Old and New Questions in Physics, Cosmology, Philosophy, and Theoretical Biology

Old and New Questions in Physics, Cosmology, Philosophy, and Theoretical Biology
Author: Alwyn Van der Merwe
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 904
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1468488309

Simply to say that this is a collection of essays in honor of the late Wolfgang Yourgrau (1908-1979) is to explain, at least for-the obviously many-"insiders," the unusually wide-ranging title of the present volume. In a Foreword to the Proceedings of the First International Colloquium (focusing on logic, physical reality, and history), held at the University of Denver in May of 1966 under their leadership, Wolfgang Y ourgrau and Allen Breck wrote, in an oblique reference to C. P. Snow: "Indeed there are not two or three or four cultures: there is only one culture; our generation has lost its awareness of this . . . . Historians, logicians, physicists-all are banded in one common enterprise, namely in their des ire to weave an enlightened fabric of human knowledge. " Augment, if you will, the foregoing categories of scholars with biologists, philos ophers, cosmologists, and theologians-all of whom, in addition to historians, Wolf gang Yourgrau, by dint of his inextinguishable enthusiasm and charismatic qualities, assembled in Denver for the Second and Third International Colloquia (in 1967 and 1974, respectively)-and a few other besides, and one arrives at a statement of the credo wh ich Y ourgrau not only professed, but consistently exemplified throughout his adult life.

Time and the Metaphysics of Relativity

Time and the Metaphysics of Relativity
Author: W.L. Craig
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 292
Release: 2013-11-11
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9401735328

The larger project of which this volume forms part is an attempt to craft a coherent doctrine of divine eternity and God's relationship to time. Central to this project is the integration of the concerns of theology with the concept of time in relativity theory. This volume provides an accessible and philosophically informed examination of the concept of time in relativity, the ultimate aim being the achievement of a tenable theological synthesis.

Heart of the Living God

Heart of the Living God
Author: Michael G. Maness
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Total Pages: 730
Release: 2004-06-23
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1418400254

Maness asks us to tie up our sneakers, for we are going to have some fun as we hike into the Grand Canyon of Love. Love is the treasure of life. It is Love all the way. Nothing else really matters outside of Love. Best of all, our Love will only get better in heaven. The treasured ability to have loving relationships is Gods gift to us in our Imago Deithe image of God we all share. Likewise, what we know of Love this side of heaven is but a dusty image of what God experiences. I want to get personally involved, says Maness. Can we have a free-will relationship with anyone, even God, if all of what we do and think is settled? I dont think so. Love is greater than that, and I shall prove that, and that is indeed a Grand Canyon. Manes brings some of the brain-splitting complexities of this to light with good humor, introduces dynamic foreknowledge, and challenges Classical Theisms avoidance of Love. And he exposes some foul play in the process. Thats the first half of the book. For those wanting to strike out on their own (wanting to see more of the depth and diversity of the Grand Canyon), the second half contains reviews of about 60 major authors, a 4,000+ Abysmal Bibliography, and a huge index to just about everything in the book. Maness has thrown a gauntlet before the Classical Theists. So tie up your sneakers and take a hike with Michael G. Maness as he walks with you into the Grand Canyon. see more at www.PreciousHeart.net

Divine Foreknowledge and Human Freedom

Divine Foreknowledge and Human Freedom
Author: William Lane Craig
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 390
Release: 1991
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9789004092501

The ancient problem of fatalism, more particularly theological fatalism, has resurfaced with surprising vigour in the second half of the twentieth century. Two questions predominate in the debate: (1) Is divine foreknowledge compatible with human freedom and (2) How can God foreknow future free acts? Having surveyed the historical background of this debate in "The Problem of Divine Foreknowledge" and "Future Contingents from Aristotle to Suarez" (Brill: 1988), William Lane Craig now attempts to address these issues critically. His wide-ranging discussion brings together a thought- provoking array of related topics such as logical fatalism, multivalent logic, backward causation, precognition, time travel, counterfactual logic, temporal necessity, Newcomb's Problem, middle knowledge, and relativity theory. The present work serves both as a useful survey of the extensive literature on theological fatalism and related fields and as a stimulating assessment of the possibility of divine foreknowledge of future free acts.

Frontiers of Fundamental Physics 4

Frontiers of Fundamental Physics 4
Author: B. G. Sidharth
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1461513391

This symposium was organized at the B.M. Birla Science Centre, Hyderabad, India, and provided a platform for frontier physicists to exchange ideas and review the latest work and developments on a variety of interrelated topics. A feature of the symposium, as well as the proceedings, is the B.M. Birla Memorial Lecture by Nobel Laureate Professor Gerard 't Hooft. There were participants from the USA, several European countries, Russia and CIS countries, South Africa, Japan, India and elsewhere, of whom some forty scientists presented papers. Spanning a wide range of contemporary issues in fundamental physics from string theory to cosmology, the proceedings present many of these talks and contributions.

Pantheism and Ecology

Pantheism and Ecology
Author: Luca Valera
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2023-12-16
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3031400402

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the relationship between pantheism and ecology, particularly considering different cultural approaches and diverse religious, theological, and philosophical traditions. Environmental ethics arises from the dangerousness and harmfulness of human beings with respect to nonhuman species and, more generally, with respect to the environment. A common starting point for environmental ethics standpoints is that human beings are responsible for damaging nature. The famous four laws of ecology drafted by Barry Commoner precisely express this guilt on the part of human beings, who very often voluntarily violate the behavioral indications that emerge from nature itself. These aspects concern environmental ethics outlooks. Eco-theology, then, takes a further step: not only do we damage the ecosystem but also, as many authors suggest, when we humans destroy the natural world, we are wounding God. Such an idea implies a possible coincidence of God with the natural world –or the ecosystem. From this assumption, different questions may emerge: what is the kind of coincidence between God and the natural world? Are God and the ecosystem coextensive? If so, are we re-sacralizing the natural world and grounding intrinsic values in theological postulates and statements? These questions lead us to reconsider the cosmological assumptions that ground our environmental judgements, from theology to different religious traditions and cultures to philosophical worldviews. In particular, we will focus on the cosmological assumptions of pantheism (considering its differences with panentheism), discussing the symmetrical (or asymmetrical) relationships between God and the finite ways in which God manifests Godself. In this regard, the book is divided into three main parts: in the first part, the question of pantheism is approached from different traditions and with a special focus on the main thinkers in the history of thought, from Greek Stoicism to the present day. In the second part, some current ecological concerns are considered in relation to pantheistic cosmology: the authors will deepen issues from the discussion of the different “pan-conceptions” to the problem of evil, to Anthropocene. Finally, in the third part, the different chapters will focus on ethical issues in the field of the current environmental crisis with a huge connection with the pantheistic cosmologies. This book is oriented to a wide public, interested in environmental issues and looking for an approach from different cultures and traditions. Evidently, due to its “academic” nature, this book is also intended to be a great support for researchers interested in eco-theology and, more specifically, in the relationship between pantheism and ecology. It is not, in this sense, a “classic” book on environmental ethics, but a book that delves into the fundamentals of environmental philosophy, privileging the Ibero-American approach.

Physical Origins of Time Asymmetry

Physical Origins of Time Asymmetry
Author: J. J. Halliwell
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 540
Release: 1996-03-21
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780521568371

We say that the processes going on in the world about us are asymmetric in time or display an arrow of time. Yet this manifest fact of our experience is particularly difficult to explain in terms of the fundamental laws of physics. This volume reconciles these profoundly conflicting facts.

Topics in Mathematical Analysis

Topics in Mathematical Analysis
Author: Augustin Louis Baron Cauchy
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 1010
Release: 1989
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 9789971506667

This volume aims at surveying and exposing the main ideas and principles accumulated in a number of theories of Mathematical Analysis. The underlying methodological principle is to develop a unified approach to various kinds of problems. In the papers presented, outstanding research scientists discuss the present state of the art and the broad spectrum of topics in the theory.

Nonlinear Dirac Equation: Spectral Stability of Solitary Waves

Nonlinear Dirac Equation: Spectral Stability of Solitary Waves
Author: Nabile Boussaïd
Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2019-11-21
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1470443953

This monograph gives a comprehensive treatment of spectral (linear) stability of weakly relativistic solitary waves in the nonlinear Dirac equation. It turns out that the instability is not an intrinsic property of the Dirac equation that is only resolved in the framework of the second quantization with the Dirac sea hypothesis. Whereas general results about the Dirac-Maxwell and similar equations are not yet available, we can consider the Dirac equation with scalar self-interaction, the model first introduced in 1938. In this book we show that in particular cases solitary waves in this model may be spectrally stable (no linear instability). This result is the first step towards proving asymptotic stability of solitary waves. The book presents the necessary overview of the functional analysis, spectral theory, and the existence and linear stability of solitary waves of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation. It also presents the necessary tools such as the limiting absorption principle and the Carleman estimates in the form applicable to the Dirac operator, and proves the general form of the Dirac-Pauli theorem. All of these results are used to prove the spectral stability of weakly relativistic solitary wave solutions of the nonlinear Dirac equation.

Classical Topology And Quantum States

Classical Topology And Quantum States
Author: Aiyalam P Balachandran
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 377
Release: 1991-05-16
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9814506710

This book is an introduction to the role of topology in the quantization of classical systems. It is also an introduction to topological solitons with special emphasis on Skyrmions. As regards the first aspect, several issues of current interest are dealt with at a reasonably elementary level. Examples are principal fibre bundles and their role in quantum physics, the possibility of spinorial quantum states in a Lagrangian theory based on tensorial variables, and multiply connected configuration spaces and associated quantum phenomena like the QCD q angle and exotic statistics. The ideas are also illustrated by simple examples such as the spinning particle, the charge-monopole system and strings in 3+1 dimensions. The application of these ideas to quantum gravity is another subject treated at an introductory level. An attempt has been made in this book to introduce the reader to the significance of topology for many distinct physical systems such as spinning particles, the charge- monopole system, strings, Skyrmions, QCD and gravity. The book is an outgrowth of lectures given by the authors at various institutions and conferences.