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History and Philosophy of Physics papers — page 8

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The Great January Comet of 1910 (C/1910 A1): A Key Opportunity Missed by New Zealand Astronomers
C/1910 A1 was one of the Great Comets of the twentieth century. Although it was widely observed from the Northern Hemisphere, it was first discovered by observers south of the Equator. The comet…
John Drummond, Wayne Orchiston, Carolyn Brown et al.Nov 16, 2025
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Bessel-Hagen on the extension of Noether's theorems and their application to classical electromagnetism
This work analyses the 1921 article by Erich Bessel-Hagen entitled \"Uber die Erhaltungss\"atze der Elektrodynamik ("On the conservation laws of electrodynamics"). The article is based on Noether's…
Valeriya ChasovaNov 15, 2025
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Provability vs. Execution: A Comment on "Consequences of Undecidability in Physics on the Theory of Everything"
Recent work by Faizal et al. (2025) claims that G\"odelian undecidability of non-algorithmic truths in our universe imply the impossibility of a formal, algorithmic simulation of the universe. This…
Evan ReddenNov 14, 2025
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From Heisenberg and Schr\"odinger to the P vs. NP Problem
This essay offers an epistemological reinterpretation of the foundational divide between matrix mechanics and wave mechanics. Though formally equivalent, the two theories embody distinct modes of…
Galina WeinsteinNov 10, 2025
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Alexander Dalgarno and the development of astrochemistry
The interdisciplinary field of astrochemistry arose during the 1970s as observations in previously unexplored parts of the electromagnetic spectrum began to reveal the extent of a molecular component…
John H. BlackNov 9, 2025
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A Four-Level Ontological Framework for Quantum Field Theory: From Quantum Vacuum to Phenomenal Reality
One of the foundational challenges in both Quantum Field Theory and the philosophy of physics lies in the traditional binary classification of entities as either real or unreal. The classical view…
Ali Reza MirzaeeNov 8, 2025
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A computational framework for evaluating an edge-integrated, multi-ramp construction model of the Great Pyramid of Giza
Despite decades of study, a quantitative, integrated framework to evaluate minutescale throughput, geometric control, and a zero external footprint for Khufu's pyramid has been lacking. We test the…
Vicente Luis Rosell RoigNov 8, 2025
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Nearly forgotten results in development of physical cosmology
It would be reasonable to recall some critical issues in physical cosmology development. GR was created by A. Einstein in 1915. In 1917 Einstein proposed the first (static) cosmological model. Soon…
Alexander F. ZakharovNov 8, 2025
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Cosmology and Philosophy
Scientific cosmology has now reached its period of maturity with the establishment of a standard model, which is the theory of an expanding universe. The question of whether this expansion resolves…
Daniel ParrochiaOct 28, 2025
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Algorithmic Randomness, Exchangeability, and the Principal Principle
We introduce a framework uniting algorithmic randomness with exchangeable credences to address foundational questions in philosophy of probability and philosophy of science. To demonstrate its power,…
Jeffrey A. Barrett, Eddy Keming ChenOct 28, 2025
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Two Shades of Quark Color: Parallel Canons across the Cold War Divide
The introduction of the color quantum number is conventionally narrated as a linear progression from the quark-model statistics paradox to quantum chromodynamics (QCD). This paper challenges that…
Vitaly PronskikhOct 27, 2025
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Krisenmanagement in Kerntechnischen Notf\"allen -- Eine Evaluaierung Am Beispiel der Nuklearkatastrophe von Fukushima
The objective of this pre-scientific paper is to analyze the crisis management during the Fukushima nuclear accident in the year of 2011 and to derive lessons for a safer operation of reactors along…
Elias KoschierOct 26, 2025
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From Drag to Invariance: The Experimental Pressure Behind Special Relativity
This paper completes a three-part study of Einstein's 1905 special relativity by reconstructing the experimental pressures that shaped his thinking from 1895 to June 1905. Following Stachel's…
Galina WeinsteinOct 23, 2025
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Philip Warren Anderson
Philip Warren Anderson was a pioneering theoretical physicist whose work fundamentally shaped our understanding of complex systems. Anderson received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1977 for his…
Premala Chandra, Piers Coleman, Clare C. YuOct 23, 2025
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The simplest complexity: The story of the three-body problem
This article offers a broad-brush account of the Newtonian three-body problem, from its origins with Newton to its vibrant present, emphasizing its enduring influence on theoretical physics. It…
Barak KolOct 21, 2025
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Is Gravity Truly Balanced? A Historical-Critical Journey Through the Equivalence Principle and the Genesis of Spacetime Geometry
We present a novel derivation of the spacetime metric generated by matter, without invoking Einstein's field equations. For static sources, the metric arises from a relativistic formulation of…
Jaume de Haro, Emilio ElizaldeOct 15, 2025
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Math\'ematiques et M\'ecanique \`a Strasbourg entre 1871 et 1939
The University of Strasbourg, fundamentally humanistic since its creation, has a complicated history, being sometimes German, sometimes French through the ages. If one focus, from 1871, on the area…
D HuilierOct 15, 2025
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Contemporary Perspectivism as a Framework of Scientific Inquiry in Quantum Mechanics and Beyond
Contemporary perspectivism is viewed as a framework of scientific inquiry concerning the origin, generation and systematization of scientific knowledge of nature by focusing on the conditions under…
Vassilios Karakostas, Elias ZafirisOct 13, 2025
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Two Types of Natural Kind Discovery: Nobel Meets Kuhn
Philosophers have spilled much ink over the discovery of ideas in the classical 'context of discovery'. However, there has been little engagement with the question of what constitutes a…
Samuel SchindlerOct 10, 2025
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On Bayesian inference considerations and other issues concerning Drake's equation of Astrosociobiology
Speculation about the existence of advanced forms of life in the Universe and in our galaxy, has been since ever a subject of fascination and discussion in fiction, as well as in astrophysics,…
Orfeu BertolamiOct 8, 2025
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Inspiring stories from women in astronomy in Africa
In preparation for the International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly (GA) 2024, the first GA held in Africa, the African Network of Women in Astronomy (AfNWA) embarked on a visionary…
Priscilla Muheki, Mirjana Pović, Somaya Saad et al.Oct 6, 2025
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Two Wrongs Make One Right
An influential argument for scientific realism posits that, if scientific theories were not true, their empirical success would be a coincidence. Here, I show that the false Drude's theory succeeds…
Michele PizzocheroOct 6, 2025
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Comment on "Comment on Galina Weinstein's article entitled 'Convergences and Divergences: Einstein Poincar\'e and Special Relativity' "
This paper provides a systematic response to the criticisms raised by Jean-Marc Ginoux in response to my review of his book on the history of relativity. Whereas my review was written in a strictly…
Galina WeinsteinOct 4, 2025
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A century of the Bose-Einstein condensation concept and half a century of the JINR experiments for observation of condensate in the superfluid 4He (He II)
This short review is devoted to celebration of two major events in quantum physics. The first one is the birth of the concept of Bose-Einstein condensation (1925) and the second is the experimental…
Valentin ZagrebnovOct 3, 2025
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An account of the arrow of time when scale is surplus
Existing accounts of the cosmological arrow of time face a dilemma: generalist approaches that posit time-asymmetric laws lack independent motivation, while particularist approaches that invoke a…
Sean Gryb, Simon FriederichOct 3, 2025
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