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Talk by Richard Dawid at CAS (Dec 10)
by Dardashti, Radin Dec. 6, 2013

Dec. 6, 2013

Speaker: Richard Dawid (Vienna) Wednesday 10th Dec 2013 Location: Vortragssaal des CAS, Seestraße 13 Time: 7 pm Title: String Theory and the Scientific Method Abstract: For the last thirty years, string theory has played a highly influential role in fundamental physics without having found empirical confirmation. The presentation will analyze reasons for the high degree of trust many physicists have developed in a theory that, according to classical standards of theory assessment, would have to be called an unconfirmed speculation. It will be argued that the case of string theory suggests a new perspective on our understanding of theory confirmation in general. In the last part of the talk, some implications for the scientific realism debate and the question of reduction in science shall also be addressed. Please Register at: info(a)cas.lmu.de http://www.cas.uni-muenchen.de/veranstaltungen/einzelvortraege/ev_dawid/ind…

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CfP: Quantum-Classical Divide
by Wolfgang Pietsch Dec. 4, 2013

Dec. 4, 2013

The Working Group "Philosophy of Physics" (AG Phil) of the German Physical Society (DPG) invites submissions for its Annual Meeting, which will take place at the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin from March 19 to 21, 2014. Other sections of the DPG, e.g. on gravitation, quantum optics, or mathematical foundations of physics, will also convene in Berlin (http://berlin14.dpg-tagungen.de/index.html?lang=en&) As part of the AG Phil meeting, there will be a colloquium on "The Quantum-Classical Divide". Confirmed speakers so far are Alisa Bokulich (Boston), Klaas Landsman (Nijmegen), Tim Maudlin (New York), Wayne Myrvold (Western Ontario), Antigone Nounou (Athens), and Jos Uffink (Minneapolis). Although submissions on any topic in the philosophy of physics are possible, contributions addressing the quantum-classical divide are especially welcome. If you would like to present a paper, please submit an abstract of about 200 words by January 6, 2014, using the online-form on http://berlin14.dpg-tagungen.de/anmeldung/abstract.html?lang=en (please ignore submission deadline given on this page) We look forward to seeing you in Berlin! Best regards, Meinard Kuhlmann, Dennis Lehmkuhl, and Wolfgang Pietsch -------------- Dr. Wolfgang Pietsch 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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Foundations of QM Seminar Dec. 9 (New Room!)
by Dardashti, Radin Dec. 4, 2013

Dec. 4, 2013

Dear all, our "Foundations of Quantum Mechanics" seminar continues next Monday with the Paper "Hidden Variables and the two Theorems of John Bell" by Mermin. Paper can be found in the dropbox link below: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/yz6mzouszqgf6nz/b85CwERL3z Location: Ludwigstr.31, Room 021. Time: Monday Dec. 9, 6pm (s.t.) Best wishes, Radin

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Foundations of QM Seminar Dec. 2
by Dardashti, Radin Dec. 2, 2013

Dec. 2, 2013

Dear all, our "Foundations of Quantum Mechanics" joint seminar with Stanford continues today with Pat Suppes (Stanford) on "Mean Probabilities in Quantum Mechanics" and Acacio de Barros (Stanford) on "Exploring polytopes of correlated systems with negative probabilities". Slides can be found in the dropbox link below: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/mz1p2qbd1zfrd5d/C8lWlMRW-u Location: Martiusstr.4, Room 104. Time: Monday Dec. 2, 6pm (s.t.) Best wishes, Radin

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PHILPHYS-RDG-GRP: next meeting
by Erik Curiel Nov. 25, 2013

Nov. 25, 2013

The next meeting of the Munich-area philosophy of physics reading group will take place Wednesday, Dec. 04, 14:15-15:45, in Ludwigstr. 25, room D4c. We will discuss "Acceleration radiation and the generalized second law of thermodynamics" by Unruh and Wald, available in the dropbox account for this reading group: https://www.dropbox.com/home/ReadingGroupBlackHoles/Week3_0412 If there is time and interest, we may also discuss Bekenstein's response to this paper, "Non-Archimedean character of quantum buoyancy and the generalized second law of thermodynamics", and even Unruh and Wald's riposte to Bekenstein, "Entropy bounds, acceleration radiation, and the generalized second law". These two papers are also available in the dropbox account. Hope to see you there! E -- 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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Two Talks this week
by Dardashti, Radin Nov. 25, 2013

Nov. 25, 2013

Speaker: Heinz-Jürgen Schmidt (Osnabrück) Wednesday 27th Nov 2013 Location: Ludwigstr.31 Room E021 Time: 6 to 8 pm Title: The Bohmian Challenge Abstract: The Bohmian extension of quantum theory claims to solve the measurement problem by re-establishing, in some sense, the classical ontology of particle trajectories on a microscopic level. In this talk I will not dwell upon the pros and cons to this claim but rather try to explain why this enterprise constitutes a challenge for philosophy of science, especially for those branches striving for rigorous methods. The Bohmian extension is empirically equivalent to standard quantum mechanics and mathematically only an extension by definitions. The main difference to other interpretations of quantum theory seems to be the belief into the reality of the Bohmian trajectories. Are the theory concepts used in philosophy of science rich enough to represent this crucial difference? In particular, I will scrutinize the theory concept of Günther Ludwig that was explicitly developed to foster his statistical interpretation of quantum theory and contains as a central notion the “reality domain” of a physical theory. A partial result will be that the Bohmian trajectories are not “objective properties” of particles in the sense defined by Ludwig, since the velocity of the Bohmian particles is not observable. And before this event at the Physics department Speaker: Lars Brink (Chalmers University Goeteborg) Wednesday 27th Nov 2013 Location: A348/349, Theresienstr. 37/III Time: 4 to 6 pm Title: The history behind the Brout-Englert-Mechanism and the Standard Model Abstract: I will describe the process of how to award Nobel Prizes and then give the history behind this year's prize.

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MUNICH-PHIL-PHYS: meeting of reading group today
by Erik Curiel Nov. 25, 2013

Nov. 25, 2013

This is a reminder that the next meeting of the Munich-area philosophy of physics reading group will take place today (Nov. 25), 17:45-19:45, in Ludwigstr. 31 E021. Note that, since there is no foundations of qm meeting scheduled for today, this meeting will not conflict with that. Discussion will still be based on the paper "'Physical process version' of the first law and the generalized second law for charged and rotating black holes" by S. Gao and R. Wald. Meetings will resume their regular times, on alternate Wednesday, starting Dec 04. 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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MUNICH-PHIL-PHYS: next meeting of reading group postponed
by Erik Curiel Nov. 20, 2013

Nov. 20, 2013

Due to a few regular members being unable to make the meeting today, the next meeting of the Munich-area philosophy of physics reading group will take place next Monday (Nov. 25), 17:45-19:45, in Ludwigstr. 31 E021. Note that, since there is no foundations of qm meeting scheduled for Monday, this meeting will not conflict with that. Discussion will still be based on the paper "'Physical process version' of the first law and the generalized second law for charged and rotating black holes" by S. Gao and R. Wald. 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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Foundations of QM Seminar Nov. 18
by Dardashti, Radin Nov. 17, 2013

Nov. 17, 2013

Dear all, our "Foundations of Quantum Mechanics" joint seminar with Stanford continues tomorrow with Karim Thebault (LMU/MCMP). He will talk about "Decoherence, the measurement problem, and the Born rule in quantum mechanics". Reading can be found in the dropbox link below: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/epwdcmeagpsdzy7/PM4dEeRfLk Location: Martiusstr.4, Room 104. Time: Monday Oct. 21, 6pm (s.t.) Best wishes, Radin

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Reminder: Foundations of QM Seminar Today
by Dardashti, Radin Nov. 11, 2013

Nov. 11, 2013

Dear all, our "Foundations of Quantum Mechanics" joint seminar with Stanford continues today with Michael B. Heaney. He will talk about "A new Symmetrical Theory of Quantum Mechanics". His slides and the two papers the talk is based on can be found under the dropbox link below: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9xxytm3g3zlupoj/g_dieVrpON The seminar starts 15 minutes later than usual, i.e. at 6:15pm. Location: Martiusstr.4, Room 104. Time: Monday Nov. 4, 6:15pm Best regards, Radin

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