DICE 2008 – From Quantum Mechanics through Complexity to Spacetime: the role of emergent dynamical structures
Lajos Diósi, Hans-Thomas Elze, Leone Fronzoni +2 more
These proceedings present the Invited Lectures and Contributed Papers of the Fourth International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy – DICE 2008, held at Castello Pasquini, Castiglioncello (Tuscany), 22–26 September 2008. We deliver these proceedings as a means to document to the interested public, to the wider scientific community, and to the participants themselves the stimulating exchange of ideas at this conference. The steadily growing number of participants, among them acclaimed scientists in their respective fields, show its increasing attraction and a fruitful concept, based on bringing leading researchers together and in contact with a mix of advanced students and scholars. Thus, this series of meetings successfully continued from the beginning with DICE 2002, (Decoherence and Entropy in Complex Systems ed H-T Elze Lecture Notes in Physics 633 (Berlin: Springer, 2004)) followed by DICE 2004 (Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy – DICE 2004 ed H-T Elze Braz. Journ. Phys. 35, 2A & 2B (2005) pp 205–529; free access at: www.sbfisica.org.br/bjp) and by DICE 2006, (Proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy – DICE 2006 eds H-T Elze, L Diosi and G Vitiello Journal of Physics: Conference Series 67 (2007); free access at: http://www.iop.org/EJ/toc/1742-6596/67/1) uniting about one hundred participants from more than twenty different countries worldwide this time. It has been a great honour and inspiration for all of us to have Professor Sir Roger Penrose from the Mathematical Institute at the University of Oxford with us, who presented the lecture ``Black holes, quantum theory and cosmology'' (included in this volume). Discussions under the wider theme ``From Quantum Mechanics through Complexity to Spacetime: the role of emergent dynamical structures'' took place in the very pleasant and inspiring atmosphere of Castello Pasquini, which – with its beautiful surroundings, overlooking a piece of Tuscany's coast, and with splendid weather throughout – was conducive to the success of the meeting. The 5-day program was grouped according to the following topics: Quantum Physics and Some Important Questions it Raises Emergent Dynamics, from Quantum to Brain and Beyond Exploring Quantum Mechanics Atomistic Theories of Spacetime Quantum-Entanglement/Gravity/Cosmology A Public Roundtable Discussion formed an integral part of the program under the theme ``Dialoghi sulla complessita' – dall' atomo all' Universo'' and with the participation of physicists and philosophers: F T Arecchi (Firenze), L Fronzoni (Pisa), A M Iacono (Pisa), F Luccio (Pisa) and G Vitiello (Salerno, coordinator). This event drew a large audience, who participated in the lively discussions until late in the evening. The workshop has been organized by L Diosi (Budapest), H-T Elze (Pisa, chair), L Fronzoni (Pisa), J Halliwell (London) and G Vitiello (Salerno), with great help from our conference secretaries M Pesce-Rollins (Siena) and L Baldini (Pisa) and from our students F Caravelli and E Di Nardo, both from Pisa. Several institutions and sponsors generously supported the workshop and their representatives and, in particular, the citizens of Rosignano/Castiglioncello are deeply thanked for the help and kind hospitality: Comune di Rosignano A Nenci (Sindaco di Rosignano), S Scarpellini (Segreteria sindaco), D Del Seppia (Assessore allo Sviluppo Economico del Comune di Rosignano), A Franchi (Assessore al turismo del Comune di Rosignano/Presidente dell' associazione Armunia), A Corsini (Ufficio economato del Comune di Rosignano). REA Rosignano Energia Ambiente s.p.a. F Ghelardini (Presidente della REA), A Cecchini (Ufficio - Responsabile stampa della REA). Solvay Chimica Italia s.a. Dott S Piccoli (Responsabile Relazioni Esterne, Solvay Rosignano), G Becherucci (Comunicazione e Relazioni Esterne). Associazione Armunia M Paganelli (Direttore), G Mannari (Programmazione). Special thanks go to G Mannari for her advice and great help in all the many practical matters that had to be dealt with, in order to run the meeting at Castello Pasquini smoothly. Funds made available by Universita di Pisa, by Domus Galilaeana (Pisa), Centro Interdisciplinare per lo Studio dei Sistemi Complessi – CISSC (Pisa), Dipartimento di Matematica e Informatica (Universita di Salerno), Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici – IISF (Napoli), and by IOP Publishing (Bristol) are gratefully acknowledged. Last but not least, special thanks go to L Pesce (Vitrium Galleria, Populonia) for her artwork (``Art and Science'') displayed during the conference at Castello Pasquini. The research papers presented at the workshop, often incorporating further developments since then, or presenting original new work, have been edited by L Diosi, H-T Elze, L Fronzoni, J J Halliwell and G Vitiello, with major assistance from J Yearsley (London), which we gratefully acknowledge. They are collected here, essentially following the program of the workshop, however, divided into Invited Lectures (we regret that lectures by E Arimondo, N Gisin, and W Schleich could not be reproduced here) and Contributed Papers, respectively. In the name of all participants, we would like to thank Dr J Schwarz and G Douglas (IOP Publishing, Bristol), and their collaborators, for friendly advice, always immediate help during the editing process, and for their efforts making the Journal of Physics: Conference Series available to all. Budapest, Pisa, London and Salerno, May 2009 Lajos Diosi, Hans-Thomas Elze, Leone Fronzoni, Jonathan Halliwell and Giuseppe Vitiello
Journal of Physics Conference Series•Jun 26, 2009•0 citations