Download or read book Identity and Indiscernibility in Quantum Mechanics written by Tomasz Bigaj and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-01-03 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book analyzes metaphysical consequences of the quantum theory of many particles with respect to the fundamental notions of identity, individuality and discernibility. The main focus is on the proper interpretation of the quantum formalism in relation to the role of permutation invariance and the adequate representation of the properties of individual subsystems. Two main approaches to the issue of the individuation of quantum particles are distinguished and thoroughly discussed. These approaches differ radically with respect to their metaphysical consequences – while one of them implies the complete indiscernibility of quantum particles of the same kind, the other one restores the possibility of discerning individual particles by their properties. We connect the problem of quantum individuation and discernibility with an analysis of the concept of quantum entanglement, and we also discuss identity over time and in counterfactual scenarios.
Download or read book Probing the Meaning of Quantum Mechanics written by Diederik Aerts and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2016-07-21 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides an interdisciplinary approach to one of the most fascinating and important open questions in science: What is quantum mechanics really talking about? In the last decades quantum mechanics has given rise to a new quantum technological era, a revolution taking place today especially within the field of quantum information processing; which goes from quantum teleportation and cryptography to quantum computation. Quantum theory is probably our best confirmed physical theory. However, in spite of its great empirical effectiveness it stands today still without a universally accepted physical representation that allows us to understand its relation to the world and reality. The novelty of the book comes from the multiple perspectives put forward by top researchers in quantum mechanics, from Europe as well as North and South America, discussing the meaning and structure of the theory of quanta. The book comprises in a balanced manner physical, philosophical, logical and mathematical approaches to quantum mechanics and quantum information. Going from quantum superpositions and entanglement to dynamics and the problem of identity; from quantum logic, computation and quasi-set theory to the category approach and teleportation; from realism and empiricism to operationalism and instrumentalism; the book considers from different angles some of the most intriguing questions in the field. From Buenos Aires to Brussels and Cagliari, from Florence to Florianópolis, the interaction between different groups is reflected in the many different articles. This book is interesting not only to the specialists but also to the general public attempting to get a grasp on some of the most fundamental questions of present quantum physics. Contents:On the Notion of Truth in Quantum Mechanics: A Category-Theoretic Standpoint (V Karakostas and E Zafiris)A Logical Account of Quantum Superpositions (D Krause and J R B Arenhart)Mixing Categories and Modal Logics in the Quantum Setting (G Cinà)Binary Gates in Three Valued Quantum Computational Logics (G Sergioli, A Ledda and R Giuntini)The GTR Model: A Universal Framework for Quantum-Like Measurements (D Aerts and M S de Bianchi)'Probabilistic Knowledge' as 'Objective Knowledge' in Quantum Mechanics: Potential Immanent Powers Instead of Actual Properties (C de Ronde)On When a Semantics is not a Good Semantics: The Algebraisation of Orthomodular Logic (T Kowalski, F Paoli and and R Giuntin)Von Neumann, Empiricism and the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics (O Bueno)The Born Rule and Free Will: Why Libertarian Agent-Causal Free Will is Not "Antiscientific" (R E Kastner)Fuzzy Approach for CNOT Gate in Quantum Computation with Mixed States (G Sergioli and H Freytes)A Modal Logic of Indiscernibility (D Krause, J R B Arenhart and P Merlussi)The Possibility of a New Metaphysics for Quantum Mechanics from Meinong's Theory of Objects (M Graffigna)Entanglement of Formation for Werner States and Isotropic States via Logical Gates (C Bertini, M L D Chiara and R Leporini)Time, Chance and Quantum Theory (A Sudbery)A Topos Theoretic Framework for Paraconsistent Quantum Theory (B Eva)A Possible Solution to the Second Entanglement Paradox (D Aerts and M S de Bianchi) Readership: University students and researchers interested in the foundation of quantum mechanics.
Download or read book Non Reflexive Logics Non Individuals and the Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics written by Jonas R. B. Arenhart and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-09-05 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book discusses the philosophical work of Décio Krause. Non-individuality, as a new metaphysical category, was thought to be strongly supported by quantum mechanics. No one did more to promote this idea than the Brazilian philosopher Décio Krause, whose works on the metaphysics and logic of non-individuality are now widely regarded as part of the consolidated literature on the subject. This volume brings together chapters elaborating on the ideas put forward and defended by Krause, developing them in many different directions, commenting on aspects not completely developed so far, and, more importantly, critically addressing their current formulations and defenses by Krause himself. Given that Krause’s ideas do connect directly and indirectly with a wide array of subjects, such as the philosophy of quantum mechanics, more broadly understood, the philosophy of logic and logical philosophy, non-classical logics, metaphysics, and ontology, this volume contains important material for the research on logic and foundations of science, broadly understood. All the invited contributors have already worked with the ideas developed by Décio (some of them still work with them), being also distinct authors and extremely relevant in their areas of expertise. The volume is aimed at philosophers, including those of physics and quantum mechanics.
Download or read book Physics Philosophy and the Scientific Community written by K. Gavroglu and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-06-29 with total page 405 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In three volumes, a distinguished group of scholars from a variety of disciplines in the natural and social sciences, the humanities and the arts contribute essays in honor of Robert S. Cohen, on the occasion of his 70th birthday. The range of the essays, as well as their originality, and their critical and historical depth, pay tribute to the extraordinary scope of Professor Cohen's intellectual interests, as a scientist-philosopher and a humanist, and also to his engagement in the world of social and political practice. The essays presented in Physics, Philosophy, and the Scientific Community (Volume I of Essays in Honor of Robert S. Cohen) focus on philosophical and historical issues in contemporary physics: on the origins and conceptual foundations of quantum mechanics, on the reception and understanding of Bohr's and Einstein's work, on the emergence of quantum electrodynamics, and on some of the sharp philosophical and scientific issues that arise in current scientific practice (e.g. in superconductivity research). In addition, several essays deal with critical issues within the philosophy of science, both historical and contemporary: e.g. with Cartesian notions of mechanism in the philosophy of biology; with the language and logic of science - e.g. with new insights concerning the issue of a `physicalistic' language in the arguments of Neurath, Carnap and Wittgenstein; with the notion of `elementary logic'; and with rational and non-rational elements in the history of science. Two original contributions to the history of mathematics and some studies in the comparative sociology of science round off this outstanding collection.
Download or read book Quantum Mechanics written by Bas C. Van Fraassen and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1991 with total page 558 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author argues that quantum theory admits a plurality of interpretations, each aiding further understanding of the theory, but also advocating specifically the Copenhagen Variant of the Modal Interpretation. That variant is applied to topics like the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox and the problem of 'identical' particles.
Download or read book Current Debates in Philosophy of Science written by Cristián Soto and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-08-28 with total page 459 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Philosophy of Science written by William Marias Malisoff and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1993 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Probing the Meaning of Quantum Mechanics written by Diederik Aerts and published by World Scientific Publishing. This book was released on 2018-11-20 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides an interdisciplinary perspective on one of the most fascinating and important open questions in science: What is quantum mechanics talking about? Quantum theory is perhaps our best confirmed physical theory. However, despite its great empirical effectiveness and the subsequent technological developments that it gave rise to in the 20th century, from the interpretation of the periodic table of elements to CD players, holograms and quantum state teleportation, it stands even today without a universally accepted interpretation. The novelty of the book comes from the multiple viewpoints and subjects investigated by a group of researchers from Europe and North and South America.
Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of the History of Quantum Interpretations written by Guido Bacciagaluppi and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022 with total page 1311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Crucial to most research in physics, as well as leading to the development of inventions such as the transistor and the laser, quantum mechanics approaches its centenary with an impressive record. However, the field has also long been the subject of ongoing debates about the foundations and interpretation of the theory, referred to as the quantum controversy. This Oxford Handbook offers a historical overview of the contrasts which have been at the heart of quantum physics for the last 100 years. Drawing on the wide-ranging expertise of several contributors working across physics, history, and philosophy, the handbook outlines the main theories and interpretations of quantum physics. It goes on to tackle the key controversies surrounding the field, touching on issues such as determinism, realism, locality, classicality, information, measurements, mathematical foundations, and the links between quantum theory and gravity. This engaging introduction is an essential guide for all those interested in the history of scientific controversies and history of quantum physics. It also provides a fascinating examination of the potential of quantum physics to influence new discoveries and advances in fields such quantum information and computing.
Download or read book The Map and the Territory written by Shyam Wuppuluri and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-02-13 with total page 641 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume presents essays by pioneering thinkers including Tyler Burge, Gregory Chaitin, Daniel Dennett, Barry Mazur, Nicholas Humphrey, John Searle and Ian Stewart. Together they illuminate the Map/Territory Distinction that underlies at the foundation of the scientific method, thought and the very reality itself. It is imperative to distinguish Map from the Territory while analyzing any subject but we often mistake map for the territory. Meaning for the Reference. Computational tool for what it computes. Representations are handy and tempting that we often end up committing the category error of over-marrying the representation with what is represented, so much so that the distinction between the former and the latter is lost. This error that has its roots in the pedagogy often generates a plethora of paradoxes/confusions which hinder the proper understanding of the subject. What are wave functions? Fields? Forces? Numbers? Sets? Classes? Operators? Functions? Alphabets and Sentences? Are they a part of our map (theory/representation)? Or do they actually belong to the territory (Reality)? Researcher, like a cartographer, clothes (or creates?) the reality by stitching multitudes of maps that simultaneously co-exist. A simple apple, for example, can be analyzed from several viewpoints beginning with evolution and biology, all the way down its microscopic quantum mechanical components. Is there a reality (or a real apple) out there apart from these maps? How do these various maps interact/intermingle with each other to produce a coherent reality that we interact with? Or do they not? Does our brain uses its own internal maps to facilitate “physicist/mathematician” in us to construct the maps about the external territories in turn? If so, what is the nature of these internal maps? Are there meta-maps? Evolution definitely fences our perception and thereby our ability to construct maps, revealing to us only those aspects beneficial for our survival. But the question is, to what extent? Is there a way out of the metaphorical Platonic cave erected around us by the nature? While “Map is not the territory” as Alfred Korzybski remarked, join us in this journey to know more, while we inquire on the nature and the reality of the maps which try to map the reality out there. The book also includes a foreword by Sir Roger Penrose and an afterword by Dagfinn Follesdal.
Download or read book Philosophers Look at Quantum Mechanics written by Alberto Cordero and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-08-13 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edited volume explores the philosophical implications of quantum mechanics. It features papers from venues of the International Ontology Congress (IOC) up to 2016. IOC is a worldwide platform for dialogue and reflection on the interactions between science and philosophy. The collection features philosophers as well as physicists, including David Albert, Harvey Brown, Jeffrey Bub, Otávio Bueno, James Cushing, Steven French, Victor Gomez-Pin, Carl Hoefer, Simon Kochen, Peter Lewis, Tim Maudlin, Peter Mittlestatedt, Roland Omnès, Juha Saatsi, Albert Solé, David Wallace, and Anton Zeilinger. Since the early days of quantum mechanics, philosophers have studied the subject with growing technical skill and fruitfulness. Their efforts have unveiled intellectual bridges between physics and philosophy. These connections have helped fuel the contemporary debate about the scope and limits of realism and understanding in the interpretation of physical theories and scientific theories in general. The philosophical analysis of quantum mechanics is now one of the most sophisticated and productive areas in contemporary philosophy, as the papers in this collection illustrate.
Download or read book From Electrons to Elephants and Elections written by Shyam Wuppuluri and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-04-08 with total page 886 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This highly interdisciplinary book, covering more than six fields, from philosophy and sciences all the way up to the humanities and with contributions from eminent authors, addresses the interplay between content and context, reductionism and holism and their meeting point: the notion of emergence. Much of today’s science is reductionist (bottom-up); in other words, behaviour on one level is explained by reducing it to components on a lower level. Chemistry is reduced to atoms, ecosystems are explained in terms of DNA and proteins, etc. This approach fails quickly since we can’t cannot extrapolate to the properties of atoms solely from Schrödinger's equation, nor figure out protein folding from an amino acid sequence or obtain the phenotype of an organism from its genotype. An alternative approach to this is holism (top-down). Consider an ecosystem or an organism as a whole: seek patterns on the same scale. Model a galaxy not as 400 billion-point masses (stars) but as an object in its own right with its own properties (spiral, elliptic). Or a hurricane as a structured form of moist air and water vapour. Reductionism is largely about content, whereas holistic models are more attuned to context. Reductionism (content) and holism (context) are not opposing philosophies — in fact, they work best in tandem. Join us on a journey to understand the multifaceted dialectic concerning this duo and how they shape the foundations of sciences and humanities, our thoughts and, the very nature of reality itself.
Download or read book Structural Realism written by Elaine Landry and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-01-05 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Structural realism has rapidly gained in popularity in recent years, but it has splintered into many distinct denominations, often underpinned by diverse motivations. There is, no monolithic position known as ‘structural realism,’ but there is a general convergence on the idea that a central role is to be played by relational aspects over object-based aspects of ontology. What becomes of causality in a world without fundamental objects? In this book, the foremost authorities on structural realism attempt to answer this and related questions: ‘what is structure?’ and ‘what is an object?’ Also featured are the most recent advances in structural realism, including the intersection of mathematical structuralism and structural realism, and the latest treatments of laws and modality in the context of structural realism. The book will be of interest to philosophers of science, philosophers of physics, metaphysicians, and those interested in foundational aspects of science.
Download or read book The Structure of the World written by Steven French and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014 with total page 413 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Steven French articulates and defends the bold claim that there are no objects in the world. He draws on metaphysics and philosophy of science to argue for structural realism—the position that we live in a world of structures—and defends a form of eliminativism about objects that sets laws and symmetry principles at the heart of ontology.
Download or read book Relativism Relativity written by Marin Cilea and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2013-07-26 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Relativism-Relativity: An Interdisciplinary Perspective on a Modern Concept is a revisionary and historicist approach to an issue which cuts across the disciplinary borders of science, philosophy, ethics and art. Sceptical of stereotypes, including those of the totalising fictions of the Enlightenment, supposedly steeped in absolutism and substantialism, the authors endeavour to bring to light an alternative mode of cognitive mapping which runs from the seventeenth century to the age of complexity. Current notions of fractal geometry, rhizomatic linking of open structures, hypertextuality, the superposition of symbolic systems and nonlinear reality, of chance and determinism, are traced back to the work of Leibniz, Laurence Sterne and D’Alembert. Similarly to Hélène Védrine, who documented the “dark side of the Renaissance” in Les Philosophies de la Renaissance (1971), the essayists here see the issue of the absolutism/relativism polarity as the focal point in the construction of a new eighteenth century, whose ground-breaking ideas, first launched in the tentative form of the essay, acquired a quasi-canonical status in the French Encyclopaedia, and referenced other disciplinary fields (psychology, ethics, social science), entering into fertile negotiations with discursive and formal innovations in literature.
Download or read book On the Elements of Ontology written by D. W. Mertz and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2016-02-22 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Central to Elements is an assay of the attributional union properties and relations have with their subjects, a topic historically left metaphorical. The work critiques eight Aristotelian assumptions concerning attribute dependence and ‘inherence’, per se subjects (‘substances’), attributes as agent-organizers, and unity-by-a-shared-one. Groups of these assumptions are seen to yield contradiction, vicious regress, or other problems. This analysis, joined with insights from an assay of ubiquitous structure, motivate ten theses explicating attribution and its primary ontic status. The theses detail: attributes proper as individuated instances, structure as instance-generated facts and their two forms of composition, the conditioning role and universal nature of instances’ component intensions, the primacy of attribute instances for generating all forms of composition and complex entities, and identity and indiscernibility criteria for the latter. Principal is the insight that attribution is intension-determined combinatorial agency. It is its systematizing implications that provide solutions to classic problems, e.g., Composition, Individuation, and Universals, and in net generate a comprehensive one-category structuralist ontology.
Download or read book Individuals Across the Sciences written by Alexandre Guay and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2016 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Knowing what individuals are and how they can be identified is a crucial question for both philosophers and scientists. This volume explores how different sciences handle the issue of understanding individuality, as well as reflecting on how this scientific work relates to metaphysics itself.
