Hydrodynamic quantum analogues

by Prof. John W. M. Bush (MIT)

Monday 29 Jan 2024, 15:45 → 17:45 Europe/Stockholm

Albano 3: 6228 - Mega (22 seats) (Albano Building 3)

zoom link : https://stockholmuniversity.zoom.us/j/622224375

Abstract : Since 2005, experimental studies have shown that droplets walking on a vibrating fluid bath exhibit features previously thought to be exclusive to the microscopic, quantum realm. These walking droplets are an example of wave-particle duality on the macrocopic scale; moreover, they are the first macroscopic realization of a pilot-wave system of the form proposed for microscopic quantum dynamics by Louis de Broglie in the 1920s. Investigating the system's successes and failures as a quantum analog allow us to explore and redefine the boundary between classical and quantum behavior. Theoretical developments forge links with existing quantum pilot-wave theories. A fledgling, trajectory-based description of quantum dynamics, informed by the hydrodynamic system, is explored. Particular attention is given to illustrating how the non-Markovian droplet dynamics may give rise to features taken as evidence of nonlocality in the quantum realm.