•  608
    In previous works, an ontology of properties for quantum mechanics has been proposed, according to which quantum systems are bundles of properties with no principle of individuality. The aim of the present article is to show that, since quasi-set theory is particularly suited for dealing with aggregates of items that do not belong to the traditional category of individual, it supplies an adequate meta-language to speak of the proposed ontology of properties and its structure.
  •  389
    A modal-Hamiltonian interpretation of quantum mechanics
    with Mario Castagnino
    Studies 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
  •  349
    A general conceptual framework for decoherence in closed and open systems
    with Mario Castagnino and Roberto Laura
    Philosophy of Science 74 (5): 968-980. 2007.
    In this paper we argue that the formalisms for decoherence originally devised to deal just with closed or open systems can be subsumed under a general conceptual framework, in such a way that they cooperate in the understanding of the same physical phenomenon. This new perspective dissolves certain conceptual difficulties of the einselection program but, at the same time, shows that the openness of the quantum system is not the essential ingredient for decoherence. †To contact the authors, pleas…Read more
  •  286
    One of the main ontological challenges posed by quantum mechanics is the problem of the indistinguishability of so-called “identical” particles, that is, particles that share the same state-independent properties. In the framework of this philosophical problem, a quasi-set theory was formulated to provide a proper metalanguage to deal with quantum indistinguishability; this theory included certain Urelemente called m-atoms, representing essentially indistinguishable objects. In turn, over the …Read more
  •  280
    The ontological autonomy of the chemical world
    with Martín Labarca
    Foundations of Chemistry 7 (2): 125-148. 2004.
    In the problem of the relationship between chemistry and physics, many authors take for granted the ontological reduction of the chemical world to the world of physics. The autonomy of chemistry is usually defended on the basis of the failure of epistemological reduction: not all chemical concepts and laws can be derived from the theoretical framework of physics. The main aim of this paper is to argue that this line of argumentation is not strong enough for eliminate the idea of a hierarchical d…Read more
  •  210
    Stuff versus individuals
    Foundations 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
  •  205
    Prigogine and the many voices of nature
    Foundations of Chemistry 14 (3): 205-219. 2011.
    Ilya Prigogine was not a systematic author: his ideas, covering a wide arch of areas, are dispersed in his many writings. In particular, his philosophical thought has to be reconstructed mainly on the basis of his works in collaboration with Isabelle Stengers: La Nouvelle Alliance ( 1979 ), Order out of Chaos ( 1984 ), and Entre le Temps et l’Éternité ( 1988 ). In this paper I undertake that reconstruction in order to argue that Prigogine’s position, when read in the light of Putnam’s internalis…Read more
  •  199
    Self‐Induced Decoherence and the Classical Limit of Quantum Mechanics
    with Mario Castagnino
    Philosophy of Science 72 (5): 764-776. 2005.
    In this paper we argue that the emergence of the classical world from the underlying quantum reality involves two elements: self-induced decoherence and macroscopicity. Self-induced decoherence does not require the openness of the system and its interaction with the environment: a single closed system can decohere when its Hamiltonian has continuous spectrum. We show that, if the system is macroscopic enough, after self-induced decoherence it can be described as an ensemble of classical distribu…Read more
  •  196
    What is information?
    Foundations of Science 9 (2): 105-134. 2004.
    The main aim of this work is to contribute tothe elucidation of the concept of informationby comparing three different views about thismatter: the view of Fred Dretske's semantictheory of information, the perspective adoptedby Peter Kosso in his interaction-informationaccount of scientific observation, and thesyntactic approach of Thomas Cover and JoyThomas. We will see that these views involvevery different concepts of information, eachone useful in its own field of application. This comparison…Read more
  •  189
    The Global Arrow of Time as a Geometrical Property of the Universe
    with Mario Castagnino and Luis Lara
    Foundations 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
  •  179
    The Arrow of Time: From Universe Time-Asymmetry to Local Irreversible Processes (review)
    with Matías Aiello and Mario Castagnino
    Foundations of Physics 38 (3): 257-292. 2008.
    In several previous papers we have argued for a global and non-entropic approach to the problem of the arrow of time, according to which the “arrow” is only a metaphorical way of expressing the geometrical time-asymmetry of the universe. We have also shown that, under definite conditions, this global time-asymmetry can be transferred to local contexts as an energy flow that points to the same temporal direction all over the spacetime. The aim of this paper is to complete the global and non-entro…Read more
  •  172
    The modal-Hamiltonian interpretation and the Galilean covariance of quantum mechanics
    with Mario Castagnino and Juan Sebastián Ardenghi
    Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 41 (2): 93-103. 2010.
  •  169
    Biological pluralism and homology
    Philosophy of Science 72 (5): 687-698. 2005.
    The study of similarity is fundamental to biological inquiry. Many homology concepts have been formulated that function successfully to explain similarity in their native domains, but fail to provide an overarching account applicable to variably interconnected and independent areas of biological research despite the monistic standpoint from which they originate. The use of multiple, explicitly articulated homology concepts, applicable at different levels of the biological hierarchy, allows a mor…Read more
  •  156
    Why orbitals do not exist?
    with Martín Labarca
    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
  •  142
    Irreversibility and ontological pluralism
    with Martín Labarca
    Scientiae Studia 5 (2): 139-167. 2007.
  •  137
    Modal Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics
    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. forthcoming.
  •  134
    The arrow of time in cosmology
    with Mario Castagnino and Luis Lara
    Scientific 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
  •  130
    Since the nineteenth century, the problem of the arrow of time has been traditionally analyzed in terms of entropy by relating the direction past-to-future to the gradient of the entropy function of the universe. In this paper, we reject this traditional perspective and argue for a global and non-entropic approach to the problem, according to which the arrow of time can be defined in terms of the geometrical properties of spacetime. In particular, we show how the global non-entropic arrow can be…Read more
  •  128
    The ontological autonomy of the chemical world: A response to Needham (review)
    with Martín Labarca
    Foundations of Chemistry 8 (1): 81-92. 2006.
  •  120
    Distinguishing Between Inter-domain and Intra-domain Emergence
    Foundations 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
  •  116
    Quantum Mechanics: Modal Interpretation and Galilean Transformations (review)
    with Juan Sebastian Ardenghi and Mario Castagnino
    Foundations of Physics 39 (9): 1023-1045. 2009.
    The aim of this paper is to consider in what sense the modal-Hamiltonian interpretation of quantum mechanics satisfies the physical constraints imposed by the Galilean group. In particular, we show that the only apparent conflict, which follows from boost-transformations, can be overcome when the definition of quantum systems and subsystems is taken into account. On this basis, we apply the interpretation to different well-known models, in order to obtain concrete examples of the previous concep…Read more
  •  114
    Acerca del status ontológico de las entidades químicas: el caso de los orbitales atómicos DOI:10.5007/1808-1711.2010v14n3p309
    with Martín Labarca
    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
  •  110
    Non-integrability and mixing in quantum systems: On the way to quantum chaos
    with Mario Castagnino
    Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 38 (3): 482-513. 2007.
  •  103
    Linking chemistry with physics: arguments and counterarguments (review)
    Foundations of Chemistry 16 (3): 181-192. 2013.
    The many-faced relationship between chemistry and physics is one of the most discussed topics in the philosophy of chemistry. In his recent book Reducing Chemistry to Physics. Limits, Models, Consequences, Hinne Hettema conceives this relationship as a reduction link, and devotes his work to defend this position on the basis of a “naturalized” concept of reduction. In the present paper I critically review three kinds of issues stemming from Hettema’s argumentation: philosophical, scientific and …Read more
  •  88
    Mecánica cuántica
    with Mario Castagnino and Juan Sebastián Ardenghi
    Theoria: Revista de Teoría, Historia y Fundamentos de la Ciencia 24 (1): 5-28. 2009.
    RESUMEN: El propósito del presente trabajo consiste en analizar los vínculos entre la interpretación modal-hamiltoniana de la mecánica cuántica y las transformaciones de Galileo, a fin de poner de manifiesto que el grupo de tales transformaciones permite reformular la regla de actualización de un modo más básico desde un punto de vista teórico, aplicable a otras teorías cuánticas. Además se argumentará que, bajo esta nueva forma, la regla de actualización manifiesta explícitamente su invariancia…Read more
  •  86
    Particles in a quantum ontology of properties
    In Tomasz Bigaj & Christian Wüthrich (eds.), Metaphysics in Contemporary Physics, Brill | Rodopi. 2015.
    We propose a new quantum ontology, in which properties are the fundamental building blocks. In this property ontology physical systems are defined as bundles of type-properties. Not all elements of such bundles are associated with definite case-properties, and this accommodates the Kochen and Specker theorem and contextuality. Moreover, we do not attribute an identity to the type-properties, which gives rise to a novel form of the bundle theory. There are no “particles” in the sense of classical…Read more
  •  84
    Self-induced decoherence: a new approach
    with Mario Castagnino
    Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 35 (1): 73-107. 2004.
    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
  •  83
    El propósito del presente artículo es evaluar en qué sentido y bajo qué condiciones la ergodicidad es relevante para explicar el éxito de la mecánica estadística. Se objeta la positión de quienes sostienen que la ergodicidad es irrelevante para tal explicatión, y se señala que las propiedades ergódicas desempeñan diferentes papeles en la mecánica estadística del equilibrio y en la descriptión de la evolución hacia el equilibrio: es posible prescindir de la ergodicidad en el primer caso pero no e…Read more