Understanding Quantum and Relativistic Phenomena is an interactive meeting where ideas about quantum mechanics, general relativity and cosmology are shared, and a lot of time will be left to discussions. We are interested in the value of different ways of understanding quantum and relativistic phenomena. In particular, we will be exploring 's approach to an 'ontological' interpretation of quantum theory and its latest theoretical and experimental developments. We will extend the discussion to include relativistic phenomena by exploring the model proposed by the Finnish physicist .
Physicists may often assume that 'interpretations' of quantum theory are mere curiosities, and that it is enough to focus on 'text-book' quantum theory and build up one's research from there. However, Bohm's 1952 interpretation (also known as the ) inspired John Bell to develop the famous inequalities which connect to the nonlocality of quantum theory. And the experimental testing of these inequalities (related to quantum entanglement) was a key factor behind the . The value of this work was not merely theoretical, as the Nobel committee pointed out: "The laureates’ development of experimental tools has laid the foundation for a new era of quantum technology."
The workshop honors the intellectual legacy of (1917-1992) and (1935-2025) who championed the value of exploring different perspectives in physics in an open-minded way. They always emphasized the importance of , where a primary aim is first to understand what the different views mean, before moving on to a critical evaluation of their strengths and weaknesses. In this spirit we hope in the workshop to bring about a creative tension rather than a meaningless conflict between viewpoints. Importantly, we aim to allow for a richer understanding of quantum and relativistic phenomena, in addition to the more instrumentalist, mathematics-focused approach often emphasized in physics education.
The meeting will be live streamed, here are the links (the times are UTC +2/ EET):
Friday, 7th November, 2025, 10 am - 6 pm:
Saturday, 8th November, 2025, 10 am - 4 pm: