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History and Philosophy of Physics papers — page 115

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A Possible Astronomically Aligned Monolith at Gardom's Edge
A unique triangular shaped monolith located within the Peak District National Park at Gardom's Edge could be intentionally astronomically aligned. It is set within a landscape rich in late…
D. Brown, A. Alder, E. BemandMar 5, 2012
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Christopher Clavius astronomer and mathematician
The Jesuit scientist Christopher Clavius (1538-1612) has been the most influential teacher of the renaissance. His contributions to algebra, geometry, astronomy and cartography are enormous. He paved…
Costantino SigismondiMar 2, 2012
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Realism and Objectivism in Quantum Mechanics
The present study attempts to provide a consistent and coherent account of what the world could be like, given the conceptual framework and results of contemporary quantum theory. It is suggested…
Vassilios KarakostasMar 1, 2012
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Now, Factuality and Conditio Humana
The relationship between inner and outer time is discussed. Inner time is intrinsically future directed and possesses the quality of a distinguished "now". Both of these qualities get lost in…
Hartmann RömerFeb 26, 2012
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The Relativity of Existence
Despite the success of modern physics in formulating mathematical theories that can predict the outcome of experiments, we have made remarkably little progress towards answering the most fundamental…
Stuart HeinrichFeb 21, 2012
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Problems with Popper
Professor Sir Karl Popper (1902-1994) was one of the most influential philosophers of science of the twentieth century. However, in his most famous work he displays misunderstandings of science and…
Alan B. WhitingFeb 21, 2012
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Einstein the Stubborn: Correspondence between Einstein and Levi-Civita
Before developing his 1915 General Theory of Relativity, Einstein held the "Entwurf" theory. Tullio Levi-Civita from Padua, one of the founders of tensor calculus, objected to a major…
Galina WeinsteinFeb 20, 2012
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New remarks on the Cosmological Argument
We present a formal analysis of the Cosmological Argument in its two main forms: that due to Aquinas, and the revised version of the Kalam Cosmological Argument more recently advocated by William…
Gustavo E. Romero, Daniela PérezFeb 16, 2012
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A Personal Point of View about Scientific Discussions on Free Will
I briefly present a personal view about alleged scientific results on free will.
S. EspositoFeb 15, 2012
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A perspective on the landscape problem
I discuss the historical roots of the landscape problem and propose criteria for its successful resolution. This provides a perspective to evaluate the possibility to solve it in several of the…
Lee SmolinFeb 15, 2012
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Einstein's 1912-1913 struggles with Gravitation Theory: Importance of Static Gravitational Fields Theory
In December 1911, Max Abraham published a paper on gravitation at the basis of which was Albert Einstein's 1911 June conclusion about a relationship between the velocity of light and the…
Galina WeinsteinFeb 13, 2012
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A Sommerfeld Explanation
Sommerfeld shows that the Wien displacement formula implies the existence of Planck's constant.
Jeremy BernsteinFeb 10, 2012
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How Free Will Could Will
Many have proposed that free will would use quantum indeterminism. Strict adherence to the Born rule, which follows from the no-signal condition, seems to block this possibility. I propose here that…
George SvetlichnyFeb 8, 2012
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The astrometric recognition of the solar Clementine gnomon (1702)
The Clementine gnomon has been built in 1702 to measure the Earth's obliquity variation. For this reason the pinhole was located in the walls of Diocletian's times (305 a. D.) in order to…
Costantino SigismondiFeb 6, 2012
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Rutherford, Radioactivity, and the Atomic Nucleus
Modern atomic and nuclear physics took its start in the early part of the twentieth century, to a large extent based upon experimental investigations of radioactive phenomena. Foremost among the…
Helge KraghFeb 5, 2012
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The Free Will Function
It is argued that it is possible to give operational meaning to free will and the process of making a choice without employing metaphysics.
Sabine HossenfelderFeb 3, 2012
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Is symmetry identity?
Wigner found unreasonable the "effectiveness of mathematics in the natural sciences". But if the mathematics we use to describe nature is simply a coded expression of our experience then its…
Marvin ChesterFeb 1, 2012
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Gerbert of Aurillac: astronomy and geometry in tenth century Europe
Gerbert of Aurillac was the most prominent personality of the tenth century: astronomer, organ builder and music theoretician, mathematician, philosopher, and finally pope with the name of Silvester…
Costantino SigismondiJan 30, 2012
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Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking in Quantum Systems. A review for Scholarpedia
The mechanism of spontaneous symmetry breaking in quantum systems is briefly reviewed, rectifying part of the standard wisdom on logical and mathematical grounds. The crucial role of the localization…
F. StrocchiJan 26, 2012
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From the Berlin "Entwurf" Field Equations to the Einstein Tensor III: March 1916
I discuss Albert Einstein's 1916 General Theory of Relativity. I show that in Einstein's 1916 review paper, "the Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity", he derived his…
Galina WeinsteinJan 25, 2012
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From the Berlin "Entwurf" Field Equations to the Einstein Tensor II: November 1915 until March 1916
I discuss Einstein's path-breaking November 1915 General Relativity papers. I show that Einstein's field equations of November 25, 1915 with an additional term on the right hand side…
Galina WeinsteinJan 25, 2012
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From the Berlin "ENTWURF" Field Equations to the Einstein Tensor I: October 1914 until Beginning of November 1915
I discuss Albert Einstein's 1914 review paper, "The Formal Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity" from two points of view: the main elements in the paper that appear to have led…
Galina WeinsteinJan 25, 2012
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The relation between classical and quantum electrodynamics
Quantum electrodynamics presents intrinsic limitations in the description of physical processes that make it impossible to recover from it the type of description we have in classical…
Mario Bacelar ValenteJan 23, 2012
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Did the concepts of space and time change that much with the 1905 theory of relativity?
The advent of the 1905 theory of relativity is rightly considered as a breakthrough moment in the history of physics; in particular. it is widely accepted that it brought a new conception of space…
Mario Bacelar ValenteJan 23, 2012
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Quasi-Steady-State and Related Cosmological Models: A Historical Review
Since the emergence in the late 1960s of the standard hot big-bang theory, cosmology has been dominated by finite-age models. However, the rival view that the universe has existed for an indefinite…
Helge KraghJan 17, 2012
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