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History and Philosophy of Physics papers — page 61

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Uncertainty from Heisenberg to Today
We explore the different meanings of "quantum uncertainty" contained in Heisenberg's seminal paper from 1927, and also some of the precise definitions that were explored later. We recount the…
Reinhard F. Werner, Terry FarrellyApr 12, 2019
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On Representational Redundancy, Surplus Structure, and the Hole Argument
We address a recent proposal concerning 'surplus structure' due to Nguyen et al. ['Why Surplus Structure is Not Superfluous.' Br. J. Phi. Sci. Forthcoming.] We argue that the sense of 'surplus…
Clara Bradley, James Owen WeatherallApr 9, 2019
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Bhasvati of Satananda: In the Pages of Mystery
Satanandacharya the astronomer and mathematician of 11th century was born in 1068 C.E. at Purusottamdham Puri of Odisha wrote the scripture Bhasvati in 1099 C.E.. The scripture has significant…
Dr Sudhira PandaApr 7, 2019
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Emergence and Correspondence for String Theory Black Holes
This is one of a pair of papers that give a historical-cum-philosophical analysis of the endeavour to understand black hole entropy as a statistical mechanical entropy obtained by counting…
Jeroen van Dongen, Sebastian De Haro, Manus Visser et al.Apr 5, 2019
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Conceptual Analysis of Black Hole Entropy in String Theory
The microscopic state counting of the extremal Reissner-Nordstr\"om black hole performed by Andrew Strominger and Cumrun Vafa in 1996 has proven to be a central result in string theory. Here, with a…
Sebastian De Haro, Jeroen van Dongen, Manus Visser et al.Apr 5, 2019
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The experiment paradox in physics
Modern physics is founded on two mainstays: mathematical modelling and empirical verification. These two assumptions are prerequisite for the objectivity of scientific discourse. Here we show,…
Michał Eckstein, Paweł HorodeckiApr 5, 2019
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Discovery goals and opportunities in high energy physics: a defense of BSM-oriented exploration over signalism
Discoveries come through exclusions, confirmations or revolutionary findings with respect to a theory canon populated by the Standard Model (SM) and beyond the SM (BSM) theories. Guaranteed…
James D. WellsApr 4, 2019
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Why did Einstein Reject the November Tensor in 1912-1913, only to Come Back to it in November 1915?
The question of Einstein's rejection of the November tensor is re-examined in light of conflicting answers by several historians. I discuss these conflicting conjectures in view of three questions…
Galina WeinsteinApr 3, 2019
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Professor Chen Ping Yang's early significant contributions to mathematical physics
In the 60's Professor Chen Ping Yang with Professor Chen Ning Yang published several seminal papers on the study of Bethe's hypothesis for various problems of physics. The works on the lattice gas…
Xi-Wen Guan, Feng HeApr 3, 2019
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The Practice of Naturalness: A Historical-Philosophical Perspective
The fact that no evidence of new physics was found so far by LHC experiments has led some to call for the abandonment of the naturalness criterion. Others, on the contrary, have felt the need to…
Arianna Borrelli, Elena CastellaniApr 2, 2019
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Cosmological Constant vs. Massive Gravitons: A Case Study in General Relativity Exceptionalism vs. Particle Physics Egalitarianism
The renaissance of General Relativity witnessed considerable progress regarding both understanding and justifying Einstein's equations. Both general relativists and historians of the subject tend to…
J. Brian PittsApr 2, 2019
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Research on asteroids of Christian Ludwig Gerling and his students in the nineteenth century
One of the mayor topics in astronomy at the beginning of the 19th century was the interpretation of the observations of the first asteroids. In 1810 Christian Ludwig Gerling at the age of twenty two…
Julia Remchin, Andreas SchrimpfMar 29, 2019
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The Beginning of Gamma Astronomy
In the first part of this paper we summarize the discovery and the early study of the gamma-ray bursts. The second part studies the spatial and sky distribution of the bursters. The brightness…
Istvan HorvathMar 27, 2019
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O Espaco em Arist\'oteles: da bidimensionalidade do topos \`as seis diastaseis que definem os animais
Within the general discussion of space and its dimensionality, Aristotle's position is of the greatest relevance, as one will have the opportunity to argue and discuss in this article.
Francisco Caruso, Roberto Moreira Xavier de AraújoMar 26, 2019
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What are Physical States?
The concept of the physical state of a system is ubiquitous in physics but is usually presented in terms of specific cases. For example, the state of a point particle of mass m is completely…
Stephen BoughnMar 22, 2019
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Against "Reality" in Physics
The concept of "reality" is often raised in the context of philosophical foundations of physics or interpretations of quantum mechanics. When this term is so raised, it is a warning to me that I am…
Stephen BoughnMar 20, 2019
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Bringing The Apple to the Moon
Newtonian gravity can be regarded as a hypothetic-deductive system where the inverse square law is the starting point from which gravitational phenomena are deduced. This operational form of…
Joao A M PereiraMar 20, 2019
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Black Hole Entropy is Thermodynamic Entropy
The comparison of geometrical properties of black holes with classical thermodynamic variables reveals surprising parallels between the laws of black hole mechanics and the laws of thermodynamics.…
Carina E. A. Prunkl, Christopher G. TimpsonMar 14, 2019
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Closing in on the Cosmos: Cosmology's Rebirth and the Rise of the Dark Matter Problem
Influenced by the renaissance of general relativity that came to pass in the 1950s, the character of cosmology fundamentally changed in the 1960s as it became a well-established empirical science.…
Jaco de SwartMar 11, 2019
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Against the disappearance of spacetime in quantum gravity
This paper argues against the proposal to draw from current research into a physical theory of quantum gravity the ontological conclusion that spacetime or spatiotemporal relations are not…
Michael EsfeldMar 10, 2019
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Schematizing the Observer and the Epistemic Content of Theories
I argue that, contrary to the standard view, one cannot understand the structure and nature of our knowledge in physics without an analysis of the way that observers (and, more generally, measuring…
Erik CurielMar 6, 2019
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Indigenous use of stellar scintillation to predict weather and seasonal change
Indigenous peoples across the world observe the motions and positions of stars to develop seasonal calendars. Additionally, changing properties of stars, such as their brightness and colour, are also…
Duane W. Hamacher, John Barsa, Segar Passi et al.Mar 4, 2019
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Wigner's friend in context
Wigner's friend is commonly invoked in discussion of quantum mechanics and its interpretation.. but who is the friend really? The publishing context of Wigner's article is not widely appreciated. A…
Raymond S. MackintoshMar 1, 2019
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Prehistory of Neutrino Oscillations
First ideas of neutrino masses, mixing and oscillations proposed by Bruno Pontecorvo in 1957 and later development of these ideas are considered in some details. Original ideas of the two-neutrino…
S. M. BilenkyFeb 26, 2019
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Experiments made before the instituted society in confirmation of the theory of the pressures which the walls of the channel sustain due to the flowing water
This is an annotated translation from Latin of "Experimenta coram societate instituta in confirmationem theoriae pressionum quas latera canalis ab aqua tranfluente sustinet" in which Daniel Bernoulli…
Sylvio R. BistafaFeb 22, 2019
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