Problems In The Foundations Of Physics
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Author | : Michael Silberstein |
Publisher | : Oxford University Press |
Total Pages | : 445 |
Release | : 2018-02-02 |
Genre | : Science |
ISBN | : 0192533835 |
Theoretical physics and foundations of physics have not made much progress in the last few decades. Whether we are talking about unifying general relativity and quantum field theory (quantum gravity), explaining so-called dark energy and dark matter (cosmology), or the interpretation and implications of quantum mechanics and relativity, there is no consensus in sight. In addition, both enterprises are deeply puzzled about various facets of time including above all, time as experienced. The authors argue that, across the board, this impasse is the result of the "dynamical universe paradigm," the idea that reality is fundamentally made up of physical entities that evolve in time from some initial state according to dynamical laws. Thus, in the dynamical universe, the initial conditions plus the dynamical laws explain everything else going exclusively forward in time. In cosmology, for example, the initial conditions reside in the Big Bang and the dynamical law is supplied by general relativity. Accordingly, the present state of the universe is explained exclusively by its past. This book offers a completely new paradigm (called Relational Blockworld), whereby the past, present and future co-determine each other via "adynamical global constraints," such as the least action principle. Accordingly, the future is just as important for explaining the present as is the past. Most of the book is devoted to showing how Relational Blockworld resolves many of the current conundrums of both theoretical physics and foundations of physics, including the mystery of time as experienced and how that experience relates to the block universe.
Author | : Lawrence Sklar |
Publisher | : Cambridge University Press |
Total Pages | : 458 |
Release | : 1993 |
Genre | : Philosophy |
ISBN | : 9780521558815 |
Lawrence Sklar offers a comprehensive, non-technical introduction to statistical mechanics and attempts to understand its foundational elements.
Author | : Anthony Aguirre |
Publisher | : Springer |
Total Pages | : 279 |
Release | : 2015-01-24 |
Genre | : Science |
ISBN | : 3319130455 |
The essays in this book look at way in which the fundaments of physics might need to be changed in order to make progress towards a unified theory. They are based on the prize-winning essays submitted to the FQXi essay competition “Which of Our Basic Physical Assumptions Are Wrong?”, which drew over 270 entries. As Nobel Laureate physicist Philip W. Anderson realized, the key to understanding nature’s reality is not anything “magical”, but the right attitude, “the focus on asking the right questions, the willingness to try (and to discard) unconventional answers, the sensitive ear for phoniness, self-deception, bombast, and conventional but unproven assumptions.” The authors of the eighteen prize-winning essays have, where necessary, adapted their essays for the present volume so as to (a) incorporate the community feedback generated in the online discussion of the essays, (b) add new material that has come to light since their completion and (c) to ensure accessibility to a broad audience of readers with a basic grounding in physics. The Foundational Questions Institute, FQXi, catalyzes, supports, and disseminates research on questions at the foundations of physics and cosmology, particularly new frontiers and innovative ideas integral to a deep understanding of reality, but unlikely to be supported by conventional funding sources.
Author | : Sabine Hossenfelder |
Publisher | : Basic Books |
Total Pages | : 277 |
Release | : 2018-06-12 |
Genre | : Science |
ISBN | : 0465094260 |
In this "provocative" book (New York Times), a contrarian physicist argues that her field's modern obsession with beauty has given us wonderful math but bad science. Whether pondering black holes or predicting discoveries at CERN, physicists believe the best theories are beautiful, natural, and elegant, and this standard separates popular theories from disposable ones. This is why, Sabine Hossenfelder argues, we have not seen a major breakthrough in the foundations of physics for more than four decades. The belief in beauty has become so dogmatic that it now conflicts with scientific objectivity: observation has been unable to confirm mindboggling theories, like supersymmetry or grand unification, invented by physicists based on aesthetic criteria. Worse, these "too good to not be true" theories are actually untestable and they have left the field in a cul-de-sac. To escape, physicists must rethink their methods. Only by embracing reality as it is can science discover the truth.
Author | : Michael Spivak |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : 733 |
Release | : 2010 |
Genre | : Mechanics |
ISBN | : 9780914098324 |
Author | : Tim Maudlin |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : 374 |
Release | : 2014-02 |
Genre | : Mathematics |
ISBN | : 0198701306 |
Tim Maudlin sets out a completely new method for describing the geometrical structure of spaces, and thus a better mathematical tool for describing and understanding space-time. He presents a historical review of the development of geometry and topology, and then his original Theory of Linear Structures.
Author | : Robert Bruce Lindsay |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : 0 |
Release | : 1981 |
Genre | : Mathematical physics |
ISBN | : 9780918024176 |
Author | : Christopher G. Timpson |
Publisher | : Oxford Philosophical Monograph |
Total Pages | : 308 |
Release | : 2013-04-25 |
Genre | : Computers |
ISBN | : 0199296464 |
Christopher G. Timpson provides the first full-length philosophical treatment of quantum information theory and the questions it raises for our understanding of the quantum world. He argues for an ontologically deflationary account of the nature of quantum information, which is grounded in a revisionary analysis of the concepts of information.
Author | : M. Ferrero |
Publisher | : Springer Science & Business Media |
Total Pages | : 372 |
Release | : 2013-06-29 |
Genre | : Science |
ISBN | : 9401585296 |
For many physicists quantum theory contains strong conceptual difficulties, while for others the apparent conclusions about the reality of our physical world and the ways in which we discover that reality remain philosophically unacceptable. This book focuses on recent theoretical and experimental developments in the foundations of quantum physics, including topics such as the puzzles and paradoxes which appear when general relativity and quantum mechanics are combined; the emergence of classical properties from quantum mechanics; stochastic electrodynamics; EPR experiments and Bell's Theorem; the consistent histories approach and the problem of datum uniqueness in quantum mechanics; non-local measurements and teleportation of quantum states; quantum non-demolition measurements in optics and matter wave properties observed by neutron, electron and atomic interferometry. Audience: This volume is intended for graduate students of physics and those interested in the foundations of quantum theory.
Author | : John von Neumann |
Publisher | : Princeton University Press |
Total Pages | : 462 |
Release | : 1955 |
Genre | : Mathematics |
ISBN | : 9780691028934 |
A revolutionary book that for the first time provided a rigorous mathematical framework for quantum mechanics. -- Google books