Probability plays a key role in modern physics: an international team of philosophers illuminate this role by exploring the epistemology and metaphysics of probabilities. They discuss statistical physics, probabilistic modelling, and quantum mechanics and critically assess objectivist and subjectivist views of probabilities in these fields. Many results of modern physics--those of quantum mechanics, for instance--come in a probabilistic guise. But what do probabilistic statements in physics mean? Are probabilities matters of objective fact and part of the furniture of the world, as objectivists think? Or do they only express ignorance or belief, as Bayesians suggest? And how are probabilistic hypotheses justified and supported by empirical evidence? Finally, what doesthe probabilistic nature of physics imply for ourunderstanding of the world?This volume is the first to provide a philosophical appraisal of probabilities in all of physics. Its main aim is to make sense of probabilistic statementsas they occur in the various physical theories and models and to provide a plausible epistemology and metaphysics of probabilities. The essays collected here consider statistical physics, probabilistic modelling, and quantum mechanics, and critically assess the merits and disadvantages of objectivist and subjectivist views of probabilitiesin these fields. In particular, the Bayesian and Humean views of probabilities and the varieties of Boltzmann's typicality approach are examined. The contributions on quantum mechanics discuss the special character of quantum correlations, the justification of the famous Born Rule, and the role ofprobabilities in a quantum field theoretic framework. Finally, the connections between probabilities and foundational issues in physics are explored. The Reversibility Paradox, the notion of entropy, and the ontology of quantum mechanics are discussed. Other essays consider Humean supervenience and the question whether the physical world is deterministic. INDICE: Notes on the Contributors Preface Introduction I PROBABILITIES IN STATISTICAL PHYSICS Subjective Probability and Statistical Physics An Objectivist Account of Probabilities in Statistical Mechanics The Past Histories of Molecules Entropy: A Guide for the Perplexed Probabilistic Modeling in Physics II PROBABILITIES IN QUANTUM MECHANICS Aspects of Probability in Quantum Theory Probabilities in Realist Views of Quantum Mechanics Quantum Probabilities: An Information-Theoretic Interpretation Interpreting Probabilities in Quantum Field Theory and Quantum Statistical Mechanics III PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES Three Roads to Objective Probability Physics and the Humean Approach to Probability Probability Out Of Determinism Can theWorld be Shown to be Indeterministic After All? References Index
- ISBN: 978-0-19-957743-9
- Editorial: Oxford University
- Encuadernacion: Cartoné
- Páginas: 464
- Fecha Publicación: 15/09/2011
- Nº Volúmenes: 1
- Idioma: Inglés