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9Acerca del status ontológico de las entidades químicas: el caso de los orbitales atómicos DOI:10.5007/1808-1711.2010v14n3p309 (review)Principia: An International Journal of Epistemology 14 (3): 309-333. 2010.The aim of the present paper is to analyze the problem of the relationship between chemistry and physics, by focusing on the widely discussed case of the atomic orbitals. We will begin by remembering the difference between the physical and the chemical interpretation of the concept of orbital. Then, we will refer to the claim made in 1999 that atomic orbitals have been directly imaged for the first time. On this basis, we will analyze the problem from a new approach, by comparing the concept of …Read more
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182Stuff versus individualsFoundations of Chemistry 15 (1): 65-77. 2012.The general question to be considered in this paper points to the nature of the world described by chemistry: what is macro-chemical ontology like? In particular, we want to identify the ontological categories that underlie chemical discourse and chemical practice. This is not an easy task, because modern Western metaphysics was strongly modeled by theoretical physics. For this reason, we attempt to answer our question by contrasting macro-chemical ontology with the mainstream ontology of physic…Read more
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10Aristotelian physics in the context of teaching science: A historical-philosophical approachScience & Education 8 (3): 217-239. 1999.
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36On the Ontological Status of Molecular Structure: Is it Possible to Reconcile Molecular Chemistry with Quantum Mechanics?Foundations of Science 28 (2): 709-725. 2022.According to classical molecular chemistry, molecules have a structure, that is, they are sets of atoms with a definite arrangements in space and held together by chemical bonds. The concept of molecular structure is central to modern chemical thought given its impressive predictive power. It is also a very useful concept in chemistry education, due to its role in the rationalization and visualization of microscopic phenomena. However, such a concept seems to find no place in the ontology descri…Read more
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204Compatibility between Environment-Induced Decoherence and the Modal-Hamiltonian Interpretation of Quantum MechanicsPhilosophy of Science 78 (5): 1024-1036. 2011.Given the impressive success of environment-induced decoherence, nowadays no interpretation of quantum mechanics can ignore its results. The modal-Hamiltonian interpretation has proved to be effective for solving several interpretative problems, but since its actualization rule applies to closed systems, it seems to stand at odds with EID. The purpose of this article is to show that this is not the case: the states einselected by the interaction with the environment according to EID are the eige…Read more
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48A modal-Hamiltonian interpretation of quantum mechanicsStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 39 (2): 380-443. 2008.The aim of this paper is to introduce a new member of the family of the modal interpretations of quantum mechanics. In this modal-Hamiltonian interpretation, the Hamiltonian of the quantum system plays a decisive role in the property-ascription rule that selects the definite-valued observables whose possible values become actual. We show that this interpretation is effective for solving the measurement problem, both in its ideal and its non-ideal versions, and we argue for the physical relevance…Read more
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26Determinismo en física: la dimensión de lo posibleAnuario Filosófico 46 (2): 311-345. 2013.En el presente artículo abordaremos la cuestión del determinismo ontológico en física. Proponemos una elucidación del concepto de posibilidad que resulte útil para tratar el problema del determinismo ontológico en física, y mediante la cual pueda interpretarse el concepto de probabilidad de un modo signifi cativo para la práctica de la física teórica. Finalmente, los conceptos previamente elucidados se aplican a un caso paradigmático de la física, el de los sistemas altamente inestables, argumen…Read more
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131Why orbitals do not exist?Foundations of Chemistry 12 (2): 149-157. 2010.In this paper we will address the problem of the existence of orbitals by analyzing the relationship between molecular chemistry and quantum mechanics. In particular, we will consider the concept of orbital in the light of the arguments that deny its referring character. On this basis, we will conclude that the claim that orbitals do not exist relies on a metaphysical reductionism which, if consistently sustained, would lead to consequences clashing with the effective practice of science in its …Read more
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48Distinguishing Between Inter-domain and Intra-domain EmergenceFoundations of Science 24 (1): 133-151. 2019.Currently, there are almost as many conceptions of emergence as authors who address the issue. Most literature on the matter focuses either on discussing, evaluating and comparing particular contributions or accounts of emergence, or on assessing a particular case study. Our aim in this paper is rather different. We here set out to introduce a distinction that has not been sufficiently taken into account in previous discussions on this topic: the distinction between inter-domain emergence—a rela…Read more
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207A modal-Hamiltonian interpretation of quantum mechanicsStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 39 (2): 380-443. 2008.The aim of this paper is to introduce a new member of the family of the modal interpretations of quantum mechanics. In this modal-Hamiltonian interpretation, the Hamiltonian of the quantum system plays a decisive role in the property-ascription rule that selects the definite-valued observables whose possible values become actual. We show that this interpretation is effective for solving the measurement problem, both in its ideal and its non-ideal versions, and we argue for the physical relevance…Read more
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19Determinism, internalism and objectivityIn Harald Atmanspacher & Robert Bishop (eds.), Between Chance and Choice: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Determinism, Thorverton Uk: Imprint Academic. pp. 75--87. 2002.
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9Carta abierta: acerca del mundo, los mundos y el papel de la filosofíaRevista de Humanidades de Valparaíso 8 129. 2016.Esta carta abierta es el resultado del intenso intercambio epistolar que he mantenido con el Prof. Torretti durante muchos años, y a través del cual me he enriquecido ampliamente en el pensar filosófico. Aquí señalo nuestros acuerdos en la adopción de una perspectiva de inspiración kantiana, y en el reconocimiento del papel que juega la dimensión pragmática en la ciencia. No obstante, nos distanciamos en cuanto al peso que le adjudicamos al realismo en nuestras posturas. Estas discusiones con el…Read more
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70A new application of the modal-Hamiltonian interpretation of quantum mechanics: The problem of optical isomerismStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 62 123-135. 2018.The modal-Hamiltonian interpretation belongs to the modal family of interpretations of quantum mechanics. By endowing the Hamiltonian with the role of selecting the subset of the definite-valued observables of the system, it accounts for ideal and non-ideal measurements, and also supplies a criterion to distinguish between reliable and non-reliable measurements in the non-ideal case. It can be reformulated in an explicitly invariant form, in terms of the Casimir operators of the Galilean group, …Read more
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36Interpretation and Decoherence: A Contribution to the Debate Vassallo & Esfeld Versus CrullFoundations of Physics 47 (11): 1423-1427. 2017.Two recent papers appeared in FOOP disagree regarding the role played by decoherence in quantum physics. On the one hand, Elise Crull considers that decoherence, by itself, solves many conceptual problems in quantum physics, with no need of interpretative considerations. On the other hand, Antonio Vassallo and Michael Esfeld reply by correctly claiming that, although decoherence is a powerful tool to deal with conceptual problems, it does not dispense us from interpreting the formalism. In this …Read more
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43Partial Traces in Decoherence and in Interpretation: What Do Reduced States Refer to?Foundations of Physics 44 (4): 426-446. 2014.The interpretation of the concept of reduced state is a subtle issue that has relevant consequences when the task is the interpretation of quantum mechanics itself. The aim of this paper is to argue that reduced states are not the quantum states of subsystems in the same sense as quantum states are states of the whole composite system. After clearly stating the problem, our argument is developed in three stages. First, we consider the phenomenon of environment-induced decoherence as an example o…Read more
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21Let us build better boats: an answer to Jeffrey Seeman’s “Moving beyond insularity in the history, philosophy, and sociology of chemistry”Foundations of Chemistry 20 (3): 261-264. 2018.
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39Why molecular structure cannot be strictly reduced to quantum mechanicsFoundations of Chemistry 21 (1): 31-45. 2018.Perhaps the hottest topic in the philosophy of chemistry is that of the relationship between chemistry and physics. The problem finds one of its main manifestations in the debate about the nature of molecular structure, given by the spatial arrangement of the nuclei in a molecule. The traditional strategy to address the problem is to consider chemical cases that challenge the definition of molecular structure in quantum–mechanical terms. Instead of taking that top-down strategy, in this paper we…Read more
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166The Global Arrow of Time as a Geometrical Property of the UniverseFoundations of Physics 33 (6): 877-912. 2003.Traditional discussions about the arrow of time in general involve the concept of entropy. In the cosmological context, the direction past-to-future is usually related to the direction of the gradient of the entropy function of the universe. But the definition of the entropy of the universe is a very controversial matter. Moreover, thermodynamics is a phenomenological theory. Geometrical properties of space-time provide a more fundamental and less controversial way of defining an arrow of time f…Read more
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52A Pluralist View about InformationPhilosophy of Science 82 (5): 1248-1259. 2015.Focusing on Shannon information, this article shows that, even on the basis of the same formalism, there may be different interpretations of the concept of information, and that disagreements may be deep enough to lead to very different conclusions about the informational characterization of certain physical situations. On this basis, a pluralist view is argued for, according to which the concept of information is primarily a formal concept that can adopt different interpretations that are not m…Read more
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10The Relationship between Microevolution and Macroevolution, and the Structure of the Extened SynthesisHistory and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 34 (4): 539-559. 2012.This article focuses on the relationship between microevolution and macroevolution. The main purpose is to argue that up to the present time in the consolidation of the evolutionary synthesis macroevolution has been always conceived as dependent on microevolution. Such dependence was very clear in the synthesis, but seems to have been left aside by later authors. Nevertheless, we show that the criticisms of the synthesis since the decade of the 1970s did not modify that general trend: the new pe…Read more
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19Let us build better boats. An answer to Jeffrey Seeman's "Moving beyond insularity in the history, philosophy, and sociology of chemistry"Foundations of Chemistry 2 (3): 261-264. 2018.In his recent Editorial Article, Jeffrey Seeman calls for the promotion of collaborative work among different disciplines, focusing on the case of the interaction between chemistry, the history of chemistry and the philosophy of chemistry. From a general viewpoint, it is difficult to disagree with this claim; moreover, the interest of scientists in the history and the philosophy of science is always welcome. However, the devil is in the details: there are several points that, we think, must be d…Read more
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23In this paper it will be argued that any realist interpretation of quantum mechanics intending to preserve the objectivity of the set of the definite-valued observables should require such a set to be invariant under the symmetry group of the theory. In particular, it will be shown that the natural way to reach this goal is to appeal to the Casimir operators of the Galilean group. Additionally, this idea will be generalized in two ways: by selecting the definite-valued observables of a system in…Read more
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96Isomerism and decoherenceFoundations of Chemistry 18 (3): 225-240. 2016.In the present paper we address the problem of optical isomerism embodied in the socalled “Hund’s paradox”, which points to the difficulty to account for chirality by means of quantum mechanics. In particular, we explain the answer to the problem proposed by the theory of decoherence. The purpose of this article is to challenge this answer on the basis of a conceptual analysis of the phenomenon of decoherence, that reveals the limitations of the theory of decoherence to solve the difficulties po…Read more
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47Acerca del status ontológico de las entidades químicas: el caso de los orbitales atómicosPrincipia: An International Journal of Epistemology 14 (3): 309-333. 2010.The aim of the present paper is to analyze the problem of the relationship between chemistry and physics, by focusing on the widely discussed case of the atomic orbitals. We will begin by remembering the difference between the physical and the chemical interpretation of the concept of orbital. Then, we will refer to the claim made in 1999 that atomic orbitals have been directly imaged for the first time. On this basis, we will analyze the problem from a new approach, by comparing the concept of …Read more
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27Self-induced decoherence: a new approachStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 35 (1): 73-107. 2003.According to Zurek, decoherence is a process resulting from the interaction between a quantum system and its environment; this process singles out a preferred set of states, usually called “pointer basis”, that determines which observables will receive definite values. This means that decoherence leads to a sort of selection which precludes all except a small subset of the states in the Hilbert space of the system from behaving in a classical manner: environment-induced-superselection—einselecti…Read more
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97Scientific cosmology is an empirical discipline whose objects of study are the large-scale properties of the universe. In this context, it is usual to call the direction of the expansion of the universe the "cosmological arrow of time". However, there is no reason for privileging the ‘radius’ of the universe for defining the arrow of time over other geometrical properties of the space-time. Traditional discussions about the arrow of time in general involve the concept of entropy. In the cosmolog…Read more
Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Physics, Miscellaneous |
Philosophy of Chemistry |