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Physics & Astronomy Colloquium - Alex Smith, Dartmouth College

Title: "Quantizing Time"

Friday, January 26, 2018
3:30pm – 4:30pm
Wilder 104
Intended Audience(s): Public
Categories: Lectures & Seminars
Abstract: The canonical quantization of gravity leads to the Hamiltonian constraint: physical states of the theory are annihilated by the Hamiltonian. Combined with the Schrodinger equation, this constraint dictates that the physical states of the theory do not evolve in time. How then do we explain the time evolution we see around us? The conditional probability interpretation of time offers an answer. In this talk, I will review this interpretation of time and extend the formalism to include the possibility of clocks interacting with the system whose evolution they are tracking. We will see that this results in a time-nonlocal modification to the Schrodinger equation. This generalization is necessary if the conditional probability interpretation of time is to be applied in a quantum gravitational setting.
 
 
For more information, contact:
Tressena Manning
tressena.a.manning@dartmouth.edu
603-646-2854
Permanent URL to this event: https://physics.dartmouth.edu/events/event?event=50053

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