ICFO organizes a talk by world reknown scientists and communicators to be given at CosmoCaixa. The mathematician, Gregory Chaitin and the physicist, Valerio Scarani explain how two of the great revolutions of science and philosophy of the 20th century (quantum physics and the crisis of the foundations of mathematics and logic) converge on the same phenomenon: randomness.

The Omega number, Gregory Chaitin.
All science is based on mathematics, but theorists of this discipline are aware that their foundations suffer from severe limitations, as demonstrated, for example, in the seminal works of Kurt Gödel and Alan Turing in the twentieth century. Gregory Chaitin's research connects with all these results, showing that the foundations of mathematics and logic are inextricably linked to randomness, puzzles, paradoxes and uncertainty.

The physics of randomness, Valerio Scarani.
Randomness and physical law are usually held as two well differentiated concepts. Even in contexts assumed to be random, like throwing dice or coins, the apparent unpredictability is just a consequence of the lack of control over the physical system. From a formal point of view, physical systems are subjected to deterministic laws, and therefore do not enjoy true randomness. However, quantum physics says that some quantum processes are the result of pure chance. What kind of observations support this claim? Do they imply a contradiction, or the failure of physics? And, if true randomness exists, can we find a use for it?

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SPEAKERS:
Gregory Chaitin, USA., 1947. Honorary Professor of the University of Buenos Aires, is currently a professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. He has worked at the IBM Watson Research Center in New York. World famous mathematician and specialist in algorithmic information theory, he is known especially for his discovery of the Omega number (Chaitin's constant). He is the author, among other titles, of " Proving Darwin: Making Biology Mathematical" (2013) and "Meta Math! The quest for Omega" (2005).

Valerio Scarani, Milan, 1972. Professor at the National University of Singapore, heads a research group at the Centre for Quantum Technologies in Singapore. The research activity of Valerio Scarani focuses primarily in the fields of quantum information, where such has derived new quantum cryptographic protocols, and the foundations of quantum physics. He is the author, among others, “Quantum Physics: A First Encounter” (2006) and “Quantum Six Pieces” (2010).

**These talks will be given in Spanish