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SUMMARY:DECISION MAKING IN QUANTUM THEORY - Stephen M. Barnett (University
  of Strathclyde)
DTSTART:20080123T160000Z
DTEND:20080123T170000Z
UID:TALK10426@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Berry Groisman
DESCRIPTION:The conventional description of a measurement is expressed in 
 terms of the eigenstates of an Hermitian operator representing the observe
 d quantity or 'observable'. Most real measurements do not fit into this si
 mple\ndescription\, however\, and it is necessary to have a more general t
 heoretical\nframework to describe these. Closer investigation reveals that
  the best measurement we can perform in any given situation is usually of 
 this more general form. A striking example is the possibility of discrimin
 ating without error between two non-orthogonal polarization states of a si
 ngle photon. I shall demonstrate how this and other optimal decision-makin
 g strategies have been found and illustrate these ideas by reference to ex
 periments.
LOCATION:Centre for Mathematical Sciences\, Wilberforce Road\, Lecture roo
 m MR9 (Pavilion B)
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