October 2013 - philphysmunich

Foundations of QM Seminar Oct. 21
by Dardashti, Radin Oct. 25, 2013

Oct. 25, 2013

Dear all, our "Foundations of Quantum Mechanics" joint seminar with Stanford continues next week with Patrick Suppes (Stanford). He will talk about "The Use of Negative Probabilities and Random Variables to provide a theoretical basis for Bell-type Entanglement Experiments". Location: Martiusstr.4, Room 104. Time: Monday Oct. 21, 6pm (s.t.) Best wishes, Radin

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CFP: Metaphysics in Contemporary Physics
by Christian Wüthrich Oct. 25, 2013

Oct. 25, 2013

Call for papers Metaphysics in Contemporary Physics Poznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities Edited by Tomasz Bigaj and Christian Wüthrich Very recently, and after a long hiatus, the metaphysics of physics has enjoyed a remarkable renaissance, with both philosophers and physicists addressing explicitly metaphysical questions that arise in the context of physics and the interpretation of its theories. As theoretical physics has achieved dramatic progress, pushing back the boundaries of our knowledge and forcing us to rethink our most fundamental concepts describing physical reality, questions about the impact of this rapid development on traditionally conceived metaphysical investigations become urgent. Does it make metaphysics irrelevant, or does it call for an altogether new metaphysics? On the other hand, physics has encountered more than a few roadblocks in its fundamental endeavours, e.g. in attempts to bring gravity into the fold of the standard model. Could reconceiving the metaphysical foundations of fundamental physical theories possibly lead to a breakthrough, as some have suggested? The aim of this volume is to bring together papers that address various aspects of the mutual interrelations between contemporary research in theoretical physics and the conceptual work done in analytic metaphysics. The suggested topics for the contributions to the volume include, but are most definitely not limited to, the following questions: “Are fundamental objects postulated by our physical theories (elementary particles, fields, spacetime points, etc.) individuals with intrinsic properties and well-defined identities, or perhaps relational structures with no relata?”, “What is the ontological significance of symmetries in physical theories?”, “How does spacetime emerge from the quantum phenomena?”. We invite original research papers on topics related to the general description of the planned volume. The deadline for submissions is January 15, 2014. Please send your manuscripts to tbigaj(a)ucsd.edu. We aim to make the final decisions regarding the publication of submitted contributions by April 30, 2014. Poznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities publishes guest-edited volumes devoted to the philosophy of the natural sciences, the social sciences and the humanities as well as to foundational topics in metaphysics, epistemology and social philosophy. More info and back volumes can be found on the web http://www.rodopi.nl/senj.asp?SerieId=PS . Tomasz Bigaj is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Philosophy, University of Warsaw, Poland, and a Marie Curie research fellow at the University of Bristol, UK, and the University of California, San Diego, USA. His web site: http://uw.academia.edu/TomaszBigaj. Christian Wüthrich is an Associate Professor at the Department of Philosophy, the University of California, San Diego, USA. His web site: http://philosophyfaculty.ucsd.edu/faculty/wuthrich/. ________________________________________ Christian Wüthrich, PhD Associate Professor of Philosophy University of California, San Diego 9500 Gilman Drive, 0119 La Jolla, CA 92093, USA Visit me at http://philosophy.ucsd.edu/faculty/wuthrich/ My blog: http://takingupspacetime.wordpress.com/

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PHIL-PHYS-READING-GROUP: plan for the term
by Erik Curiel Oct. 25, 2013

Oct. 25, 2013

The München area philosophy of physics reading group plans to spend the entire 2013-2014 academic year covering the following topics: Winter term =========== 1. Laws of black hole mechanics and thermodynamics: Nov 06, Nov 20, Dec 04 2. Black hole entropy: Dec 18, Jan 08 3. Hawking radiation, black hole evaporation and information: Jan 22, Feb 05 Summer term =========== More advanced and specialized topics pertaining to those topics, possibly including cosmology and the arrow of time. A more detailed plan for that term will be announced in February. Yours, Erik -- Erik Curiel Postdoctoral Fellow Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy Lehrstuhl für Wissenschaftstheorie Fakultät für Philosophie, Wissenschaftstheorie und Religionswissenschaft Ludwigsstrasse 31 80539 München, Deutschland http://strangebeautiful.com

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PHIL-PHYS-READING-GROUP: first meeting
by Erik Curiel Oct. 25, 2013

Oct. 25, 2013

The first meeting of the München area philosophy of physics reading group will take place on Nov 06, 14:15-16:00, in Ludwigstrasse 25 (LMU), room D4c. (To get to room D4c, enter through the southernmost entrance to Ludwigstrasse 25, take the nearest elevator to floor D, which is above floor 5. If you're in an elevator that does not go to floor D, you're on the wrong side of the building.) For the first part of the session, I will give a brief review of Killing horizons in relativistic spacetimes. The remainder (and larger part) of the session will be a group discussion of the paper "The Thermodynamics of Black Holes" by Bob Wald (http://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/9912119) I attach a copy to this email. The group will then continue to meet every second week thereafter, with the next readings to be announced after each session. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Hope to see you there! Yours, Erik -- Erik Curiel Postdoctoral Fellow Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy Lehrstuhl für Wissenschaftstheorie Fakultät für Philosophie, Wissenschaftstheorie und Religionswissenschaft Ludwigsstrasse 31 80539 München, Deutschland http://strangebeautiful.com

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New Book Series on Philosophy of Physics and Mathematics
by Dean Rickles Oct. 24, 2013

Oct. 24, 2013

The following might be of interest to this list’s subscribers: Philosophy of Physics and Mathematics Series editors: Elaine Landry and Dean Rickles The editors of a new book series on issues in the philosophy of mathematics and physics are seeking proposals for monographs or edited collections. Recent years have seen a surge of interest in new topics discussed by philosophers of mathematics and physics, including issues relating to the way in which these intersect. Titles in this series will cover a range of exciting themes, including the applicability of mathematics; mathematical modelling; category theory; the nature of mathematical proofs; computability; climate physics; econophysics; quantum information; quantum gravity; time machines; singularities; and emergence. For more information please contact the editors (Prof. Landry for philosophy of mathematics proposals and Prof. Rickles for philosophy of physics proposals). For full details on how to submit a proposal, see: http://www.pickeringchatto.com/publish/send-us-a-proposal

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PHIL PHYS READING GROUP: suggested topics and readings for black hole stuff
by Erik Curiel Oct. 22, 2013

Oct. 22, 2013

I attach a list of suggested readings for the philosophy of physics reading group this term, collected under 4 topics: 1. Laws of Black Hole Mechanics and Thermodynamics 2. Black Hole Entropy 3. Hawking Radiation, Black-Hole Evaporation and Information 4. Black Holes in Quantum Gravity At the first meeting, we will decide on the order in which we want to cover the topics, how much time to spend on each topic, which readings to cover for each topic, and who will be in charge of leading discussion for each chosen reading. Please come prepared to offer your thoughts on all this. I hope to see all of you there. Yours, Erik -- Erik Curiel Postdoctoral Fellow Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy Lehrstuhl für Wissenschaftstheorie Fakultät für Philosophie, Wissenschaftstheorie und Religionswissenschaft Ludwigsstrasse 31 80539 München, Deutschland http://strangebeautiful.com

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Reading Group Philosophy of Physics
by Dardashti, Radin Oct. 21, 2013

Oct. 21, 2013

So this time with complete information: The Reading Group will take place Wednesdays at 2pm c.t. in Ludwigstr.25, room D4C. Best, Radin _______________________________________ Dear all, The Topic of this terms Philosophy of Physics Reading Group is: Black Holes, Information and Thermodynamics. starting next week (Oct.23) the Reading Group will take place bi-weekly. The Location is Ludwigstr.25, Room D4C. (To get there, take the southern entry of Ludwigstr.25, i.e. the one closer to Odeonsplatz, and grab the elevator to the D floor, which is one above the 5th floor. Then follow the signs.) The first session will be introductory. Topics and reading material will be discussed. Hope to see many of you there. Best wishes, Radin

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Michael Krämer at LMU, October 23, 2013
by Michael Cuffaro Oct. 18, 2013

Oct. 18, 2013

Dear all, please join us for the following: Speaker: Michael Krämer (RWTH Aachen) Wednesday 23rd October 2013 Ludwigstr.31 Room E021 Time: 6 to 8 pm Title: Searches for the Higgs and new physics at the Large Hadron Collider Abstract: I will review the physics of the Large hadron Collider LHC, including the recent discovery of a Higgs particle, and the search for new physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. While the talk focusses on the physics, I will also mention various philosophical questions which are being addressed in the context of an interdisciplinary research group on the "Epistemology of the LHC". Best wishes, -- Michael Cuffaro Postdoctoral Fellow Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy Lehrstuhl für Wissenschaftstheorie Fakultät für Philosophie, Wissenschaftstheorie und Religionswissenschaft Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1 80539 München, Deutschland http://www.michaelcuffaro.com

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Foundations of Quantum Mechanics Seminar
by Dardashti, Radin Oct. 17, 2013

Oct. 17, 2013

Dear all, our "Foundations of Quantum Mechanics" joint seminar with Stanford continues next week with Stephan Hartmann (MCMP). He will talk about "The use of non-monotonic Upper and Lower Probabilities in Quantum Mechanics". Location: Martiusstr.4, Room 104. Time: Monday Oct. 21, 6pm (s.t.) If you have no access to the dropbox folder yet, feel free to email me. Best wishes, Radin

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Philosophy of Physics Reading Group
by Dardashti, Radin Oct. 17, 2013

Oct. 17, 2013

Dear all, The Topic of this terms Philosophy of Physics Reading Group is: Black Holes, Information and Thermodynamics. starting next week (Oct.23) the Reading Group will take place bi-weekly. The Location is Ludwigstr.25, Room D4C. (To get there, take the southern entry of Ludwigstr.25, i.e. the one closer to Odeonsplatz, and grab the elevator to the D floor, which is one above the 5th floor. Then follow the signs.) The first session will be introductory. Topics and reading material will be discussed. Hope to see many of you there. Best wishes, Radin

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