Chance in Physics: Foundations and Perspectives (Lecture Notes in Physics, Band 574) - Softcover

Chance in Physics : Foundations and Perspectives

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Druck auf Anfrage Neuware - Printed after ordering - TheconferenceChanceinPhysics:FoundationsandPerspectiveswasheldfrom 29thNovemberto3rdDecember1999inIschia,Italy. Itwassponsoredbythe IstitutoItalianoPerGliStudiFiloso ciinNaples,bytheDeutscheForschun- gemeinschaft(DFG),andbytheSociet`aItalianaDiFondamentiDellaFisica. SponsoringbytheInternationalSchoolforAdvancedStudies(ISAS)ofTrieste, Italy,madethecompilationofthisvolumepossible;thefundingbytheIs- tutoItalianoPerGliStudiFiloso ciwascrucialfortheconferenceandisvery gratefullyacknowledged. TheIstitutomanagedtoprovideauniqueatmosphere foraninterdisciplinarymeeting,andtheseproceedingsre ectindeedthevery friendlybutneverthelessintenseandneverendingdiscussionsononeo fthemost debatedissuesofscience:probability,andinparticularprobabilityinphysics. Wegratefullyacknowlegdetheorganisationalworkaswellastheeditorialwork donebyoursecretaryofthemeetingPhDstudentRoderichTumulka. Themeetingwasintendedtostimulaterenewedre ectiononthefundam- talandpracticalaspectsofprobabilityinphysics,inparticularthefoundations ofstatisticalsechanics,theprobabilityinthefoundationsofquantummech- ics,thealgebraicviewofprobabilityandthephilosophyofprobabilityinits interrelationwithphysics. Questionslikewhatprobabilityis,orwhatitisabout,orhowprobability entersphysicsareofasubtlekind. Theyaredi cultinvariousways,often mixedupwiththeenormouscomplexityandtheinescapablelackofmat- maticalrigorinthephysicalapplication,orwiththefoundationalproblemsof quantummechanics,wheretheprobabilisticignoranceconcerningthevaluesof certainphysicalquantitieshasevenbeenelevatedtoamatterofprinciple. At present,theunderstandingofprobabilityinphysicsisalmostasperson alasthe understandingofquantumtheory. Theaimoftheconferencewasthustofocusonideasaboutprobabilityin physics,itsmeaninganditsphilosophicalimplications,byreviewingthedi erent facetsofprobabilityinphysicsinitsmodernsettingsandbytakingintoaccoun t modernquantumtheorieswithoutobservers,wheretheoriginofprobabilityis notmysti edbydogmatism. Thereviewsweregiveninone-hourtalks,andthediscussionswereheldin theformofroundtables,whereshortercontributionswerealsogiven. Thespeakerswereaskednottodilutethemainthemesoftheconference withtechnicalitiesandtofocussharplyontheissueofprobability. Thiswas VI Preface takentoheartbyallspeakersandthemeetingthusprovedverysuccessful. The contributionsinthisvolumeconsequentlyfocusonconceptualissues,andthey makeworthwhilereadingforspecialistsinthe eldoffoundationsaswellasfor nonspecialists,becauseextensivetechnicalpriorknowledgeisnotrequired. The contributionshavebeenleftintheordertheywerediscussedinthemeeting, whichprovedtobeaverynaturalone: 1. ClassicalStatisticalMechanics,whereBoltzmann sunderstandingofstat- ticalmechnanicsasarisingfromkineticgastheoryisreviewedandputinto modernperspectives,withanoutlookonrelativisticstatisticalmechanics. Therelativelackofemphasisonthee ectofchaoticbehaviouronthefo- dationsofprobabilityisnoteworthy. 2. QuantumMechanics,wherewereviewthoseontologicalquantumtheories, thathavebeenmostseriouslydiscussedintherecentyears. Amongthese areadeterministictheory(Bohmianmechanics)andboththeintrinsically randomtheoriesofwavepacketreductionandtheoperator-basedconsistent (decoherent)histories. Itstartswiththe orthodox view,againwith- phasisontheprobabilisticaspectsofthesetheories. 3. Chaoticsystems,wherethedynamicalaspectsforthefoundationsofpro- bilityinphysicsareadressed. 4. PhilosophyofProbability,wheretheissuesoftheearliersectionsarefurther scrutinizedonphilosophicalgrounds. Thesecontributionshavenoabstracts. Th Elektronisches Buchtartswithanintroductorypaper,inwhichalmostallthetopics whicharediscussedbythelatercontributionsarecriticallypresented. M unchen, J. Bricmont,D. Durr, M. C. Galavotti, January2001 G. C. Ghirardi,F. Petruccione,N. Zangh` TableofContents PartI Introduction Bayes,BoltzmannandBohm:ProbabilitiesinPhysics JeanBricmont. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Artikel-Nr. 9783642075605

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