Chance in Physics: Foundations and Perspectives

By F. Petruccione, M.C. Galavotti, Nino Zanghi, et al.

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 friendlybutneverthelessintenseandneverendingdiscussionsononeofthemost 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, theunderstandingofprobabilityinphysicsisalmostaspersonalasthe understandingofquantumtheory. Theaimoftheconferencewasthustofocusonideasaboutprobabilityin physics, itsmeaninganditsphilosophicalimplications, byreviewingthedi?erent facetsofprobabilityinphysicsinitsmodernsettingsandbytakingintoaccount 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. Thebookstartswi

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 3642075606
• ISBN13: 9783642075605
• Release Date: December 2010
• Publisher: Springer
• Length: 292 Pages
• Weight: 0.94 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 9.2"