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arXiv2015

General Covariance, Diffeomorphism Invariance, and Background Independence in 5 Dimensions

The paper considers the "GR-desideratum", that is, the way general relativity implements general covariance, diffeomorphism invariance, and background independence. Two cases are discussed where $5$-dimensional generalizations of general relativity run into interpretational troubles when the GR-desideratum is forced upon them. It is shown how the conceptual problems dissolve when such a desideratum is relaxed. In the end, it is suggested that a similar strategy might mitigate some major issues such as the problem of time or the embedding of quantum non-locality into relativistic spacetimes.

physics.hist-ph↗

arXiv2014

Beyond the Stalemate: Conscious MInd-Body - Quantum Mechanics - Free Will - Possible Panpsychism - Possible Interpretation of Quantum Enigma

I wish to discuss a large, interwoven set of topics pointed at in the title above. Much of what I say is highly speculative, some is testable, some is, at present, surely not. It is, I hope, useful, to set these ideas forth for our consideration. What I shall say assumes quantum measurement is real, and that Bohm's interpretation of Quantum Mechanics is not true. The Stalemate: In our contemporary neurobiology and much of the philosophy of mind post Descartes we are classical physics machines and either mindless, or mind is at best epiphenomenal and can have no consequences for the physical world. The first main point of this paper is that we are not forced to this conclusion, but must give up total reliance on classical physics.

physics.hist-ph↗

arXiv2014

Computational Beauty: Aesthetic Judgment at the Intersection of Art and Science

In part one of the Critique of Judgment, Immanuel Kant wrote that "the judgment of taste...is not a cognitive judgment, and so not logical, but is aesthetic."\cite{Kant} While the condition of aesthetic discernment has long been the subject of philosophical discourse, the role of the arbiters of that judgment has more often been assumed than questioned. The art historian, critic, connoisseur, and curator have long held the esteemed position of the aesthetic judge, their training, instinct, and eye part of the inimitable subjective processes that Kant described as occurring upon artistic evaluation. Although the concept of intangible knowledge in regard to aesthetic theory has been much explored, little discussion has arisen in response to the development of new types of artificial intelligence as a challenge to the seemingly ineffable abilities of the human observer. This paper examines the developments in the field of computer vision analysis of paintings from canonical movements with the history of Western art and the reaction of art historians to the application of this technology in the field. Through an investigation of the ethical consequences of this innovative technology, the unquestioned authority of the art expert is challenged and the subjective nature of aesthetic judgment is brought to philosophical scrutiny once again.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2014

Philosophy of science viewed through the lense of "References Publication Years spectrosopy" (RPYS)

We examine the sub-field of philosophy of science using a new method developed in information science, Referenced Publication Years Spectroscopy (RPYS). RPYS allows us to identify peak years in citations in a field, which promises to help scholars identify the key contributions to a field, and revolutionary discoveries in a field. We discovered that philosophy of science, a sub-field in the humanities, differs significantly from other fields examined with this method. Books play a more important role in philosophy of science than in the sciences. Further, Einstein's famous 1905 papers created a citation peak in the philosophy of science literature. But rather than being a contribution to the philosophy of science, their importance lies in the fact that they are revolutionary contributions to physics with important implications for philosophy of science.

cs.DL↗

arXiv2014

Can the wave function in configuration space be replaced by single-particle wave functions in physical space?

The ontology of Bohmian mechanics includes both the universal wave function (living in 3N-dimensional configuration space) and particles (living in ordinary 3-dimensional physical space). Proposals for understanding the physical significance of the wave function in this theory have included the idea of regarding it as a physically-real field in its 3N-dimensional space, as well as the idea of regarding it as a law of nature. Here we introduce and explore a third possibility in which the configuration space wave function is simply eliminated -- replaced by a set of single-particle pilot-wave fields living in ordinary physical space. Such a re-formulation of the Bohmian pilot-wave theory can exactly reproduce the statistical predictions of ordinary quantum theory. But this comes at the rather high ontological price of introducing an infinite network of interacting potential fields (living in 3-dimensional space) which influence the particles' motion through the pilot-wave fields. We thus introduce an alternative approach which aims at achieving empirical adequacy (like that enjoyed by GRW type theories) with a more modest ontological complexity, and provide some preliminary evidence for optimism regarding the (once popular but prematurely-abandoned) program of trying to replace the (philosophically puzzling) configuration space wave function with a (totally unproblematic) set of fields in ordinary physical space.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Sufficient reason and reason enough

I offer an analysis of the Principle of Sufficient Reason and its relevancy for the scientific endeavour. I submit that the world is not, and cannot be, rational - only some brained beings are. The Principle of Sufficient Reason is not a necessary truth nor a physical law. It is just a guiding metanomological hypothesis justified a posteriori by its success in helping us to unveil the mechanisms that operate in Nature.

physics.hist-ph↗

arXiv2014

A thought to illustrate the uncertainty principle on the base of Otto-Wiener's experiment

In this short paper a new thought experiment has been introduced to illustrate the famous Heisenberg's uncertainty principle based on Otto-Wiener's experiment (1890) associated with standing light waves. This illustration is quite easy as well as far more realizing than all other thought experiments generally found in textbooks. In this work seeding of quantum nature of light has been done with the Otto-Wiener's experiment. May be this new thought experiment will help the students to understand the Heisenberg's principle in a better way and also enhance their interest of learning quantum mechanics from the beginning of their course.

physics.hist-ph↗

arXiv2016

Quantum Mechanics and Experience

After a summary of Bohr's views and their relation to Kant's theory of science, two fruitless lines of attack on the measurement problem are discussed: the way of the psi-ontologist and the way of the QBist. In the remainder of the paper the following results are obtained. (i) Because the testable correlations between outcomes of measurements of macroscopic positions are consistent with both the classical and the quantum laws, there is no conflict between the superposition principle and the existence of measurement outcomes. (ii) Intrinsically, each fundamental particle is numerically identical with every other fundamental particle. What presents itself here and now with these properties and what presents itself there and then with those properties is one and the same entity, herein called "Being." (iii) The distinction between a classical domain and a quantum domain is essentially a distinction between the manifested world and its manifestation. By entering into reflexive spatial relations, Being gives rise to (a) what looks like a multiplicity of relata if the reflexive quality of the relations is ignored, and (b) what looks like a substantial expanse if the spatial quality of the relations is reified. (iv) The reason why quantum mechanics is a calculus of correlations between measurement outcomes is that it concerns the progressive realization of distinguishable objects and distinguishable regions of space. (v) The key to the relation between quantum mechanics and experience is that Being does not simply manifest the world, Being manifests the world to itself. It is at once the single substance by which the world exists and the ultimate self or subject for which it exists. The question how we are related to this ultimate self or subject is discussed.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

The early historical roots of Lee-Yang theorem

A deep and detailed historiographical analysis of a particular case study concerning the so-called Lee-Yang theorem of theoretical statistical mechanics of phase transitions, has emphasized what real historical roots underlie such a case study. To be precise, it turned out that some well-determined aspects of entire function theory have been at the primeval origins of this important formal result of statistical physics.

physics.hist-ph↗

arXiv2014

The Barolo Palace: medieval astronomy in the streets of Buenos Aires

Cultural heritage relating to the sky in the form of sundials, old observatories and the like, are commonly found in many cities in the Old World, but rarely in the New. This paper examines astronomical heritage embodied in the Barolo Palace in Buenos Aires. While references to Dante Alighieri and his poetry are scattered in streets, buildings and monuments around the Western world, in the city of Buenos Aires, the only street carrying Dante's name is less than three blocks long and, appropriately, is a continuation of Virgilio street. A couple of Italian immigrants -a wealthy businessman, Luis Barolo, and an imaginative architect, Mario Palanti- foresaw this situation nearly a century ago, and did not save any efforts or money with the aim of getting Dante and his cosmology an appropriate monumental recognition, in reinforced concrete. The Barolo Palace is a unique combination of both astronomy and the worldview displayed in the Divine Comedy, Dante's poetic masterpiece. It is known that the Palace's design was inspired by the great poet, but the details are not recorded; this paper relies on Dante's text to consider whether it may add to our understanding of the building. Although the links of the Palace's main architectural structure with the three realms of the Comedy have been studied in the past, its unique astronomical flavor has not been sufficiently emphasized. The word of God, as interpreted by the Fathers of the Church in Sacred Scripture, Aristotle's physics and Ptolemy's astronomy, all beautifully converge in Dante's verses, and the Barolo Palace reflects this.

physics.hist-ph↗

arXiv2014

On the fields due to line segments

The remarkable geometries of ellipsoidal equipotentials and their associated gradient fields, as produced by uniformly charged straight-line segments, are discussed at an elementary level, motivated by recent treatments intended for introductory physics classes. Some effort is made to put the results into a broader conceptual and historical context. The equipotentials and vector fields were first obtained for the electrostatic problem by George Green in his famous 1828 essay. Related problems were commonly found on the Mathematical Tripos examinations given at the University of Cambridge, and their solutions were widely disseminated by William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), Peter Guthrie Tait, and Edward Routh during the last half of the 19th century.

physics.hist-ph↗

arXiv2014

Relation of Origins of Primitive Chaos

A new concept, primitive chaos, was proposed, as a concept closely related to the fundamental problems of sciences themselves such as determinism, causality, free will, predictability, and time asymmetry [{\em J. Phys. Soc. Jpn.} {\bf 2014}, {\em 83}, 1401]. This concept is literally a primitive chaos in such a sense that it leads to the characteristic properties of the conventional chaos under natural conditions. Then, two contrast concepts, nondegenerate Peano continuum and Cantor set, are known as the origins of the primitive chaos. In this study, the relation of these origins is investigated with the aid of a mathematical method, topology. Then, we can see the emergence of interesting concepts such as the relation of whole and part, and coarse graining, which imply the essence of our intrinsic recognition for phenomena.

math.GN↗

arXiv2014

Primitive ontology and quantum state in the GRW matter density theory

The paper explains in what sense the GRW matter density theory (GRWm) is a primitive ontology theory of quantum mechanics and why, thus conceived, the standard objections against the GRW formalism do not apply to GRWm. We consider the different options for conceiving the quantum state in GRWm and argue that dispositionalism is the most attractive one.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Ralph A. Alpher, George Antonovich Gamow, and the Prediction of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation

The first prediction of the existence of "relict radiation" or radiation remaining from the "Big Bang" was made in 1948. This derived from the seminal dissertation work of Ralph A. Alpher. He was a doctoral student of George A. Gamow and developed several critical advances in cosmology in late 1946, 1947, and 1948. Alpher developed the ideas of "hot" big bang cosmology to a high degree of physical precision, and was the first to present the idea that radiation, not matter, predominated the early universal adiabatic expansion first suggested by A. Friedmann in the early 1920s. Alpher and Herman predicted the residual relic black-body temperature in 1948 and 1949 at around 5 K. However, to this day, this prediction, and other seminal ideas in big bang cosmology, have often been attributed erroneously to the better-known George A. Gamow. This article reviews some of the more egregious and even farcical errors in the scholarly literature about Ralph A. Alpher and his place in the history of big bang cosmology. Two such errors are that (a) Alpher was a fictive person; or (b) that like the French mathematician Nicolas Bourbaki, Alpher was a "conglomerate" of theoreticians.

physics.hist-ph↗

arXiv2014

The metaphysics of laws: dispositionalism vs. primitivism

The paper compares dispositionalism about laws of nature with primitivism. It argues that while the distinction between these two positions can be drawn in a clear-cut manner in classical mechanics, it is less clear in quantum mechanics, due to quantum non-locality. Nonetheless, the paper points out advantages for dispositionalism in comparison to primitivism also in the area of quantum mechanics, and of contemporary physics in general.

physics.hist-ph↗

arXiv2014

Why the wave function, of all things?

There are reasons to doubt that making sense of the wave function (other than as a probability algorithm) will help with the project of making sense of quantum mechanics. The consistency of the quantum-mechanical correlation laws with the existence of their correlata is demonstrated. The demonstration makes use of the fact (which is implied by the indeterminacy principle) that physical space is not partitioned "all the way down," and it requires that the eigenvalue-eigenstate link be replaced by a different interpretive principle, whose implications are explored.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

John Stuart Bell: recollections of a great scientist and a great man

This contribution to the book in honour of J.S. Bell will probably differ from the remaining ones, in particular since only a part of it will be devoted to specific technical arguments. In fact I have considered appropriate to share with the community of physicists interested in the foundational problems of our best theory the repeated interactions I had with him in the last four years of his life, the deep discussions in which we have been involved in particular in connection with the elaboration of collapse theories and their interpretation, the contributions he gave to the development of this approach, both at a formal level, as well as championing it on repeated occasions. In brief, I intend to play here the role of one of those lucky persons who became acquainted with him personally, who has exchanged important views with him, who has learned a lot from his deep insight and conceptual lucidity, and, last but not least, one whose scientific work has been appreciated by him. Moreover, due to the fact that this book intends to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the derivation of the fundamental inequality which bears his name, I will also devote a small part of the text to recall his clear cut views about the locality issue, views that I believe have not been grasped correctly by a remarkable part of the scientific community. I will analyze this problem in quite general terms at the end of the paper.

physics.hist-ph↗

arXiv2017

A review of Voigt's transformations in the framework of special relativity

In 1887 Woldemar Voigt published the paper "On Doppler's Principle," in which he demanded covariance to the homogeneous wave equation in inertial reference frames, assumed the invariance of the speed of light in these frames, and obtained a set of spacetime transformations different from the Lorentz transformations. Without explicitly mentioning so, Voigt applied the postulates of special relativity to the wave equation. Here, we review the original derivation of Voigt's transformations and comment on their conceptual and historical importance in the context of special relativity. We discuss the relation between the Voigt and Lorentz transformations and derive the former from the conformal covariance of the wave equation.

physics.hist-ph↗