Paul H. Halpern, University of the Sciences
Villanova University, Physics/Astronomy Colloquium (Villanova, PA)
Time: 2:30 pm
Location: Mendel 341, Villanova University, Villanova, PA
All Are Welcome
Light refreshments will be served
After Einstein published his general theory of relativity, a masterful theory of gravitation that superseded Newton's, he found it incomplete. He spent his last three decades searching in vain for a unified field theory joining general relativity with Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism, and explaining the behavior of electrons without probabilistic quantum transitions. During part of that quest Schrodinger joined him, until, sensing success with a very similar unified approach, turned against him in an argument that played out in the international press. A friendship and collaboration between two Nobel laureates became a bitter dispute, until both of their theories were proven incorrect. The talk is based on the book Einstein's Dice and Schrodinger's Cat.