January 2015 - philphysmunich

Philosophy of Physics Reading Group, Summer Term 2015: Topics and Scheduling
by Fletcher, Samuel Jan. 27, 2015

Jan. 27, 2015

Dear Colleagues, At the last meeting of the winter term reading group today, we talked about possible topics and scheduling for next term. A few possible topics were suggested during the meeting, which I've included in the poll linked below. Feel free, however, to suggest a topic different from these if you're so inclined. Regarding scheduling, I've created another poll excluding only times at which some current group members will certainly be unavailable, namely when there are colloquia at the MCMP or current reading group members are teaching. In this spirit, I've indicated the first meeting as occurring during the second week of the summer term, since I will be gone during the first. As with the winter term, in the summer we plan on meeting approximately biweekly. To vote on topics for next term, please visit this poll: http://doodle.com/t8ih2tw875px4f8k. To vote on your preferred meeting times for next term, please visit this poll: http://doodle.com/h3vxnt99engip928. I'll keep the polls open through the first week of February; if you need more time to determine your schedule for next term, please let me know. Best wishes, ~Sam

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Talk by Elena Castellani at MCMP (Jan 28)
by Dardashti, Radin Jan. 27, 2015

Jan. 27, 2015

Speaker: Elena Castellani (Florence) Date: Wed., January 28 Location: Ludwigstr. 31, ground floor, room 021 Time: 18:15 - 19:45 Title: Dual Objects Abstract: The talk elaborates on Ashoke Sen's view that the discovery of physical dualities in the context of quantum field theory and string theory has radically changed our understanding of the ultimate constituents of matter “by bringing in a sort of democracy between all particles, elementary and composite” (Sen, 1996). I argue that such apparently puzzling ontological features of dualities can be better understood by following a structural approach to the objects of physics. The background is the current discussion on structuralist stances in physics.

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today: Charlotte Werndl at TU
by Wolfgang Pietsch Jan. 27, 2015

Jan. 27, 2015

Speaker: Charlotte Werndl Title: Confirmation and Estimation of Parameters in Climate Science Date: Tuesday, 27. January 2015 Location: TU Munich, Stammgelände, Arcisstr. 21, Room 1221: https://portal.mytum.de/displayRoomMap?roomid=1221@0502&disable_decoration=… Time: 18:15 - 19:45 Would be great to see some of you there! Best wishes, Wolfgang -------------- Dr. Wolfgang Pietsch Lehrstuhl für Philosophie und Wissenschaftstheorie Munich Center for Technology in Society Technische Universität München Arcisstr. 21 D-80333 München, Germany Tel.: +49 (0)89 . 289 – 25366

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Next Philosophy of Physics Reading Group Meeting: 16 Dec.
by Fletcher, Samuel Jan. 21, 2015

Jan. 21, 2015

Dear Colleagues, Our next meeting will run from 14:15-15:45 on the date indicated in E341 of the main university building. Radin Dardashti will lead discussion on the topic of "Modality and Classical Physics," the reading for which will be the following: 1. J. Butterfield. "David Lewis Meets Hamilton and Jacobi," Philosophy of Science 71, 2004, 1095-1106. 2. J. Butterfield. "Some Aspects of Modality in Analytical Mechanics," in Formale Teleologie und Kausalitat in der Physik, 2004, eds. P. Weingartner and M. Stoeltzner, Mentis, 160-198. (To download, see http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0210081.) These correspond to papers 10.1 and 10.2 on the "Possible Topics" handout. Please contact me if you have trouble downloading copies of these articles. I should mention that Jeremy says that the first paper is a precis of the first part of the second paper, so the main focus should be on the second. Also, as a reminder, for our two January meetings we will discuss topic 7, "The Principle of Least Action and Dispositions," with discussion led by Karim and Michael S. Best wishes, ~Sam

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Fwd: [MCMP] Causal Reasoning in Physics
by Karim Thébault Jan. 14, 2015

Jan. 14, 2015

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Mathias F Frisch <mfrisch(a)umd.edu> Date: 14 January 2015 at 19:07 Subject: [MCMP] Causal Reasoning in Physics To: "mcmp-local(a)googlegroups.com" <mcmp-local(a)googlegroups.com> Dear All, I will be running a Blockseminar centered on themes from my book “Causal Reasoning in Physics” from Feb. 2nd to 6th, 9-15h c.t (with an hour long lunch break from 11:30-12:30). Everyone who is interested to sit in on all or just part of the seminar is more than welcome! We will be meeting in Professor Huber Pl. 2 (V) Lehrturm V005. Also, on Feb 6 in the afternoon there will be a symposium on the book: http://www.mcmp.philosophie.uni-muenchen.de/events/workshops/container/symp… I put all the reading materials for the seminar in a dropbox folder: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/21yh74fd12uvrcz/AACXjaGtlvncL5ubdC5szEUla?dl=0 There you can also find the syllabus, which I am also pasting in below. Best wishes, Mathias *Blockseminar on Causal Reasoning in Physics* The plan for the seminar is to read most of my recent book * Causal Reasoning in Physics *(CUP 2014), abbreviated as CRP below, together with secondary readings. All reading materials, including the page proofs for my book manuscript are in a dropbox folder: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/21yh74fd12uvrcz/AACXjaGtlvncL5ubdC5szEUla?dl=0 *Monday*: Secondary reading: Russell "On the Notion of Cause" AM: CRP: Introduction (ch.1) PM: Survey of philosophical theories of causation *Tuesday*: Secondary readings: Woodward, "Physics and the Human Face of Causation"; Field, "Causation in a Physical World" AM: CRP: The human face of causation (ch.3) PM: CRP: Causation and Intervention (ch. 4) *Wednesday*: Secondary readings: Norton "Causation as Folk Science"; Norton, "Is there an independent principle of causality in physics?"; Smith, "Causation in Classical Mechanics" AM: CRP: temporal asymmetry of causation (ch. 5) PM: CRP: linear response theory (ch. 6) *Thursday*: Secondary readings: Earman "Sharpening the Electromagnetic Arrow of Time"; Loewer, "Counterfactuals and the Second Law"; Price and Weslake AM: CRP: Radiation asymmetry PM: CRP: Entropy accounts of causation *Friday*: Secondary reading: Maudlin, "On the Passing of Time" AM: CRP: Conclusion PM: Symposium on *Causal Reasoning in Physics* (13h - 16:30h) ********* Mathias Frisch Professor of Philosophy Director of Graduate Studies University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 Office: 1122A Skinner Building Phone: 301-405-5710 Fax: 301-405-5690 http://www.philosophy.umd.edu/Faculty/mfrisch New Book: "Causal Reasoning in Physics" (Cambridge University Press 2014) www.cambridge.org/9781107031494 -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MCMP Local" group. To post to this group, send email to mcmp-local(a)googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to mcmp-local%2Bunsubscribe(a)googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/mcmp-local?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MCMP Local" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to mcmp-local%2Bunsubscribe(a)googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

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Philphys-Talk at TU
by Wolfgang Pietsch Jan. 14, 2015

Jan. 14, 2015

Speaker: Dennis Lehmkuhl Title: The Einstein-Weyl Correspondence: how special is general relativity? Date: next Tuesday, 20. January 2015 Location: TU Munich, Stammgelände, Arcisstr. 21, Room 1221: https://portal.mytum.de/displayRoomMap?roomid=1221@0502&disable_decoration=… Time: 18:15 - 19:45 Would be great to see some of you there! Best wishes, Wolfgang -------------- Dr. Wolfgang Pietsch Lehrstuhl für Philosophie und Wissenschaftstheorie Munich Center for Technology in Society Technische Universität München Arcisstr. 21 D-80333 München, Germany Tel.: +49 (0)89 . 289 – 25366

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Talks at the MCMP and the MPQ (this week)
by Dardashti, Radin Jan. 13, 2015

Jan. 13, 2015

Speaker: Lucas Clemente Date: Wed., January 14 Location: Herbert Walther lecture room, MPQ Garching Time: 11:30 - 13:00 Title: Macrorealism Abstract: Macrorealism — the world view that physical properties of macroscopic objects exist independent of measurements and are not influenced by them — has recently been a focus of both, theoretical and experimental work in quantum physics. As experiments get closer to showing quantum superpositions of macroscopically distinct states, it becomes interesting to look at conditions for macrorealism beyond the well-known Leggett-Garg inequalitites. In this talk I will discuss a condition called no-signaling in time, that, in the right combination, can serve not only as a necessary, but also as a sufficient condition. We will show how to apply these conditions to physical experiments, and construct a definition for the classicality of quantum measurements and Hamiltonians. The talk's slides can be found at https://clemente.io/macrorealism. ------------------------- Speaker: Gia Dvali Date: Wed., January 14 Location: Ludwigstr. 31, ground floor, room 021 Time: 18:15 - 19:45 Title: Corpuscular Structure of Geometry Abstract: We review some recent ideas on quantum-corpuscular structure of gravitational metric backgrounds, such as black holes and cosmological spaces. We show how this picture sheds light on seemingly-mysterious properties, such as, black hole information processing and evaporation, as well as how it excludes eternal de Sitter space. This picture sheds a very different light on notion of "holography" and cosmological constant problem. ------------------------- Speaker: Molly Kao Date: Thu., January 15 Location: Ludwigstr. 31, ground floor, room 021 Time: 12:15 - 13:45 Title: Background Knowledge in Pursuing the Quantum Hypothesis Abstract: In the years from 1900 to 1913, the hypothesis of quantized energy was introduced and subsequently appealed to in different contexts in an attempt to understand phenomena that could not be accounted for by theories of classical physics. Unfortunately, the hypothesis itself seemed to contradict certain aspects of classical physics. I attempt to justify the pursuit of the quantum hypothesis by analysing its predictive power in a Bayesian framework. I also argue that by carefully delimiting the background knowledge scientists took for granted in each case of confirmation, we see that the justification for pursuing this hypothesis was grounded on commitments to the accuracy of experimental results, which were common to the scientific community.

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Call for Participation: Quantum Computation, Quantum Information, and the Exact Sciences (January 30 - 31, 2015)
by Michael Cuffaro Jan. 11, 2015

Jan. 11, 2015

*********************************************************************** QUANTUM COMPUTATION, QUANTUM INFORMATION, AND THE EXACT SCIENCES LMU Munich 30-31 January 2015 http://www.qcompinfo2015.philosophie.uni-muenchen.de *********************************************************************** Quantum computation and quantum information theory (QCIT) are two burgeoning fields which are concerned with the ways in which the resources of quantum mechanics can be used to develop algorithms and protocols for handling information faster and more efficiently than is possible using conventional means. Since quantum computation and information theory combine and connect concepts from physics, mathematics, computer science, and information theory, they promise to illuminate the foundations of all of these sciences. The aim of this conference is to explore these connections; i.e., between the philosophy and foundations of quantum computation and information theory, and more traditional philosophical and foundational questions in these and other of the so-called "exact sciences." Some of the particular topics we aim to consider include: QCIT's relevance for our understanding of the structure and axiomatics of quantum theory; QCIT's relevance for our understanding of physical conceptions of computation and/or information; alternative formalisms and mathematical frameworks for characterising QCIT; methodological differences and commonalities between QCIT and more traditional approaches to the exact sciences; the metaphysical significance (or lack thereof) of the concepts and operational definitions of QCIT. KEYNOTE TALKS: - Hans Briegel: Towards quantum artificial intelligence - Leah Henderson: Quantum information theory and the quantum state - Rüdiger Schack: QBism and the Born rule - Christopher Timpson: Quantum Information: ontological and conceptual aspects CONTRIBUTED TALKS: - Gemma De Las Cuevas, Toby Cubitt, David Perez-Garcia and Michael M. Wolf: Fundamental limitations of purification problems - Lucas Dunlap: Would the Existence of CTCs Allow for Nonlocal Signaling? - Adrien Feix and Časlav Brukner: Superposition of causal ordering between parties as a communication complexity resource - Sam Fletcher: The Physical Basis of Computation and Computational Complexity - Hector Freytes and Giuseppe Sergioli: Non-Separability in the Representation of Fuzzy Structures in Quantum Computation - Alexei Grinbaum: If the observer is defined informationally, what is quantum theory? - Ronnie Hermens: The relevance of Gleason’s Theorem for Bayesian interpretations of quantum probabilities - Gerd Niestegge: Non-classical conditional probability, quantum measurement, and the no-cloning theorem - Vasil Penchev: Quantum information as the information of infinite series - Kohtaro Tadaki: A Refinement of Quantum Mechanics by Algorithmic Randomness DATES AND REGISTRATION: Conference Date: January 30-31, 2015 Everyone is welcome to attend, for a modest registration fee of 50€ (30€ for graduate students). Note that the fee includes the conference dinner on the evening of January 30. Please e-mail one of the organizers in advance if you would like to attend the conference. ORGANIZERS: Michael Cuffaro <Michael.Cuffaro(a)lmu.de> Samuel Fletcher <Samuel.Fletcher(a)lrz.uni-muenchen.de> Johannes Kofler <johannes.kofler(a)mpq.mpg.de>

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Talk by Gia Dvali at MCMP (14th Jan)
by Dardashti, Radin Jan. 8, 2015

Jan. 8, 2015

Speaker: Gia Dvali (LMU Munich) Date: Wed., January 14 Location: Ludwigstr. 31, ground floor, room 021 Time: 18:15 - 19:45 Title: Corpuscular Structure of Geometry Abstract: We review some recent ideas on quantum-corpuscular structure of gravitational metric backgrounds, such as black holes and cosmological spaces. We show how this picture sheds light on seemingly-mysterious properties, such as, black hole information processing and evaporation, as well as how it excludes eternal de Sitter space. This picture sheds a very different light on notion of "holography" and cosmological constant problem.

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