DE / EN
2023/2024
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 seminar room 1.070. 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
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17 Oct 2023
hybrid (in person speaker)
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Michel Janssen (University of Minnesota)

Drawing the line between kinematics and dynamics in special relativity and quantum mechanics
Abstract
​The mathematical equivalence of matrix and wave mechanics papers over an important difference in what Heisenberg and Schrödinger took to be their key insights. For Schrödinger it was that atomic physics calls for an underlying wave theory just as geometric optics had in the 19th century. For Heisenberg it was that atomic physics calls for a new general framework for doing physics just as electrodynamics had in the early-20th century. Following Heisenberg rather than Schrödinger, I present a few case studies in special relativity and quantum mechanics in which problems that seem to call for dynamical solutions were solved instead by an appeal to the new kinematical frameworks introduced by these new theories. I use these case studies to bring out some parallels between the standard take on special relativity and a more controversial information-theoretic take on quantum mechanics and use the former to argue for the latter. Based on joint work with Michael Janas and Mike Cuffaro.
24 Oct 2023
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Cancelled
31 Oct 2023
hybrid (in person speaker)
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Jose Senovilla (University of the Basque Country)

Singularity Theorems: a critical evaluation
Abstract
​After describing the historical context before the publication of Penrose’s singularity theorem, I will briefly discuss the key novel assumptions in the theorem and its immediate impact. A more general discussion of singularity theorems will follow, emphasizing their relevance in Cosmology and for gravitational collapse. A critical appraisal of the theorems and their consequences will then be presented, specifically trying to rebut many inaccurate “folklore” knowledge around the subject. Illustrative examples will be shown throughout.
14 Nov 2023
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Workshop on Oppenheimer, Heisenberg, and the birth of nuclear weapons. For further information see here: oppenheimer_event.pdf. 
21 Nov 2023
hybrid (in person speaker)
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Michael te Vrugt (DAMTP, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge)

Coarse-graining in cosmology
Abstract
​Cosmological models assume the universe to be homogenous on large scales, which corresponds to an averaged ("coarse-grained") description. Coarse-graininig, however, is both mathematically and philosophically quite challenging. For example, the derivation of the Friedmann equations corresponds to a mathematically incorrect coarse-graininig procedure, and it is not clear at present what consequences this has for their accuracy. From the philosophical side, a major question is the justification of coarse-graininig [1]. In this talk, I will first show how the Mori-Zwanzig formalism, a technique from nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, allows to develop improved coarse-grained cosmological models [2]. I will then use this derivation as a case study to argue that, contrary to some claims made in the philosophical literature, justifications of coarse-graininig often involve epistemic and observer-dependent considerations - and that this is not problematic [3].
​[1] M. te Vrugt, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 87, 136-146 (2021)
[2] M. te Vrugt, S. Hossenfelder and R. Wittkowski, Physical Review Letters 127, 231101 (2021)
[3] M. te Vrugt, European Journal for Philosophy of Science 12, 41 (2022)
28 Nov 2023
hybrid (in person speaker)
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Antonis Antoniou (University of Bonn)

Laws and Initial Conditions in Cosmology
Abstract
​Two notable characteristics that set cosmology apart from other fields of physics are the uniqueness of its main object of study -- the universe -- and the fact that the initial conditions of the cosmos appear to be necessary rather than contingent. These two characteristics are in tension with two well-established philosophical views about laws and initial conditions: (a) that laws must apply to multiple instances of a physical phenomenon and (b) that initial conditions are distinguished from laws by virtue of their contingency. The present article provides a framework for the resolution of this tension by defining scientific laws as guiding principles within the models of a theory, and initial conditions as the values of parameters to which such laws remain invariant. This framework facilitates the understanding of scientific laws that apply to only one object, and preserves the distinction between laws and initial conditions despite the fact that the latter may not always be contingent.
5 Dec 2023
hybrid (in person speaker)
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​Paul Hoyningen-Huene (Leibniz Universität Hannover, Institute of Philosophy, Professor emeritus & Universität Zürich, Department of Economics, Lecturer)

How do robust abstract economic models explain?
Abstract
​I shall try to answer the question how robust abstract economic models explain; my main illustrative example is the Schelling (Sakoda) model of (racial) segregation. I shall presuppose that abstract economic models deliver for the real world how-possibly explanations at best. The crucial question is how can model results be transferred to real-world phenomena. I shall propose to reframe this transfer problem in the following way. Robust model results inductively support a conjectured, non-obvious logical truth that can be immediately applied both to the model world and to the real world, thereby delivering how-possibly explanations. I shall develop this thesis in 12 steps gradually dismantling its counter-intuitive character. The result will be that the function of robust abstract models is to tease out non-obvious explanatory consequences of theories (evolutionary theory, e.g.) or mechanisms (Schelling dynamics, e.g.) that cannot be directly inferred from them.
19 Dec 2023
hybrid (in person speaker)
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Nurida Boddenberg (University of Bonn)

Operationalism = Realism
Abstract
TBA.
9 Jan 2024
hybrid (in person speaker)
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Florian Boge (TU Dortmund)

Deep Learning Robustness for Scientific Discovery: The Case of Anomaly Detection in High Energy Physics [Joint work with Michael Krämer, ThHEP, Aachen, & Christian Zeitnitz, ExpHEP, Wuppertal]
Abstract
​Machine Learning (ML) techniques such as Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) are of great promise in science today. In High Energy Physics in particular, they are supposed to foster scientific discovery through the detection of anomalies, without reliance on any specific theory or model. But DNNs also have astonishing shortcomings, as they are vulnerable to ‘adversarial examples’; data instances that are easily classifiable for humans but totally misclassified by DNNs. Adversarial vulnerability is a double-edged sword: On the one hand, it shows that discerning DNNs’ credible outputs from flukes requires some skill. On the other hand, adversarials exhibit DNNs’ sensitivity to subtle, often human-inscrutable features that could also be scientifically productive (Buckner [2020]). Such features are, in fact, being utilised in anomaly detection. Against this backdrop, we offer an analysis of, and a cautionary tale about, DNNs’ present utility for scientific discovery. To do so, we introduce a notion of performance-robustness, which DNNs need to satisfy in order to be able to deliver genuine discoveries. However, as we shall also argue, the achievement of performance-robustness often, if not always, implies limitations to purely ML-driven discovery.
16 Jan 2023
hybrid (in person speaker)
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Caspar Jacobs (Leiden University)

A Philosophical Introduction to Hidden Symmetries
Abstract
TBA.
23 Jan 2023
hybrid (in person speaker)
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Jamie Shaw

Funding People, not Projects? A Critical Evaluation
Abstract
TBA.
30 Jan 2023
tba.
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Kian Salimkhani (Universität zu Köln)

TBA.
Abstract
TBA.
​Uncertainty and Insecurity - Oppenheimer vs. Heisenberg?
Two talks by leading historians of science followed by a podium discussion on 14 Nov 2023
The movie "Oppenheimer" by Christopher Nolan portrays of one of the most critical episodes in 20th-century: the birth of nuclear weapons.  Join us for a two talks and a podium discussion on November 14th at the Otto-Deiters-Hörsaal at Anatomisches Institut (Nußallee 10, Bonn). Both talks and the podium discussion will be accessible for the general public. Find the poster here: oppenheimer_event.pdf
Time & Place:
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14 Nov 2023, Otto-Deiters-Hörsaal at Anatomisches Institut, Nußallee 10, Bonn.
5 pm
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Michel Janssen (University of Minnesota/University of Bonn)
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​Reflections on Oppenheimer, the man and the movie (in English)
Abstract
Christopher Nolan‘s movie Oppenheimer raises a number of interesting questions about the life and times of its main subject and off ers a range of answers for viewers to choose from. Why was Oppenheimer in favor of dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Why did he not become a spokesperson for those among his fellow physicists opposed to their military use? And why then was he adamantly opposed a few years later to the development of the hydrogen bomb? What about his communist sympathies? I will deal with these and further questions as they come up as Oppenheimer‘s life and career unfolds, from US ambassador of quantum mechanics in Berkeley to scientific leader of the Manhattan project in Los Alamos to Einstein‘s boss at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Princeton and prominent adviser to the Truman administration on matters concerning nuclear physics and national security to his fall from grace under Eisenhower and his eventual partial rehabilitation by Kennedy and Johnson.
6.15 pm
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