Philosophy of Physics
Einstein: Philosopher | Scientist, 100 years of General Relativity
SATELLiTE Project Space 121 Dundas St, London, Ontario, CanadaEXHIBIT DESCRIPTION Explore the genius of Einstein through a uniquely philosophical lens. On the centennial of Einstein solving the puzzle of General Relativity, this interactive exhibit delves into the philosophical groundwork that informed Einstein’s approach to science. Manuscript replicas (Courtesy of the Albert Einstein Archives, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.) illustrate in detail Einstein’s [...]
Alastair Wilson: Emergent Contingency
Room 1145 - Stevenson Hall Stevenson Hall, Room 1145, London, Ontario, CanadaABSTRACT I begin by distinguishing between two conceptions of what needs explaining in modal metaphysics - necessity or contingency - and arguing that we should take seriously the neglected 'necessity-first' perspective. Then I illustrate how this perspective might work by offering a radical new theory of modality based on Everettian quantum mechanics (EQM), otherwise known [...]
Information-Theoretic Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics: 2016 Annual Philosophy of Physics Conference
Room 114 - North Campus Building 2004 Perth Drive, London, Ontario, CanadaCONFERENCE DESCRIPTION Information-Theoretic Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics (#ITIQM) is a two day workshop taking place June 11-12, 2016 at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. This is the 20th annual UWO philosophy of physics conference. To view the conference program and additional resources, please visit the conference page. The workshop is inspired by Jeffrey Bub’s [...]
Rotman 2017 Annual Conference: Cosmology and the Future of Spacetime
Room 114 - North Campus Building 2004 Perth Drive, London, Ontario, CanadaCosmology and the Future of Spacetime is a three-day conference taking place June 12-14, 2017 at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. To view full details about the conference, please visit the conference page on the philosophy of cosmology website. CONFERENCE DESCRIPTION Even though general relativity has enjoyed profound success throughout the century since its [...]
2017 Philosophy of Logic Math and Physics Graduate Student Conference
Room 1145 - Stevenson Hall Stevenson Hall, Room 1145, London, Ontario, CanadaJoin us on June 15-16, 2017 for the seventeenth annual Philosophy of Logic, Math and Physics (LMP) graduate student conference in philosophy at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. The LMP Graduate Student Conference will bring together philosophers of logic, mathematics, and physics for two days of presentations and discussions with some of the leaders in these fields. We are [...]
Jenann Ismael: The link between time, totality, and determinism (or why the problem of determinism is really the problem of fatalism)
Room 4190 - Western Interdisciplinary Research Building Western Interdisciplinary Research Building, Room 4190, London, Ontario, CanadaABSTRACT The problem of fatalism was around long before relativity, but gained affirmation in many peoples minds from Relativity. Relativistic theories confront us with a vision of the universe from a temporally transcendent standpoint, i.e., one that treats time as an internal parameter in the universe composed of events. The problem of determinism also had [...]
Stathis Psillos: From natures to laws of nature
Room 4190 - Western Interdisciplinary Research Building Western Interdisciplinary Research Building, Room 4190, London, Ontario, CanadaABSTRACT The key claim of this talk will be that the conception of nature as being governed by natural laws is thoroughly modern. It arose mostly in the natural philosophy of Rene Descartes and was meant to replace natural powers as principles of change and of connection among distinct existences. This new conception of laws [...]
Thermodynamics as a Resource Theory: 2018 Annual Philosophy of Physics Conference
Room 114 - North Campus Building 2004 Perth Drive, London, Ontario, CanadaEVENT DESCRIPTION The Revolution will be thermalized. Recently, there has been a shift in the way that many physicists are approaching the science of thermodynamics. Instead of regarding its laws as purely physical laws, researchers are increasingly treating the theory as a theory about how agents, such as ourselves, can use information about a physical [...]
2018 Philosophy of Logic Math and Physics Graduate Student Conference
Room 1145 - Stevenson Hall Stevenson Hall, Room 1145, London, Ontario, CanadaJoin us on June 23-24, 2018 for the eighteenth annual Philosophy of Logic, Math and Physics (LMP) graduate student conference in philosophy at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. The LMP Graduate Student Conference will bring together philosophers of logic, mathematics, and physics for two days of presentations and discussions with some of the leaders in these fields. We [...]
Foundations of Quantum Field Theory: 2019 Annual Philosophy of Physics Conference
Room 3000 - Western Interdisciplinary Research Building Western University, London, Ontario, CanadaThis workshop on the philosophy of quantum field theory (QFT) will bring together philosophers and physicists to address a set of foundational questions significant to both fields. Almost all of modern fundamental physics is written in the mathematical language of QFT. (The exception to this proves the rule: Einstein's theory of gravity is not [...]
Allan Franklin – Measuring Nothing Repeatedly: Null Experiments in Physics
Room 7107 - Western Interdisciplinary Research Building Western Interdisciplinary Research Building, London, ON, CanadaThe philosophy of physics reading group will host Allan Franklin for a guest talk during an off-week of their regularly scheduled meeting time. He'll be speaking about a new book he co-authored called Measuring Nothing Repeatedly: Null Experiments in Physics. Individuals interested in attending the talk need not participate in the reading group, but are [...]
CANCELLED – Boundaries and Reality: 2020 Annual Philosophy of Physics Conference
Room 3000 - Western Interdisciplinary Research Building Western University, London, Ontario, CanadaIn light of the evolving COVID-19 situation, this year's conference has unfortunately been cancelled. Boundaries between spacetime regions, boundaries between interacting physical systems, and relations across boundaries, play an important role in contemporary physics. Boundary degrees of freedom, in particular, have recently raised much interest in the literature on general relativity, gauge field theories and [...]
CANCELLED – 2020 Philosophy of Logic Math and Physics Graduate Student Conference
Room 1145 - Stevenson Hall Stevenson Hall, Room 1145, London, Ontario, CanadaThe 20th annual Philosophy of Logic, Mathematics, and Physics (LMP) Graduate Conference will take place on Saturday-Sunday, June 25-26th, 2020, at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada.
Emerging Minds Colloquium Series
Virtual (register for Zoom link)Beginning January 2021, The Rotman Institute of Philosophy will be hosting the 'Emerging Minds' colloquium—a series of virtual talks delivered by members of the Institute and scholars from around the world. We invite you to take part by both presenting and attending, in order to network with others who are completing novel interdisciplinary work [...]
2021 Philosophy of Logic Math and Physics Graduate Student Conference
Virtual (register for Zoom link)The 20th annual Philosophy of Logic, Mathematics, and Physics Graduate Conference will take place on Thursday-Friday, June 24-25, 2021 over Zoom. We are pleased to announce that James Owen Weatherall (University of California, Irvine) will be giving the keynote address. Advance registration is required in order to attend this conference and must be completed [...]
Emergence in Cosmology Workshop
Virtual (register for Zoom link)The early universe is described extremely well by linear perturbations evolving in a simple expanding universe model, described by classical general relativity. An approximately scale invariant spectrum of nearly Gaussian, adiabatic curvature fluctuations accounts for observed anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background as well as baryon acoustic oscillations. But how does this familiar classical [...]
Self-locating Uncertainty in the Cosmological Multiverse Workshop
Virtual (register for Zoom link)Several issues in cosmology have increasingly raised concerns about self-locating uncertainty. It seems to many that to understand how the universe originated and how it is, we need to better understand how to think about where we are in it, or where we should expect ourselves to be. On one hand, considerations of self-locating [...]
QISS 2022: Quantum Information and Quantum Gravity Conference
CONFERENCE DESCRIPTION The Quantum Information Structure of Spacetime (QISS) interdisciplinary initiative in Quantum Information and Quantum Gravity is announcing its first large conference, QISS 2022, to be held at Western University, in London, Ontario, Canada, the week of 6 - 10 June 2022. The main aim of the conference will be to [...]
Philosophical Perspectives on Astrochemistry
Room 3000 - Western Interdisciplinary Research Building Western University, London, Ontario, CanadaAstrochemistry is a young discipline, which started with the unexpected detection of molecules in the interstellar medium in the 1940’s. Astrochemical models aim at describing the physicochemical processes explaining the composition in the interstellar medium or of planetary atmospheres, despite the fact that the models and the observations against which they must be validated are highly uncertain. These uncertainties, [...]
Foundations of Quantum Field Theory: 2023 Annual Philosophy of Physics Conference
Room 1170 - Western Interdisciplinary Research Building Western Interdisciplinary Research Building, London, Ontario, CanadaThis year's workshop will explore four broad philosophical issues that are specific to QFT. QFT is the theory that combines the special theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. There is consensus that the unification of these two theories necessitates the use of a mathematical framework based on fields. One issue that this raises is [...]