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History and Philosophy of Physics papers — page 40

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Chronicle of the discovery of the back-bending phenomenon in atomic nuclei: a personal recollection 50 years on
A chronicle describing the historical context and the development of ideas and experiments leading to the discovery of the back-bending phenomenon in rapidly rotating atomic nuclei some 50 years ago…
Hans RydeSep 17, 2021
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Substantive general covariance and the Einstein-Klein dispute: A Noetherian approach
Famously, Klein and Einstein were embroiled in an epistolary dispute over whether General Relativity has any physically meaningful conserved quantities. In this paper, we explore the consequences of…
Laurent Freidel, Nicholas TehSep 16, 2021
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Life in a random universe: Sciama's argument reconsidered
Random sampling in high dimensions has successfully been applied to phenomena as diverse as nuclear resonances, neural networks and black hole evaporation. Here we revisit an elegant argument by the…
Zhi-Wei Wang, Samuel L. BraunsteinSep 10, 2021
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Reasons, Persons, and Physics
Starting from general considerations, some ideas of the philosopher Derek Parfit on consciousness, self-awareness, and reductionism are briefly reviewed and critically examined from the standpoint of…
Luiz Carlos RyffSep 9, 2021
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General Relativity's energy and positivity -- a brief history
I give a brief review of the search for a proper definition of energy in General Relativity (GR), a far from trivial quest, which was only completed after four and a half decades. The equally (or…
S. DeserSep 8, 2021
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Searching for the Feynman diagram IIc
The calculation of the electron g-factor was carried out in 1950 by Karplus and Kroll. Seven years later, Petermann detected and corrected a serious error in the calculation of a Feynman diagram.…
Oliver ConsaSep 7, 2021
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Limits on Relativistic Quantum Measurement
Requiring causality on measurements in quantum field theory seems to impose strong conditions on a self-adjoint operator to be really measurable. This may seem limiting and artificial in the operator…
Jonáš FuksaSep 7, 2021
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Bridging the neuroscience and physics of time
As a neuroscientist and a theoretical physicist, both working on time, we have decided to open a direct dialogue to examine if the apparent discrepancies regarding the nature of time can be composed.
Dean Buonomano, Carlo RovelliSep 5, 2021
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Beyond method: The diatribe between Feyerabend and Popper over the foundations of quantum mechanics
Karl Popper and Paul Feyerabend have been among the most influential philosophers of science of the twentieth century. Extensive studies have been dedicated to the development of their controversial…
Flavio Del SantoAug 30, 2021
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Investigation of a water turbine built according to Euler's proposals (1754)
This is an annotated translation from German of Untersuchung einer nach den Euler'schen Vorschlagen (1754) gebauten Wasserturbine [Investigation of a water turbine built according to Euler's…
Sylvio R BistafaAug 26, 2021
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An Algebraic Approach to Physical Fields
According to the algebraic approach to spacetime, a thoroughgoing dynamicism, physical fields exist without an underlying manifold. This view is usually implemented by postulating an algebraic…
Lu Chen, Tobias FritzAug 16, 2021
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"That Star Is Not on the Map": The German Side of the discovery
Neptune was telescopically discovered by Johan Gottfried Galle and Heinrich Louis d'Arrest in Berlin on 23 September 1846 based on the prediction by Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier. The role German…
Davor KrajnovićAug 13, 2021
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James Clerk Maxwell on quantities and units
In the scientific literature the equation Q=\Q\[Q] is frequently quoted, where Q denotes a quantity, \Q\ a numerical value, and [Q] a unit. During the last years some experts claimed,…
Michael P. KrystekAug 13, 2021
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Indeterministic finite-precision physics and intuitionistic mathematics
In recent publications in physics and mathematics, concerns have been raised about the use of real numbers to describe quantities in physics, and in particular about the usual assumption that…
Tein van der LugtAug 12, 2021
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Constelaciones mayas: Visualizaci\'on e interpretaci\'on utilizando herramientas inform\'aticas
There has been a long standing debate about the existence of maya constellations, but there are several sources of evidences that favour this hypothesis: mural paintings, stelae and codex. In this…
Eduardo Rodas-Quito, Javier MejutoAug 4, 2021
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How a fake Kepler portrait became iconic
For several decades a portrait of Johannes Kepler has been widely circulating among professional astronomers, scientific and academic institutions, and the general public. Despite its provenance and…
Steven N. Shore, Václav PavlíkAug 4, 2021
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The Devil in the (Implicit) Details. On the AMPS Paradox and its Resolution
The black hole information loss paradox has long been one of the most studied and fascinating aspects of black hole physics. In its latest incarnation, it takes the form of the firewall paradox. In…
Enrico Cinti, Marco SanchioniAug 4, 2021
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Spacetime is material
Space and time are central concepts for understanding our World. They are important ingredients at the core of every scientific theory and subject of intense debate in philosophy. Albert Einstein's…
Luciano CombiAug 3, 2021
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Traduction comment\'ee en francais de la Conf\'erence Bakerienne Sur le M\'ecanisme de l'Oeil de Thomas Young (1800)
On November 27, 1800, Thomas Young presents for the second time to the Royal Society of London his theory of the musclurity of the crystalline lens, as being the cause of the accommodation of the eye…
Olivier MorizotJul 29, 2021
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Traduction commment\'ee en francais de La Conf\'erence Bakerienne sur la Th\'eorie de la Lumi\`ere et des Couleurs de Thomas Young
On November 12, 1802, Thomas Young lays down in front of the Royal Society of London his Theory of Light and Colours. In this text, he defends a vibratory model or light, in which the peculiar…
Olivier MorizotJul 29, 2021
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Euler Analysis of a Machine for Raising Waters Proposed by Mr. de Mour
We revisited an analysis made by Euler in a memoir of 1753 'Sur une nouvelle maniere d'elever de l'eau propose par M. de Mour' (On a new method to raise water proposed by Mr. de Mour), addressing a…
Sylvio R. BistafaJul 26, 2021
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A Commentary on The Knowledge Machine by Michael Strevens
We offer a few comments derived from a careful reading of Michael Strevens' book The Knowledge Machine (TKM), with an emphasis on extensions for future work. We believe this book goes well…
Manuel Ortega-RodríguezJul 24, 2021
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What? Who? Why? Stellify
In his 1981 article, Roberts highlights the term 'stellify' defined as "to transform (a person or thing) into a star or constellation, to place among the stars." Using the case of the Tabwa people of…
Jarita HolbrookJul 22, 2021
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Noether's first theorem and the energy-momentum tensor ambiguity problem
Noether's theorems are widely praised as some of the most beautiful and useful results in physics. However, if one reads the majority of standard texts and literature on the application of Noether's…
Mark Robert Baker, Niels Linnemann, Chris SmeenkJul 21, 2021
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Do gravitational waves confirm Hawking's area law?
Recently an experiment has been performed for the purpose of "testing the area law with GW150914". As the experimenters put it, the experiment presents "observational confirmation" of Hawking's area…
Galina WeinsteinJul 21, 2021
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