Quantum Mechanics, Physical and Metaphysical Issues

“Quantum Mechanics, Physical and Metaphysical Issues” is an interdisciplinary event, jointly organised by the Faculty of Physics and the Faculty of Philosophy, in order to celebrate the centenary of the rigorous foundations of quantum mechanics (2025 International Year of Quantum Science and Technology), by bringing together researchers to reflect on and explore the impacts of quantum mechanics on both science and society.

Panels for Philosophy include, but are not limited to:

• common interpretations of quantum mechanics (Copenhagen interpretation, the many-worlds interpretation and Bohmian mechanics)
• non-locality, contextuality and realism
• the measurement problem
• determinism and quantum mechanics - is quantum mechanics relevant to philosophical debates about free will?
• the ontological categories of quantum states

Panels for Physics include, but are not limited to:

• concepts and formal structure of quantum mechanics
• consequences of quantum mechanics in atomic, nuclear, condensed matter, particle physics and cosmology
• quantum information and communication
• challenges in quantum mechanics teaching

Final Programme 

May 5th

13:30-14:30 Welcome and Opening Remarks

Constantin Vică (University of Bucharest)

Lucian Ion (University of Bucharest)

Andrei Mărășoiu (University of Bucharest)

Virgil Băran (University of Bucharest)

Sorin Costreie (University of Bucharest)

14:30-15:00 Break

15:00-16:00 Plenary Session

15:00-15:30 Ioan Muntean (University of Texas Rio Grande Valley) Quantum metaphysical indeterminacy with decoherence: a relational, hybrid, and epistemicist approach.

15:30-16:00 Ştefan Ataman (Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering) Teaching quantum mechanics: what I learned from my students.

16:00-16:30 Break

Workshops for pupils, held in Romanian – in parallel with the Plenary Session

14:30-15:30 Mădălina Boca (University of Bucharest) Fizica imposibilului: Cum trec particulele prin pereți.

14:30-15:30 Leonard Gebac (University of Bucharest) Selfie cu atomii.

15:30-16:30 Iulia Ghiu (University of Bucharest) Introducere in criptografia cuantică.

16:30-17:50 Roundtable

18:00-19:00 Keynote Address: Mircea Flonta (University of Bucharest) Ce fel de filosofie este filosofia Şcolii de la Copenhaga? 

May 6th

Plenary Sessions (10.00–13.00)

10:00-10:30 Aurelian Isar (Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering; University of Bucharest) Marvels of the Micro-Universe – Quantum Leap Through Time.

10:30-11:00 Daniel Ursescu (Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering; University of Bucharest) Reflection on objects and concepts in Physics after one century of Quantum Mechanics

11:00-11:30 Ana-Nicoleta Bondar (University of Bucharest) Cell signalling in the brain: how we use quantum mechanics, classical mechanics, and graph theory to understand opioid receptors.

11:30-12:00 Andrei Mărăşoiu (University of Bucharest) Seeing it with your own eyes: visualisation and understanding.

12:00-12:30 Radu Ionicioiu (Department of Theoretical Physics Horia Hulubei National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering IFIN-HH) Einstein, Wheeler, Bohr – from classical to quantum delayed-choice.

12:30-13:00 Maria Țițeica (University of Bucharest) After 100 years: quantum mechanics viewed by physics and philosophy

13:00-14:00 Break

Contributed Talks

14:00-14:30 Miller Ryan (University of Geneva) No Metaphysical Advantage for Bohmians.

14:30-15:00 Cayuss Andrei Mihăițoaia (University of Bucharest; Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering) How is thermal equilibrium extended to quantum mechanics? Intuition and paradoxes.

15:00-15:30 Andreea Silvia Goia (University of Bucharest; Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering) Quantum cheshire cat: can particles be separated from their properties?

15:30-16:00 Break

Workshops for pupils, held in Romanian – in parallel with Contributed Talks

14:00-14:45 Andrei Mărăşoiu (University of Bucharest) Ce este o cauză?

15:00-15:45 Sandra Brânzaru (University of Bucharest) Ce este o explicaţie?

16:00-17:00 Andreea Croitoru (University of Bucharest) Ce au în comun o pisică, o damă de pică și un calculator cuantic?

16:00-17:00 Mădălina Boca (University of Bucharest) Fizica imposibilului: Cum trec particulele prin pereți.

16:00-17:00 Keynote Address: Sorin Bangu (University of Bergen) Non-causal explanations in Quantum Mechanics.

May 7th

10:00-13.00 Contributed Talks

10:00-10:30 Daniel-Grigore Chelaru (University of Bucharest) An observer-centric approach to the measurement and time problems of quantum mechanics.

10:30-11:00 Marina Cuzminschi (Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering) Nonlocal correlations and quantum communication.

11:00-11:30 Lena Roşu (University of Bucharest) Unravelling Temporal Knots.

11:30-12:00 Andrew-Julian Tatu (University of Bucharest) şi Robert Antonio Ivănescu (University of Bucharest) Revisiting the Double-Slit Experiment: Observation, Reality, and a New Perspective.

12:00-12:30 Fernández Cuesta José Alejandro (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) Quantum Logics and Metaphysics.

12:30-13:00 Andreea Cruglic-Popescu (Ghinescu) (University of Bucharest) Title: TBA

13:00-14:00 Break

14:00-14:30 Ristea Victor (University of Bucharest) Quantum mechanics did not save free will and quantum computing will not save the simulation theory either.

14:30-15:00 Peter Hertogh (Chongqing University and VUB Brussels) Thought Experimental Analyses of Albert Einstein’s Chasing a Beam of Light.

15:00–15:30 Alexandru Chirvasă (University of Bucharest; Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering) Dynamics of Quantum Correlations based on Rényi-2 Entropy.

15:30-16:00 Alina-Alexandra Stoica (Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering; University of Bucharest) Environment-assisted generation of quantum correlations in open quantum systems.

16:00-16:30 Juan Vila (University of Buenos Aires) What is real is relational: a metaphysical assessment of Relational Quantum Mechanics.

16:30-17:00 Tatiana Mihăescu (Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering) Entanglement and Steering in Continuous Variable States.

17:00–17:30 Concluding Remarks