Veiled Reality

Veiled Reality PDF

Author: Bernard D'espagnat

Publisher: Addison-Wesley Longman

Published: 1995-01-20

Total Pages: 538

ISBN-13:

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By questioning the validity of some of our basic concepts, such as space, object, and causality, quantum physics contributes quite decisively to the dramatic changes now taking place in our world picture. Veiled Reality provides a detailed view of the reasons why such a questioning arises, a survey of the corresponding conceptual and theoretical problems, and a comprehensive, up-to-date account, useful to scientists and epistemologists alike, of the various ways present-day physicists tackle these problems.The book deals with the E.P.R. reality criterion, local causality, and quantum measurement including relativistic quantum collapse, decoherence theories, consistent histories approaches, and ontologically interpretable theories. Questions bearing on the connection between counterfactuality and realism, intersubjective agreement, and limits of the bearing of the verbs “to have” and “to be,” follow naturally from the analysis and are thoroughly examined. Finally, distinguishing between empirical reality and a veiled independent reality whose only knowable features are structural yields a clue to a plausible interpretation of current physics.Accessible to readers with only very elementary background in modern physics, Veiled Reality offers nonspecialists, including students in physics and philosophy, easy access to basic problems in the foundation of physics.

On Physics and Philosophy

On Physics and Philosophy PDF

Author: Bernard d'Espagnat

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2013-04-07

Total Pages: 518

ISBN-13: 0691158061

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"On Physics and Philosophy is an accessible, mathematics-free reflection on the philosophical meaning of the quantum revolution, by one of the world's leading authorities on the subject. D'Espagnat presents an objective account of the main guiding principles of contemporary physics - in particular, quantum mechanics - followed by a look at just what consequences these should imply for philosophical thinking."--

Farewell to Reality

Farewell to Reality PDF

Author: Jim Baggott

Publisher: Open Road Media

Published: 2013-08-06

Total Pages: 454

ISBN-13: 1453299149

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From acclaimed science author Jim Baggot, a lively, provocative, and “intellectually gratifying” critique of modern theoretical physics (The Economist). Where does one draw the line between solid science and fairy-tale physics? Jim Baggott argues that there is no observational or experimental evidence for many of the ideas of modern theoretical physics: super-symmetric particles, super strings, the multiverse, the holographic principle, or the anthropic cosmological principle. Unafraid to challenge prominent theorists, Baggott offers engaging portraits of many central figures of modern physics, including Stephen Hawking, Paul Davies, John D. Barrow, Brian Greene, and Leonard Susskind. Informed, comprehensive, and balanced, Farewell to Reality discusses the latest ideas about the nature of physical reality while clearly distinguishing between fact and fantasy, providing essential and entertaining reading for everyone interested in what we know and don’t know about the nature of the universe and reality itself.

Arrow Of Time And Reality: In Search Of A Conciliation

Arrow Of Time And Reality: In Search Of A Conciliation PDF

Author: Anne Magnon

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 1997-12-04

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 9814497800

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What is Reality? What is the role of human consciousness in the shaping of such a concept? These questions are as old as mankind and gave rise to the MIND-MATTER dualism which preoccupied so many physicists: Schrödinger, Wigner, etc. This book considers the problem within the realm of contemporary physics, and shows that it could be related to that of ultimate entities. The author develops the viewpoint according to which human thinking activities are fruit of the Cosmos and of its combinatorial activity. Ultimate entities, the bricks out of which our universe is made, could be hidden, as a primordial alphabet, in the foundations of the pyramid of increasing complexity, which seems to unfold as a language and to culminate in the emergence of organized and thinking structures. This is analyzed in the context of cosmological screening and horizons (an expression of our lack of access to totality) where macroscopic and microscopic can mingle, where a unification of interactions and a matching of available arrows of time can take place. This context is also that of quantum evaporation of particle-antiparticle like entities, which triggers entropy increase, and of the overlap between General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. The problem of an (global) origin of the cruising (and evanescent) “Now” is considered. A creative principle (reminiscent of the biological mitosis) is also presented which is the generator of the “event” through breaking of temporal symmetry. In this perspective, time-flow is an emergent concept: Creation of the World is declined priority on the concept of “coming into existence”. Participant to the origin of the World, all (possibly virtual) processes are able to culminate into the phenomenon of consciousness and Self-Awareness.

Probing the Meaning of Quantum Mechanics

Probing the Meaning of Quantum Mechanics PDF

Author: Diederik Aerts

Publisher: World Scientific Publishing

Published: 2018-11-20

Total Pages: 392

ISBN-13: 9813276908

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This book provides an interdisciplinary perspective on one of the most fascinating and important open questions in science: What is quantum mechanics talking about? Quantum theory is perhaps our best confirmed physical theory. However, despite its great empirical effectiveness and the subsequent technological developments that it gave rise to in the 20th century, from the interpretation of the periodic table of elements to CD players, holograms and quantum state teleportation, it stands even today without a universally accepted interpretation. The novelty of the book comes from the multiple viewpoints and subjects investigated by a group of researchers from Europe and North and South America.

Philosophy, Science and Divine Action

Philosophy, Science and Divine Action PDF

Author: F. LeRon Shults

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2009-08-31

Total Pages: 452

ISBN-13: 9047440234

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One of the most important and controversial themes in the contemporary dialogue among scientists and Christian theologians is the issue of "divine action" in the world. This volume brings together contributions from leading scholars on this topic, which emerged out of the Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action project, co-sponsored by the Vatican Observatory and the Center for Theology and Natural Science. This multi-year collaboration involved over 50 authors meeting at five international conferences. The essays collected here demonstrate the pervasive role of philosophy in this dialogue. Contributors include: Ian Barbour, Philip Clayton, George F. R. Ellis, Nancey Murphy, Arthur Peacocke, John Polkinghorne, Robert John Russell, F. LeRon Shults, William Stoeger, Thomas F. Tracy and Wesley Wildman.

Quantum Christian Realism

Quantum Christian Realism PDF

Author: Rocco Boni

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2019-05-20

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13: 1532686080

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Classical Christianity is rooted in a historical event: the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. This is the central tenet of the Christian Faith. However there are a good number of tenets of Christianity that aren't historical at all. Rather, they are ontological. In other words, they are grounded in the nature of reality itself. In this work Rocco Boni shows how the dozen or so ontologically-based tenets of Christianity derive from the very foundations of reality; being grounded in the theistically-friendly ontology of quantum phenomenon. These tenets seem to have been built into the cosmos at the ground floor, their realization deriving from the indeterministic, immaterial, abstract nature of quantum process. This is not simply a book, it's a discovery. One that shows that the true ontic status of reality is not simply theistic, but Christian. The structure of this theistic ontology is elegant and economic, both hallmarks of scientific truth. If there were such a thing as a Theistic Unification Theory, this would be it.

Reality Through the Looking-glass

Reality Through the Looking-glass PDF

Author: Christopher James Seaton Clarke

Publisher:

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13:

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Calls into question the 'bedrock' reality of spacetime, examines the idea of alternative realities founded on different sorts of consciousness, and explores concepts of being and non-being in religious traditions.