Workshop: Quantum Contextuality in Quantum Mechanics and Beyond
held in Prague, Czech Republic on June 4-5
In 2017 we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Kochen-Specker theorem that introduced the notion of contextuality to quantum theory. The theorem shows that the outcomes of a measurement of a given quantum property may have to be represented by different random variables (quantum observables) depending on the context in which the measurement is made, e.g., depending on what other quantum properties are measured simultaneously with the given one. Since the theorem's publication it has become apparent that contextuality is not only ubiquitous in quantum theory, it is the very heart and essence thereof. Thus the phenomenon of quantum nonlocality in entangled particles revealed by applications of the famous Bell theorem is nowadays considered a special case of contextuality, and the same can be said of the macroscopic realism and noninvasiveness in the Leggett-Garg paradigm. Moreover, quantum contextuality has recently overflown the confines of quantum mechanics and is being fruitfully related to other meanings of contextuality, in economics, computer science, psychology, and sociology. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Kochen-Specker theorem quantum contextuality will be the topic of several conferences and symposia around the world, and we hope that our workshop in Prague, Czech Republic, will be a valuable addition to this list. The workshop was organized by Purdue University (USA).