DE / EN
2022/2023
History and Philosophy of Physics Research Seminar (Winter)
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Time & Place: |
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Tuesdays from 14:15 to 15:45 CEST.
Almost all sessions can be attended via Zoom; the sessions that are indicated as 'hybrid' below may also be attended in person, in the main building (Am Hof 1, 53113 Bonn) in Horsaal X.Zoom-links and weekly reminders are announced via hpp@listen.uni-bonn.de. Subscribing to this list is possible a) here, b) by sending an empty email to hpp-subscribe@listen.uni-bonn.de, or c) by contacting jdobosze@uni-bonn.de |
Conveners: |
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Dr. Juliusz Doboszewski & Prof. Dr. Dennis Lehmkuhl |
18 Oct 2022
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Abstract
Quarks are not only regarded as elementary particles, but also as fundamental constituents of matter and part of the highly successful Standard Model of particle physics. According to scientific realism, we are justified to believe in the truth of our best theories, although many counterarguments for such a realist commitment can be found. Further, there is entity realism, which just concentrates on entities and presupposes the existence of unobservable objects, if one is able to use them as tools to obtain other controllable (observable) effects. This approach is problematic when it comes to quarks, as they are confined within matter, cannot be isolated and therefore not used as tools in the traditional sense. However, indirect evidence for quarks, such as jets or the results from deep inelastic scattering, is available.
To resolve the tension regarding a realist commitment, one could either weaken the demands when it comes to entity realism or reconsider what we want to be realist about. In this talk I show and justify how quarks can be embedded into the following distinction of scientific practice: data-signatures-phenomena-theories. By arguing with a more local version of realism, thereby considering perspectival realism, I want to show how realist commitments regarding signatures and phenomena are possible. This provides a new perspective concerning the reality of quarks and other subatomic entities. Qua |
25 Oct 2022
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Dennis Lehmkuhl (University of Bonn)
The Petrov-Pirani-Penrose Classification of Spacetimes and Its Role in the Renaissance of General Relativity Abstract
This talk will focus on the development of new mathematical methods during the 1960s that allowed for new ways of understanding the solution space of the Einstein equations. The focus will be on the classification scheme for vacuum solutions first developed by Aleksei Petrov in 1954 and then applied to the question of how to give an coordinate-independent definition of the presence of gravitational radiation by Felix Pirani in 1957. I will review Pirani’s definition and rationale for proposing his definition, and then discuss Penrose’s 1960 re-derivation and elaboration of the Petrov classification in the context of his spinor formulation of GR, and his criticism of Pirani’s definition of gravitational radiation. Starting from there, I will review the emerging discussion of how the different Petrov classes should be interpreted, and thus how the solution space of the Einstein equations could be understood, indeed how it could be used as a map of spacetimes and their interpretation. I shall argue that present-day philosophy of physics is still very far from having harvested all the conceptual treasures that originated from this debate in the 1950s and 1960s.
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1 Nov 2022
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Tba
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9 Nov 2022
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David Kaiser (MIT)
Primordial Black Holes as Dark Matter Candidates Abstract
Primordial black holes (PBHs) were first postulated more than half a century ago, and they remain a fascinating theoretical curiosity. In recent years, many researchers have realized that PBHs provide an exciting prospect for accounting for dark matter. Rather than requiring some as-yet unknown elementary particles beyond the Standard Model, or modified gravitational dynamics, dark matter might consist of a large population of PBHs that formed very early in cosmic history. In this talk I will review production mechanisms that could yield PBHs as well as present observational constraints. I will also describe models that yield an appropriate population of PBHs following a brief phase of cosmic inflation, while remaining consistent with the latest high-precision measurements of the cosmic microwave background radiation. |
15 Nov 2022
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No seminar.
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22 Nov 2022
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Moved to the summer term
Christian Röken (University of Bonn) On the Black Hole and the Wormhole in the Movie Interstellar Abstract
tba.
Qua |
29 Nov 2022
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Frauke Stoll (University of Bonn)
Is the analogy between black holes and thermodynamics more than formal? Abstract
There is a striking analogy between the laws of thermodynamics and the laws of black hole mechanics that physicists confidently use to work on quantum gravity. But due to an almost complete lack of empirical data that would support the analogy, this confidence can seem surprising. In this talk I want to examine the most popular claim in literature that black holes are true thermodynamic objects and that thermodynamics extends into the new regime of black holes. This will be done by applying functionalism onto the analogy. It will be shown that following the functionalist approach, it can be established that black holes truly do extend thermodynamics, which leads to them being identified as true thermodynamic objects.
Qua Gianni Klesen (University of Bonn) A few remarks about reading philosophy Abstract
Reading philosophy can be challenging. In my talk I will address some of those challenges.
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6 Dec 2022
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Ted Jacobson (University of Maryland)
Einstein & Aether: deformations of general relativity with a preferred local rest frame Abstract
A cornerstone of general relativity is the assumption that the ultra local structure of spacetime at point is entirely determined by the metric tensor. Nevertheless, deformations of general relativity incorporating a local preferred rest frame have been extensively explored in connection with speculation about the ultra short distance structure of spacetime. I will review the motivation, dynamical properties, and current observational constraints for two such deformations, Einstein-Aether theory and Horava gravity. Aside from their potential (but unlikely) relevance to the real world, these theories provide an interesting foil to contrast with general relativity.
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13 Dec 2022
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Adrian Wüthrich (Technische Universität Berlin)
Characterizing a Collaboration by Its Communication Structure Abstract
I present first results of my analysis of a collection of about 24,000 email messages from internal mailing lists of a major particle physics collaboration during the years 2010--2013. I represent the communication on these mailing lists as a network in which the members of the collaboration are connected if they reply to each other's messages. Such a network allows me to characterize the collaboration from a bird's eye view of its communication structure in epistemically relevant terms. I propose to interpret established measures such as the density of the network as indicators for the degree of "collaborativeness" of the collaboration and the presence of "communities" as a sign of cognitive division of labor. Similar methods have been used in philosophical and historical studies of collective knowledge generation but mostly at the level of information exchange, cooperation and competition between individual researchers or small groups. The present analysis aims to take initial steps towards a transfer of these methods and bring them to bear on the processes of collaboration inside a "collective author."
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20 Dec 2022
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No seminar.
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10 Jan 2023
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Francesca Biagioli (Università degli Studi di Torino)
Hermann Weyl on the History of Non-euclidean Geometry Abstract
The history of non-Euclidean geometry played an important role in the early philosophical interpretations of Einstein’s general relativity. Whereas Moritz Schlick and the logical positivists emphasized the break between the Euclidean tradition and the abstract systems of modern geometry, neo-Kantian philosophers such as Ernst Cassirer looked at Riemannian geometry and its developments in an attempt to identify the fundamental conditions of the new physics. Hermann Weyl engaged in this debate by arguing that the history of non-Euclidean geometry illuminates increasingly higher levels of abstraction in the mathematical analysis of space, culminating with his own reformulation of the invariants of the spacetime continuum in differential geometry. Starting from a discussion of Weyl’s view in Space-Time-Matter and other writings from 1918-1923, this talk will address some of the philosophical issues that arise in connection with his treatment of the relativistic problem of space, in particular the status of geometrical concepts, the distinction between a priori and empirical elements of the spacetime structure, and the idea of reducing physics to geometry. |
17 Jan 2023
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Katie Robertson (University of Birmingham)
Functionalism and Black Hole Physics Abstract
Do black holes expand for the same reason that cups of tea cool down? There is a striking similarity between the laws of black hole mechanics and the laws of thermodynamics; so striking, that some have gone as far as — indeed the orthodoxy in theoretical physics is — to say it is an identity. But others point out differences between the quantities associated to black holes and the quantities of ordinary thermal systems, like cups of tea and boxes of gas. How can we say black hole entropy is thermodynamic entropy when there are these differences? In this talk, I show to what extent the increasingly popular tool of functionalism can be used to understand the claim that SBH is STD.
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24 Jan 2023
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Abstract
The importance of good definitions has been clear from the beginnings of Greek philosophy and mathematics, and 2000 years later was still recognized by Galilei and Newton, with a decisive shift of emphasis though. I also briefly talk about the logical role of definitions, the role of family resemblances, and the philosophy of mathematical practice (starting from Lakatos). Two case studies illustrate my ideas on what a good definition looks like: randomness (which is a family resemblance) and entropy (which looks like a family resemblance but in fact has a common core).
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31 Jan 2023
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Abstract
In previous work (Vassallo, 2020; Vassallo and Hoefer, 2020), I analyzed the dependence relation between spatiotemporal and material facts in general relativity in terms of acyclic structural equation models. In this talk, I will first consider some arguments involving particular solutions to Einstein's equations, which suggest that the acyclicity requirement should be dropped. I will then discuss how to modify the characterization of the spacetime/matter dependence in light of these arguments.
References: - A. Vassallo. Dependence relations in general relativity. European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 10(2), 2020. DOI 10.1007/s13194-019-0265-5. - A. Vassallo and C. Hoefer. The metaphysics of Machian frame-dragging. In C. Beisbart, T. Sauer, and C. Wüthrich, editors, Thinking about space and time, pages 227–246. Birkhäuser, 2020. Qua |
International Conference on Large-Scale Experiments (Karlsruhe)
The final conference of the 6-year interdisciplinary research unit "Epistemology of the LHC" will take place in Karlsruhe (8-10 December 2022) and reflect on large-scale experiments from the perspectives of history, philosophy and social studies of science. More information can be found here: indico.uni-wuppertal.de/event/152/.
Online Working Group on the History and Philosophy of Contemporary Theoretical Physics
Our new working/reading group on the history and philosophy of contemporary physics is open for registration. Hosted by The Consortium for the History of Science, this group will help promote a network of scholars who are interested in studying foundational papers in the history and philosophy of modern theoretical physics (full group description is below).
In our first meeting, which will be held by zoom on Wednesday Oct 12th, we will read and discuss Weyl's 1918 Gravitation and Electricity.
Schedule, zoom links and resources are available after registration.
The group page for registration and updates is available here:
https://www.chstm.org/content/history-and-philosophy-contemporary-theoretical-physics-0
Description
The working group will meet once a month to discuss both historical papers and recent work by its members. The initial focus of the group will be on the increased mathematization of theoretical physics in the 20th century, in particular its historical development and philosophical implications. The readings for the group will include primary resources associated with the development of general relativity, quantum theory, and quantum field theories. We will begin with the history of early unified field theories, and follow different threads in their subsequent development in the second half of the twentieth century. Just a few examples of issues that fall within the scope of the working group are the historical development of gauge theory, modified gravity, and grand unified field theory, as well as related philosophical and conceptual issues.
In our first meeting, which will be held by zoom on Wednesday Oct 12th, we will read and discuss Weyl's 1918 Gravitation and Electricity.
Schedule, zoom links and resources are available after registration.
The group page for registration and updates is available here:
https://www.chstm.org/content/history-and-philosophy-contemporary-theoretical-physics-0
Description
The working group will meet once a month to discuss both historical papers and recent work by its members. The initial focus of the group will be on the increased mathematization of theoretical physics in the 20th century, in particular its historical development and philosophical implications. The readings for the group will include primary resources associated with the development of general relativity, quantum theory, and quantum field theories. We will begin with the history of early unified field theories, and follow different threads in their subsequent development in the second half of the twentieth century. Just a few examples of issues that fall within the scope of the working group are the historical development of gauge theory, modified gravity, and grand unified field theory, as well as related philosophical and conceptual issues.
Workshop on the History and Philosophy of the Gravitational Constant
Our St. Andrews/Bonn Gravitational Constant Network is organising a workshop in St. Andrews (20-21 April 2023). The call for abstracts and further info can be found at www.gravconstant.net/events.html
Workshop on Quantum Foundations (Annual DPG Meeting, Dresden, 20-24 March 2023)
CFA for Workshop "Quantum Foundations" at the annual DPG Meeting, Dresden, 20-24 March 2023
The Working Group “Philosophy of Physics” (AGPhil) of the German Physical Society (DPG) invites submissions for its annual workshop. Contributions on any topic in philosophy of physics are welcome; the focus, however, will be on the foundations of quantum mechanics. The workshop takes place 20-24 March 2023 at the TU Dresden and will be part of the Annual Meeting of the DPG.
The following Invited Speakers have confirmed speakers thus far:
Emily Adlam (Western University)
Michael Cuffaro (LMU Munich)
Paul Näger (WMU Münster)
Alyssa Ney (UC Davis)
If you would like to present a paper, please submit an abstract of about 200 words by 13 January 2023 (ignore the stated 1 December 2022 abstract submission deadline on the website), using the online-form here.
As conference fees are not trivial (see here), speakers who have difficulties paying the conference fees should contact us about possible travel grants.
The Working Group “Philosophy of Physics” (AGPhil) of the German Physical Society (DPG) invites submissions for its annual workshop. Contributions on any topic in philosophy of physics are welcome; the focus, however, will be on the foundations of quantum mechanics. The workshop takes place 20-24 March 2023 at the TU Dresden and will be part of the Annual Meeting of the DPG.
The following Invited Speakers have confirmed speakers thus far:
Emily Adlam (Western University)
Michael Cuffaro (LMU Munich)
Paul Näger (WMU Münster)
Alyssa Ney (UC Davis)
If you would like to present a paper, please submit an abstract of about 200 words by 13 January 2023 (ignore the stated 1 December 2022 abstract submission deadline on the website), using the online-form here.
As conference fees are not trivial (see here), speakers who have difficulties paying the conference fees should contact us about possible travel grants.
2021/2022
History and Philosophy of Physics Research Seminar (Summer)
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Time & Place: |
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