…iew, Group Structural Realism.. Structural Realism (A Brief Intro). The positive claim of structural realism differs greatly from author to author. However, there is one core consequence that follows from nearly every account of structural realism (as a metaphysical view): The Structural Realist Hierarchy. The existing entities described by a scientific theory are organized into a hierarchy, in which ‘structure’ occupies the top, most fundamental…
Read more…R, we have the following important sense in which symmetry groups are describable terms of their own symmetry group structure. The ‘symmetry group structure’ describing a group G itself is called the automorphism group, Aut G. An automorphism of a group G is a mapping from G to itself that preserves group structure. The group Aut G is formed by collecting together the set of all such automorphisms, and taking the binary operation to be functional…
Read more…ry graduate student in the field should at least paw through? Here’s a preliminary list, ordered alphabetically. Albert, David: QM & Experience Albert, David: Time & Chance Barrett, Jeff: QM of minds & worlds Bell, John: Speakable & Unspeakable in QM Bub, Jeff: Interpreting the Quantum World Cartwright, Nancy: How the Laws of Physics Lie Earman, John: Bangs, Crunches, Whimpers & Shrieks Earman, John: Primer on Determinism Earman, John: World Enoug…
Read more…dollars on textbooks? It’s easy to learn things on the cheap, without sacrificing quality. And in this tutorial, I’ve compiled a list of introductory material on the physics and philosophy of general relativity, all of which is available for free online. If you know of any online resources that are not on this list, suggest them in the comments and I will add them to the list! Contents Non-mathematical introductions to general relativity Mathemat…
Read more…without slipping, with uniform velocity v in the lab frame. Consider the limit as v/c goes to 1. How does the motion of the ball change, if at all? And in particular, what are the angular kinematics? If the ball were simply sliding, then it would obviously Lorentz contract in the lab frame, into an oblique “grape-like” shape. But my question is: Why doesn’t the relativistic rolling ball wobble like a rolling grape? One easy answer is that the pri…
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