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History and Philosophy of Physics papers — page 16

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The April 1, 2471 b.C. eclipse and the end of 4th Egyptian dynasty
On April 1, 2471 bC an impressive, unpredictable phenomenon occurred over the Delta of the Nile: a total solar eclipse, with totality band almost centered on the sacred city of Buto, and with the…
Giulio MagliDec 18, 2024
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Splitting the atom before the atom had been split
The history of the discovery of nuclear fission and how science fiction had anticipated it.
Julyan H. E. CartwrightDec 18, 2024
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Dark Matter: Explanatory Unification and Historical Continuity
In recent years, the hope to confirm the existence of dark matter by experimentally detecting it has diminished significantly. After more than 30 years of experimental searches, many of the most…
Simon AllzénDec 18, 2024
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Algorithmic Idealism I: Reconceptualizing Reality Through Information and Experience
Algorithmic idealism represents a transformative approach to understanding reality, emphasizing the informational structure of self-states and their algorithmic transitions over traditional notions…
Krzysztof SienickiDec 16, 2024
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Algorithmic Idealism II: Reassessment of Competing Theories
This paper explores the intersection of identity, individuality, and reality through competing frameworks, including classical metaphysics, quantum mechanics, and computational theories. Traditional…
Krzysztof SienickiDec 16, 2024
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Contemporary Reaction to Gibbs's Statistical Mechanics
J. Willard Gibbs published a book in 1902 on statistical mechanics that quickly received significant attention from his contemporaries because of the reputation that he had secured with his prior…
Bruce D. PoppDec 16, 2024
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Algorithmic idealism: what should you believe to experience next?
I argue for an approach to the Foundations of Physics that puts the question in the title center stage, rather than asking "what is the case in the world?". This approach, algorithmic…
Markus P. MuellerDec 3, 2024
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Spacetime Emergence and the Fear of Intimacy
We provide a reply to the Argument from Intimacy on behalf of defenders of emergent spacetime in theories of quantum gravity. We argue that if one accepts that spacetime regions are nowhere in the…
Samuel T. Baron, Claudio Calosi, Cristian MarianiDec 2, 2024
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Boundaries, frames and the issue of physical covariance
We focus on three distinct lines of recent developments: edge modes and boundary charges in gravitational physics, relational dynamics in classical and quantum gravity, and quantum reference frames.…
Henrique Gomes, Simon Langenscheidt, Daniele OritiDec 1, 2024
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The Solvay Councils, de Broglie's brothers, and the development of wave-particle duality
The meeting patronized by Ernest Solvay in 1911, the first Solvay Council, marked the beginning of what can be called the first quantum revolution. Maurice de Broglie was one of the secretaries of…
Alessio Rocci, Franklin J. LambertNov 27, 2024
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An Astronomical Interpretation of the Nebra Sky Disc
We agree with the interpretation of W. Schlosser, that the Nebra Sky Disc is a reminder of a method of determining a start date (and possibly also an end date) of the farming year. We extend this…
Bernd FiedlerNov 26, 2024
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The lunar eclipse and the dawn of astrophysics in van Gogh's masterpieces
When visiting the Museum of Modern Art's special exhibit ''van Gogh and the Colors of the Night (New York, USA, 2008)'' I was impressed by the artist's effort to paint and…
Edvige CorbelliNov 25, 2024
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Effective Theory Building and Manifold Learning
Manifold learning and effective model building are generally viewed as fundamentally different types of procedure. After all, in one we build a simplified model of the data, in the other, we…
David Peter Wallis FreebornNov 24, 2024
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From Quantum Cognition to Conceptuality Interpretation I: Tracing the Brussels Group's Intellectual Journey
The conceptuality interpretation of quantum mechanics proposes that quantum entities have a conceptual nature, interacting with the material world through processes that are the physical counterpart…
Diederik Aerts, Massimiliano Sassoli de Bianchi, Sandro SozzoNov 23, 2024
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Underestimation of Hubble constant error bars: a historical analysis
An analysis of a historical compilation of Hubble-Lemaître constant values (H0: 163 data points measured between 1976 and 2019) assuming the standard cosmological model gives a χ2 value of the…
Martin Lopez-CorredoiraNov 20, 2024
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Refuting the Metaphysics of Wolfram and Tegmark
Wolfram's hypergraph dynamics should replace outmoded models in physics. This should even more so be the case if experimental evidence for the theory is found (which I believe is probable).…
Joseph NatalNov 19, 2024
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The Laboratory of Mechanics and Acoustics in Marseilles (France): from the first world war to the present day
The Laboratory of Mechanics and Acoustics in Marseilles (France) was created in 1941, under the name of Centre de Recherches Scientifiques, Industrielles et Maritimes (CRSIM). But it was actually…
Sabine Meunier, Dominique Habault, Emmanuel Friot et al.Nov 19, 2024
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The Physics of Pears: A Pataphysical Approach to Geometrodynamics
This work explores a pataphysical approach to the concept of space and time, inspired by Aristotelian philosophy and the insights of John Wheeler. We propose the "Physics of Pears", a theory…
Marcello PolettiNov 17, 2024
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Carl Wirtz' article from 1924 in Astronomische Nachrichten on the radial motions of spiral nebulae
In the year 1924, a paper by Carl Wirtz appeared in Astronomische Nachrichten, entitled 'De Sitter's cosmology and the radial motion of spiral galaxies'. This paper and its author…
Tom RichtlerNov 14, 2024
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Tsung-Dao Lee has died, long live parity symmetry breaking!
On August 4 this year, Tsung-Dao Lee, a renowned theoretical physicist of Chinese origin, passed away at the age of 97. His most famous discovery dates back to 1956, when -- together with Chen-Ning…
Wolfgang BietenholzNov 13, 2024
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Commentary on Peierls's "In defence of measurement" in Physics World, January 1991
This paper is a commentary on Rudolph Peierls's "In defence of measurement" Physics World 19-20, January 1991 to accompany the reprint of this paper for the special volume dedicated to…
Tuck C ChoyNov 11, 2024
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A Bayesian Model of Credence in Low Energy Supersymmetry
We carry out a quantitative Bayesian analysis of the evolution of credences in low energy supersymmetry (SUSY) in light of the most relevant empirical data. The analysis is based on the assumption…
Richard Dawid, James D. WellsNov 5, 2024
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A cognitive basis for physical time
The treatment of time in relativity does not conform to that in quantum theory. In the context of quantum gravity this is called "the problem of time". A crucial difference is that time t…
Per ÖstbornNov 3, 2024
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Why Gauges? Gauge symmetries for the classification of the physical states
This note focuses the problem of motivating the use of gauge symmetries (being the identity on the observables) from general principles, beyond their practical success, starting from global gauge…
Franco StrocchiNov 3, 2024
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Quantum Reconstructions as Stepping Stones toward Psi-Doxastic Interpretations?
In quantum foundations, there is growing interest in the program of reconstructing the quantum formalism from clear physical principles. These reconstructions are formulated in an operational…
Philipp BerghoferOct 29, 2024
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