Related papers: Some Implications of the Independence Postulate fo…
A non-relativistic quantum mechanical theory is proposed that describes the universe as a continuum of worlds whose mutual interference gives rise to quantum phenomena. A logical framework is introduced to properly deal with propositions…
We reply to claims (by Deutsch, Zeh, Brown and Wallace) that the pilot-wave theory of de Broglie and Bohm is really a many-worlds theory with a superfluous configuration appended to one of the worlds. Assuming that pilot-wave theory does…
This article presents several challenges to nuclear many-body theory and our understanding of the stability of nuclear matte r. In order to achieve this, we present five different cases, starting with an idealized toy model. These cases…
This paper exploits adjacencies between the orbits of an ordered set P and a consequence of the classification of finite simple groups to, in many cases, exponentially bound the number of automorphisms. Results clearly identify the…
This paper explores how a pluralist view can arise in a natural way out of the day-to-day practice of modern set theory. By contrast, the widely accepted orthodox view is that there is an ultimate universe of sets $V$, and it is in this…
The current debate about a possible change of paradigm from a single universe to a multiverse scenario could have deep implications on our view of cosmology and of science in general. These implications therefore deserve to be analyzed from…
We prove that if $T$ is a complete theory with weak elimination of imaginaries, then there is an explicit bijection between strict independence relations for $T$ and strict independence relations for $T^{\text{eq}}$. We use this observation…
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…
Human agents happen to judge that a conjunction of two terms is more probable than one of the terms, in contradiction with the rules of classical probabilities---this is the conjunction fallacy. One of the most discussed accounts of this…
The P versus NP problem is addressed in a context of provability and limitations on the possibility of finding sound axioms for formal theories. It is shown that if the term "constructible theory" is defined in a way which satisfies certain…
Interactive theorem provers based on dependent type theory have the flexibility to support both constructive and classical reasoning. Constructive reasoning is supported natively by dependent type theory and classical reasoning is typically…
Computationalism provides a framework for understanding how a mathematically describable physical world could give rise to conscious observations without the need for dualism. A criterion is proposed for the implementation of computations…
Can multiverse hypotheses ever receive empirical support? Critics argue that multiverse scenarios posit unobservable entities, face severe underdetermination, or fall outside the bounds of science. This chapter challenges that view by…
We introduce a new way of quantifying the degrees of incompatibility of two ob- servables in a probabilistic physical theory and, based on this, a global measure of the degree of incompatibility inherent in such theories, across all…
The problems with background independence are discussed in the example of open string theory. Based on the recent proposal by Witten I calculate the String Field Theory action in conformal perturbation theory to second order and demonstrate…
Multistability cannot be derived from any theoretical model that is based on a monostable master equation. On the other hand, multistability is experimentally-observed in a variety of quantum systems. A master equation having a nonlinear…
We consider the implications of the Revised Symmetrization Postulate (see quant-ph/9908078) for states of more than two particles. We show how to create permutation symmetric state vectors and how to derive alternative state vectors that…
The Copenhagen interpretation of quantum entanglement experiments is at best incomplete, since the intermediate state induced by collapse of the wave function apparently depends upon the inertial rest frame in which the experiment is…
An analysis of the path-integral approach to quantum theory motivates the hypothesis that two experiments with the same classical action should have dual ontological descriptions. If correct, this hypothesis would not only constrain…
This paper concerns what Background Independence itself is (as opposed to some particular physical theory that is background independent). The notions presented mostly arose from a layer-by-layer analysis of the facets of the Problem of…