What is spacetime? General relativity and quantum field theory answer this question in very different ways. This collection of essays by physicists and philosophers looks at the problem of uniting these two most fundamental theories of our world, focusing on the nature of space and time within this new quantum framework, and the kind of metaphysical picture suggested by recent developments in physics and mathematics. This is a book that will inspire further philosophical reflection on recent advances in modern physics.
What is spacetime? General relativity and quantum field theory answer this question in very different ways. This collection of essays by physicists an...
During its forty year lifespan, string theory has always had the power to divide, being called both a 'theory of everything' and a 'theory of nothing'. Critics have even questioned whether it qualifies as a scientific theory at all. This book adopts an objective stance, standing back from the question of the truthor falsity of string theory and instead focusing on how it came to be and how it came to occupy its present position in physics. An unexpectedly rich history is revealed, with deep connections to our most well-established physical theories. Fully self-contained and...
During its forty year lifespan, string theory has always had the power to divide, being called both a 'theory of everything' and a 'theory of nothi...
Structural realism has rapidly gained in popularity in recent years, but it has splintered into many distinct denominations, often underpinned by diverse motivations. There is, no monolithic position known as 'structural realism,' but there is a general convergence on the idea that a central role is to be played by relational aspects over object-based aspects of ontology. What becomes of causality in a world without fundamental objects? In this book, the foremost authorities on structural realism attempt to answer this and related questions: 'what is structure?' and 'what is an object?' Also...
Structural realism has rapidly gained in popularity in recent years, but it has splintered into many distinct denominations, often underpinned by dive...
In this essay collection, leading physicists, philosophers, and historians attempt to fill the empty theoretical ground in the foundations of information and address the related question of the limits to our knowledge of the world.
Over recent decades, our practical approach to information and its exploitation has radically outpaced our theoretical understanding - to such a degree that reflection on the foundations may seem futile. But it is exactly fields such as quantum information, which are shifting the boundaries of the physically possible, that make a foundational understanding...
In this essay collection, leading physicists, philosophers, and historians attempt to fill the empty theoretical ground in the foundations of infor...
This book offers a lively survey of the forty-year history of string theory, focusing on how what has been called both a 'theory of everything' and a 'theory of nothing' came to exist, and how it came to occupy its present position in physics.
This book offers a lively survey of the forty-year history of string theory, focusing on how what has been called both a 'theory of everything' and a ...
