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A stronger Bell argument for (some kind of) parameter dependence Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-10-16 Paul M. Näger
It is widely accepted that the violation of Bell inequalities excludes local theories of the quantum realm. This paper presents a new derivation of the inequalities from non-trivial non-local theories and formulates a stronger Bell argument excluding also these non-local theories. Taking into account all possible theories, the conclusion of this stronger argument provably is the strongest possible
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Completely real? A critical note on the claims by Colbeck and Renner Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-11-02 R. Hermens
In a series of papers Colbeck and Renner (2011, 2015a, 2015b) claim to have shown that the quantum state provides a complete description for the prediction of future measurement outcomes. In this paper I argue that thus far no solid satisfactory proof has been presented to support this claim. Building on the earlier work of Leifer (2014), Landsman (2015) and Leegwater (2016), I present and prove two
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Separating Einstein's separability Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-11-12 Sebastián Murgueitio Ramírez
In this paper, I accomplish a conceptual task and a historical task. The conceptual task is to argue that (1) Einstein's Principle of Separability (henceforth “separability”) is not a supervenience principle and that (2) separability and entanglement are compatible. I support (1) by showing that the conclusion of Einstein's incompleteness argument would still follow even if one assumes that the state
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Cartography of the space of theories: An interpretational chart for fields that are both (dark) matter and spacetime Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-12-13 Niels C.M. Martens, Dennis Lehmkuhl
This paper pushes back against the Democritean-Newtonian tradition of assuming a strict conceptual dichotomy between spacetime and matter. Our approach proceeds via the more narrow distinction between modified gravity/spacetime (MG) and dark matter (DM). A prequel paper argued that the novel field Φ postulated by Berezhiani and Khoury’s ‘superfluid dark matter theory’ is as much (dark) matter as anything
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Dark matter = modified gravity? Scrutinising the spacetime–matter distinction through the modified gravity/ dark matter lens Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-11-03 Niels C.M. Martens, Dennis Lehmkuhl
This paper scrutinises the tenability of a strict conceptual distinction between space(time) and matter via the lens of the debate between modified gravity and dark matter. In particular, we consider Berezhiani and Khoury's novel ‘superfluid dark matter theory’ (SFDM) as a case study. Two families of criteria for being matter and being spacetime, respectively, are extracted from the literature. Evaluation
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How does physics bear upon metaphysics; and why did Plato hold that philosophy cannot be written down? Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-11-01 Howard Stein
The paper begins with consideration of Plato and Aristotle, but the question addressed in this essay is the following: What has been meant--and what role has been played--in the succession of doctrines of physics we have had since the seventeenth century, by notions (not necessarily technical) of “power” and of “cause”? The essay concludes with consideration of (classical) field theories set in relativistic
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The dynamical approach to spin-2 gravity Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-09-28 Kian Salimkhani
This paper engages with the following closely related questions that have recently received some attention in the literature: (a) what is the status of the equivalence principle in general relativity (GR)?; (b) how does the metric field obtain its property of being able to act as a metric?; and (c) is the metric of GR derivative on the dynamics of the matter fields? The paper attempts to complement
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Definitions more geometrarum and Newton's scholium on space and time Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-09-24 Zvi Biener
Newton's Principia begins with eight formal definitions and a scholium, the so-called scholium on space and time. Despite a history of misinterpretation, scholars now largely agree that the purpose of the scholium is to establish and defend the definitions of key concepts. There is no consensus, however, on how those definitions differ in kind from the Principia's formal definitions and why they are
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The philosophical underpinning of the absorber theory of radiation Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-09-09 Marco Forgione
The paper considers the absorber theory of radiation by (Wheeler and Feynman 1945) and (Wheeler and Feynman 1949) and advances the idea that the theory is grounded on the philosophical intuition of overall processes. Such intuition consists of having to consider advanced and retarded radiation as well as the interaction between absorbers and emitter. I discuss the discrepancy between microdynamic time-symmetry
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Jump ship, shift gears, or just keep on chugging: Assessing the responses to tensions between theory and evidence in contemporary cosmology Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-09-08 Siska De Baerdemaeker, Nora Mills Boyd
When is it reasonable to abandon a scientific research program? When would it be premature? We take up these questions in the context of a contemporary debate at the border between astrophysics and cosmology, the so-called “small-scale challenges” to the concordance model of cosmology (ΛCDM) and its cold dark matter paradigm. These challenges consist in discrepancies between the outputs of leading
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Constancy of the speed of light and the unit matching problem Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-08-27 Alon Drory
Space-time symmetries and the principle of relativity alone suffice to obtain Lorentz-like coordinate transformations, in which a free parameter, k, plays the part of c−2 in special relativity. Several authors have concluded that special relativity does not need the postulate of the constancy of the speed of light (the “second postulate”). I oppose this claim and argue that the transformations have
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Non-empirical robustness arguments in quantum gravity Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-08-20 Niels S. Linnemann
In the first part of the article, I illustrate and assess instances of non-empirical robustness analysis as they occur within and across different theories of quantum gravity. The endeavour is expected to offer insights into the actual role robustness analysis plays in non-empirical theory development where motivation and theory development are not reactions to straightforward empirical problems. In
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Wigner's convoluted friends Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-08-20 R. Muciño, E. Okon
Considering a complicated extension of a Wigner's friend scenario, Frauchiger and Renner (FR) allegedly showed that “quantum theory cannot consistently describe the use of itself.” However, such a result has been under severe criticism, as it has been convincingly argued to crucially depend on an implicit, non-trivial assumption regarding details of the collapse mechanism. In consequence, the result
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Howard Stein on sophisticated practice of philosophers/scientists Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-08-01 William L. Harper
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When do Gibbsian phase averages and Boltzmannian equilibrium values agree? Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-07-21 Charlotte Werndl, Roman Frigg
This paper aims to shed light on the relation between Boltzmannian statistical mechanics and Gibbsian statistical mechanics by studying the Mechanical Averaging Principle, which says that, under certain conditions, Boltzmannian equilibrium values and Gibbsian phase averages are approximately equal. What are these conditions? We identify three conditions each of which is individually sufficient (but
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Newton's early metaphysics of body: Impenetrability, action at a distance, and essential gravity Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-07-15 Elliott D. Chen
In this paper, I discuss Newton's conception of body in De gravitatione and its relation to the legitimacy of action at a distance. Howard Stein has argued that such a conception privileges contact over distant action: by dint of being impenetrable, bodies must necessarily act through contact; yet there is no analogous property of which action at a distance is a consequence. This paper presents a challenge
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Quantum relational indeterminacy Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-07-11 Claudio Calosi, Cristian Mariani
The paper presents the first thorough investigation of quantum metaphysical indeterminacy (MI) in the context of the Relational Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (RQM). We contend that the interaction between MI and RQM is mutually beneficial. On the one hand, MI provides a metaphysical framework for RQM that has been neglected in the literature, and that promises to undermine some objections that
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Absolute space and Newton's theory of relativity Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-06-29 Robert DiSalle
Newton's metaphysical picture of space and time provides the conceptual background for his theory of motion. Philosophical discussions of absolute space and time, however, underemphasize Newton's concern with the relativity of motion. From a modern perspective, this is usually seen as a concern that Newton himself did not take seriously enough, especially in comparison with contemporaries such as Huygens
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Some reflections on the structure of cosmological knowledge Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-06-17 Chris Smeenk
Stein has characterized one of the central problems in accounting for our knowledge in physics as that of getting the laboratory, or observatory, inside the theory — that is, of understanding how the mathematical structures of fundamental physical theories have empirical content. He has argued that physicists respond to this problem by giving schematic representations of observers and experiments.
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‘Like thermodynamics before Boltzmann.’ On the emergence of Einstein's distinction between constructive and principle theories Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-06-10 Marco Giovanelli
In a 1919 article for the Times of London, Einstein declared the relativity theory to be a ‘principle theory’, like thermodynamics, rather than a ‘constructive theory’, like the kinetic theory of gases. The present paper attempts to trace back the prehistory of this famous distinction. It provides a systematic overview of Einstein's repeated use of the relativity theory/thermodynamics analysis after
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“— It would be possible to do a lengthy dialectical number on this;” Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-06-04 Wayne C. Myrvold
Philosophers have, it seems, been beguiled by contingencies of the evolution of scientific language. These contingencies can obscure the nature of theoretical shifts. Retention of a term can obscure a radical theoretical shift, and abandonment of a term can obscure continuity of theory. In this paper, I consider the cases of caloric and the luminiferous ether, both of which are often taken to be unproblematic
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Holography without holography: How to turn inter-representational into intra-theoretical relations in AdS/CFT Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-06-01 Rasmus Jaksland, Niels S. Linnemann
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 and the same physics—can play out as a tool for intra-theoretical developments and thus boost theory development in the context of discovery. More precisely, we first show that, as a duality, the AdS/CFT correspondence
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Effective field theories as a novel probe of fine-tuning of cosmic inflation Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-05-18 Feraz Azhar
The leading account of several salient observable features of our universe today is provided by the theory of cosmic inflation. But an important and thus far intractable question is whether inflation is generic, or whether it is finely tuned—requiring very precisely specified initial conditions. In this paper I argue that a recent, model-independent characterization of inflation—that treats inflation
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Bohm's theory of quantum mechanics and the notion of classicality Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-05-13 Marij van Strien
When David Bohm published his alternative theory of quantum mechanics in 1952, it was not received well; a recurring criticism was that it formed a reactionary attempt to return to classical physics. In response, Bohm emphasized the progressiveness of his approach, and even turned the accusation of classicality around by arguing that he wanted to move beyond classical elements still inherent in orthodox
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Hamiltonian mechanics is conservation of information entropy Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-05-10 Gabriele Carcassi, Christine A. Aidala
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 require that the manifold on which the distribution is defined is charted by conjugate pairs (i.e. it is a symplectic manifold). We will also show that further requiring that the information entropy is
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The Frauchiger-Renner argument: A new no-go result? Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-05-01 Sebastian Fortin,Olimpia Lombardi
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How to make reflectance a surface property Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-05-01 Nicholas Danne
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The concept ‘indistinguishable’ Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-04-29 Simon Saunders
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 indistinguishable particles. Yet the concept itself has proved elusive, in part because of the interpretational difficulties that afflict quantum theory quite generally, and in part because the concept was so
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Spacetime as a quantum error-correcting code? Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-04-26 Jonathan Bain
This essay considers an interpretation of the AdS/CFT correspondence under which the bulk and the boundary emerge from a more fundamental discrete system that realizes the structure of an erasure-protection quantum error-correcting code (QECC). I consider the extent to which this view underwrites the claim that spacetime is a QECC (as some authors have suggested), and how it fits into recent schemes
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Loop quantum ontology: Spacetime and spin-networks Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-04-25 Joshua Norton
It is standardly claimed in loop quantum gravity (LQG) that spacetime both disappears, fundamentally, and emerges from spin-networks in the low energy regime. In this paper, I critically explore these claims and develop a variety of substantival and relational interpretations of LQG for which these claims are false. According to most of the interpretations I consider, including the “received interpretation”
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Redundant epistemic symmetries Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-04-09 James Read, Thomas Møller-Nielsen
We undertake a detailed analysis of three ‘epistemic’ approaches to symmetries, due, respectively, to Ismael and van Fraassen, Caulton, and Dasgupta. Finding faults with each, we proceed to develop our own epistemic approach to symmetries. Having done so, we present a concern regarding all epistemic accounts: they render the notion of a symmetry transformation redundant as a tool for metaphysical theorising
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Some Philosophical Prehistory of the (Earman-Norton) hole argument Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-03-20 James Owen Weatherall
The celu of the philosophical literature on the hole argument is the 1987 paper by Earman & Norton [“What Price Space-time Substantivalism? The Hole Story” Br. J. Phil. Sci]. This paper has a well-known back-story, concerning work by Stachel and Norton on Einstein's thinking in the years 1913–15. Less well-known is a connection between the hole argument and Earman's work on Leibniz in the 1970s and
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An unpublished debate brought to light: Karl Popper's enterprise against the logic of quantum mechanics Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-03-19 Flavio Del Santo
Karl Popper published, in 1968, a paper that allegedly found a flaw in a very influential article of Birkhoff and von Neumann, which pioneered the field of “quantum logic”. Nevertheless, nobody rebutted Popper's criticism in print for several years. This has been called in the historiographical literature an “unsolved historical issue”. Although Popper's proposal turned out to be merely based on misinterpretations
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Reformulating Bell's theorem: The search for a truly local quantum theory Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-03-17 Mordecai Waegell, Kelvin J. McQueen
The apparent nonlocality of quantum theory has been a persistent concern. Einstein et al. (1935) and Bell (1964) emphasized the apparent nonlocality arising from entanglement correlations. While some interpretations embrace this nonlocality, modern variations of the Everett-inspired many worlds interpretation try to circumvent it. In this paper, we review Bell's “no-go” theorem and explain how it rests
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The metaphysics of invariance Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-03-17 David Schroeren
Fundamental physics contains an important link between properties of elementary particles and continuous symmetries of particle systems. For example, properties such as mass and spin are said to be 'associated' with specific continuous symmetries. This link has played a key role in the discovery of various new particle kinds, but more importantly: it is thought to provide a deep insight into the nature
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MOND vs. dark matter in light of historical parallels Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-03-06 Mordehai Milgrom
MOND is a paradigm that contends to account for the mass discrepancies in the Universe without invoking ‘dark’ components, such as ‘dark matter’ and ‘dark energy’. It does so by supplanting Newtonian dynamics and General Relativity, departing from them at very low accelerations. Having in mind readers who are historians and philosophers of science, as well as physicists and astronomers, I describe
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Diagnosing disagreements: The authentication of the positron 1931–1934 Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-02-08 Ana-Maria Creţu
This paper bridges a historiographical gap in accounts of the prediction and discovery of the positron by combining three ingredients. First, the prediction and discovery of the positron are situated in the broader context of a period of ‘crystallisation’ of a research tradition. Second, the prediction and discovery of the positron are discussed in the context of the ‘authentication’ of the particle
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Probing novelty at the LHC: Heuristic appraisal of disruptive experimentation Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-02-01 Sophie Ritson
Abtract In this paper, ‘novelty’ is explored through a recent historical episode from high energy experimental physics to offer an understanding of novelty as disruption. I call this the ‘750 GeV episode’, an episode where two Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiments, CMS and ATLAS, each independently observed indications of a new resonance at approximately 750 GeV. With further data collection, the
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Model landscapes and event signatures in elementary particle physics Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-02-01 Peter Mättig, Michael Stöltzner
Abstract The current state of particle physics is conflicting. One has a marvellously working theory, the Standard Model, that leaves many questions open. This tension has led to a variegated landscape of models of physics beyond the Standard Model that is guided by epistemic and pragmatic values of model preference. Whereas these preferences are shared by experimentalists and theorists, their use
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Histories, dynamical laws, and initial conditions −Invariance under time-reversibility and its failure in Markov processes, with application to the second law of thermodynamics and the past hypothesis Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-02-01 Elliott Sober
Abstract A Markov process can be invariant under time reversal and it also can exhibit a failure of invariance that is “uniformly positive.” I show how each of these possibilities contributes to the project of deciding when a temporal sequence of states has a higher probability than its mirror image. Neither suffices, but a distinct property of the Markov process completes the project, namely the unconditional
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Unweyling Three Mysteries of Nordström Gravity Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-02-01 Patrick M. Duerr
Abstract The paper re-examines Nordstrom's scalar theory of gravity (NG) – arguably the most convincing relativistic theory of gravity before the advent of General Relativity. It exists in two different formulations. In Nordstrom's original one (1913), NG appears to describe a scalar gravitational field on Minkowski spacetime. In Einstein and Fokker’s (1914) version, NG seems to be a spacetime theory:
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Large gauge transformations and the strong CP problem Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-02-01 John Dougherty
Abstract According to the Standard Model of particle physics, some gauge transformations are physical symmetries. That is, they are mathematical transformations that relate representatives of distinct physical states of affairs. This is at odds with the standard philosophical position according to which gauge transformations are an eliminable redundancy in a gauge theory's representational framework
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On the status of conservation laws in physics: Implications for semiclassical gravity Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-02-01 Tim Maudlin, Elias Okon, Daniel Sudarsky
We start by surveying the history of the idea of a fundamental conservation law and briefly examine the role conservation laws play in different classical contexts. In such contexts we find conservation laws to be useful, but often not essential. Next we consider the quantum setting, where the conceptual problems of the standard formalism obstruct a rigorous analysis of the issue. We then analyze the
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Conceptual analysis of black hole entropy in string theory Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-02-01 Sebastian De Haro, Jeroen van Dongen, Manus Visser, Jeremy Butterfield
The microscopic state counting of the extremal Reissner-Nordstrom black hole performed by Andrew Strominger and Cumrun Vafa in 1996 has proven to be a central result in string theory. Here, with a philosophical readership in mind, the argument is presented in its contemporary context and its rather complex conceptual structure is analysed. In particular, we will identify the various inter-theoretic
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Emergence and correspondence for string theory black holes Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-02-01 Jeroen van Dongen, Sebastian De Haro, Manus Visser, Jeremy Butterfield
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 string-theoretic microstates. Both papers focus on Andrew Strominger and Cumrun Vafa's ground-breaking 1996 calculation, which analysed the black hole in terms of D-branes. The first paper gives a conceptual analysis
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Sensible quantum experiences: Encounters with Stein's philosophy of quantum mechanics Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-02-01 Thomas Pashby
Abstract This paper develops an approach to the interpretation of quantum mechanics inspired by the philosophy of Howard Stein. Taking up Stein’s (1994) call to schematize the observer and the observation, I introduce a class of observables called ‘sensibles’ which provide a means to assign probabilities to an observer's experiences of experimental phenomena. In particular, sensibles provide an assignment
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Expanding theory testing in general relativity: LIGO and parametrized theories Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-02-01 Lydia Patton
Abstract The multiple detections of gravitational waves by LIGO (the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory), operated by Caltech and MIT, have been acclaimed as confirming Einstein's prediction, a century ago, that gravitational waves propagating as ripples in spacetime would be detected. Yunes and Pretorius (2009) investigate whether LIGO's template-based searches encode fundamental
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Putting positrons into classical Dirac field theory Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2020-02-01 Charles T. Sebens
One way of arriving at a quantum field theory of electrons and positrons is to take a classical theory of the Dirac field and then quantize. Starting with the standard classical field theory and quantizing in the most straightforward way yields an inadequate quantum field theory. It is possible to fix this theory by making some modifications (such as redefining the operators for energy and charge)
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What's left for the neo-Copenhagen theorist Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2019-12-25 Michael Dascal
Frauchiger and Renner (2018) argue that no ‘single-world’ theory can consistently maintain quantum mechanical predictions for all systems. Following Bub (2017, 2018, 2019), I argue here that this is overstated, and use their result to develop a framework for neo-Copenhagen theories that avoid the problem. To describe the framework I introduce two concepts, ontological information deficits, and information
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On the reduction of general relativity to Newtonian gravitation Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2019-11-01 Samuel C. Fletcher
Abstract Intertheoretic reduction in physics aspires to be both to be explanatory and perfectly general: it endeavors to explain why an older, simpler theory continues to be as successful as it is in terms of a newer, more sophisticated theory, and it aims to relate or otherwise account for as many features of the two theories as possible. Despite often being introduced as straightforward cases of
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Timelike entanglement for delayed-choice entanglement swapping Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2019-11-01 David Glick
Abstract Experiments involving delayed-choice entanglement swapping seem to suggest that particles can become entangled after they've already been detected. This astonishing result is taken by some to undermine realism about entanglement. In this paper, I argue that one can offer a fully realist explanation of delayed-choice entanglement swapping by countenancing timelike entanglement relations. I
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Renormalization scrutinized Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2019-11-01 Sébastien Rivat
In this paper, I propose a general framework for understanding renormalization by drawing on the distinction between effective and continuum Quantum Field Theories (QFTs), and offer a comprehensive account of perturbative renormalization on this basis. My central claim is that the effective approach to renormalization provides a more physically perspicuous, conceptually coherent and widely applicable
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How electrons spin Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2019-11-01 Charles T. Sebens
There are a number of reasons to think that the electron cannot truly be spinning. Given how small the electron is generally taken to be, it would have to rotate superluminally to have the right angular momentum and magnetic moment. Also, the electron's gyromagnetic ratio is twice the value one would expect for an ordinary classical rotating charged body. These obstacles can be overcome by examining
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The charm quark as a naturalness success Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2019-11-01 Miguel Ángel Carretero Sahuquillo
Abstract Undeniably, the naturalness principle has had a major role in particle physics during the last decades, in particular in model building. Nowadays, one can find a wide range of different definitions. Some of them seem mutually exclusive, but traditionally, its notion has been linked to the fine-tuning problem. Understanding naturalness as the imposition that fine-tuning problems have to vanish
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Validity of the Einstein hole argument Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2019-11-01 Oliver Davis Johns
Arguing from his "hole" thought experiment, Einstein became convinced that, in cases in which the energy-momentum-tensor source vanishes in a spacetime hole, a solution to his general relativistic field equation cannot be uniquely determined by that source. After reviewing the definition of active diffeomorphisms, this paper uses them to outline a mathematical proof of Einstein's result. The relativistic
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Imprints of the underlying structure of physical theories Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2019-11-01 Jorge Manero
Abstract In the context of scientific realism, this paper intends to provide a formal and accurate description of the structural-based ontology posited by classical mechanics, quantum mechanics and special relativity, which is preserved across the empirical domains of these theories and explain their successful predictions. Along the lines of ontic structural realism, such a description is undertaken
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The physics of implementing logic: Landauer's principle and the multiple-computations theorem Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2019-11-01 Meir Hemmo, Orly Shenker
Abstract This paper makes a novel linkage between the multiple-computations theorem in philosophy of mind and Landauer's principle in physics. The multiple-computations theorem implies that certain physical systems implement simultaneously more than one computation. Landauer's principle implies that the physical implementation of “logically irreversible” functions is accompanied by minimal entropy
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Deciphering the algebraic CPT theorem Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2019-11-01 Noel Swanson
Abstract The CPT theorem states that any causal, Lorentz-invariant, thermodynamically well-behaved quantum field theory must also be invariant under a reflection symmetry that reverses the direction of time (T), flips spatial parity (P), and conjugates charge (C). Although its physical basis remains obscure, CPT symmetry appears to be necessary in order to unify quantum mechanics with relativity. This
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Frames and stresses in Einstein's quest for a generalized theory of relativity Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2019-11-01 Olivier Darrigol
Abstract We already have extraordinarily detailed and competent accounts of the genesis of general relativity, and a few suggestive summaries of these accounts. This article offers a medium-sized, matter-of-fact account, followed by a critical commentary and a pocket-history for the hurried physicist. It is based on an independent study of Einstein's relevant writings, with special attention to his
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Dialogue concerning magnetic forces Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. Part B Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. (IF 1.663) Pub Date : 2019-11-01 Georg Lentze
Abstract The question of how best to explain magnetic forces between uniformly moving charges has divided physicists. A fictitious dialogue styled on David Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (1779) crystallises the various views expressed in the literature around three positions: a) special relativity can explain such forces as a relativistic aspect of electricity; b) special relativity cannot