Lecture series “Between the ears”: Quantum contextuality, causality, and free will​​​​​​​

On May 4 at 13:00 Professor Ehtibar Dzhafarov from Purdue University will give a lecture on “Quantum contextuality, causality, and free will” as part of the “Between the Ears” lecture series.

The lecture will be held in English, in room 113, Näituse 2, Tartu. All interested parties are welcome.

As an introduction to the lecture, Professor Dzhafarov says the following:

This talk offers a non-technical introduction into theory of quantum contextuality. The adjective “quantum” is due to the fact that in quantum mechanics contextuality has its historical roots and most celebrated applications. However, contextuality is an abstract concept applicable across sciences, including computer databases and human perception and decision making. As an abstract concept contextuality belongs to classical (not quantum!) probability theory, specifically an in-depth theory of random variables on multiple probability spaces. It is also intertwined with a variety of other deep theoretical notions, such as causality, determinism, and free will. In particular, hidden variable models designed to “explain” systems of random variables allow one to see that context-dependence (of which contextuality is a special variety) and violations of free will (in choosing what variables to explore) are equivalent, mere reformulations of each other. Contextuality can also be applied to situations that do not prima facie involve randomness, such as logical antinomies and impossible figures. There, however, systems of random variables enter in their epistemic (Bayesian) variety. 

Ehtibar Dzhafarov is Professor of Psychological Sciences at Purdue University, USA. He published over 170 papers in psychology, mathematics, philosophy, and foundations of quantum physics, edited many special journal issues and books, including the three-volume New Handbook of Mathematical Psychology and multivolume Advanced Series on Mathematical Psychology. The topics of his publications range from psychophysics to educational measurements to subjective metrics of stimulus spaces to quantum contextuality. In the latter area, he is the principal author of the contextuality-by-default theory, stemming from his earlier work on selective influences in psychology. Dr. Dzhafarov has served as president of the Society for Mathematical Psychology, and received A. von Humboldt research award. Lately, he has been organizing numerous multidisciplinary conferences and seminars on quantum contextuality. Dr. Dzhafarov’s personal webpage: http://www.psych.purdue.edu/~ehtibar.