Identity In Physics

Author : Steven French,Décio Krause
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 439 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2006-06-22
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780199278244

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Identity in Physics by Steven French,Décio Krause Pdf

Can quantum particles be regarded as individuals, just like books, tables and people? According to the 'received' view - articulated by several physicists in the immediate aftermath of the quantum revolution - quantum physics itself tells us they cannot: quantum particles, unlike their classical counterparts, must be regarded as 'non-individuals' in some sense. However, recent work has indicated that this is not the whole story and that the theory is also consistent with theposition that such particles can be taken to be individuals, albeit at a metaphysical price.Drawing on philosophical accounts of identity and individuality, as well as the histories of both classical and quantum physics, the authors explore these two alternative metaphysical packages. In particular, they argue that if quantum particles are regarded as individuals, then Leibniz's famous Principle of the Identity of Indiscernibles is in fact violated. Recent discussions of this conclusion are analysed in detail and, again, the costs involved in saving the Principle are carefullyconsidered.Taking the alternative package, the authors deploy recent work in non-standard logic and set theory to indicate how we can make sense of the idea that objects can be non-individuals. The concluding chapter suggests how these results might then be extended to quantum field theory.Identity in Physics brings together a range of work in this area and further develops the authors' own contributions to the debate. Uniquely, as the title indicates, it situates this work in the appropriate formal, historical, and philosophical contexts.

Author : Steven French,Decio Krause
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 422 pages
File Size : 50,8 Mb
Release : 2006
Category : Identity (Philosophical concept)
ISBN : 0191603953

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Identity in Physics by Steven French,Decio Krause Pdf

Drawing on philosophical accounts of identity and individuality as well as the histories of both classical and quantum physics this book explores the two alternative metaphysical packages. It indicates how we can make sense of the idea that objects can be non-individuals, suggesting how the results might be extended to quantum field theory.

Author : William Marias Malisoff
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 164 pages
File Size : 41,6 Mb
Release : 1993
Category : Science
ISBN : 00318248

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Philosophy of Science by William Marias Malisoff Pdf

Author : Tomasz Bigaj
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2022
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 3030748715

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Identity and Indiscernibility in Quantum Mechanics by Tomasz Bigaj Pdf

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. Tomasz Bigaj is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warsaw, Poland. His previous publications include the book Non-locality and Possible Worlds (2006) and numerous articles on various topics in philosophy of physics, philosophical logic and analytic metaphysics (Synthese, Erkenntnis, Foundations of Physics, Foundations of Science).

Author : Allison J. Gonsalves,Anna T. Danielsson
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 183 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2020-04-24
Category : Science
ISBN : 9783030419332

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Physics Education and Gender by Allison J. Gonsalves,Anna T. Danielsson Pdf

This Edited Volume engages with concepts of gender and identity as they are mobilized in research to understand the experiences of learners, teachers and practitioners of physics. The focus of this collection is on extending theoretical understandings of identity as a means to explore the construction of gender in physics education research. This collection expands an understanding of gendered participation in physics from a binary gender deficit model to a more complex understanding of gender as performative and intersectional with other social locations (e.g., race, class, LGBT status, ability, etc). This volume contributes to a growing scholarship using sociocultural frameworks to understand learning and participation in physics, and that seeks to challenge dominant understandings of who does physics and what counts as physics competence. Studying gender in physics education research from a perspective of identity and identity construction allows us to understand participation in physics cultures in new ways. We are able to see how identities shape and are shaped by inclusion and exclusion in physics practices, discourses that dominate physics cultures, and actions that maintain or challenge structures of dominance and subordination in physics education. The chapters offered in this book focus on understanding identity and its usefulness in various contexts with various learner or practitioner populations. This scholarship collectively presents us with a broad picture of the complexity inherent in doing physics and doing gender.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 183 pages
File Size : 40,9 Mb
Release : 2020
Category : Electronic books
ISBN : 3030419347

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Physics Education and Gender by Anonim Pdf

This Edited Volume engages with concepts of gender and identity as they are mobilized in research to understand the experiences of learners, teachers and practitioners of physics. The focus of this collection is on extending theoretical understandings of identity as a means to explore the construction of gender in physics education research. This collection expands an understanding of gendered participation in physics from a binary gender deficit model to a more complex understanding of gender as performative and intersectional with other social locations (e.g., race, class, LGBT status, ability, etc). This volume contributes to a growing scholarship using sociocultural frameworks to understand learning and participation in physics, and that seeks to challenge dominant understandings of who does physics and what counts as physics competence. Studying gender in physics education research from a perspective of identity and identity construction allows us to understand participation in physics cultures in new ways. We are able to see how identities shape and are shaped by inclusion and exclusion in physics practices, discourses that dominate physics cultures, and actions that maintain or challenge structures of dominance and subordination in physics education. The chapters offered in this book focus on understanding identity and its usefulness in various contexts with various learner or practitioner populations. This scholarship collectively presents us with a broad picture of the complexity inherent in doing physics and doing gender.

Author : Peter Pesic
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 196 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 2003
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 026266173X

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Seeing Double by Peter Pesic Pdf

An exploration of the relationship between quantum theory and concepts of individuality and identity from ancient Greece to the present.

Author : D. Oderberg
Publisher : Springer
Page : 232 pages
File Size : 54,9 Mb
Release : 1993-10-21
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780230377387

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The Metaphysics of Identity over Time by D. Oderberg Pdf

This book is a systematic investigation into the metaphysical foundations of identity over time. The author elaborates and evaluates the most common theory about the persistence of objects through time and change, namely the classical theory of spatio-temporal continuity. He shows how the theory requires an ontology of temporal parts, according to which objects are made up of temporally extended segments or stages. This ontology is criticized as unwarranted by modern space-time physics, and as internally incoherent. The author argues that identity over time should be seen as a primitive or unanalysable phenomenon, and that the so-called puzzle cases and paradoxes of identity can be dealt with without recourse to such an ontology.

Author : Gustavo E. Romero
Publisher : Springer
Page : 188 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2018-11-02
Category : Science
ISBN : 9783319976310

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Scientific Philosophy by Gustavo E. Romero Pdf

This textbook presents the basics of philosophy that are necessary for the student and researcher in science in order to better understand scientific work. The approach is not historical but formative: tools for semantical analysis, ontology of science, epistemology, and scientific ethics are presented in a formal and direct way. The book has two parts: one with the general theory and a second part with application to some problems such as the interpretation of quantum mechanics, the nature of mathematics, and the ontology of spacetime. The book addresses questions such as "What is meaning?", "What is truth?", "What are truth criteria in science?", "What is a theory?", "What is a model?" "What is a datum?", "What is information?", "What does it mean to understand something?", "What is space?", "What is time?", "How are these concepts articulated in science?" "What are values?" "What are the limits of science?", and many more. The philosophical views presented are "scientific" in the sense that they are informed by current science, they are relevant for scientific research, and the method adopted uses the hypothetical-deductive approach that is characteristic of science. The results and conclusions, as any scientific conclusion, are open to revision in the light of future advances. Hence, this philosophical approach opposes to dogmatic philosophy. Supported by end-of-chapter summaries and a list of special symbols used, the material will be of interest for students and researchers in both science and philosophy. The second part will appeal to physicists and mathematicians.

Author : Anna T. Danielsson
Publisher : Anna Teresia Danielsson
Page : 284 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 2009-06-15
Category : Science
ISBN : 9789155474546

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Doing Physics--Doing Gender by Anna T. Danielsson Pdf

Author : Cord Friebe,Meinard Kuhlmann,Holger Lyre,Paul M. Näger,Oliver Passon,Manfred Stöckler
Publisher : Springer
Page : 304 pages
File Size : 44,7 Mb
Release : 2018-06-21
Category : Science
ISBN : 9783319783567

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The Philosophy of Quantum Physics by Cord Friebe,Meinard Kuhlmann,Holger Lyre,Paul M. Näger,Oliver Passon,Manfred Stöckler Pdf

This book provides a thorough and up-to-date introduction to the philosophy of quantum physics. Although quantum theory is renowned for its spectacular empirical successes, controversial discussion about how it should be understood continue to rage today. In this volume, the authors provide an overview of its numerous philosophical challenges: Do quantum objects violate the principle of causality? Are particles of the same type indistinguishable and therefore not individual entities? Do quantum objects retain their identity over time? How does a compound quantum system relate to its parts? These questions are answered here within different interpretational approaches to quantum theory. Finally, moving to Quantum Field Theory, we find that the problem of non-locality is exacerbated. Philosophy of quantum physics is aimed at philosophers with an interest in physics, while also serving to familiarize physicists with many of the essential philosophical questions of their subject.

Author : J. T. Ismael
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 2016-02-03
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780190269456

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How Physics Makes Us Free by J. T. Ismael Pdf

In 1687 Isaac Newton ushered in a new scientific era in which laws of nature could be used to predict the movements of matter with almost perfect precision. Newton's physics also posed a profound challenge to our self-understanding, however, for the very same laws that keep airplanes in the air and rivers flowing downhill tell us that it is in principle possible to predict what each of us will do every second of our entire lives, given the early conditions of the universe. Can it really be that even while you toss and turn late at night in the throes of an important decision and it seems like the scales of fate hang in the balance, that your decision is a foregone conclusion? Can it really be that everything you have done and everything you ever will do is determined by facts that were in place long before you were born? This problem is one of the staples of philosophical discussion. It is discussed by everyone from freshman in their first philosophy class, to theoretical physicists in bars after conferences. And yet there is no topic that remains more unsettling, and less well understood. If you want to get behind the façade, past the bare statement of determinism, and really try to understand what physics is telling us in its own terms, read this book. The problem of free will raises all kinds of questions. What does it mean to make a decision, and what does it mean to say that our actions are determined? What are laws of nature? What are causes? What sorts of things are we, when viewed through the lenses of physics, and how do we fit into the natural order? Ismael provides a deeply informed account of what physics tells us about ourselves. The result is a vision that is abstract, alien, illuminating, and-Ismael argues-affirmative of most of what we all believe about our own freedom. Written in a jargon-free style, How Physics Makes Us Free provides an accessible and innovative take on a central question of human existence.

Author : Vivian Appler,Meredith Conti
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 281 pages
File Size : 43,7 Mb
Release : 2022-08-11
Category : Performing Arts
ISBN : 9781350234086

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Identity, Culture, and the Science Performance, Volume 1 by Vivian Appler,Meredith Conti Pdf

Identity, Culture, and the Science Performance, Volume 1: From the Lab to the Streets is the first of two volumes dedicated to the diverse sociocultural work of science-oriented performance. A dynamic volume of scholarly essays, interviews with scientists and artists, and creative entries, it examines explicitly public-facing science performances that operate within and for specialist and non-specialist populations. The book's chapters trace the theatrical and ethical contours of live science events, re-enact historical stagings of scientific expertise, and demonstrate the pedagogical and activist potentials in performing science in community settings. Alongside the scholarly chapters, From the Lab to the Streets features creative work by contemporary science-integrative artists and interviews with popular science communicators Sahana Srinivasan (host of Netflix's Brainchild) and Raven Baxter (“Raven the Science Maven”) and artists from performance ensembles The Olimpias and Superhero Clubhouse. In exploring the science performance as a vital but flawed method of public engagement, it offers a critique of the racist, ableist, sexist, and heteronormative ideologies prevalent across the history of science, as well as highlighting science performances that challenge and redress these ideologies. Along with its complementary volume From the Curious to the Quantum, this book documents the varied ways in which identity categories and cultural constructs are formed and reformed through science performances.

Author : Katherine Brading,Elena Castellani
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 459 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2003-12-04
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781139442022

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Symmetries in Physics by Katherine Brading,Elena Castellani Pdf

This book brings together philosophical discussions of symmetry in physics, highlighting the main issues and controversies. It covers all the fundamental symmetries of modern physics, as well as discussing symmetry-breaking and general interpretational issues. For each topic, classic texts are followed by review articles and short commentaries.

Author : Peter J. Lewis
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 240 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 2016-06-13
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780190618797

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Quantum Ontology by Peter J. Lewis Pdf

Metaphysicians should pay attention to quantum mechanics. Why? Not because it provides definitive answers to many metaphysical questions-the theory itself is remarkably silent on the nature of the physical world, and the various interpretations of the theory on offer present conflicting ontological pictures. Rather, quantum mechanics is essential to the metaphysician because it reshapes standard metaphysical debates and opens up unforeseen new metaphysical possibilities. Even if quantum mechanics provides few clear answers, there are good reasons to think that any adequate understanding of the quantum world will result in a radical reshaping of our classical world-view in some way or other. Whatever the world is like at the atomic scale, it is almost certainly not the swarm of particles pushed around by forces that is often presupposed. This book guides readers through the theory of quantum mechanics and its implications for metaphysics in a clear and accessible way. The theory and its various interpretations are presented with a minimum of technicality. The consequences of these interpretations for metaphysical debates concerning realism, indeterminacy, causation, determinism, holism, and individuality (among other topics) are explored in detail, stressing the novel form that the debates take given the empirical facts in the quantum domain. While quantum mechanics may not deliver unconditional pronouncements on these issues, the range of possibilities consistent with our knowledge of the empirical world is relatively small-and each possibility is metaphysically revisionary in some way. This book will appeal to researchers, students, and anybody else interested in how science informs our world-view.