The aim of the seminar is to discuss philosophical topics concerning quantum mechanics and to encourage a mutual collaboration between physicists and philosophers working at the Institute. The philosophical topics of the seminar may vary from metaphysical-oriented issues, such as the nature of the wave function and the meaning of decoherence, to more foundational issues, such as Bohm’s theory and quantum gravity.
Louis de Broglie was the brilliant discoverer of wave (and quantum) mechanics, whose centenary we are now celebrating. However, like Albert Einstein, he was also a rebel, a “realist” who never really accepted the “orthodox” interpretation of quantum mechanics (as defended by Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg). We’ll see that Louis de Broglie’s position is rooted in his work from 1923-1925, which gave rise to the hidden-variable theories of the de Broglie-Bohm pilot wave theory and the double solution. We seek to show that his early work, often overlooked, may well hold the very future of quantum physics within it.
