arXiv subjects

J. Butterfield

Publications and source records attributed to J. Butterfield.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2020

Functionalism as a Species of Reduction

This is the first of four papers prompted by a recent literature about a doctrine dubbed spacetime functionalism. This paper gives our general framework for discussing functionalism. Following Lewis, we take it as a species of reduction. We start by expounding reduction in a broadly Nagelian sense. Then we argue that Lewis's functionalism is an improvement on Nagelian reduction. This paper thereby sets the scene for the other papers, which will apply our framework to theories of space and time. Overall, we come to praise spacetime functionalism, not to bury it. But we criticize the recent philosophical literature for failing to stress: (i) functionalism's being a species of reduction (in particular: reduction of chrono-geometry to the physics of matter and radiation); (ii) functionalism's idea of specifying several concepts simultaneously by their roles; (iii) functionalism's providing bridge laws that are mandatory, not optional: they are statements of identity (or co-extension) that are conclusions of a deductive argument; and once we infer them, we have a reduction in a Nagelian sense. On the other hand, some of the older philosophical literature, and the mathematical physics literature, is faithful to these ideas (i) to (iii). In various papers, falling under various research programmes, the unique definability of a chrono-geometric concept (or concepts) in terms of matter and radiation, and a corresponding bridge law and reduction, is secured by a precise theorem. Hence our desire to celebrate these results as rigorous renditions of spacetime functionalism.

physics.hist-ph↗

arXiv2001

A Topos Perspective on the Kochen-Specker Theorem: IV. Interval Valuations

We extend the topos-theoretic treatment given in previous papers of assigning values to quantities in quantum theory. In those papers, the main idea was to assign a sieve as a partial and contextual truth value to a proposition that the value of a quantity lies in a certain set $Δ\subseteq \mathR$. Here we relate such sieve-valued valuations to valuations that assign to quantities subsets, rather than single elements, of their spectra (we call these `interval' valuations). There are two main results. First, there is a natural correspondence between these two kinds of valuation, which uses the notion of a state's support for a quantity (Section 3). Second, if one starts with a more general notion of interval valuation, one sees that our interval valuations based on the notion of support (and correspondingly, our sieve-valued valuations) are a simple way to secure certain natural properties of valuations, such as monotonicity (Section 4).

quant-ph↗

arXiv1999

A Topos Perspective on the Kochen-Specker Theorem: III. Von Neumann Algebras as the Base Category

We extend the topos-theoretic treatment given in previous papers of assigning values to quantities in quantum theory, and of related issues such as the Kochen-Specker theorem. This extension has two main parts: the use of von Neumann algebras as a base category (Section 2); and the relation of our generalized valuations to (i) the assignment to quantities of intervals of real numbers, and (ii) the idea of a subobject of the coarse-graining presheaf (Section 3).

quant-ph↗

arXiv1999

Some Possible Roles for Topos Theory in Quantum Theory and Quantum Gravity

We discuss some ways in which topos theory (a branch of category theory) can be applied to interpretative problems in quantum theory and quantum gravity. In Section 1, we introduce these problems. In Section 2, we introduce topos theory, especially the idea of a topos of presheaves. In Section 3, we discuss several possible applications of topos theory to the problems in Section 1. In Section 4, we draw some conclusions.

gr-qc↗

arXiv1999

Spacetime and the Philosophical Challenge of Quantum Gravity

We survey some philosophical aspects of the search for a quantum theory of gravity, emphasising how quantum gravity throws into doubt the treatment of spacetime common to the two `ingredient theories' (quantum theory and general relativity), as a 4-dimensional manifold equipped with a Lorentzian metric. After an introduction, we briefly review the conceptual problems of the ingredient theories and introduce the enterprise of quantum gravity We then describe how three main research programmes in quantum gravity treat four topics of particular importance: the scope of standard quantum theory; the nature of spacetime; spacetime diffeomorphisms, and the so-called problem of time. By and large, these programmes accept most of the ingredient theories' treatment of spacetime, albeit with a metric with some type of quantum nature; but they also suggest that the treatment has fundamental limitations. This prompts the idea of going further: either by quantizing structures other than the metric, such as the topology; or by regarding such structures as phenomenological. We discuss this in Section \ref{Sec:TowardsQuST}.

gr-qc↗

arXiv1999

On the Emergence of Time in Quantum Gravity

We discuss from a philosophical perspective the way in which the normal concept of time might be said to `emerge' in a quantum theory of gravity. After an introduction, we briefly discuss the notion of emergence, without regard to time (Section 2). We then introduce the search for a quantum theory of gravity (Section 3); and review some general interpretative issues about space, time and matter Section 4). We then discuss the emergence of time in simple quantum geometrodynamics, and in the Euclidean approach (Section 5). Section 6 concludes.

gr-qc↗

arXiv1998

A topos perspective on the Kochen-Specker theorem: II. Conceptual Aspects, and Classical Analogues:

In a previous paper, we have proposed assigning as the value of a physical quantity in quantum theory, a certain kind of set (a sieve) of quantities that are functions of the given quantity. The motivation was in part physical---such a valuation illuminates the Kochen-Specker theorem; and in part mathematical---the valuation arises naturally in the topos theory of presheaves. This paper discusses the conceptual aspects of this proposal. We also undertake two other tasks. First, we explain how the proposed valuations could arise much more generally than just in quantum physics; in particular, they arise as naturally in classical physics. Second, we give another motivation for such valuations (that applies equally to classical and quantum physics). This arises from applying to propositions about the values of physical quantities some general axioms governing partial truth for any kind of proposition.

quant-ph↗

arXiv1998

A topos perspective on the Kochen-Specker theorem: I. Quantum States as Generalized Valuations

The Kochen-Specker theorem asserts the impossibility of assigning values to quantum quantities in a way that preserves functional relations between them. We construct a new type of valuation which is defined on all operators, and which respects an appropriate version of the functional composition principle. The truth-values assigned to propositions are (i) contextual; and (ii) multi-valued, where the space of contexts and the multi-valued logic for each context come naturally from the topos theory of presheaves. The first step in our theory is to demonstrate that the Kochen-Specker theorem is equivalent to the statement that a certain presheaf defined on the category of self-adjoint operators has no global elements. We then show how the use of ideas drawn from the theory of presheaves leads to the definition of a generalized valuation in quantum theory whose values are sieves of operators. In particular, we show how each quantum state leads to such a generalized valuation.

quant-ph↗