Abstract

Coalgebras

are a flexible tool commonly used in computer science to model abstract devices

and systems. Coalgebraic models also come with a natural notion of logics

for the systems being modelled. In this talk we will introduce coalgebras

and aim to illustrate their usefulness for modelling physical systems.

Extending earlier work of Abramsky, we will show how a weakening of the

usual morphisms for coalgebras provides the flexibility to model quantum

systems in an easy to motivate manner.

We

will then investigate how a natural extension to the usual notion of

coalgebraic logic can be used to produce logics for reasoning about

quantum systems and protocols. No prior knowledge of coalgebras will be assumed

for this talk, and the emphasis throughout will be on examples rather than

technical details.