Events

Quantum mechanics in questions and answers

At the end of November, the JINR Cultural Centre "Mir" hosted a lecture entitled "Parallel universes quite seriously. What is quantum mechanics about?" The lecture was delivered by Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and Head of the Laboratory of Theory of Fundamental Interactions at the Lebedev Physical Institute Alexey M.Semikhatov.

A renowned scientist and equally renowned popularizer of science Alexey Mikhailovich is the scientific curator of the Polytechnic Museum, a television host, a translator and a jury member of the Prize "Prosvetitel". His first popular science book "Everything that moves: walks through the restless universe from cosmic orbits to quantum fields" was published in 2022, followed by "One hundred years of understatement: quantum mechanics for everyone in 25 essays" in 2024. This year, A.M.Semikhatov added another to his numerous titles and honors: winner of the OGANESSON Prize that will be awarded next February.

The UN has declared 2025 the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. Numerous seminars, conferences and educational lectures are dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the discovery of quantum mechanics aimed at explaining the significance of quantum discoveries in advanced technologies and introducing listeners and audience to the fundamentals of quantum theory.

Alexey Mikhailovich emphasized that this is the most successful theory for describing nature, fairly accurately matching experiment and allowing for the prediction of phenomena. However, how it works and its mechanism as applied to the physical world is still unclear. Therefore, interpretations arise to explain its effects. Such an interpretation is the idea of many worlds existing in the same space but unaware of each other, a so-called branching universe. To explore this complex topic, A.M.Semikhatov discussed the fundamentals of quantum mechanics, the history of its development and the unusual facts about its founders.

The lecture was held to a full house, with the majority of the audience consisting of young people. After the talk, there was the opportunity to ask questions and to receive an autograph from the renowned scientist and popularizer of science. However, there was not enough time and the conversation with young Dubna scientists continued with an informal discussion.

Galina MYALKOVSKAYA