Everett and Gell-Mann at the notable Massagon(?) meeting

[pines-demon]

While discussing at https://www.physicsforums.com/threa...ng-of-probability-in-mwi.1059618/post-7054892 somebody posted this video:


where Gell-Mann in a interview with Geoffrey West discusses the contributions of Everett. He says in the transcript:

I was not aware, and I don't think Felix was aware either, of the work of Everett when he was a graduate student at Princeton and worked on this, what some people have called 'many worlds' idea, suggested more or less by Wheeler. Apparently Everett was, as we learned at the Massagon meeting, Everett was an interesting person. He… it wasn't that he was passionately interested in quantum mechanics; he just liked to solve problems, and trying to improve the understanding of quantum mechanics was just one problem that he happened to look at.

What is this Massagon meeting? Who learned about it? Is Massagon even a place?
I think the transcript is wrong but I cannot tell what was meant here.

 

[Klystron]

Kind of off topic, but what is the "Massagon meeting"?

As Gell-Mann mentions in the interview, Hugh Everett left academia after receiving his PhD. Years later Everett was invited to speak at a physics seminar in Austin in 1977 then was invited to speak at meetings in Europe. That could be the basis for Gell-Mann's comment.

Everett died of a heart attack in 1982 before his ideas became more widely known among academics and interested public.

 

[pines-demon]

As Gell-Mann mentions in the interview, Hugh Everett left academia after receiving his PhD. Years later Everett was invited to speak at a physics seminar in Austin in 1977 then was invited to speak at meetings in Europe. That could be the basis for Gell-Mann's comment.

Everett died of a heart attack in 1982 before his ideas became more widely known among academics and interested public.

[Note I asked mentors to move your comment here]

Do you have any sources?

 

[Frabjous]

You might enjoy this.
The Everett Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics: Collected Works 1955-1980 with Commentary
https://www.amazon.com/Everett-Inte...s-Commentary/dp/0691145075/?tag=pfamazon01-20

 

[pines-demon]

You might enjoy this.
The Everett Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics: Collected Works 1955-1980 with Commentary
https://www.amazon.com/Everett-Inte...s-Commentary/dp/0691145075/?tag=pfamazon01-20

I was hoping to narrow down the meeting where Gell-Mann was...

 

[Klystron]

[Note I asked mentors to move your comment here]

Do you have any sources?

Coincidentally I had just read a history of quantum physics titled "What is Real?" by Adam Becker, Basic Books 2018. Everett's connection with Gell-Mann is mentioned after page 250.

I cannot actually recommend this book as it does not meet PF's requirements for texts. Also, despite mentioning mathematics and equations frequently, the author includes no mathematics. This frustrating lack of math seems increasingly common among popular science articles and books.

Becker has a knack for describing physics history in immediate terms but tends to repeat events and experiments from (slightly) different viewpoints. His thumbnail sketches of Everett, John Bell, and David Bohm, among others, make this book quite readable.

 

[pines-demon]

I wonder if Everett was in Moscow, he talks about Moscow earlier:

 

[Frabjous]

How about the NATO Workshop on the Physical Origin of Time Asymmetry, Mazagon, Spain, October 1991?
https://www.amazon.com/Physical-Origins-Time-Asymmetry-Halliwell/dp/0521568374/?tag=pfamazon01-20

 

[pines-demon]

How about the NATO Workshop on the Physical Origin of Time Asymmetry, Mazagon, Spain, October 1991?
https://www.amazon.com/Physical-Origins-Time-Asymmetry-Halliwell/dp/0521568374/?tag=pfamazon01-20

That's looks like it! Matches the sounding. Great find.

Edit: Here is another description of the meeting: https://prce.hu/w/preprints/spain.html It has Wheeler and Gell-Mann, if I can find any of the two books maybe I can check if Everett was there, but maybe it was Wheeler that presented Everett's theory.

Edit: It is not another book it is just a review of the book? I am not sure.

 

[Frabjous]

That's looks like it! Matches the sounding. Great find.

Edit: Here is another description of the meeting: https://prce.hu/w/preprints/spain.html It has Wheeler and Gell-Mann, if I can find any of the two books maybe I can check if Everett was there, but maybe it was Wheeler that presented Everett's theory.

Everett was dead. I believe that Wheeler was no longer a proponent.

 

[pines-demon]

Everett was dead. I believe that Wheeler was no longer a proponent.

Oh right. I still think this is the one. I do not know how Gell-Mann learned about Everett there, but possibly just by discussing with Wheeler. When I will have time I will dig into it. For the moment, I declare the mystery to be solved. Thanks.

 

[Frabjous]

Oh right. I still think this is the one. I do not know how Gell-Mann learned about Everett there, but possibly just by discussing with Wheeler. When I will have time I will dig into it. For the moment, I declare the mystery to be solved. Thanks.

DeWitt was there.