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History and Philosophy of Physics papers — page 84

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Einstein and Gravitational Waves 1936-1938
Around 1936, Einstein wrote to his close friend Max Born telling him that, together with Nathan Rosen, he had arrived at the interesting result that gravitational waves did not exist, though they had…
Galina WeinsteinFeb 15, 2016
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Einstein's Discovery of Gravitational Waves 1916-1918
In his 1916 ground-breaking general relativity paper Einstein had imposed a restrictive coordinate condition, his field equations were valid for coordinate systems which are unimodular. Later,…
Galina WeinsteinFeb 12, 2016
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The Scientific and Historical Value of Annotations on Astronomical Photographic Plates
The application of photography to astronomy was a critical step in the development of astrophysics at the end of the nineteenth century. Using custom-built photographic telescopes and objective…
Sara J. Schechner, David H. SliskiFeb 10, 2016
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Minkowski and Special Relativity: Does His Spacetime Geometry Explain Space Contraction?
For over a century Minkowskian spacetime has dominated discussions of space contraction and time dilation within special relativity. Brown and Pooley have called into question both the assumptions of…
Paul A. KlevgardFeb 9, 2016
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On the Conceptual Issues Surrounding the Notion of Relational Bohmian Dynamics
The paper presents a program to construct a non-relativistic relational Bohmian theory, that is, a theory of N moving point-like particles that dispenses with space and time as fundamental…
Antonio Vassallo, Pui Him IpFeb 8, 2016
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Uncertain for A Century: Quantum Mechanics and The Dilemma of Interpretation
Quantum Mechanics, the physical theory describing the microworld, represents one of science's greatest triumphs. It lies at the root of all modern digital technologies and offers unparalleled…
Adam FrankFeb 7, 2016
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Philosophical foundations of interpretations of quantum mechanics
It is demonstrated that the reason for the diversity of interpretations of quantum mechanics is that they are not connected by continuity relations with classical physics, and also the reason is the…
Evgeny BezlepkinFeb 6, 2016
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Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure Pyramids and the Sun
In this paper we discuss the orientation of the Egyptian pyramids at Giza with respect to sunrises and sunsets, using SunCalc.net software. We can see that Khufu and Khafre pyramids had been…
Amelia Carolina SparavignaFeb 2, 2016
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Time Really Passes, Science Can't Deny That
Today's science provides quite a lean picture of time as a mere geometric evolution parameter. I argue that time is much richer. In particular, I argue that besides the geometric time, there is…
Nicolas GisinJan 30, 2016
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Does a phase shift occur in an AC arc?
This is a translation of a classic paper in German showing that the apparent power in an AC arc is larger than the active power although no phase shift exists between the voltage and the current,…
Charles Proteus Steinmetz, Gerald KaiserJan 25, 2016
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Is 1+1=2 an empirical proposition?
The idea of meaning as use in language is explored in a mathematical and physical context. Two possible scenarios of further analysis are presented: Ordinal arithmetic and String theory.
Yafet Sanchez SanchezJan 25, 2016
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Astronomy and landscape at the prehistoric settlement Villaggio dei Faraglioni, Ustica, Sicily
The placement of the Middle Bronze Age settlement Villaggio dei Faraglioni on the Ustica island, one of the best preserved prehistoric village of the Mediterranean area, is analyzed from a cognitive…
Franco Foresta Martin, Giulio MagliJan 14, 2016
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Noether Theorems and Reality of Motion
We will read, through the Emmy Noether paper and the two concepts of `proper' and `improper' conservation laws, the problem, posed by Hilbert, of the nature of the law of conservation of energy in…
M. Palese, E. WinterrothJan 12, 2016
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David Gill - Magnificent and Desirable Astronomer
This paper was given to mark the centenary of the death of David Gill, the foremost British astronomer in the last quarter of the 19th century and into the 20th century. Gill abandoned a successful…
John S. ReidJan 11, 2016
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On Tomonaga's Theory of Split-Anode Magnetrons
This article is meant to formulate the equations of motion of an electron in a cavity magnetron using action-angle variables. This means following the electron's path on its way from a…
Walter DittrichJan 11, 2016
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The role of astronomy in the anomalous orientations of two khmer state-temples
Among the magnificent temple complexes built during the Khmer empire, two single out both for their distance from the Angkor heartland as well as for their anomalous, not cardinal, orientation: Koh…
Giulio MagliJan 7, 2016
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Aboriginal Astronomical Traditions from Ooldea, South Australia, Part 2: Animals in the Ooldean Sky
Australian Indigenous astronomical traditions hint at a relationship between animals in the skyworld and the behaviour patterns of their terrestrial counterparts. In our continued study of Aboriginal…
Trevor M. Leaman, Duane W. Hamacher, Mark T. CarterJan 6, 2016
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Clarifying possible misconceptions in the foundations of general relativity
We discuss what we take to be three possible misconceptions in the foundations of general relativity, relating to: (a) the interpretation of the weak equivalence principle and the relationship…
Harvey R. Brown, James ReadDec 31, 2015
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Quark Matter '84, Helsinki, 17-21 June 1984
History of Quark Matter '84 is presented
K. KajantieDec 31, 2015
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Hawking Radiation and Analogue Experiments: A Bayesian Analysis
We present a Bayesian analysis of the epistemology of analogue experiments with particular reference to Hawking radiation. First, we prove that such experiments can be confirmatory in Bayesian terms…
Radin Dardashti, Stephan Hartmann, Karim P. Y. Thébault et al.Dec 28, 2015
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Remembering a Great Teacher
The article is a recollection of the memorable experience of attending a course on Quantum Mechanics given by Feynman in Brasil, as well as several meetings and exchanges Daniele Amati and I had with…
Alberto SirlinDec 27, 2015
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Lessons from Einstein's 1915 discovery of general relativity
There is a myth that Einstein's discovery of general relativity was due to his following beautiful mathematics to discover new insights about nature. I argue that this is an incorrect reading of…
Lee SmolinDec 23, 2015
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The Daniell Cell, Ohm's Law and the Emergence of the International System of Units
Telegraphy originated in the 1830s and 40s and flourished in the following decades, but with a patchwork of electrical standards. Electromotive force was for the most part measured in units of the…
Joel S. JaysonDec 22, 2015
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The American Physical Society's Defense of Human Rights
The history of APS involvement in the defense of human rights, a history of which the Society can be proud, will be summarized. The summary will include illustrative specific Society human rights…
Edward GerjuoyDec 20, 2015
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Transition of the Sunspot Number from Zurich to Brussels in 1980: A Personal Perspective
The Swiss Federal Observatory, which had been founded in 1863 by Rudolf Wolf, was dissolved in connection with the retirement of Max Waldmeier in 1979. The determination of the Zurich sunpot number,…
J. O. StenfloDec 19, 2015
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