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History and Philosophy of Physics papers — page 52

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Apollo 11 and Fundamental Science
Half a century after a man first set foot on the moon it is interesting to revisit the occasion with a measure of hindsight. From the point of view of basic science the greatest achievement concerned…
A. De RújulaMay 19, 2020
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Physics and science: the art of taking a stance about undecidable questions
In the past century many fundamental results on unpredictability, undecidability and uncertainty have compelled scientists to grapple with the idea that some questions may never be resolved within…
Fabien Paillusson, Matthew BoothMay 18, 2020
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Real or Not Real that is the question
My discussions with John Bell about reality in quantum mechanics are recollected. I would like to introduce the reader to Bell's vision of reality which was for him a natural position for a…
Reinhold A. BertlmannMay 18, 2020
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The multiple realizability of general relativity in quantum gravity
Must a theory of quantum gravity have some truth to it if it can recover general relativity in some limit of the theory? This paper answers this question in the negative by indicating that general…
Rasmus JakslandMay 11, 2020
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Bruno Touschek in Glasgow. The making of a theoretical physicist
In the history of the discovery tools of last century particle physics, central stage is taken by elementary particle accelerators and in particular by colliders. In their start and early…
Giulia Pancheri, Luisa BonolisMay 11, 2020
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Noisy Machines
The abstract notion of a Universal Turing machine cannot exist as a physical subsystem without the introduction of noise from an external energy source. Like all other physical systems, physical…
Michael KewmingMay 10, 2020
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Peer Review: Objectivity, Anonymity, Trust
This dissertation is focused on the role of objectivity in peer review. Through an examination of aspects of peer review including anonymity, trust, expertise, and the question of who has standing to…
Daniel UckoMay 10, 2020
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The Structure of Space and Time, and the Indeterminacy of Classical Physics
I explain in what sense the structure of space and time is probably vague or indefinite, a notion I define. This leads to the mathematical representation of location in space and time by a vague…
Hanoch Ben-YamiMay 8, 2020
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From EPR, Schr\"odinger paradox to nonlocality based on perfect correlation
We give a conceptually simple proof of nonlocality using only the perfect correlations between results of measurements on distant systems discussed by Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen---correlations that…
Jean Bricmont, Sheldon Goldstein, Douglas HemmickMay 2, 2020
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Emergence in Solid State Physics and Biology
There has been much controversy over weak and strong emergence in physics and biology. As pointed out by Phil Anderson in many papers, the existence of broken symmetries is the key to emergence of…
George F R EllisApr 28, 2020
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Relativistic Implications for Physical Copies of Conscious States
The possibility of algorithmic consciousness depends on the assumption that conscious states can be copied or repeated by sufficiently duplicating their underlying physical states, leading to a…
Andrew KnightApr 28, 2020
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Roman Jackiw: A Beacon in a Golden Period of Theoretical Physics
This text offers reminiscences of my personal interactions with Roman Jackiw as a way of looking back at the very fertile period in theoretical physics in the last quarter of the 20th century.
Luc VinetApr 27, 2020
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The Solar Eclipses of the Pharaoh Akhenaten
We suggest an earlier date for the accession of the pharaoh Akhenaten of the New Kingdom in Egypt. His first year of reign would be placed in 1382 BCE. This conjecture is based on the possible…
Emil KhalisiApr 27, 2020
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Identical particles in quantum mechanics: favouring the Received View
The so-called Received View (RV) on quantum non-individuality states, basically, that quantum particles are not individuals. It has received an amount of criticism in the recent literature, most of…
Décio Krause, Jonas R. B. ArenhartApr 26, 2020
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Should Classical Physics Be Interpreted Indeterministically?
An indeterministic interpretation of classical physics has been proposed recently, in which the argument relies on attacking an alleged unwarranted metaphysical hidden assumption of the standard…
Wyman KwokApr 25, 2020
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Alice and the Foucault Pendulum: the land of action-angle variables
Since the pioneering works of Newton (1643-1727), Mechanics has been constantly reinventing itself: reformulated in particular by Lagrange (1736-1813) then Hamilton (1805-1865), it now offers…
Niciolas Boulanger, Fabien BuisseretApr 25, 2020
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The first attempts to measure light deflection by the Sun
Soon after Einstein's calculation of the effect of the Sun's gravitational field on the propagation of light in 1911, astronomers around the world tried to measure and verify the value. If the first…
Luís C. B. Crispino, Santiago PaolantonioApr 24, 2020
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Hamiltonian mechanics is conservation of information entropy
In this work we show the equivalence between Hamiltonian mechanics and conservation of information entropy. We will show that distributions with coordinate independent values for information entropy…
Gabriele Carcassi, Christine A. AidalaApr 24, 2020
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What's in a name: The etymology of astrobiology
Astrobiology has been gaining increasing scientific prominence and public attention as the search for life beyond Earth continues to make significant headway on multiple fronts. In view of these…
Manasvi Lingam, Abraham LoebApr 23, 2020
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Special Relativity Teaches the One-Way Velocity of Light Is Measurable Without Synchronized Clocks and Clocks Are Synchronizable Without One-Way Signals
Recent authors have addressed the Reichenbach assertions that the one-way velocity of light, OWVL, cannot be measured because we lack a method to synchronize distant clocks, and that one needs OWVL…
Charles Nissim-SabatApr 19, 2020
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Relational Paradigm in Asks and Answers
What is the reason for a minor success of relational ideas in scientific and public society? Are they actually that weird as they seem at the first glance? Here we attempt to look with a fresh eye at…
Maria Suslova, Anna Sidorova-BiryukovaApr 16, 2020
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Subjectifying Objectivity: Delineating Tastes in Theoretical Quantum Gravity Research
Research in Theoretical Quantum Gravity has continued expansively even as it has become detached from classic arbiters of research such as direct empirical falsification. This makes it an interesting…
Thomas K. Gilbert, Andrew J. LoveridgeApr 16, 2020
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The Dilemma of Quantum Individuality Beyond Particle Metaphysics
It is commonly claimed that quantum mechanics makes reference to a microscopic realm constituted by elementary particles. However, as first famously noticed by Erwin Schr\"odinger, it is not at all…
Christian de Ronde, Raimundo Fernández MoujánApr 15, 2020
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Does purely physical information have meaning? A comment on Carlo Rovelli's paper: Meaning = information + evolution [arXiv:1611.02420]
The note discusses the concept of meaningful, physical information presented by Carlo Rovelli. It points out certain consequences of the information model not elucidated in the original paper but…
Roman KrzanowskiApr 13, 2020
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On Empirical Equivalence and Duality
I argue that, on a judicious reading of two existing criteria--one syntactic and the other semantic--dual theories can be taken to be empirically equivalent. The judicious reading is straightforward,…
Sebastian De HaroApr 13, 2020
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