Skip to content

History and Philosophy of Physics papers — page 49

physics.hist-phBrowse archive

Holography without holography: How to turn inter-representational into intra-theoretical relations in AdS/CFT
We show by means of the AdS/CFT correspondence in the context of quantum gravity how inter-representational relations - loosely speaking relations among different equivalent representations of one…
Rasmus Jaksland, Niels S. LinnemannAug 24, 2020
Learn
Einstein's Washington Manuscript on Unified Field Theory
In this note, we point attention to and briefly discuss a curious manuscript of Einstein, composed in 1938 and entitled "Unified Field Theory," the only such writing, published or unpublished,…
Tilman Sauer, Tobias SchützAug 23, 2020
Learn
Undecidability and unpredictability: not limitations, but triumphs of science
It is a widespread belief that results like G\"odel's incompleteness theorems or the intrinsic randomness of quantum mechanics represent fundamental limitations to humanity's strive for scientific…
Markus P. MuellerAug 22, 2020
Learn
Eclipses in the Aztec Codices
This paper centers on the collection of accounts on solar eclipses from the era of the Aztecs in Mesoamerica, about 1300 to 1550 AD. We present a list of all eclipse events complying with the…
Emil KhalisiAug 20, 2020
Learn
M\'emoire sur la m\'ecanique quantique et l'approche ondulatoire
The Copenhagen interpretation has been the subject of much criticism, notably by De Broglie and Einstein, because it contradicts the principles of causality and realism. The aim of this essay is to…
Olivier RousselleAug 19, 2020
Learn
Ojibwe Giizhiig Anung Masinaaigan and D(L)akota Makoce Wicanhpi Wowapi: Revitalization of Native American Star Knowledge, A Community Effort
The Native Skywatchers research and programming initiative focuses on the revitalization of native star knowledge of the Ojibwe and Dakota people. Activities include interviewing elders, culture and…
Annette S. LeeAug 19, 2020
Learn
Sidney Coleman's Dirac Lecture "Quantum Mechanics in Your Face"
This is a write-up of Sidney Coleman's classic lecture first given as a Dirac Lecture at Cambridge University and later recorded when repeated at the New England sectional meeting of the American…
Sidney ColemanAug 13, 2020
Learn
Indigenous Astronomy: Best Practices and Protocols for Including Indigenous Astronomy in the Planetarium Setting
Indigenous people have nurtured critical relationships with the stars, from keen observation and sustainable engineering to place-based ceremony, navigation, and celestial architecture for tens of…
Annette S. Lee, Nancy Maryboy, David Begay et al.Aug 12, 2020
Learn
The Elemental Analysis of Elymais Period Coins by PIXE Technique and Their Statistical Analysis by SPSS
The Elymaean have existed as a semi-autonomous satrap and sometimes autonomous, coinciding with the Seleucids and the Parthians in the southwest and west of Iran. This government has played an active…
Behzad Hosseini Sarbishe, Ali Asghar Salahshour, Hamzeh Ghobadi ZadhAug 7, 2020
Learn
In Memory of Prof. Hidekuni Takekoshi
A memorial to Prof. Hidekuni Hidekoshi, Kyoto University, Japan - an accelerator pioneer in Japan, teacher, mentor, friend, unassuming but knowing his accomplishments and worth, frugal but generous,…
Y. Iwashita, M. Mizumoto, T. Igaki et al.Aug 6, 2020
Learn
Quantum Teleportation and Jungian Psychology
We propose that the Jungian psychological type of an individual is naturally modelled as a quantum state: a maximally entangled two-qubit state, one of whose qubits is undergoing quantum…
Igor DevetakAug 3, 2020
Learn
The Past Hypothesis and the Nature of Physical Laws
If the Past Hypothesis underlies the arrows of time, what is the status of the Past Hypothesis? In this paper, I examine the role of the Past Hypothesis in the Boltzmannian account and defend the…
Eddy Keming ChenAug 3, 2020
Learn
Quantum Theory Needs No 'Interpretation' But 'Theoretical Formal-Conceptual Unity' (Or: Escaping Adan Cabello's "Map of Madness" With the Help of David Deutsch's Explanations)
In the year 2000, in a paper titled Quantum Theory Needs No 'Interpretation', Chris Fuchs and Asher Peres presented a series of instrumentalist arguments against the role played by 'interpretations'…
Christian de RondeAug 1, 2020
Learn
John Ward: Memoir of a Theoretical Physicist
A scientific biography of John Ward, who was responsible for the Ward Identity in quantum electrodynamics; the first detailed calculation of the quantum entanglement of two photons in…
Norman DombeyJul 31, 2020
Learn
A (not so) brief history of lunar distances: Lunar longitude determination at sea before the chronometer
Longitude determination at sea gained increasing commercial importance in the late Middle Ages, spawned by a commensurate increase in long-distance merchant shipping activity. Prior to the successful…
Richard de GrijsJul 28, 2020
Learn
The Concept 'Indistinguishable'
The concept of indistinguishable particles in quantum theory is fundamental to questions of ontology. All ordinary matter is made of electrons, protons, neutrons, and photons and they are all…
Simon SaundersJul 28, 2020
Learn
Observers, observations and referencing in physics theories
Is it possible to encompass the full extent of the universe within a theory based on a finite set of first principles and inference rules? The r\ole of observers and observations in physics…
Uri Ben-Ya'acovJul 26, 2020
Learn
A system of axioms for Minkowski spacetime
We present an elementary system of axioms for the geometry of Minkowski spacetime. It strikes a balance between a simple and streamlined set of axioms and the attempt to give a direct formalization…
Lorenzo Cocco, Joshua BabicJul 25, 2020
Learn
A Case Study of a Scientific Blunder. History and Philosophical Teachings
In 1988, in cooperation with a team of experimental physicists, a Condensed Matter theorist, X, published in Physical Review Letters a crucial experimental result dealing with a revolutionary new…
Pascal LedererJul 25, 2020
Learn
An Interview with Murray Gell-Mann on June 5 2001
An interview in 2001 with Murray Gell-mann covering his early ideas on parity violation, strangeness, charm, the eightfold way, QCD, electroweak theory and string theory.
Norman DombeyJul 24, 2020
Learn
Alexander Bruce, Scotland's accidental 'Scientific Revolutionary'
The mid-17th century saw unprecedented scientific progress. With the Middle Ages well and truly over, the Scientific Revolution had begun. However, scientific advancement does not always proceed…
Richard de GrijsJul 24, 2020
Learn
Shakin' All Over: Proving Landauer's Principle without neglect of fluctuations
Landauer's principle is, roughly, the principle that there is an entropic cost associated with implementation of logically irreversible operations. Though widely accepted in the literature on the…
Wayne C. MyrvoldJul 23, 2020
Learn
The Science of cs
There is a long tradition of thinking of thermodynamics, not as a theory of fundamental physics (or even a candidate theory of fundamental physics), but as a theory of how manipulations of a physical…
Wayne C. MyrvoldJul 23, 2020
Learn
Misconceptions on Effective Field Theories and spontaneous symmetry breaking: Response to Ellis' article
In an earlier paper~Luu:2019jmb we discussed emergence from the context of effective field theories, particularly as related to the fields of particle and nuclear physics. We argued on the…
Thomas Luu, Ulf-G. MeißnerJul 20, 2020
Learn
Quantum Immortality and Non-Classical Logic
The Everett Box is a device in which an observer and a lethal quantum apparatus are isolated from the rest of the universe. On a regular basis, successive trials occur, in each of which an automatic…
Phillip L. WilsonJul 20, 2020
Learn
← PreviousPage 49Next →