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26Time, structure and evolution in cosmologyIn A. Ashtekar (ed.), Revisiting the Foundations of Relativistic Physics, . pp. 221--274. 2003.
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36The present moment in quantum cosmology: Challenges to the arguments for the elimination of timeIn R. Durie (ed.), Time and the Instant, Clinamen Press. pp. 112--43. 2000.Barbour, Hawking, Misner and others have argued that time cannot play an essential role in the formulation of a quantum theory of cosmology. Here we present three challenges to their arguments, taken from works and remarks by Kauffman, Markopoulou and Newman. These can be seen to be based on two principles: that every observable in a theory of cosmology should be measurable by some observer inside the universe, and all mathematical constructions necessary to the formulation of the theory should …Read more
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25How far are we from the quantum theory of gravity?arXiv. 2003.An assessment is offered of the progress that the major approaches to quantum gravity have made towards the goal of constructing a complete and satisfactory theory. The emphasis is on loop quantum gravity and string theory, although other approaches are discussed, including dynamical triangulation models (euclidean and lorentzian) regge calculus models, causal sets, twistor theory, non-commutative geometry and models based on analogies to condensed matter systems. We proceed by listing the quest…Read more
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53Space and time in the quantum universeIn Abhay Ashtekar & John Stachel (eds.), Conceptual Problems of Quantum Gravity, Birkhauser. pp. 228-91. 1991.
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5Temporal NaturalismIn Remy Lestienne & Paul A. Harris (eds.), Time and Science, Volume 1: The Metaphysics of Time and Its Evolution, World Scientific Publishing. pp. 1-49. 2023.Article previously published as L. Smolin, (2015), Temporal Naturalism. Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics., 52, part A, pp. 86–102. Reproduced with permission by Elsevier.
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27Interaction-Free Effects Between Distant AtomsFoundations of Physics 48 (1): 1-16. 2018.A Gedanken experiment is presented where an excited and a ground-state atom are positioned such that, within the former’s half-life time, they exchange a photon with 50% probability. A measurement of their energy state will therefore indicate in 50% of the cases that no photon was exchanged. Yet other measurements would reveal that, by the mere possibility of exchange, the two atoms have become entangled. Consequently, the “no exchange” result, apparently precluding entanglement, is non-locally …Read more
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58Unification of the State with the Dynamical LawFoundations of Physics 45 (1): 1-10. 2015.We address the question of why particular laws were selected for the universe, by proposing a mechanism for laws to evolve. Normally in physical theories, timeless laws act on time-evolving states. We propose that this is an approximation, good on time scales shorter than cosmological scales, beyond which laws and states are merged into a single entity that evolves in time. Furthermore the approximate distinction between laws and states, when it does emerge, is dependent on the initial condition…Read more
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59Quantum Mechanics and the Principle of Maximal VarietyFoundations of Physics 46 (6): 736-758. 2016.Quantum mechanics is derived from the principle that the universe contain as much variety as possible, in the sense of maximizing the distinctiveness of each subsystem. The quantum state of a microscopic system is defined to correspond to an ensemble of subsystems of the universe with identical constituents and similar preparations and environments. A new kind of interaction is posited amongst such similar subsystems which acts to increase their distinctiveness, by extremizing the variety. In th…Read more
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63A Perspective on the Landscape ProblemFoundations of Physics 43 (1): 21-45. 2013.I discuss the historical roots of the landscape problem and propose criteria for its successful resolution. This provides a perspective to evaluate the possibility to solve it in several of the speculative cosmological scenarios under study including eternal inflation, cosmological natural selection and cyclic cosmologies.Invited contribution for a special issue of Foundations of Physics titled Forty Years Of String Theory: Reflecting On the Foundations
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167A Real Ensemble Interpretation of Quantum MechanicsFoundations of Physics 42 (10): 1239-1261. 2012.A new ensemble interpretation of quantum mechanics is proposed according to which the ensemble associated to a quantum state really exists: it is the ensemble of all the systems in the same quantum state in the universe. Individual systems within the ensemble have microscopic states, described by beables. The probabilities of quantum theory turn out to be just ordinary relative frequencies probabilities in these ensembles. Laws for the evolution of the beables of individual systems are given suc…Read more
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60Temporal naturalismStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 52 (Part A): 86-102. 2015.Two people may claim both to be naturalists, but have divergent conceptions of basic elements of the natural world which lead them to mean different things when they talk about laws of nature, or states, or the role of mathematics in physics. These disagreements do not much affect the ordinary practice of science which is about small subsystems of the universe, described or explained against a background, idealized to be fixed. But these issues become crucial when we consider including the whole…Read more
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44The Dynamics of DifferenceFoundations of Physics 48 (2): 121-134. 2018.A proposal is made for a fundamental theory, in which the history of the universe is constituted of diverse views of itself. Views are attributes of events, and the theory’s only be-ables; they comprise information about energy and momentum transferred to an event from its causal past. A dynamics is proposed for a universe constituted of views of events, which combines the energetic causal set dynamics with a potential energy based on a measure of the distinctiveness of the views, called the var…Read more
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3164We propose an approach to the question of how qualia fit into the physical world, in the context of a relational and realist completion of quantum theory, called the causal theory of views\cite{views}. This is a combination of an approach to a dynamics of discrete causal structures, called energetic causal sets, developed with M. Cortes, with a realist approach to quantum foundations, called the real ensemble formulation. In this theory, the beables are the information available at each even…Read more
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36Stochastic mechanics, hidden variables, and gravityIn Roger Penrose & C. J. Isham (eds.), Quantum concepts in space and time, Oxford University Press. pp. 1--147. 1986.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Areas of Specialization
General Philosophy of Science |
Areas of Interest
General Philosophy of Science |