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This book focuses on one of the oldest and most fundamental questions in both physics and philosophy: the nature of time. It presents original theoretical physics research on the 'problem of time' in modern physics, in parallel with a new philosophical framework for the analysis of symmetry and evolution in physical theory, as well as new work on the early modern precursors to the problem of time. Contrary to the standard wisdom, this book argues that a substantive notion of time can, and should, be retained within a consistent formalism for modern physical theory. The book marshals an array of philosophical and formal tools to justify this claim and analyses its physical implications. This book is the first of a two-volume project articulating a new approach to the analysis of time in modern physical theory. The second volume will extend and apply this approach in the context of classical and quantum gravity including quantum cosmological models.
In this volume, 12 eminent scientists and philosophers engage in fundamental, perennial questions about time: Does time exist? Is 'time' a single or multiple entity? Is it possible to reconcile contradictory notions of time, such as subjective and objective, metaphysics and physics, McTaggart's A series and B series, or presentism and eternalism? Does the Special Theory of Relativity dictate a static, deterministic account of reality ('block universe') or does it allow for 'free will'? How did the concept of geologic time originate and what are the limits of its knowledge? How is the Anthropocene defined? Each author examines these questions from the point of view of their own specialties, but without ignoring the metaphysical importance of the issue, nor the possibility that scientific advances might enforce revisions of our brain intuitive judgments.
This volume collects previously unpublished contributions to the philosophy of science. What brings them together is a twofold goal: first and foremost, celebrating the name of Roberto Torretti, whose works in this and other areas have had –and continue to have– a significant impact on the international philosophy of science community; and second, the desire of advancing novel perspectives on various issues in the philosophy of science broadly construed. Roberto Torretti has made substantial contributions to current debates in the history and philosophy of science, the general philosophy of science, and the philosophy of physics and geometry. Among his landmark contributions, we find his investigations in the history and philosophy of geometry, as well as his systematic studies of Einstein's relativity theory. This volume convenes leading philosophers and early-career scholars compiling a fine collection of chapters addressing recent debates on Kantian philosophy of science, the general philosophy of science, and the history and philosophy of physics and mathematics.
One of our foremost thinkers and public intellectuals offers a radical new view of the nature of time, and explores its implications for everything from physics and cosmology to economics and climate change.
A collection of essays discussing the philosophy and foundations of quantum gravity. Written by leading philosophers and physicists in the field, chapters cover the important conceptual questions in the search for a quantum theory of gravity, and the current state of understanding among philosophers and physicists.
This book is a treatise on time and on background independence in physics. It first considers how time is conceived of in each accepted paradigm of physics: Newtonian, special relativity, quantum mechanics (QM) and general relativity (GR). Substantial differences are moreover uncovered between what is meant by time in QM and in GR. These differences jointly source the Problem of Time: Nine interlinked facets which arise upon attempting concurrent treatment of the QM and GR paradigms, as is required in particular for a background independent theory of quantum gravity. A sizeable proportion of current quantum gravity programs - e.g. geometrodynamical and loop quantum gravity approaches to quan...
In this major new study in the sociology of scientific knowledge, social theorist Mohammad H. Tamdgidi reports having unriddled the so-called ‘quantum enigma.’ This book opens the lid of the Schrödinger’s Cat box of the ‘quantum enigma’ after decades and finds something both odd and familiar: Not only the cat is both alive and dead, it has morphed into an elephant in the room in whose interpretation Einstein, Bohr, Bohm, and others were each both right and wrong because the enigma has acquired both localized and spread-out features whose unriddling requires both physics and sociology amid both transdisciplinary and transcultural contexts. The book offers, in a transdisciplinary an...
It is often claimed that Einstein's magnum opus---his 1915 theory of General Relativity---is distinguished from other theories of space and time in virtue of its background independence. It's also often claimed that background independence is an essential feature of any quantum theory of gravity. But are these claims true? This book aspires to offer definitive answers to both of these questions, by (a) charting the space of possible definitions of background independence, and (b) applying said definitions to various classical and quantum theories of gravity. The outcome, in brief, is as follows: General Relativity is not unique by virtue of its background independence (and, indeed, fails to ...
This book presents fresh insights into analogue quantum simulation. It argues that these simulations are a new instrument of science. They require a bespoke philosophical analysis, sensitive to both the similarities to and the differences with conventional scientific practices such as analogical argument, experimentation, and classical simulation. The analysis situates the various forms of analogue quantum simulation on the methodological map of modern science. In doing so, it clarifies the functions that analogue quantum simulation serves in scientific practice. To this end, the authors introduce a number of important terminological distinctions. They establish that analogue quantum ‘comp...
Prominent scientists and philosophers of science address contemporary debates on the nature of Time. Their contributions freely discuss its unity and reality, its compatibility with the orders of classical philosophy (present, past and future) and with the disputed idea of free will (Volume 1). They also present a detailed and updated state of the role of Time in the so-called exact sciences: biology — or more precisely genetics, evolution, neurosciences, natural and artificial intelligence (Volume 2) , and physics — relativity, quantum mechanics and quantum gravity, and cosmology (Volume 3).