FQxI’s 3rd International Conference
Find Out More
Setting Time Aright
Location
Bergen, Norway and Copenhagen, Denmark
Dates
August 27 – September 1, 2011
The time is out of joint—O cursed spite,
– Hamlet Act 1, scene 5 / William Shakespeare
That ever I was born to set it right!
This conference will bring together leading researchers across a wide range of fields within physics and cosmology, as well as from computer science, complex systems, biology, philosophy, and psychology. The participants will discuss a number of interrelated foundational questions related to the nature of time.
The meeting will take place Aug. 27-Sept. 1, 2011, in two parts:
- At Sea: Starting on August 27 with a chartered cruise aboard the National Geographic Explorer originating in Bergen, Norway and disembarking in Copenhagen, Denmark on August 29.
- On Land: The conference will then continue for three nights in Copenhagen.
The schedule (and unusual location) will be designed to maximize inter- and intra-disciplinary collaboration and interaction, with ample time for organized and free discussion in inspiring environments (tentatively including fjord cruising and group excursions in National Geographic’s Zodiac explorer vessels). Attendees will include members of FQXi and other select invitees, and will represent a broad range of disciplines bearing on the problem of time.
This conference is the third in a series of international conferences that FQXi organizes to bring together specialists and researchers working on foundational questions. Please visit our website for more info about previous FQXi conferences in Iceland and the Azores.
Conference Organizing Committee: Anthony Aguirre, Sean Carroll, Jesse Dylan, Brendan Foster, Jennifer Ouellette, Huw Price, Nick Pritzker, and Max Tegmark
QSpace Latest
PressRelease: Precision experiment puts pressure on quantum collapse theories
Quantum mechanics, the theory governing the microscopic world, is famously counterintuitive. A particle can exist in a superposition of multiple states, such as different positions, until a measurement is performed. At that point, the wavefunction describing that particle appears to ‘collapse’ to a single outcome. This puzzle lies at the heart of the measurement problem, famously illustrated by Schrödinger’s cat, suspended between life and death until observed. The XENONnT detector, which was designed to be sensitive to rare physics events, has tightened constraints on one family of possible solutions to the measurement problem, known as ‘collapse theories.’ The work, which was partially funded by FQxI, was reported in Physical Review Letters in March 2026. Image credit: XENON Collaboration.