Graduate Student Seminar | Maria Papageorgiou, Seminar 2: Detector models in Quantum Field Theory: the localization problem

Zoom: please contact amgrad@uwaterloo for the meeting link

Speaker

Maria Papageorgiou | University of Waterloo

Title

Seminar 2: Detector models in Quantum Field Theory: the localization problem 

Please note: this is apart of a seminar series,  Seminar 3 will follow on June 30th. 

Abstract

Relativistic Quantum Information (RQI) is a research field that extends the notions of quantum information In this seminar I will introduce the variety of (Unruh DeWitt-type) particle detector models that are typically used in the field of Relativistic Quantum Information. These models were initially introduced to explain the particle phenomenology in relativistic quantum field theory. As I will explain, the notion of particle localization becomes problematic in relativity (the localization problem) which obscures the interpretation of a localized detector response. I will demonstrate that different detector models predict that the detector is more likely to 'click' in different locations when subjected to the same 'localized' state. This suggests that localization can be rather understood as an attribute of the interaction of a particle with a suitable detector device.