Conversations

Louisa Gilder's "The Age of Entanglement": Ten Years Later

On April 12, 2018, I interviewed Louisa Gilder, author of the book "The Age of Entanglement: When Quantum Physics was Reborn," at a public presentation celebrating the ten-year anniversary of the publication of her book. (Click on the YouTube link below to watch the interview.) The book recounts the major episodes in the history of quantum mechanics up to the 21st century with an eye to the eventual recognition that quantum entanglement -- a seemingly bizarre phenomenon that had mostly received attention in philosophical debates concerning "Schrodinger's cat" and "spooky action at a distance" -- could be leveraged as a practical resource for quantum computing. Gilder's interview was followed up by an interview with Chad Rigetti, CEO and Founder of Rigetti Quantum Computing, and the evening closed with an open Q&A period for both presenters.

This event was organized by Michel Janssen and David Russell in association with the Physics Interest Group (PIG) at the University of Minnesota. The celebration capped a year of reading and discussion at PIG on the topic of the history of the revival of interest in quantum mechanics in the latter 20th century and how that paved the path to quantum computing. Other books discussed that year were Olival Freire's "The Quantum Dissidents: Rebuilding the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics (1950-1990)" and David Kaiser's "How the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival".

Interactions at the Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science

Research Groups: CtrDG & PIG

With some exceptions, I have been a regular and active participant in research groups associated with the Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science (MCPS) since 2007. Over the years my affiliation with the Center has been as both a visiting fellow and as a resident fellow. MCPS was established in 1953 by Herbert Feigl and has been visited by many leading philosophers of science over the years. The Center hosts colloquia, conferences, and research groups. Research groups are divided into different topical interest areas. My activities have primarily been with the Center Discussion Group (CtrDG), which considers topics of general concern in the philosophy of science, and the Physics Interest Group (PIG), which focuses on topics in the historical and philosophical foundations of physics. Group meetings are typically scheduled every other week and consist in discussing journal articles or books on the topic of interest for the semester.

The Many Faces of Reproducibility

From 2019 to 2022, the University of Minnesota supported an interdisciplinary, collaborative project investigating the so-called "Reproducibility Crisis" with the aim of advancing scholarship on reproducibility. The Reproducibility Crisis (also called the "Replication Crisis") stemmed from difficulties encountered by large-scale attempts to replicate experiments in various sciences and the surprising rate of failure to replicate. The sense of crisis was particularly felt in the social sciences and some areas of the biomedical sciences, but the movement to address the perceived failures has raised awareness of replication issues across the scientific spectrum.

The multi-faceted project at the University of Minnesota was called "The Many Faces of Reproducibility." The three-year period of the project overlapped my developing interests in statistics and data science as many of the issues concern statistical practice, experimental design, and the role of institutional structures in shaping science. Hence, I became increasingly interested in the topic, participating regularly in relevant discussion groups (reading and discussing current journal articles) and colloquia.

Seven Pines Symposia

I have had the good pleasure to attend (in full or in part) 9 Seven Pines Symposia. The symposia bring together leading scientists, philosophers of science, and historians of science to discuss topics of interest in the historical and conceptual foundations of science, particularly physics. These 3-4 day events occur at the Outing Lodge, a rustic, cottage-like hotel, near Stillwater, Minnesota. Attendance is by invitation only. The number in attendance is kept small in order to encourage interaction and allow everyone the opportunity to engage in discussions.