Related papers: A proposal for a metaphysics of self-subsisting st…
The paper discusses the possible implications of the relational framework of Pure Shape Dynamics for the metaphysics of time. The starting point of the analysis is an interpretation of shapes in ontic structural realist terms, which gives…
We present a new metaphysical framework for physics that is conceptually clear, ontologically parsimonious, and empirically adequate. This framework relies on the notion of self-subsisting structure, that is, a set of fundamental physical…
We provide the construction of a de Broglie-Bohm model of the $N$-body system within the framework of Pure Shape Dynamics. The equation of state of the curve in shape space is worked out, with the instantaneous shape being guided by a wave…
We review the de Broglie-Bohm quantum theory. It is an alternative description of quantum phenomena in accordance with all the quantum experiments already performed. Essentially, it is a dynamical theory about objectively real trajectories…
The goal of this essay is twofold. First, it provides a quick look at the foundations of modern relational mechanics by tracing its development from Julian Barbour and Bruno Bertotti's original ideas until present-day's pure shape dynamics.…
We discuss some methodological aspects of the relation between physics and metaphysics by dealing specifically with the case of non-relativistic quantum mechanics. Our main claim is that current attempts to productively integrate quantum…
A new, very different physical model of the universe is proposed. Its virtues include unifying relativity and quantum mechanics, and particles with de Broglie waves. It also appears to provide a truly unified physical basis for…
Pure shape dynamics (PSD) is a novel implementation of the relational framework originally proposed by Julian Barbour and Bruno Bertotti. PSD represents a Leibnizian/Machian approach to physics in that it completely describes the dynamical…
How should we interpret physical theories, and especially quantum theory, if we drop the assumption that we should treat it as an exact description of the whole Universe? I expound and develop the claim that physics is about the study of…
We offer a systematic account of decomposition of quantum systems into parts. Different decompositions (structures) are mutually linked via the proper linear canonical transformations. Different kinds of structures, as well as their…
We perform an experimental test where we directly observe light-induced electron transitions with a macroscopic spatial discontinuity. The effect is related to the fundamental indivisibility of macroscopic orbit-like quantum states…
Theoretical research into many-body quantum systems has mostly focused on regular structures which have a small, simple unit cell and where a vanishingly small number of pairs of the constituents directly interact. Motivated by advances in…
This chapter reexamines wave function realism (WFR) through the lens of phenomenology. We begin by situating WFR within the broader debate about the ontology of the quantum state and the temptation to "read off" metaphysics from…
We illustrate how non-relativistic quantum mechanics may be recovered from a dynamical Weyl geometry on configuration space and an `ensemble' of trajectories (or `worlds'). The theory, which is free of a physical wavefunction, is presented…
Shape dynamics is an alternative background-independent approach to classical dynamics that implements Leibnizian philosophy and Mach's Principles. It is a formulation of the dynamics of the universe in terms of the intrinsic and relational…
Non-relativistic de Broglie-Bohm theory describes particles moving under the guidance of the wave function. In de Broglie's original formulation, the particle dynamics is given by a first-order differential equation. In Bohm's…
We review the main results that have been obtained in quantum cosmology from the perspective of the de Broglie-Bohm quantum theory. As it is a dynamical theory of assumed objectively real trajectories in the configuration space of the…
A candidate for a realistic relativistic quantum theory is the hypersurface Bohm-Dirac model. Its formulation uses a foliation of spacetime into space-like hypersurfaces. This structure may well arise from the universal wave function…
Non-commutative propositions are characteristic of both quantum and non-quantum (sociological, biological, psychological) situations. In a Hilbert space model states, understood as correlations between all the possible propositions, are…
The article explores challenges presented by revelations in physics and the questions they provoke concerning reality. It sheds light on the disparity between the indefinite nature of quantum reality and our perception of classical reality.…