A 20-minute divertimento: The quantum Zeno effect, from Von Neumann’s “Mathematical Foundations of QM” – and a classical analog

by Matteo Cavalli Cavalli-Sforza (IFAE)

Wednesday Jun 17, 2020, 1:00 PM → 2:00 PM Europe/Madrid

IFAE Virtual Seminar Room (IFAE)

The pre-Socratic sophist Zeno proved that motion phenomena are not real. His logical analysis was not debunked until calculus was invented.
Von Neumann proved that if a quantum system is measured often enough it can be frozen in its initial state – like Zeno’s famous arrow! (it’s a two-line proof).
A classical analog using polarization filters and very similar math allows to rotate the polarization of light with no loss of intensity.

IFAE Zoom Seminar Room