Related papers: The open past in an indeterministic physics
The question of how irreversibility can emerge as a generic phenomena when the underlying mechanical theory is reversible has been a long-standing fundamental problem for both classical and quantum mechanics. We describe a mechanism for the…
Fuzziness and randomicity widespread exist in natural science, engineering, technology and social science. The purpose of this paper is to present a new logic - uncertain propositional logic which can deal with both fuzziness by taking…
When modelling spacetime and classical physical fields, one typically assumes smoothness (infinite differentiability). But this assumption and its philosophical implications have not been sufficiently scrutinized. For example, we can appeal…
"Ever since the advent of modern quantum mechanics in the late 1920's, the idea has been prevalent that the classical laws of probability cease, in some sense, to be valid in the new theory. [...] The primary object of this presentation is…
The process of identifying a time variable in time reparameterization invariant theories results in great ambiguities about the actual laws of physics described by a given theory. A theory set up to describe one set of physical laws can…
Possibility theory offers a framework where both Lehmann's "preferential inference" and the more productive (but less cautious) "rational closure inference" can be represented. However, there are situations where the second inference does…
As physics searches for invariants in observations, this paper looks for invariants of probabilistic observation without assuming physical structure. Structure emerges from the basic assumption of science that new information shall lead to…
The hypothesis that matter is made of some ultimate and indivisible objects, together the restricted relativity principle, establishes a constraint on the kind of variables we are allowed to use for the variational description of elementary…
A closer look (with hindsight) at Newtonian and relativistic kinematics reveals two things. Not surprisingly, Newtonian time remains the empty and artificial - albeit useful - figment it is known to be. Quite unexpectedly however it turns…
This essay examines our fundamental conceptions of time, spacetime, the asymmetry of time, and the motion of a quantum mechanical particle. The concept of time has multiple meanings and these are often confused in the literature and must be…
It has been suggested, on the one hand, that quantum states are just states of knowledge; and, on the other, that quantum theory is merely a theory of correlations. These suggestions are confronted with problems about the nature of…
Quantum mechanics, devoid of any additional assumption, does not give any theoretical constraint on the projection basis to be used for the measurement process. It is shown in this paper that it does neither allow any physical means for an…
The paper considers the claim that quantum theories with a deterministic dynamics of objects in ordinary space-time, such as Bohmian mechanics, contradict the assumption that the measurement settings can be freely chosen in the EPR…
Do completely unpredictable events exist in nature? Classical theory, being fully deterministic, completely excludes fundamental randomness. On the contrary, quantum theory allows for randomness within its axiomatic structure. Yet, the fact…
The gap between classical mechanics and quantum mechanics has an important interpretive implication: the Universe must have an irreducible fundamental level, which determines the properties of matter at higher levels of organization. We…
Classical objects have been excluded as subjects of the observed quantum properties, and the related problem of the nature of quantum objects has been suspended since the early days of Quantum Theory. Recent experiments show that the…
We investigate a number of simple toy models to explore interesting relationships between dynamics and typicality. We start with an infinite model that has been proposed as an illustration of how non-ergodic dynamics can produce interesting…
It is shown that the phenomenon of irreversibility in many-body and few-body systems can be explained and described within the framework of the concept of direct (not instantaneous) interaction of particles without using probabilistic…
The paper investigates whether and how AI systems can realize states of uncertainty. By adopting a functionalist and behavioral perspective, it examines how symbolic, connectionist and hybrid architectures make room for uncertainty. The…
A mechanical system is presented exhibiting a non-deterministic singularity, that is, a point in an otherwise deterministic system where forward time trajectories become non-unique. A Coulomb friction force applies linear and angular forces…