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MCMP – Philosophy of Physics

by MCMP Team

Mathematical Philosophy - the application of logical and mathematical methods in philosophy - is about to experience a tremendous boom in various areas of philosophy. At the new Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy, which is funded mostly by the German Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, philosophical research will be carried out mathematically, that is, by means of methods that are very close to those used by the scientists.The purpose of doing philosophy in this way is not to reduce philosophy to mathematics or to natural science in any sense; rather mathematics is applied in order to derive philosophical conclusions from philosophical assumptions, just as in physics mathematical methods are used to derive physical predictions from physical laws.Nor is the idea of mathematical philosophy to dismiss any of the ancient questions of philosophy as irrelevant or senseless: although modern mathematical philosophy owes a lot to the heritage of the Vienna and Berlin Circles of Logical

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Episodes

  1. Physics without Fundamental Time

    Carlo Rovelli (Aix-Marseille) gives a talk at the Workshop on the Problem of Time in Perspective (3-4 July, 2015) titled "Physics without Fundamental Time". Abstract: Rivers of ink have flown on the basic conceptual structure of quantum gravity -a theory where we expect the notions of classical...

  2. Facets of Time in Physics

    Kurt Sundermeyer (FU Berlin/MPIWG) gives a talk at the Workshop on the Problem of Time in Perspective (3-4 July, 2015) titled "Facets of Time in Physics". Abstract: In an attempt to understand slogans such as "The End Of Time", "Forget About Time", "Time Reborn", "Time Remains", I started to…

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  3. The Gravitational Arrow of Time

    Tim A. Koslowski (Brunswick) gives a talk at the Workshop on the Problem of Time in Perspective (3-4 July, 2015) titled "The Gravitational Arrow of Time". Abstract: The arrow of time appears to always to point in one direction (i.e. we can clearly tell whether a movie is played forward or…

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  4. First-Class Constraints, Gauge, and the Wheeler-DeWitt Equation

    Oliver Pooley (Oxford) gives a talk at the Workshop on the Problem of Time in Perspective (3-4 July, 2015) titled "First-Class Constraints, Gauge, and the Wheeler-DeWitt Equation". Abstract: Recently, Pitts (2014) has argued that the claim that first-class constraints generate gauge…

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  5. Changing Observables in Canonical General Relativity from Hamiltonian-Lagrangian Equivalence

    J. Brian Pitts (Cambridge) gives a talk at the Workshop on the Problem of Time in Perspective (3-4 July, 2015) titled "Changing Observables in Canonical General Relativity from Hamiltonian-Lagrangian Equivalence". Abstract: Is change missing in classical canonical General Relativity? If one…

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  6. Constraints, Dirac Observables and Chaos

    Philipp Hoehn (Perimeter Institute) gives a talk at the Workshop on the Problem of Time in Perspective (3-4 July, 2015) titled "Constraints, Dirac Observables and Chaos". Abstract: I will discuss fundamental challenges to the standard relational paradigm arising from chaotic dynamics.

  7. The Consistent Boundary Formulation

    Bianca Dittrich (Perimeter Institute) gives a talk at the Workshop on the Problem of Time in Perspective (3-4 July, 2015) titled "The Consistent Boundary Formulation". Abstract: I will introduce the consistent boundary formulation which allows to express renormalization flow in a background...

  8. In Favour of a Schrödinger Evolution of the Universe

    Sean Gryb (Radboud) gives a talk at the Workshop on the Problem of Time in Perspective (3-4 July, 2015) titled "In Favour of a Schrödinger Evolution of the Universe". Abstract: In the canonical formulation of reparametrization invariant systems, time evolution on phase space is generated by a…

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  9. Timeless Quantum Mechanics in Configuration Space: an Outsider View

    Henrique Gomes (Perimeter Institute) gives a talk at the Workshop on the Problem of Time in Perspective (3-4 July, 2015) titled "Timeless Quantum Mechanics in Configuration Space: an Outsider View". Abstract: In this talk, I will explore a timeless interpretation of quantum mechanics of closed...

  10. Discrete Time in Quantum Gravity

    Francesca Vidotto (Radboud) gives a talk at the Workshop on the Problem of Time in Perspective (3-4 July, 2015) titled "Discrete Time in Quantum Gravity". Abstract: We study the quantization of geometry in the presence of a cosmological constant, using a discretiza- tion with constant-curvature...

  11. The Intrinsic Hamilton-Jacobi Dynamics of General Relativity and its Implications for the Semi-Classical Emergence of Time

    Donald Salisbury (Austin) gives a talk at the Workshop on the Problem of Time in Perspective (3-4 July, 2015) titled "The Intrinsic Hamilton-Jacobi Dynamics of General Relativity and its Implications for the Semi-Classical Emergence of Time". Abstract: The quantization of the general theory of...

  12. A Categorial Approach to Relativistic Locality

    Miklós Rédei (LSE) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (13 May, 2015) titled "A Categorial Approach to Relativistic Locality". Abstract: In the talk relativistic locality of a probabilistic physical theory is interpreted as an interconnected web of properties which express compatibility of the...

  13. Bayesian Perspectives on the Higgs Search

    Richard Dawid (MCMP) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (29 April, 2015) titled "Bayesian Perspectives on the Higgs Search". Abstract: The history of the Higgs discovery is characterized by a specific constellation: trust in the existence of a Higgs particle was very strong already before the...

  14. Best Possible Worlds and Random Walks: The Principle of Least Action as a Thought Experiment

    Michael Stöltzner (South Carolina) gives a talk at the Irvine-Munich Workshop on the Foundations of Classical and Quantum Field Theories (14 December, 2014) titled "Best Possible Worlds and Random Walks: The Principle of Least Action as a Thought Experiment". Abstract: Over the centuries, no…

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  15. QBism and the Born rule

    Rüdiger Schack (Royal Holloway London) gives a talk at the Workshop on Quantum Computation, Quantum Information, and the Exact Sciences (30-31 January, 2015) titled "QBism and the Born rule". Abstract: By adopting a strictly personalist approach to probability, QBism takes the view that quantum...

  16. Quantum Information: Conceptual and Ontological Aspects

    Chris Timpson (Brasenose College, Oxford) gives a talk at the Workshop on Quantum Computation, Quantum Information, and the Exact Sciences (30-31 January, 2015) titled "Quantum Information: Conceptual and Ontological Aspects". Abstract: In this talk I will explore some ways of thinking about what...

  17. Dualities

    Elena Castellani (Florence) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (28 January, 2015) titled "Dualities". Abstract: Dualities are a key, intriguing ingredient in mathematics, logic and physics. This talk is concerned with physical dualities, in particular those dualities that have played "a central...

  18. Corpuscular Structure of Geometry

    Gia Dvali (LMU-MPI & NYU) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (14 January, 2015) titled "Corpuscular structure of geometry". Abstract: We review some recent ideas on quantum-corpuscular structure of gravitational metric backgrounds, such as black holes and cosmological spaces. We show how this...

  19. A Trope Bundle Interpretation of Algebraic Quantum Field Theory

    Meinard Kuhlmann (Mainz) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (10 December, 2014) titled "A Trope Bundle Interpretation of Algebraic Quantum Field Theory". Abstract: Algebraic quantum field theory (AQFT) is a conceptually lucid reformulation of the conventional theory of quantum fields. I consider...

  20. Fiber Bundles, Yang-Mills Theory, and General Relativity

    James Weatherall (UC Irvine) gives a talk at the Irvine-Munich Workshop on the Foundations of Classical and Quantum Field Theories (14 December) titled "Fiber Bundles, Yang-Mills Theory, and General Relativity". Abstract: I articulate and discuss a geometrical interpretation of Yang-Mills theory....

  21. Relativistic Quantum Particles the Feynman Way

    Brian Padden (MCMP/LMU) gives a talk at the Irvine-Munich Workshop on the Foundations of Classical and Quantum Field Theories (14 December, 2014) titled "Relativistic Quantum Particles the Feynman Way". Abstract: It is often believed, especially in light of theorems by Malament and others, that...

  22. Classical Field Theory and Intertheoretic Reduction

    Samuel Fletcher (MCMP/LMU) gives a talk at the Irvine-Munich Workshop on the Foundations of Classical and Quantum Field Theories (14 December, 2014) titled "Classical Field Theory and Intertheoretic Reduction". Abstract: In 1986, Ehlers set out a program on how to understanding the approximative...

  23. On Fiber Bundle and Holonomy Interpretations of Yang-Mills Theories

    Sarita Rosenstock (UC Irvine) gives a talk at the Irvine-Munich Workshop on the Foundations of Classical and Quantum Field Theories (14 December, 2014) titled "On Fiber Bundle and Holonomy Interpretations of Yang-Mills Theories". Abstract: In the philosophy of Yang-Mills theories, there is an...

  24. Unitary Inequivalence in Classical Systems

    Ben Feintzeig (UC Irvine) gives a talk at the Irvine-Munich Workshop on the Foundations of Classical and Quantum Field Theories (14 December, 2014) titled "Unitary Inequivalence in Classical Systems". Abstract: I provide an algebraic formulation of classical field theories and use this to probe…

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  25. A New Prescription for the Quantization of Refoliation Invariant Field Theories

    Karim Thebault (MCMP/LMU) gives a talk at the Irvine-Munich Workshop on the Foundations of Classical and Quantum Field Theories (14 December, 2014) titled "A New Prescription for the Quantization of Refoliation Invariant Field Theories". Abstract: Imagine a loaf of bread that we can irregularly…

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  26. The Primitive Ontology of Quantum Physics

    Michael Esfeld (Lausanne) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (26 November, 2014) titled "The Primitive Ontology of Quantum Physics". Abstract: In this talk, I will first recall the arguments why we need what is known as a primitive ontology of quantum physics and then argue that this ontology...

  27. QBism: A Subjective Way to Take Ontic Indeterminism Seriously

    Christopher Fuchs (MPQ Garching) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (20 November, 2014) titled "QBism: A Subjective Way to Take Ontic Indeterminism Seriously". Abstract: The term QBism, invented in 2009, initially stood for Quantum Bayesianism, a view of quantum theory a few of us had been...

  28. Reduction and the Ontology of Physical Theories

    Tim Maudlin (NYU) meets Sebastian Lutz (MCMP/LMU) in a joint session on "Reduction and the Ontology of Physical Theories" at the MCMP workshop "Bridges 2014" (2 and 3 Sept, 2014, German House, New York City). The 2-day trans-continental meeting in mathematical philosophy focused on...

  29. Shape Dynamics

    Tim A. Koslowski (New Brunswick) gives a talk at the Mini-Workshop on the Foundations of Shape Dynamics (23 June, 2014) titled "Shape Dynamics". Abstract: Based on the introduction to shape dynamics by Sean Gryb, I will discuss the question: "Given that gravity (from the perspective of shape...

  30. An Introduction to Shape Dynamics: a New Perspective on Quantum Gravity

    Sean Gryb (Nijmegen) gives a talk at the Mini-Workshop on the Foundations of Shape Dynamics (23 June, 2014) titled "An Introduction to Shape Dynamics: a New Perspective on Quantum Gravity". Abstract: Shape Dynamics is a theory of gravity where the fundamental ontology is that of evolving...

  31. Against Dogma: Locality, Conditionalisation, and Collapse in Relativistic Quantum Mechanics

    Thomas Pashby (Pittsburgh) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (28 May, 2014) titled "Against Dogma: Locality, Conditionalisation, and Collapse in Relativistic Quantum Mechanics". Abstract: I argue here against the widespread view (due to David Malament) that the non-commutativity of...

  32. How to Bite the Bullet of Quidditism - Why a Standard Argument against Categoricalism in Physics Fails

    Andreas Barrels (Bonn) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (7 May, 2014) titled "How to Bite the Bullet of Quidditism - Why a Standard Argument against Categoricalism in Physics Fails". Abstract: Categoricalism is the statement that fundamental properties of physics are categorical, i.e., they…

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  33. New Work on the Problem of Time

    Oliver Pooley (Oxford) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (22 January, 2014) titled "New Work on the Problem of Time". Abstract: A central aspect of the "Problem of Time" in canonical general relativity is the result of applying to the theory Dirac's seemingly well-established method of...

  34. Are Classical Black Holes Hot or Cold?

    Erik Curiel (MCMP/LMU) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (18 December, 2013) titled "Are Classical Black Holes Hot or Cold?". Abstract: In the early 1970s it is was realized that there is a striking formal analogy between the so-called laws of black-hole mechanics and the laws of classical...

  35. The Bohmian challenge

    Heinz-Jürgen Schmidt (Osnabrück) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (27 November, 2013) titled "The Bohmian challenge". Abstract: The Bohmian extension of quantum theory claims to solve the measurement problem by re-establishing, in some sense, the classical ontology of particle trajectories on…

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  36. Emergent spacetime in condensed matter analogues of general relativity

    Karen Crowther (Sydney) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (13 November, 2013) titled "Emergent spacetime in condensed matter analogues of general relativity". Abstract: It has been claimed, based on a few different lines of reasoning, that the notion of spacetime will not appear in a quantum...

  37. Gravity. An exercise in quantization

    Igor Khavkine (Utrecht) gives a talk at the MCMP workshop "Quantum Gravity in Perspective" (31 May-1 June, 2013) titled "Gravity. An exercise in quantization". Abstract: The quantization of General Relativity (GR) is an old and chellenging prob- lem that is in many ways still awaiting a...

  38. The (philosophy of the) Higgs

    Michael Krämer (RWTH Aachen) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (23 October, 2013) titled "The (philosophy of the) Higgs". Abstract: I will review the physics of the Large hadron Collider LHC, including the recent the discovery of a Higgs particle, and the search for new physics beyond the...

  39. A Dynamical Origin of the Arrow of Time

    Julian Barbour (Oxford) gives an evening lecture at the 17th UK and European Meeting on the Foundations of Physics (29-31 July, 2013) titled "A Dynamical Origin of the Arrow of Time".

  40. Things happen, they just happen in a partial order

    Fay Dowker (Imperial College London) gives a talk at the 17th UK and European Meeting on the Foundations of Physics (29-31 July, 2013) titled "Things happen, they just happen in a partial order". Abstract: In causal set quantum gravity spacetime is hypothesized to be atomic and causal order is…

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  41. Against the Gravity/Inertia split?

    Dennis Lehmkuhl (Wuppertal) and Oliver Pooley (Oxford) give a talk in the colloquium "On the Split Between Gravity and Inertia in Different Spacetime Theories" at the 17th UK and European Meeting on the Foundations of Physics (29-31 July, 2013) titled "Against the Gravity/Inertia split?".…

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  42. The Gravity-Inertia split in Newtonian and Relativistic Contexts

    Eleanor Knox (London) gives a talk in the colloquium "On the Split Between Gravity and Inertia in Different Spacetime Theories" at the 17th UK and European Meeting on the Foundations of Physics (29-31 July, 2013) titled "The Gravity-Inertia split in Newtonian and Relativistic Contexts". Abstract:...

  43. Inertia and the Conformal-Projective Decomposition for Nordström-Einstein-Fokker, Massive Scalar, Einstein, and Massive Spin 2 Gravities

    J. Brian Pitts (Cambridge) gives a talk in the colloquium "On the Split Between Gravity and Inertia in Different Spacetime Theories" at the 17th UK and European Meeting on the Foundations of Physics (29-31 July, 2013) titled "Inertia and the Conformal-Projective Decomposition for...

  44. On Causal Explanations of Quantum Correlations

    Robert Spekkens (Perimeter Institute) gives a talk at the 17th UK and European Meeting on the Foundations of Physics (29-31 July, 2013) titled "On Causal Explanations of Quantum Correlations". Abstract: If correlation does not imply causation, then what does? Causal discovery algorithms take as...

  45. Barbour's Shape Space as an Ontology for Gravity

    Sean Gryb (Radboud) gives a talk in the colloquium "Journeys in Platonia: Celebrating 50 Years Since The End of Time" at the 17th UK and European Meeting on the Foundations of Physics (29-31 July, 2013) titled "Barbour's Shape Space as an Ontology for Gravity". Abstract: I will give a personal...

  46. Kendall’s Shape Statistics as a Classical Realization of Barbour-type Timeless Records Theory Approach to Quantum Gravity

    Edward Anderson (Paris Diderot and Cambridge) gives a talk in the colloquium "Journeys in Platonia: Celebrating 50 Years Since The End of Time" at the 17th UK and European Meeting on the Foundations of Physics (29-31 July, 2013) titled "Kendall’s Shape Statistics as a Classical Realization of...

  47. Leibniz, Mach and Barbour

    Harvey Brown (Oxford) gives a talk in the colloquium "Journeys in Platonia: Celebrating 50 Years Since The End of Time" at the 17th UK and European Meeting on the Foundations of Physics (29-31 July, 2013) titled "Leibniz, Mach and Barbour". Abstract: My comments will be concerned with the way…

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  48. From the microscopic to the macroscopic world

    Jean Bricmont (Université catholique de Louvain) gives a talk at the 17th UK and European Meeting on the Foundations of Physics (29-31 July, 2013) titled "From the microscopic to the macroscopic world". Abstract: The derivation of the laws describing the macroscopic world from those governing the...

  49. The Neglect of Fluctuations in the Thermodynamics of Computation

    John D. Norton (Pittsburgh) gives a talk at the 17th UK and European Meeting on the Foundations of Physics (29-31 July, 2013) titled "The Neglect of Fluctuations in the Thermodynamics of Computation". Abstract: The thermodynamics of computation assumes that thermodynamically reversible processes...

  50. Inertial Motion, Explanation, and the Foundations of Classical Spacetime Theories

    James Owen Weatherall (California) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (19 July, 2013) titled "Inertial Motion, Explanation, and the Foundations of Classical Spacetime Theories". Abstract: There is an influential view in physics and philosophy of physics, originating with Einstein and Eddington,...

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About this show

Mathematical Philosophy - the application of logical and mathematical methods in philosophy - is about to experience a tremendous boom in various areas of philosophy. At the new Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy, which is funded mostly by the German Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, philosophical research will be carried out mathematically, that is, by means of methods that are very close to those used by the scientists.The purpose of doing philosophy in this way is not to reduce philosophy to mathematics or to natural science in any sense; rather mathematics is applied in order to derive philosophical conclusions from philosophical assumptions, just as in physics mathematical methods are used to derive physical predictions from physical laws.Nor is the idea of mathematical philosophy to dismiss any of the ancient questions of philosophy as irrelevant or senseless: although modern mathematical philosophy owes a lot to the heritage of the Vienna and Berlin Circles of Logical

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MCMP Team

Frequently asked questions

How many episodes does MCMP – Philosophy of Physics have?

MCMP – Philosophy of Physics has 65 episodes on PodParley. The most recent episode was published on April 18, 2019.

What is MCMP – Philosophy of Physics about?

Mathematical Philosophy - the application of logical and mathematical methods in philosophy - is about to experience a tremendous boom in various areas of philosophy. At the new Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy, which is funded mostly by the German Alexander von Humboldt Foundation,...

How often does MCMP – Philosophy of Physics release new episodes?

MCMP – Philosophy of Physics publishes monthly, based on its 65 episodes since October 2013.

Who hosts MCMP – Philosophy of Physics?

MCMP – Philosophy of Physics is created and hosted by MCMP Team.
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