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History and Philosophy of Physics papers — page 23

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The Arrow of Time is Alive and Well but Forbidden Under the Received View of Physics
This essay offers a meta-level analysis in the sociology and history of physics in the context of the so-called "Arrow of Time Problem" or "Two Times Problem," which asserts that the empirically…
R. E. KastnerNov 19, 2023
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La Physique Th\'eorique des Hautes Energies en France
The year 2023 marks three anniversaries: the 150th anniversary of the French Physical Society, the 100th anniversary since the publication of Louis de Broglie's articles (the first fundamental…
Jean IliopoulosNov 17, 2023
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1953: Fermi's "little discovery" and the birth of the numerical experiment
The year 1953 is pivotal for computational physics: the first application of the Monte-Carlo method is published and calculations of the so-called Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou experiment are started. It…
Stefano Lepri, Roberto Livi, Stefano RuffoNov 16, 2023
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Translation of Gulmanelli's seminar notes "On a theory of isotopic spin" (1954)
An integral translation of Paolo Gulmanelli's seminar notes "Su una teoria dello spin isotopico" (Casa Editrice, Milano, 1957) is presented. This is the only exposition that contains all elements of…
A. E. S. HartmannNov 14, 2023
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The Unsettled Number: Hubble's Tension
One of main sources of uncertainty in modern cosmology is the present rate of the universe's expansion, H0, called the Hubble constant. Once again, different observational techniques bring about…
Jorge L. Cervantes-Cota, Salvador Galindo-Uribarri, George F. SmootNov 13, 2023
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Cosmic-ray reactions in the atmosphere and in nuclear emulsions: Radiocarbon dating and disintegration stars
Cosmic rays were discovered by Victor Hess in 1912 through their effect on the conductivity of the atmosphere. It took several decades of research to understand their nature and composition. The…
Brigitte StrohmaierNov 9, 2023
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Electron liquids in solids: hydrodynamic description inspired by ideas of Radii Gurzhi
This is the preface article written for the special issue of Low Temperature Physics on the captivating topic of electron hydrodynamics dedicated to the pioneering work of Radii Gurzhi. The article…
A. N. Kalinenko, A. LevchenkoNov 8, 2023
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Was Einstein a Lone Genius?
Albert Einstein's journey to formulate the theory of general relativity involved significant shifts in his approach to gravitational field equations. Starting in 1912, he collaborated with Marcel…
Galina WeinsteinNov 8, 2023
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Pregeometry, Formal Language and Constructivist Foundations of Physics
How does one formalize the structure of structures necessary for the foundations of physics? This work is an attempt at conceptualizing the metaphysics of pregeometric structures, upon which new and…
Xerxes D. Arsiwalla, Hatem Elshatlawy, Dean RicklesNov 7, 2023
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On playing gods: The fallacy of the many-worlds interpretation
We present a methodological argument to refute the so-called many-worlds interpretation (MWI) of quantum theory. Several known criticisms in the literature have already pointed out problematic…
Luis C. Barbado, Flavio Del SantoNov 6, 2023
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Note on episodes in the history of modeling measurements in local spacetime regions using QFT
The formulation of a measurement theory for relativistic quantum field theory (QFT) has recently been an active area of research. In contrast to the asymptotic measurement framework that was…
Doreen Fraser, Maria PapageorgiouNov 6, 2023
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The Poincar\'e pear and Poincar\'e-Darwin fission theory in astrophysics, 1885-1901
In the early 1880s, Henri Poincar\'e discovered a new equilibrium figure for uniformly-rotating fluid masses -- the pear, or piriform figure -- and speculated that in certain circumstances the pear…
Scott A. WalterNov 3, 2023
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Archaeoastronomy and the orientation of churches in the Jesuit missions of north-western New Spain
We present an extensive archaeoastronomical study of the orientations of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Jesuit churches in the lands of the historic viceroyalty of New Spain. Our sample includes…
Maria Florencia Muratore, Adrian Di Paolo, Alejandro GanguiNov 3, 2023
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Raoul Gatto and Bruno Touschek's joint legacy in the rise of electron-positron physics
Raoul Gatto and Bruno Touschek's collaboration in the establishment of electron positron colliders as a fundamental discovery tool in particle physics will be illustrated. In particular, we will tell…
Luisa Bonolis, Franco Buccella, Giulia PancheriNov 2, 2023
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Historical synthesis supporting Duhem's demonstration of the impossibility of the `experimentum crucis' of comparison of the speed of light in air and water
In 1850, Foucault was the first to compare experimentally the velocity of light in air to its velocity in water. And as the wave and projectile theories competing at the time predicted inverse…
Olivier MorizotOct 27, 2023
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David Brewster's and William Herschel's experiments on inflection that delivered the coup de gr\ace to Thomas Young's ether distribution hypothesis
In his Theory of Light and Colours, presented to the Royal Society in November 1801, Thomas Young defended a mechanical explanation of the coloured fringes observed outside of the shadow of an opaque…
Olivier MorizotOct 27, 2023
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Nomic realism, simplicity, and the simplicity bubble effect
We offer an argument against simplicity as a sole intrinsic criterion for nomic realism. The argument is based on the simplicity bubble effect. Underdetermination in quantum foundations illustrates…
Felipe S. Abrahão, Raoni ArroyoOct 25, 2023
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Rules and Meaning in Quantum Mechanics
This book concerns the metasemantics of quantum mechanics (QM). Roughly, it pursues an investigation at the intersection of philosophy of physics and philosophy of language, and it offers a critical…
Iulian D. ToaderOct 23, 2023
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Is Bohr's Correspondence Principle just Hankel's Principle of Permanence?
No, but the paper argues that Bohr understood his correspondence principle, or at least an aspect of that principle expressed by the notion of rational generalization, as grounded in Hankel's…
Iulian D. ToaderOct 16, 2023
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200 Years of the Navier-Stokes Equation
The year 2022 marked the 200th anniversary of the first appearance of the Navier-Stokes equation, a landmark in Fluid Dynamics introduced by Claude-Louis Navier in 1822. This equation revolutionized…
Sylvio R. BistafaOct 14, 2023
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Daniel Bernoulli's Research in Basel and the "Physikalisches Kabinett" in the "Stachelsch\"utzenhaus"
On 22 September 2023 the inauguration of the "Stachelsch\"utzenhaus" at Basel's Petersplatz (St. Peter's Square) as an EPS Historic Site was hosted by the University of Basel. In the following…
Martin C. E. Huber, Martin Mattmüller, Ernst Meyer et al.Oct 14, 2023
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Dia t\=on gramm\=on: Euclidean geometry to solve trigonometric problems
Ancient astronomers faced the problem of dealing with arcs and angles in their observations and predictions without the help of modern trigonometry. The usual method to deal with such problems was…
E Landi, F SchironiOct 13, 2023
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Biography of the French astronomer Henri Camichel
Henri Camichel was an astronomer at Pic du Midi Observatory, where he contributed to the study of planets of the solar system and their satellites with Audouin Dollfus and his team. In 1961, with…
Emmanuel DavoustOct 12, 2023
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First steps towards understanding neutrinos
We retrace the first steps towards understanding neutrinos, particles predicted by Pauli in 1930 to avoid a supposed violation of time-translation symmetry. Despite the tendency to reduce the whole…
Francesco VissaniOct 11, 2023
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On Penrose's Analogy between Curved Spacetime Regions and Optical Lenses
We present a detailed analysis of Penrose's gravito-optical analogy between the focusing effects of particular families of Ricci- and Weyl-curved spacetime regions on the one hand, and anastigmatic…
Dennis Lehmkuhl, Christian Röken, Juliusz DoboszewskiOct 11, 2023
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