Twelfth International Workshop DICE2026
 Castello Pasquini/Castiglioncello (Tuscany),  5-9 October 2026
Spacetime - Matter - Quantum Mechanics

"The Schrödinger equation at 100 - from atoms through stars to quantum biology"           
 
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Advisory Board
Organizers
Objectives
Invited Lectures
Contrib. Papers
Program
Conference Site
Registration
Proceedings 2002-2022
Travel/
Accommodation
Sponsors
Poster (t.b.a.)
Photos (t.b.a.)

        Updated:
            25/03/26



Advisory Board
 
S. Adler (IAS, Princeton) J. Barbour (Oxford)
G. Casati (Como) G.C. Ghirardi (Trieste) [*1935-2018]
C. Grebogi (Edinburgh) S. Haroche (Paris)
J. Hartle (Santa Barbara) [*1939-2023]
 B.-L. Hu (Maryland)
C. Isham (London) C. Kiefer (Cologne)
N. Mavromatos (London) C. Rovelli (Marseille)
C. Tsallis (Rio de Janeiro) G. Veneziano (CERN & Collège de France)
C. Wetterich (Heidelberg) W. Zurek (Los Alamos)
 
Founding and Supporting Members

T. Arecchi (Firenze) [*1933-2021]         O. Bertolami (Lisboa)
I. Bialynicki-Birula (Warsaw)
L. Davidovich (Rio de Janeiro)                           
L. Fronzoni (Pisa)
J. Rafelski (Arizona)
D. Stein (New York)
M. Tegmark (MIT, Cambridge)

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Organizers
    Massimo Blasone (Salerno) 
    Lajos Diósi (Budapest)
    Hans-Thomas Elze (Pisa, chair)
    Lorenzo Fratino (Paris)
    Jonathan Halliwell (London) 
    Claus Kiefer (Cologne) 
    Enrico Prati (Milano)
    Giuseppe Vitiello (Salerno)

  
     Conference secretaries:
    Lorenzo Brevi (Milano)   Sebastiano Corli (Milano)   
    Luciano Petruzziello (Ulm)    
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Objectives

Following DICE2002 - DICE2024, this biannual workshop addresses researchers in the fields of fundamental interactions, cosmology, general relativity, and quantum mechanics:
-
The pillars of modern physics, quantum mechanics and general relativity, coexist very successfully, having in their respective domains impressive observational support. However, questionable unification of the known forces, cosmological constant problems, black hole entropy puzzle, and conceptual difficulties of quantum mechanics and its application to the Universe are stumbling blocks on the way to deeper understanding.
-
Attempts to quantize gravity continue to stimulate studies of classical and quantum dynamics and of properties of "timeless" reparametrization-invariant systems. A central problem is to determine observables consistent with constraints. New ideas attract attention that consider spacetime or gravity as emergent phenomena, much like hydrodynamics is seen to arise from atomic physics. Even quantum mechanics might reflect deterministic dynamics beneath, which is hidden by coarse-graining to scales where quantum theory has been tested, nineteen orders of magnitude away from the Planck scale.
-
Classical behavior in complex quantum systems, attributed to decoherence, has recently been studied from atomic to mesoscopic systems, the motivation being largely the quest for quantum information processing. However, decohering degrees of freedom in subatomic and general relativistic systems are little understood. The control of quantum systems by classical means and the study of quantum-classical hybrid dynamics present new challenges of practical as well as of fundamental character. The related measurement problem, wave function collapse or objective reduction persist as unresolved issues. These problems become particularly acute at the interface of quantum mechanics with gravity.
-
The study of these topics may include an analysis of the kind of information that exists in systems with many degrees of freedom and typically long-range interactions and of the basic conditions under which it can be extracted. Corresponding measures of complexity have been elaborated and could play a role here.
-
Topics for DICE2026 are defined but not constrained by overlapping interests in:
  • emergent spacetime, matter, and symmetries
  • searches for physics beyond the Standard Model  
  • tabletop challenges for quantum / gravity interface
  • quantum phase transitions and quantum matter
  • QM in biology, complex systems, and AI
  • foundations of quantum theory 
  • key experiments  

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Invited Lectures  (preliminary & to be confirmed)

M. Aspelmeyer (IQOQI & Univ. Wien)
    TBA 
G. Bianconi (Queen Mary Univ., London)
    TBA
L. Boi (EHESS, Paris) 
    TBA 
G. Cella (Univ. & INFN,  Pisa) [VIRGO collab.]
    TBA 
F. Del Santo (Univ. of Geneva)
    TBA 
L. Diósi (Wigner Res. Center, Budapest) 
    TBA 
G. Dvali (Ludwig-Maximilians-Univ. & Max Planck Inst. Phys., München)
    TBA
G. Ellis (Univ. of Cape Town) 
    TBA
F. Finster (Univ. Regensburg)
    TBA 
I. Fuentes (Univ. of Southampton)   
    TBA 
M. Genovese (INRIM, Torino) 
    TBA 
N. Gisin (Univ. of Geneva) 
    TBA
P. Grangier (Institut d'Optique / CNRS, Palaiseau)   
    TBA 
J. Halliwell (Imperial College, London) 
    TBA 
B.-L. Hu (Univ. of Maryland)
    TBA  
A. Kempf (Univ. of Waterloo & Perimeter Institute)
    TBA
A. Khrennikov (Linnaeus Univ., Vaxjoe-Kalmar)
    TBA
C. Kiefer (Univ. zu Kőln) 
    TBA  
K. Konishi (Univ. di Pisa) 
    TBA
C. Marletto (Clarendon Lab., Oxford) 
    TBA 
N. Mavromatos (Nat. Tech. Univ., Athens & King's College, London) 
    TBA 
J. McFadden (Univ. of Surrey)
    TBA
V. Mitsou (IFIC-CSIC / Univ. de Valencia)
    TBA 
K. Mølmer (Niels Bohr Inst., Copenhagen)
    TBA 
M. Paternostro (Univ. di Palermo & Queen's Univ. Belfast)
    TBA
F. Petruccione (NITheCS & Univ. of Stellenbosch)
    TBA 
M. Plenio (Univ. Ulm)
    TBA
E. Prati (Univ. di Milano) 
    TBA 
S. Sachdev (Harvard Univ.)
    TBA
G. Scholes (Univ. of Princeton)
    TBA
V. Vedral (Clarendon Lab., Oxford)
    TBA
G. Veneziano (CERN &Collège de France)
    TBA
L. Vervoort (School of Philosophy & Cultural Stud., Moscow)
    TBA
G. Vitiello (Univ. di Salerno)
    TBA
C. Wetterich (Univ. Heidelberg)
    TBA

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Contributed Papers by registered participants (preliminary)

P:  poster presentation   C: oral communication   T: talk    

(all presented papers will have equal status when submitted for Proceedings)
 
A. Ashton (Institute of Physics Publ., Bristol) 
    Books and journals exhibition
A. Beckwith (Chongquing Univ.)
    Examining toroidal geometry in terms of a 3-dimensional "Tokamak" and
    the use of a toroidal Universe 
M. Blasone (Univ. di Salerno)

L. Brevi (Univ. di Milano)

C. Budroni (Univ. di Pisa)

L. Buoninfante (Santiago de Compostela Univ.)

F. Caravelli (Planckian & Univ. di Pisa)

S. Corli (Politecnico di Milano, CNR-IFN) 

G. Doyen (Ludwig-Maximilians-Univ., München) 

D. Drakova (Sofia State Univ., Sofia) 

L. Fratino (Univ. de Cergy, Paris)  

A. Isar (Nat. Inst. Phys. & Nucl. Engin., Bucharest-Magurele) 
 
A. Kryukov (Univ. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)  

O. Kwon (Univ. of Chikago & Cardiff Univ.)
    Probing the groundstate of gravitational entanglement:
    Incompleteness of quantum foundations from background space-time holography
J. Lässig (Fraunhofer IOSB-AST, Görlitz)

F. De Martini (Acad. Naz. del Lincei, Roma)
    The quantum vacuum and the dark entities in the universe
E. Minguzzi (Univ. di Pisa)
 
D. Oaknin (Rafael Ltd., Haifa)
   
M. Paranjape (Univ. de Montreal)
    Exotic differential structure and the 2-qubit moduli space
L. Petruzziello (Univ. Ulm)  
    Decay of uniformly rotating particles
F. Romeo (Univ. di Salerno)

L. Scalone (Springer Verlag Italia, Milano)
    Books and journals exhibition 
F. Scardigli (Politecnico di Milano)
 
K. Simonov (Univ. of Vienna)
    Information-theoretic time-travel with freedom of choice
    = Unambiguous nonlocality without entanglement 
T. Singh (Tata Inst. Fundam. Res., Mumbai)
    Octonions, and an E_8 x E_8 theory of unification
C. Stoica (Dept. Theor. Phys., NIPNE--HH, Bucharest)

D. Terno (Macquarie Univ.)
 
R. Torromé (t.b.d.)
 
D. Vasak (FIAS, Frankfurt)
    Postulating non-degeneracy of Lagrangians for relativistic field theories  
M. Wright (The Archive Trust for Research, Bristol)  
    --
    PCT:

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Program

Access to lectures for registered participants only.  
Accesso al convegno solo per iscritti.
Serata dedicata al pubblico mercoledi, 7 ottobre.


(questions at speaker's discretion!)  

SUNDAY, 4 October
Arrival in Castiglioncello
16:30 - 19:00     Registration at Castello Pasquini (conference site)
      18:30 - 20:00     Reception at Castello Pasquini

MONDAY, 5 October
 t.b.d.

 -- WORKSHOP OPENING --    
 8:50 -  9:00
  -- Welcome --   

Chair:
 9:00 -  9:25 N. N. --
10:30 - 11:10
  -- Coffee Break --  supported by t.b.a. 

Chair:


13:00 - 15:00
  -- Lunch at Hotel Atlantico --

Chair:


16:30 - 17:00
  -- Coffee Break --

Chair:



TUESDAY, 6 October
t.b.d.

Chair: 
 9:00 -  9:25
 N.N. -- 
10:30 - 11:10
  -- Coffee Break --

Chair:


13:00 - 15:00  -- Lunch at Hotel Atlantico --

Chair:


16:30 - 17:00
  -- Coffee Break --

Chair: 


  
WEDNESDAY, 7 October
t.b.d.

Chair:
9:00 -  9:25
 N.N. --  
10:30 - 11:10  -- Coffee Break --

Chair:

 
13:00 - 15:00  -- Lunch at Hotel Atlantico --

Chair:

 
16:30 - 17:00
  -- Coffee Break --

Chair:


21:00
2nd floor
 SERATA DEDICATA AL PUBBLICO (public evening, in Italian)
"100 anni dopo Heisenberg e Schrödinger -
  dagli atomi alle stelle fino alla biologia quantistica"
G. Bianconi (Londra), L. Boi (Parigi), C. Marletto (Londra) e G. Vitiello (Salerno)      
 
THURSDAY, 8 October
t.b.d.

Chair: 
 9:00 -  9:25 N.N. --
10:30 - 11:10
  -- Coffee Break --

Chair:


13:00 - 15:00  -- Lunch at Hotel Atlantico --

Chair: 


16:30 - 17:00
  -- Coffee Break --

Chair:


19:00  -- Reception / Aperitivo at Villa Parisi --
20:00  -- Conference Dinner at Villa Parisi --


FRIDAY, 9. October
t.b.d.

Chair: 
 9:00 -  9:25 N.N. --  
 
10:30 - 11:10
  -- Coffee Break and Poster Session --

Chair:


13:00 - 14:30  -- Lunch at Hotel Atlantico --

Chair:


16:00 - 16:30
 -- Coffee Break --

Chair: 



 -- WORKSHOP CLOSING --  

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Proceedings

Proceedings of DICE2026 will be published in 
Journal of Physics: Conference Series (open access)
 ==> details will be announced after the meeting!

Proceedings of DICE2024:
Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 3017 (2025)
H.-T. Elze, M. Blasone, L. Diosi, L. Fratino, J.J. Halliwell, C. Kiefer, E. Prati and G. Vitiello (eds.)
- free access at  http://iopscience.iop.org/1742-6596/2533/1

Proceedings of DICE2022:
Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2533 (2023)
H.-T. Elze, M. Blasone, L. Diosi, L. Fratino, J.J. Halliwell, C. Kiefer, E. Prati and G. Vitiello (eds.)
- free access at  http://iopscience.iop.org/1742-6596/2533/1

Proceedings of DICE2018:
Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1275 (2019)
H.-T. Elze, M. Blasone, L. Diosi, L. Fronzoni, J.J. Halliwell, C. Kiefer, E. Prati and G. Vitiello (eds.)
- free access at  http://iopscience.iop.org/1742-6596/1275/1

Proceedings of DICE2016:
Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 880 (2017)
H.-T. Elze, L. Diosi, L. Fronzoni, J.J. Halliwell, C. Kiefer, E. Prati and G. Vitiello (eds.)
- free access at http://iopscience.iop.org/1742-6596/880/1

Proceedings of DICE2014:
Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 626 (2015)
H.-T. Elze, L. Diosi, L. Fronzoni, J.J. Halliwell, C. Kiefer, E. Prati and G. Vitiello (eds.)
- free access at http://iopscience.iop.org/1742-6596/626/1

Proceedings of DICE2012: 
Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 442 (2013)
H.-T. Elze, L. Diosi, L. Fronzoni, J.J. Halliwell, E. Prati, G. Vitiello and J. Yearsley (eds.)
- free access at http://iopscience.iop.org/1742-6596/442/1

Proceedings of DICE2010: 
Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 306 (2011)
H.-T. Elze, L. Diosi, L. Fronzoni, J.J. Halliwell, J. Yearsley, E. Prati and G. Vitiello (eds.)
- free access at http://iopscience.iop.org/1742-6596/306/1
 
Proceedings of DICE2008: 
Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 174 (2009)
H.-T. Elze, L. Diosi, L. Fronzoni, J.J. Halliwell and G. Vitiello (eds.)
- free access at http://iopscience.iop.org/1742-6596/174/1

Proceedings of DICE2006: 
Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 67 (2007)
H.-T. Elze, L. Diosi and G. Vitiello (eds.)
- free access at http://iopscience.iop.org/1742-6596/67/1

Proceedings of DICE2004:
Brazilian Journal of Physics, 35, no. 2A+2B, 205-529 (2005) 
H.-T. Elze (ed.) 
- free access at http://www.sbfisica.org.br/bjp

Proceedings of DICE2002:
Decoherence and Entropy in Complex Systems
Springer Lecture Notes in Physics, LNP 633
H.-T. Elze (ed.) (Springer, Berlin, 2004)

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Registration now open    

Procedure: 

A. Please, send e-mail to elze@df.unipi.it with this format:   

  
     NAME / AFFILIATION / E-MAIL ________________________________________________________________

     MAILING ADDRESS __________________________________________________________________________

     STUDENT yes / no _____________________________________________________________________________

     TITLE / ABSTRACT of contributed paper __________________________________________ (at least preliminary)

     ARRIVAL / DEPARTURE DATES + ACCOMPANYING PERSONS ____________________________________

    => talks etc. will be selected by organizers based on abstracts received by July 31st.

     Registration will be acknowledged and should become visible in the list of Contributed Papers.

B. Registration Fee:  full 390 EUR, student 350 EUR, accompanying person 190 EUR --
    to be paid in cash at the registration desk -- covering coffee breaks, receptions, lunches,
    conference dinner, conference material, and open access publication of proceedings.
 

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Conference Site

The conference will take place at Castello Pasquini in Castiglioncello (Tuscany),
which is described, for example, on WIKIPEDIA!  A browser search for Castello Pasquini
or Castiglioncello is also fruitfull. - A Tourist Information office is located at Castiglioncello
train station, a few steps from Castello Pasquini (e-mail: apt7castiglioncello@costadeglietruschi.it),
with website: http://www.costadeglietruschi.it





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Accommodation (Travel advice below) 

Participants -- except invited speakers -- are kindly requested to reserve accommodation
by direct contact with a chosen hotel (all within walking distance to conference site)  

==> as soon as the favourable conference rates are listed in the following.

       Please, be aware of widespread phishing attempts trying to obtain
       booking or payment information from participants of conferences!!

Please, mention in all correspondence with your hotel to participate at  
Convegno DICE2026 at Castello Pasquini and refer to indicated room rate!

(Local tax "tassa di soggiorno" of 0.50 EUR per person x no. of days x no. of hotel *s  is added by hotel.)
Conference room rates for Single / Double (single use) / Double rooms per night, incl. breakfast:

Hotel Tirreno ***  EUR   /  /
http://www.hotel-tirreno.com
info@hoteltirreno.info
 
Hotel Baia del Sorriso ***  EUR  - /  /
(about 800 m from Castello Pasquini, beautiful view)
http://www.castiglioncelloturismo.com
info@baiadelsorriso.com

Hotel Corallo *** EUR  /  /
http://www.initalia.it/hotel/hotelcorallocastiglioncello.htm
hotelcoralloc.cello@gmail.com

Hotel Atlantico *** EUR  /  /
http://www.hotelatlantico.it
hotelatlantico@baldini1956.it

Hotel Martini ****  EUR  /  /
(modern, luxurious style)
http://www.villamartini.it
info@villamartini.it

Hotel Costa Verde ** EUR  /  /
http://www.hotelcostaverdecastiglioncello.com
costaverde@gvhotels.it 

Hotel Guerrini ** EUR  /  /  
http://www.hotelguerrinicastiglioncello.com 
guerrini@gvhotels.it

Further hotels may also be found through the tourist information / link above under
"Conference Site".

Travelling:
Nearest and most convenient is PISA international airport.
From there you go by shuttle or taxi to the main train station Pisa Centrale,
which takes about 5-10 min.
Regional trains from Pisa Centrale to Castiglioncello, your destination, take about 30-40 min.
From Roma Termini train station to Castiglioncello may take about 3 h by regional train.  
With long-distance fast trains, you have to reach Pisa or Livorno (from North) and 
Campiglia Marittima or Cecina (from South) and change for regional trains to Castiglioncello.  
Trenitalia Timetables are available here:
    http://www.trenitalia.it

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Sponsors     



Dipartimento di Fisica "Enrico Fermi"
Universita di Pisa   
 
     



Dipartimento di Fisica "E.R. Caianiello"
Universita di Salerno 



   
Universita di Milano


iisf - Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici          
diploma d'onore del parlamento europeo -- presidente onorario pierluigi celli
Via Monte di Dio 14 - Palazzo Serra di Cassano - 80132 Napoli - tel.: 081.7642652 \B7 fax: 081.7642654 \B7 mail: info@iisf.it




 ARMUNIA
Castiglioncello
 





Institute Of Physics Publishing  http://journals.iop.org
Dirac House, Bristol



Springer http://www.springer.com
Heidelberg





MDPI AG  http://www.mdpi.com/
Basel


  
Solvay Italia SA  http://www.solvay.com
Rosignano

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