The Tychonic system, an implausible theorySeveral scholars have accorded the Tychonic System a prominent place, considering it a credible alternative to the Ptolemaic and Copernican systems. In recent years, there have even been some…Gabriele Vanin·May 28, 2026SaveLearn
That Damned Equation. Rigour, Credit Attribution, and the Wheeler-DeWitt Equation 1962-1967The notion of rigour relevant to the practice of physics is an endogenous one. Theoretical physics has its own internal norms about mathematical practice and notions of legitimate derivations or…Alexander S. Blum, Dean Rickles, Karim Thébault·May 28, 2026SaveLearn
On the independence problem of Newton's first lawNewton's laws of motion pose an apparent problem, sometimes referred to as "the independence problem": the first law seems to be a simple consequence of the second law, raising the…Ido Yavetz, Ehud Aharoni·May 26, 2026SaveLearn
Physical Coherence and Time's EmergenceIt is often said that time vanishes in quantum gravity. One general approach to quantum gravity accepts this fundamental timelessness but seeks to derive time's emergence at a non-fundamental…Eugene Y. S. Chua·May 24, 2026SaveLearn
The Geometric View of TheoriesRecent critiques of the semantic conception of scientific theories suggest that a theory is not best formulated as a collection of models satisfying some set of kinematical or dynamical conditions.…Sebastian De Haro·May 24, 2026SaveLearn
Geometrization 3.0: the black hole shadowThere have been three geometrizations in history. The first one is historically due to the Pythagorean school and Plato, the second one comes from Galileo, Kepler, Descartes and Newton, and the third…Juliano C. S. Neves·May 22, 2026SaveLearn
The Limitations of the Notion of `Observable' in Diffeomorphism-Invariant ModelsThe application of the notion of `observable' from gauge theory to diffeomorphism-invariant theories -- most relevantly to general relativity -- has led to numerous conceptual and technical…Álvaro Mozota Frauca·May 21, 2026SaveLearn
Polydoxon Transformations and Scientific Reward in PhysicsWe develop a descriptive account of scientific reward in physics based on the concept of the time-dependent Polydoxon, defined as the structured set of empirically viable theories at a given time. We…James D. Wells·May 15, 2026SaveLearn
We Have Never Been SophisticatedMany philosophers of physics maintain that a physical theory that exhibits (certain kinds of) symmetries is flawed, on the grounds that such theories posit "excess structure". In an…Clara Bradley, James Owen Weatherall·May 14, 2026SaveLearn
Causality and Scientific Inquiry: Lessons from Space Physics and Medical SciencesOver the past two decades, the rapid surge in data-intensive computational techniques for statistical modeling may have had the effect of diminishing the use of applied mathematics in causal…Marzieh Asgari-Targhi, Amene Asgari-Targhi, Mahboubeh Asgari-Targhi et al.·May 12, 2026SaveLearn
On the Anticipation of Lunar Travel in the Early 20th Century: A Pedagogical ExerciseThis article examines, from historical and pedagogical perspectives, Alphonse Berget's anticipation of Earth-Moon travel in Le Ciel (Larousse, 1923), decades before the beginning of the space…Tina A. Harriott, Cherif F. Matta·May 12, 2026SaveLearn
Lorentz, Poincare, Einstein, and the Genesis of the Theory of Special Relativity.This article reexamines the genesis of special relativity by situating the contributions of Lorentz, Poincare, and Einstein within the scientific, documentary, and editorial context of the years…Hector Giacomini·May 12, 2026SaveLearn
Conrad Habicht 1914 Manuscript on Special Relativity and Einstein 1907 Reframing of the 1905 TheoryThis note examines an apparently unpublished manuscript on special relativity written by Conrad Habicht in 1914 and made available online by the ETH-Bibliothek Zürich in December 2024. To the best of…Hector Giacomini·May 5, 2026SaveLearn
Lorentz-FitzGerald Contraction as the Unique Closure Condition for Moving Spherical-Harmonic CavitiesWe prove that the Lorentz--FitzGerald contraction is the unique deformation of a resonant cavity moving through a mechanical wave medium that preserves spherical-harmonic phase closure. For a cavity…Shiva Meucci·Apr 30, 2026SaveLearn
On Dingle's rebuttal of the special theory of relativityIn his 1972 book Science At the Crossroads, Helbert Dingle attacked the consistency of special relativity through a fallacious argument championed by the crank community even to this day. Dingle's…Justo Pastor Lambare·Apr 29, 2026SaveLearn
The Legacy of Enrico Fermi to VarennaThe Varenna school is a hub where generations of physicists, including numerous Nobel laureates, have shaped the field, often through collaborative exchanges across political and cultural boundaries.…Vladislav Gavryusev, Massimo Inguscio·Apr 27, 2026SaveLearn
Experiments, Computability, and the Existence of Physical FunctionsExperimental science usually relies on laboratory procedures that, after finitely many steps, terminate with numerical reports on physical quantities. This paper argues that such procedures can be…Isaac Pérez Castillo·Apr 23, 2026SaveLearn
It's all in your head -- fine-tuning arguments do not require aleatoric uncertaintyPrompted by misconceptions in the recent literature, we review the justifications for naturalness arguments and Occam's razor found in Bayesian statistics. We discuss the automatic Occam's razor that…Andrew Fowlie·Apr 20, 2026SaveLearn
The Metric Fossil: Emergent Spacetime from Asymmetric ProjectionThis paper develops a conditional framework for understanding the emergence of measurable physical structure from a pre-metric domain. Contemporary physics provides powerful and precise descriptions…Jonathon Sendall·Apr 16, 2026SaveLearn
Defining Absence: The Origin of "Neutrinoless" and How it Obscures the Physics of Matter CreationThe term 'neutrinoless' is a cornerstone of modern particle physics, yet it defines a fundamental process by what is missing rather than what is created. We trace the origins of this privative…Francesco Vissani·Apr 14, 2026SaveLearn
Amerigo Vespucci and the discovery of the Southern SkyDuring the voyages that led him to discover the new continent bearing his name, Amerigo Vespucci made interesting astronomical observations of the southern sky. In the past, his data have been…Davide Neri·Apr 11, 2026SaveLearn
Causal StanceWhat is the meaning of physical causal closure? Jaegwon Kim explicitly adopts a conception of causation according to which physical causation is effectively identified with deterministic physical…Yoshiyuki Ohmura, Yasuo Kuniyoshi·Apr 6, 2026SaveLearn
From Hole Theory to Quantum Field Theory: Relativistic Fermions and the Role of Ettore Majorana (1933-1937)Between 1933 and 1937, the treatment of relativistic spin-1/2 particles, initially rooted in Hole theory, evolved into the modern framework of quantum field theory. This paper reconstructs the…Francesco Vissani·Mar 30, 2026SaveLearn
The atomic bomb: its history and the struggles of scientistsIn this article, I trace the early historical developments that ultimately led to the creation of the atomic bomb. Even after the completion of weapons, many scientists continued to argue that…Shoji Nagamiya·Mar 27, 2026SaveLearn
Mars excitement in Australian newspapers, 1877-1899: Humour and the public negotiation of astronomical knowledgeSpeculation about Martian canals was a recurring feature of late nineteenth-century popular astronomy. This paper examines how colonial newspapers used humour to negotiate the epistemic uncertainty…Richard de Grijs·Mar 24, 2026SaveLearn