Skip to content

History and Philosophy of Physics papers — page 24

physics.hist-phBrowse archive

The Relational Interpretations on soft matter as intermediate asymptoitcs
In this paper, it is demonstrated that there is a parallelism between the relational interpretation of Rovelli and the interpretation of soft matter based on intermediate asymptotics. The general…
Hirokazu MaruokaOct 10, 2023
Learn
Navigating the Conjectural Labyrinth of the Black Hole Information Paradox
This paper explores the enduring black hole information and firewall paradoxes, challenges that have prompted many proposals, conjectures, and theories. Noteworthy among these are the ER = EPR…
Galina WeinsteinOct 5, 2023
Learn
The philosophical problems of implementing superselection rules
Some physicists believe that superselection rules should be implemented to get rid of inconsistencies when a theory is framed in terms of a new mathematical formulation, whilst others think that this…
Jorge ManeroOct 4, 2023
Learn
Comment on: Was Ada Lovelace Actually the First Programmer?
Comment on Herbert Bruderer's recent CACM contribution, providing additional citations to recent publications on Ada Lovelace and suggesting a correction to his conclusions.
Thomas MisaOct 3, 2023
Learn
A discussion on two celebrated examples of application of linear regression
This work aims at providing some (further) perspective into the analysis of two well-known datasets in terms of the methods of linear regression. The first set has been taken from Hubble's 1929…
Evangelos MatsinosOct 2, 2023
Learn
The Virtues of Pursuit-Worthy Speculation: The Promises of Cosmic Inflation
The paper investigates the historical and contemporary pursuit-worthiness of cosmic inflation-the rationale for working on it (rather than necessarily the evidential support for claims to its…
William J. Wolf, Patrick M. DuerrSep 28, 2023
Learn
Contemporary Cosmology from Lakatos' viewpoint
An analysis of contemporary Cosmology is presented, with the aim of identifying the elements present in it according to the scientific program structure created by I. Lakatos. We look at some modern…
J. E. HorvathSep 27, 2023
Learn
My rewarding life in science
This memoire covers my life history starting with my family's background and their immigration to the US. It continues with my childhood, my early education, and my introduction to science. It then…
Andrew SkumanichSep 27, 2023
Learn
Detlef D\"urr, arrival-time distributions, and spin in Bohmian mechanics: Personal recollections and state-of-the-art
I recount here my association with Prof. Detlef D\"urr leading to our memorable research collaboration on arrival-time distributions in quantum mechanics. He influenced my life, both personally and…
Siddhant DasSep 24, 2023
Learn
Robert Millikan, Japanese Internment, and Eugenics
Robert A. Millikan (1868-1953) was the second American to win the Nobel Prize in physics. At the peak of his influence, no scientist save Einstein was more admired by the American public. Millikan,…
Thomas HalesSep 23, 2023
Learn
How Did We Get Here? The Tangled History of the Second Law of Thermodynamics
An extensive survey is given of the historical origins of the Second Law of thermodynamics, illustrated by excerpts from many original sources, and with biographical information about key…
Stephen WolframSep 21, 2023
Learn
Memory Systems, the Epistemic Arrow of Time, and the Second Law
The epistemic arrow of time is the fact that our knowledge of the past seems to be both of a different kind and more detailed than our knowledge of the future. Just like with the other arrows of…
David H. Wolpert, Jens KipperSep 19, 2023
Learn
Quantum non-locality: from denigration to the Nobel prize, via quantum cryptography
In the late 1960s, a young physicist was sailing along the coast of California towards Berkeley, where he got a post-doc position in astronomy. But his real goal was not astronomy, at least not…
Nicolas GisinSep 13, 2023
Learn
On the geometric trinity of gravity, non-relativistic limits, and Maxwell gravitation
We show that the dynamical common core of the recently-discovered non-relativistic geometric trinity of gravity is Maxwell gravitation. Moreover, we explain why no analogous distinct dynamical common…
Eleanor March, William J. Wolf, James ReadSep 13, 2023
Learn
Introduction to the special issue dedicated to Michael J. Duff FRS on the occasion of his 70th birthday
This special feature, dedicated to Michael J. Duff FRS on the occasion of his 70th birthday, concerns topics in 'Quantum gravity, branes and M-theory'. These three intertwining subjects have been…
L. Borsten, A. Marrani, C. N. Pope et al.Sep 11, 2023
Learn
Can we "effectivize'' spacetime?
According to effective realism, scientific theories give us knowledge about the unobservable world, but not at the fundamental level. This view is justified by the well-received…
Lu ChenSep 8, 2023
Learn
A partial defense of algebraic relationalism
I defend algebraicism, according to which physical fields can be understood in terms of their structural relations without reference to a spacetime manifold, as a genuine relationalist view against…
Lu ChenSep 7, 2023
Learn
Laws of Physics
Despite its apparent complexity, our world seems to be governed by simple laws of physics. This volume provides a philosophical introduction to such laws. I explain how they are connected to some of…
Eddy Keming ChenSep 7, 2023
Learn
Cosmological Inflation and Meta-Empirical Theory Assessment
I apply Dawid's Meta-Empirical Assessment (MEA) methodology to the theory of cosmological inflation. I argue that applying this methodology does not currently offer a compelling case for ascribing…
William J. WolfSep 5, 2023
Learn
Einstein, Barcelona, Symmetry & Cosmology: The Birth of an Equation for the Universe
Albert Einstein visited Spain only once, precisely one hundred years ago. The circumstances, of a very different kind, of this visit will be explained here. In special, some important events happened…
Emilio ElizaldeSep 5, 2023
Learn
Smooth Infinitesimals in the Metaphysical Foundation of Spacetime Theories
I propose a theory of space with infinitesimal regions called smooth infinitesimal geometry (SIG) based on certain algebraic objects (i.e., rings), which regiments a mode of reasoning…
Lu ChenSep 5, 2023
Learn
Why the Weyl Tile Argument is Wrong
Weyl famously argued that if space were discrete, then Euclidean geometry could not hold even approximately. Since then, many philosophers have responded to this argument by advancing alternative…
Lu ChenSep 5, 2023
Learn
Intrinsic Local Distances: A Mixed Solution to Weyl's Tile Argument
Weyl's tile argument purports to show that there are no natural distance functions in atomistic space that approximate Euclidean geometry. I advance a response to this argument that relies on a new…
Lu ChenSep 5, 2023
Learn
Infinitesimal Gunk
In this paper, I advance an original view of the structure of space called Infinitesimal Gunk. This view says that every region of space can be further divided and some regions have…
Lu ChenSep 5, 2023
Learn
Do Simple Infinitesimal Parts Solve Zeno's Paradox of Measure?
I develop a new view of the structure of space--called infinitesimal atomism--as a reply to Zeno's paradox of measure. According to this view, space is composed of ultimate parts with infinitesimal…
Lu ChenSep 5, 2023
Learn
← PreviousPage 24Next →