•  17
    Preface
    Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 72 150-151. 2020.
  •  16
    Sensible quantum experiences: Encounters with Stein's philosophy of quantum mechanics
    Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics. forthcoming.
  •  24
    This paper provides a general method for defining a generalized quantum observable that supplies properly normalized conditional probabilities for the time of occurrence. This method treats the time of occurrence as a probabilistic variable whose value is to be determined by experiment and predicted by the Born rule. This avoids the problematic assumption that a question about the time at which an event occurs must be answered through instantaneous measurements of a projector by an observer, com…Read more
  •  25
    In an event ontology, matter is 'made up of' events. This provides a distinctive foil to the standard view of a quantum state in terms of properties possessed by a system. Here I provide an argument against the standard view and suggest instead a way to conceive of quantum mechanics in terms of probabilities for the occurrence of events localized in space and time. To that end I construct an appropriate probability space for these events and give a way to calculate them as conditional probabilit…Read more
  •  37
    Quantum mechanics has provided philosophers of science with many counterintuitive insights and interpretive puzzles, but little has been written about the role that time plays in the theory. One reason for this is the celebrated argument of Wolfgang Pauli against the inclusion of time as an observable of the theory, which has been seen as a demonstration that time may only enter the theory as a classical parameter. Against this orthodoxy I argue that there are good reasons to expect certain kind…Read more
  •  115
    Much debate has ensued regarding the challenge to scientific realism provided by consideration of certain problematic episodes of theory change in the history of science. This paper contends that there is an interesting case which has been overlooked in this debate, namely the prediction of the positron by Dirac from his ‘hole’ theory, and its subsequent replacement by a theory which failed to contain a central, and essential, theoretical posit: the ‘Dirac sea’ of negative energy electrons. Acco…Read more
  •  47
    Reply to Fleming: Symmetries, observables, and the occurrence of events
    Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 52 (Part A): 44-47. 2013.
    In this article I reply to Fleming׳s response to my ‘Time and quantum theory: a history and a prospectus.’ I take issue with two of his claims: (i) that quantum theory concerns the (potential) properties of eternally persisting objects; (ii) that there is an underdetermination problem for Positive Operator Valued Measures (POVMs). I advocate an event-first view which regards the probabilities supplied by quantum theory as probabilities for the occurrence of physical events rather than the posses…Read more
  •  92
    Taking times out: Tense logic as a theory of time
    Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 50 13-18. 2015.
    Ulrich Meyer's book The Nature of Time uses tense logic to argue for a `modal' view of time, which replaces substantial times with `ersatz times' constructed using conceptually basic tense operators. He also argues against Bertrand Russell's relationist theory, in which times are classes of events, and against the idea that relativity compels the integration of time and space. I find fault with each of these negative arguments, as well as with Meyer's purported reconstruction of empty spacetime …Read more
  •  86
    Do Quantum Objects Have Temporal Parts?
    Philosophy of Science 80 (5): 1137-1147. 2013.
    This article provides a new context for an established metaphysical debate regarding the problem of persistence. I contend that perdurance, a popular view about persistence which maintains that objects persist by having temporal parts, can be formulated in quantum mechanics due to the existence of a formal analogy between temporal and spatial location. However, this analogy fails due to a ‘no-go’ result which demonstrates that quantum systems cannot be said to have temporal parts in the same way…Read more
  •  12
    In this reply to Prof. Fleming's response to my `Time and Quantum Theory: A History and A Prospectus' I take issue with two of his claims: that quantum theory concerns the properties of eternally persisting objects; that there is a underdetermination problem for POVMs.
  •  46
    Russell's nonchalant response to Newman's apparently devastating critique of his structural realism presents a puzzle: if Russell conceded the point why did he not alter his theory or address the problem in print? I argue that Newman had merely pointed out an ambiguity in the formulation of Russell's theory in Analysis of Matter, and Russell already had the resources to avoid the problem through his contention that some relations are perceived. This concession gives his criterion of structural e…Read more
  •  123
    ‘How Do Things Persist
    Dialectica 70 (3): 269-309. 2016.
    This paper investigates the use of theories of mechanics to provide answers to questions in the metaphysics of spatial location and persistence. Investigating spatial location, I find that in classical physics bodies pertend the region of space at which they are exactly located, while a quantum system spans a region at which it is exactly located. Following this analysis, I present a ‘no-go’ result which shows that quantum mechanics restricts the available options for locational persistence theo…Read more
  •  84
    Time and quantum theory: A history and a prospectus
    Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 52 (Part A): 24-38. 2015.
    In this paper I am concerned with analyzing in detail how ideas and expectations regarding the role of time in quantum theory arose and evolved in the early years of quantum mechanics. The general theme is that expectations which seemed reasonable from the point of view of matrix mechanics and Dirac's q-number formalism became implausible in light of Dirac-Jordan transformation theory, and were dashed by von Neumann's Hilbert space formalism which came to replace it. Nonetheless, I will identify…Read more