An "anti-system" ontology of quantum physics, as derived from two Einstein's conceptions of physical theories. Quantum physics as a theory of general relativity of experimental context
In glaring contrast to its indisputable century-old experimental success, the ultimate objects and meaning of quantum physics remain a matter of vigorous debate among physicists and philosophers of science. This article attempts to shed new light on the debate. It relies upon two comments by Albert Einstein on his general approach to physical theories. I draw their consequences for the definition of a physical theory's ontology, and next for the ontology of quantum physics - i.e. what it may ultimately be about. The quantum ontology thus derived appears to be strictly limited to evolving experimental contexts and instantaneous measurement outcomes, which are to be understood, respectively, as mere potential measurement outcomes and actual ones. The notions of material body in particular and physical system in general are absent from this ontology, hence the vanishing of Schroedinger's cat and EPR paradoxes, as well as of the quantum measurement problem. Apart from its ability to clear up well-known conundrums, this ontology reveals what quantum physics may fundamentally be - i.e. its possible ultimate meaning - namely a theory of general relativity of experimental context. On this basis, I conclude with a new conception of objectivity in the sciences of nature.
Einstein claimed that the fundamental dynamical insight of special relativity was the equivalence of mass and energy. I disagree. Not only are mass and energy not equivalent (whatever exactly that means) but talk of such equivalence obscures the real dynamical insight of special relativity, which concerns the nature of 4-forces and interactions more generally. In this paper I present and defend a new ontology of special relativistic particle dynamics that makes this insight perspicuous and I explain how alleged cases of mass-energy conversion can be accommodated within that ontology.
Quantum theory can be understood as pointing to an ontology of relations. I observe that this reading of quantum mechanics is supported by the ubiquity of relationality in contemporary fundamental physics, including in classical mechanics, gauge theories, general relativity, quantum field theory, and the tentative theories of quantum gravity.
Many physicists have thought that absolute time became otiose with the introduction of Special Relativity. William Lane Craig disagrees and argues that although relativity is empirically adequate within a domain of application, relativity should be supplanted by a Neo-Lorentzian alternative that allows for absolute time. Meanwhile, Craig and co-author Sinclair have argued that physical cosmology supports the conclusion that physical reality began to exist at a finite time in the past. However, on their view, the beginning of physical reality requires the objective passage of absolute time, so …
Geometry as an object of experience: Kant and the missed debate between Poincaré and Einstein
庞加莱认为，几何是一个公约，不能通过实验来测试。这一立场显然被广义相对论和它的预言的成功证实所反驳;不幸的是，庞加莱没有活着捍卫他的论文。在本文中，我认为：1）与许多作者所声称的相反，非欧几里德几何并不排除康德的命题，即空间是给定{ \it a priori}的直观形式;相反，欧几里德几何是任何更一般几何的可能性的条件。2)时空作为黎曼流形的概念是描述引力场的一种极其巧妙的方法，但是，正如Utiyama在1956年所表明的，广义相对论实际上是与洛伦兹群相关联的规范理论。Utiyama的方法并不依赖于时空弯曲的假设，尽管规范理论的方程与广义相对论的方程相同。因此，按照庞加莱的说法，我们可以说，把引力场描述成黎曼流形或欧几里得空间中的规范场只是一种惯例。
Relationships between current theories, and relationships between current theories and the sought theory of quantum gravity (QG), play an essential role in motivating the need for QG, aiding the search for QG, and defining what would count as QG. Correspondence is the broad class of inter-theory relationships intended to demonstrate the necessary compatibility of two theories whose domains of validity overlap, in the overlap regions. The variety of roles that correspondence plays in the search for QG are illustrated, using examples from specific QG approaches. Reduction is argued to be a speci…
Space and time are central concepts for understanding our World. They are important ingredients at the core of every scientific theory and subject of intense debate in philosophy. Albert Einstein's Special and General theories of Relativity showed that space and time blend in a single entity called spacetime. Even after a century of its conception, many questions about the nature of spacetime remain controversial. In this chapter, we analyze the ontological status of spacetime from a realistic and materialistic point of view. We start by outlining the well-known controversy between substantiva…
The relational interpretation (or RQM, for Relational Quantum Mechanics) solves the measurement problem by considering an ontology of sparse relative events, or "facts". Facts are realized in interactions between any two physical systems and are relative to these systems. RQM's technical core is the realisation that quantum transition amplitudes determine physical probabilities only when their arguments are facts relative to the same system. The relativity of facts can be neglected in the approximation where decoherence hides interference, thus making facts approximately stable.
Two of the most difficult problems in the foundations of physics are (1) what gives rise to the arrow of time and (2) what the ontology of quantum mechanics is. I propose a unified 'Humean' solution to the two problems. Humeanism allows us to incorporate the Past Hypothesis and the Statistical Postulate into the best system, which we then use to simplify the quantum state of the universe. This enables us to confer the nomological status to the quantum state in a way that adds no significant complexity to the best system and solves the "supervenient-kind problem" facing the original version of …
