Patricia Contreras

I am a PhD student at Complutense University in Madrid (UCM), funded by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) at ICMAT – Institute of Mathematical Sciences, working under the supervision of Carlos Palazuelos and Julio de Vicente.

I finished the Master of Science in Mathematics and Physics (a Bachelor with integrated Master’s degree) at the University of Bristol with an urge to understand the foundations of quantum mechanics better, both mathematically and conceptually. I knew I had questions, but I didn’t know what those questions were exactly. The Master of Studies in Philosophy of Physics at Balliol College, University of Oxford filled that gap perfectly. At last I was able to put my questions into words.

I have now returned to Madrid to pursue a PhD in the mathematical foundations of quantum mechanics, where I hope to partially answer some of those questions by studying the mathematical structure behind nonlocal games and Bell inequalities. While the core of my PhD is mathematical, I am still an active part of the philosophy community and continue to present some of my work at philosophy of science conferences. Aside from Bell inequalities, I am interested in (in decreasing order of expertise!) interpretations of quantum mechanics,  the role of philosophy of language in scientific theories, and the emergence of the arrow of time in statistical mechanics.