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52The uninvited guest: 'local realism' and the Bell theoremIn Henk W. de Regt (ed.), Epsa Philosophy of Science: Amsterdam 2009, Springer. pp. 137--149. 2010.According to a wrong interpretation of the Bell theorem, it has been repeatedly claimed in recent times that we are forced by experiments to drop any possible form of realism in the foundations of quantum mechanics. In this paper I defend the simple thesis according to which the above claim cannot be consistently supported: the Bell theorem does not concern realism, and realism per se cannot be refuted in itself by any quantum experiment. As a consequence, realism in quantum mechanics is not som…Read more
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73La natura delle cose: introduzione ai fondamenti e alla filosofia della fisica (edited book)Carocci. 2005.The year 2005 has been named the World Year of Physics in recognition of the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein's "Miracle Year," in which he published four landmark papers which had deep and great influence on the last and the current century: quantum theory, general relativity, and statistical mechanics. Despite the enormous importance that Einstein’s discoveries played in these theories, most physicists adopt a version of quantum theory which is incompatible with the idea that motivated Ein…Read more
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23Non-locality and theories of causationIn T. Placek & J. Butterfield (eds.), Non-Locality and Modality, Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 223--234. 2001.The paper investigates the question whether the nature of non-locality in quantum mechanics can be better understood by viewing it as grounded in some sort of causation. A general conclusion that may be drawn from the discussion above is that, as far as ordinary quantum mechanics is concerned, we are facing a dilemma: either the notion of causation is interpreted in such general terms so as to lose sight of the original underlying intuition - so that we seem to do nothing but giving a different …Read more
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103Einstein, bell, and nonseparable realismBritish Journal for the Philosophy of Science 46 (3): 309-329. 1995.In the context of stochastic hidden variable theories, Howard has argued that the role of separability—spatially separated systems possess distinct real states—has been underestimated. Howard claims that separability is equivalent to Jarrett‘s completeness: this equivalence should imply that the Bell theorem forces us to give up either separability or locality. Howard's claim, however, is shown to be ill founded since it is based on an implausible assumption. The necessity of sharply distinguish…Read more
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29In recent years, a number of research projects have been proposed whose goal is to build large-scale simulations of brain mechanisms at unprecedented levels of biological accuracy. Here it is argued that the roles these simulations are expected to play in neuroscientific research go beyond the “synthetic method” extensively adopted in Artificial Intelligence and biorobotics. In addition we show that, over and above the common goal of simulating brain mechanisms, these projects pursue various mod…Read more
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98Relational quantum mechanicsStanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2008.Relational quantum mechanics is an interpretation of quantum theory which discards the notions of absolute state of a system, absolute value of its physical quantities, or absolute event. The theory describes only the way systems affect each other in the course of physical interactions. State and physical quantities refer always to the interaction, or the relation, between two systems. Nevertheless, the theory is assumed to be complete. The physical content of quantum theory is understood as exp…Read more
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24Il naturalismo contemporaneo e le sue radici humianeRivista di Filosofia 104 (2): 209-234. 2013.The paper focuses on the Humean origins of contemporary philosophical naturalism and attempts to address fundamental issues like the following: to what extent is the naturalistic interpretation of Humean philosophy influenced by contemporary interpretations of naturalism itself? Can we really make Humean naturalism consistent with contemporary naturalism? Is the former really relevant to the latter, and in what sense? The above analysis is not meant simply to be an exercise in Humean scholarship…Read more
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40A note on nonlocality, causation, and lorentz invariancePhilosophy of Science 66 (3): 81. 1999.The status of a causal approach to EPR-Bell nonlocal correlations in terms of a counterfactual framework for causation is considered. It is argued that when the relativistic spacetime structure of the events is taken into due account, the adoption of this approach is best motivated by the assumption of a preferred frame of reference, an assumption that seems even more in need of justification than the causal theory itself
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25Axiomatic unsharp quantum theory (From Mackey to Ludwig and Piron)Foundations of Physics 24 (5): 631-683. 1994.On the basis of Mackey's axiomatic approach to quantum physics or, equivalently, of a “state-event-probability” (SEVP) structure, using a quite standard “fuzzification” procedure, a set of unsharp events (or “effects”) is constructed and the corresponding “state-effect-probability” (SEFP) structure is introduced. The introduction of some suitable axioms gives rise to a partially ordered structure of quantum Brouwer-Zadeh (BZ) poset; i.e., a poset endowed with two nonusual orthocomplementation ma…Read more
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152Non-Local Realistic Theories and the Scope of the Bell TheoremFoundations of Physics 38 (12): 1110-1132. 2008.According to a widespread view, the Bell theorem establishes the untenability of so-called ‘local realism’. On the basis of this view, recent proposals by Leggett, Zeilinger and others have been developed according to which it can be proved that even some non-local realistic theories have to be ruled out. As a consequence, within this view the Bell theorem allows one to establish that no reasonable form of realism, be it local or non-local, can be made compatible with the (experimentally tested)…Read more
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67La causalità nella fisica del XX secolo: una prospettiva filosoficaQuaestio 2 (1): 609-634. 2002.
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E-mail: Federico. Laudisa@ unimib. ItIn T. Placek & J. Butterfield (eds.), Non-Locality and Modality, Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 223. 2002.
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47Model testing, prediction and experimental protocols in neuroscience: A case studyStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 43 (3): 602-610. 2012.In their theoretical and experimental reflections on the capacities and behaviours of living systems, neuroscientists often formulate generalizations about the behaviour of neural circuits. These generalizations are highly idealized, as they omit reference to the myriads of conditions that could perturb the behaviour of the modelled system in real-world settings. This article analyses an experimental investigation of the behaviour of place cells in the rat hippocampus, in which highly idealized …Read more
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34Still in defence: A short reply on non-locality and widespread beliefsStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 27 (3): 331-335. 1996.
Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Physical Science |
Quantum Mechanics |