Quantum physics: beyond the logic of cause and effect

In classical, Newtonian theory, causality, the connection between cause and effect, is considered to sit at the core of physics: Causal thinking, together with the idea that absolute time and space are the pre-given stage for all physical events, have been dominating classical physics well into the twentieth century. The advent of general relativity and especially of quantum mechanics has progressively questioned various assumptions of classical physics, to the extent that today the very relationship and notion of causality is also questioned: what if the concepts of cause-effect and causal thinking were dropped in favour of a different way of understanding physics? Another, more recent tension, is linked to the question whether information and logic should be considered more or less fundamental than physical laws: is it logic that is a natural science (as Ferdinand Gonseth used to say) and therefore finds its basis in reality, or it is rather reality that is made up of information ("It from Bit", according to John Wheeler)? In his new project, "From Algorithms and Information to Physics - and Back", funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), Professor Stefan Wolf does not dwell into resolving the age-old question whether one particular language game or thinking style is superior to the other. Instead of advocating for one viewpoint to be the "right one", Professor Wolf and his team draw from the richness and diversity of viewpoints to look at phenomena with an anarchic perspective.