Mita Philosophy Society Lecture "Prigogine and Bergson: Multi-Time Scales in Physics" (Lecturer: Mr. Tomio Petrosky)

Monday, October 26, 2026, 16:30–18:00

  Keio University Mita Campus South Annex 3rd Floor, Conference Room 2 (Capacity: 32) / Zoom (Hybrid Event)

*The South Annex is the building located across the street from the main gate of the Mita Campus.  

Map: https://www.keio.ac.jp/en/about/campuses/mita.html (Building No. 18)

Free of charge, pre-registration required (for both in-person and online participation)

If the in-person venue reaches capacity, we may ask you to participate online.  

For online participants, the Zoom URL will be sent on Sunday, October 25, and around noon on the day of the event.

Time flows uniformly from the past to the future, like a single line. This is how we usually think. However, when we look inside the world of physics, time appears as a layering of multiple speed scales. While the direction of time (irreversibility) is often explained as a result of the coarseness of our observations, Ilya Prigogine (1977 Nobel Prize in Chemistry) sought the basis for it within the side of dynamics itself.

For this lecture, we welcome physicist Mr. Tomio Petrosky, who has been working on this problem since he began researching under Prigogine in 1980. He will speak about Prigogine, Bergson, and multi-time scales in physics, incorporating the history and anecdotes of the Prigogine group. Mathematical formulas will be kept to a minimum. Those interested in philosophy or the history of science are also welcome to attend.

Mita Philosophy Society

Project Bergson in Japan (PBJ) Phase 5 (JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Fundamental Research (B) 24K00005)