HAPP One-day Conference: Order and Chaos
Please note: booking for both in-person and online attendance closes at midday (BST) on Friday 2 June. Conference dinner booking closes at midday (BST) on Monday 22 May
Order and chaos have been fundamental concepts in human thought from the earliest times. The ancient astronomers devised systems to explain the ostensibly chaotic motions of the stars and planets, later culminating in the apparently deterministic laws of Newton’ theory of gravity. However, Poincaré’s study of the three-body problem showed that chaos would invariably result from the inevitable uncertainty of the initial conditions. Building on this, Lorenz derived the Butterfly Effect whereby seemingly trivial, remote occurrences can result in huge chaotic outcomes.

The expression of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, most notably by Clausius and Kelvin, with the concept of entropy as well as Boltzmann’s work in statistical mechanics demonstrated the inevitable increase in the disorder in physical systems. Most recently work on the quantum theory of chaos, in between order and disorder, promises to impact the development of quantum technologies including computing. This conference will examine the evolution of the theories of order and chaos across the centuries and their prospects for future advances.

Registration to attend this conference is free, except for the Conference Dinner, and booking is required for both in-person and online attendance. Please see website for more details and booking links: www.stx.ox.ac.uk/event/happ-one-day-conference-order-and-chaos
Date: 3 June 2023, 10:30 (Saturday, 6th week, Trinity 2023)
Venue: Mathematical Institute, Woodstock Road OX2 6GG
Venue Details: In person and livestreamed online
Speakers: Professor Phillip Horky (Durham University), Professor Chris Budd OBE (University of Bath), Professor Esra Sorguven (University of Sussex), Professor Karoline Wiesner (University of Potsdam), Professor Michael Berry FRS (University of Bristol), Professor Jim Al-Khalili CBE FRS (University of Surrey), After Dinner Speaker: Professor Peter Stark (Royal College of Music)
Organiser contact email address: happ-centre@stx.ox.ac.uk
Part of: HAPP: St Cross Centre for the History and Philosophy of Physics
Booking required?: Required
Booking url: https://www.stx.ox.ac.uk/event/happ-one-day-conference-order-and-chaos
Cost: Free to attend conference only / £55 for Conference Dinner, which must be booked by midday Monday 22 May
Audience: Public
Editor: Belinda Clark