Talk on quantum physics

Quantum physics is not a household topic of discussion for most of us, yet it plays an enormous role in our everyday reality.

SALISBURY — The Scoville Memorial Library will hold a special presentation for its “World Around Us Series: An Introduction to Quantum Physics,” presented by Dr. Mathew Deady on Thursday at 6 p.m. in the Wardell Room at the library, 38 Main St.

Quantum physics is not a household topic of discussion for most of us, yet it plays an enormous role in our everyday reality and is debated by both philosophers and scientists.

It is the most successful physical theory ever developed, and yet its foundations and interpretation have remained an ongoing dispute over the last century.

Deady is an MIT graduate and director of the Physics Program at Bard College, where he has been teaching for the last 30 years.

He will explain the basics of quantum physics and provide a historical survey of quantum mechanics, leading up to current experiments and theories that weigh on the questions that bedeviled Einstein, Bohr and many others physicists.

Among its counter-intuitive consequences are Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, the role of the observer as captured in the Schrödinger’s cat paradox, and the “spooky action at a distance” exemplified in entanglement experiments.

All of these have implications for our understanding of reality and causality.

Some of these questions are summarized by the title of Deady’s talk, “Is the Moon Still There When Nobody Looks?”

For details and registration, call 860-435-2838 or go to scovillelibrary.org. Admission is free.