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277Comment on: “Causality and the arrow of classical time”, by Fritz RohrlichStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 35 (3): 397-405. 2004.Rohrlich claims that “the problem of the arrow of time in classical dynamics has been solved”. The solution he proposes is based on the equations governing the motion of extended particles. Rohrlich claims that these equations, which must take self-interaction into account, are not invariant under time reversal. I dispute this claim, on several grounds.
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281Aristotle’s Physics: A Physicist’s LookJournal of the American Philosophical Association 1 (1): 23--40. 2015.ABSTRACT ABSTRACT: I show that Aristotelian physics is a correct and nonintuitive approximation of Newtonian physics in the suitable domain in the same technical sense in which Newton’s theory is an approximation of Einstein’s theory. Aristotelian physics lasted long not because it became dogma, but because it is a very good, empirically grounded theory. This observation suggests some general considerations on intertheoretical relationships
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187I show that Aristotelian physics is a correct approximation of Newtonian physics in its appropriate domain, in the same precise sense in which Newton theory is an approximation of Einstein's theory. Aristotelian physics lasted long not because it became dogma, but because it is a very good theory.
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310An Argument Against the Realistic Interpretation of the Wave FunctionFoundations of Physics 46 (10): 1229-1237. 2016.Testable predictions of quantum mechanics are invariant under time reversal. But the evolution of the quantum state in time is not so, neither in the collapse nor in the no-collapse interpretations of the theory. This is a fact that challenges any realistic interpretation of the quantum state. On the other hand, this fact raises no difficulty if we interpret the quantum state as a mere calculation device, bookkeeping past real quantum events.
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180A Critical Look at StringsFoundations of Physics 43 (1): 8-20. 2013.Following the invitation of the editors of Foundations of Physics, I give here a personal assessment of string theory, from the point of view of an outsider, and I compare it with the theory, methods, and expectations of my own field
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134The Notion of Locality in Relational Quantum MechanicsFoundations of Physics 49 (2): 96-106. 2019.The term ‘locality’ is used in different contexts with different meanings. There have been claims that relational quantum mechanics is local, but it is not clear then how it accounts for the effects that go under the usual name of quantum non-locality. The present article shows that the failure of ‘locality’ in the sense of Bell, once interpreted in the relational framework, reduces to the existence of a common cause in an indeterministic context. In particular, there is no need to appeal to a m…Read more
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106Cristina Bicchieri and Carlo Rovelli. Evolution and Revolution: The Dynamics of Corruption.
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Perimeter InstituteDistinguished Visiting Research Chair
London, Ontario, Canada
Areas of Specialization
| Philosophy of Physical Science |
Areas of Interest
| Philosophy of Physical Science |
| Metaphysics and Epistemology |