m.
A reception in the lobby will begin at 6:30 p.m. Both the reception and lecture are free and open to students, faculty and the public and are partially supported by student service fees.
Clark will also meet with Lamar students on Wednesday, Feb. 13 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the Lucas Engineering Building, Room #119. The mathematics department will host his two-week visit during which he will present talks to faculty and students.
Since its inception over a century ago, quantum theory has served to accurately predict physical behavior of matter up to the size of a single atom. While quantum theory leads to accurate predictions, it is based on a description of physical reality that Albert Einstein, one of its founders, considered deeply unacceptable. He objected to its probabilistic formulation and maintained there must be a more fundamental theory that would supply the missing information without referring to probability. After many attempts, Einstein and his colleagues, Boris Podolsky and Nathan Rosen, devised a famous thought experiment which, if carried out, had the potential to exonerate their point of view.
Only recently was the technology developed to carry out this experiment and, contrary to Einstein's expectations, the outcome upheld the quantum theoretic prediction. This has forced scientists to accept a very counterintuitive reality at the subatomic level. Quantum theory is a mathematically complex theory that is phrased in terms of tensor products and partial differential equations. Clark says this thought experiment, and the bizarre conclusions that are drawn from it, can be fully conveyed in a short lecture using only very simple concepts.
Clark studied at Emory University in the 1960s under the direction of several students of R. L. Moore of the University of Texas. He says he learned mathematics from his work in universal algebra, but learned to teach mathematics from the Texans’ method of inquiry-based learning. He is co-founder with W. Ted Mahavier, associate professor of mathematics at Lamar University, of the Journal of Inquiry-Based Learning in Mathematics, a refereed journal publishing Moore-style teaching materials. His primary research in universal algebra, lattice theory and mathematical logic is augmented by publications in neural networks, game theory and quantum theory. His recent work focuses on the theory of natural dualities and he co-authored Natural Dualities for the Working Algebraist published by Cambridge University Press in its Studies in Advanced Mathematics series.
There is no admission fee for the lecture and the public is invited to attend. For more information, contact the Lamar University Math Department at 880-2290.
