The Structure and Content of a Physical Theory

1967 ◽  
pp. 15-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Bunge
Keyword(s):  
Physical Theory

The Event Universe

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leemon B. McHenry
Keyword(s):  
Electromagnetic Field ◽  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Common Sense ◽  
Physical Theory ◽  
Alfred North Whitehead ◽  
Bertrand Russell ◽  
Theory Of Relativity ◽  
The World ◽  
Modern Physics ◽  
Linguistic Methods

What kinds of things are events? Battles, explosions, accidents, crashes, rock concerts would be typical examples of events and these would be reinforced in the way we speak about the world. Events or actions function linguistically as verbs and adverbs. Philosophers following Aristotle have claimed that events are dependent on substances such as physical objects and persons. But with the advances of modern physics, some philosophers and physicists have argued that events are the basic entities of reality and what we perceive as physical bodies are just very long events spread out in space-time. In other words, everything turns out to be events. This view, no doubt, radically revises our ordinary common sense view of reality, but as our event theorists argue common sense is out of touch with advancing science. In The Event Universe: The Revisionary Metaphysics of Alfred North Whitehead, Leemon McHenry argues that Whitehead's metaphysics provides a more adequate basis for achieving a unification of physical theory than a traditional substance metaphysics. He investigates the influence of Maxwell's electromagnetic field, Einstein's theory of relativity and quantum mechanics on the development of the ontology of events and compares Whitehead’s theory to his contemporaries, C. D. Broad and Bertrand Russell, as well as another key proponent of this theory, W. V. Quine. In this manner, McHenry defends the naturalized and speculative approach to metaphysics as opposed to analytical and linguistic methods that arose in the 20th century.

Incorporating concepts from physical theory into stochastic modelling of urban runoff pollution

1998 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 179-185
Author(s):  
Morten Grum
Keyword(s):  
Stochastic Model ◽  
Continuous Time ◽  
Measurement Errors ◽  
Physical Theory ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Stochastic Modelling ◽  
Urban Runoff ◽  
Primary Input ◽  
Deterministic Modelling ◽  
Runoff Pollution

On evaluating the present or future state of integrated urban water systems, sewer drainage models, with rainfall as primary input, are often used to calculate the expected return periods of given detrimental acute pollution events and the uncertainty thereof. The model studied in the present paper incorporates notions of physical theory in a stochastic model of water level and particulate chemical oxygen demand (COD) at the overflow point of a Dutch combined sewer system. A stochastic model based on physical mechanisms has been formulated in continuous time. The extended Kalman filter has been used in conjunction with a maximum likelihood criteria and a non-linear state space formulation to decompose the error term into system noise terms and measurement errors. The bias generally obtained in deterministic modelling, by invariably and often inappropriately assuming all error to result from measurement inaccuracies, is thus avoided. Continuous time stochastic modelling incorporating physical, chemical and biological theory presents a possible modelling alternative. These preliminary results suggest that further work is needed in order to fully appreciate the method's potential and limitations in the field of urban runoff pollution modelling.

Entity and Aspects. (As Pertaining to Physical Theory)

1947 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erwin Biser
Keyword(s):  
Physical Theory

scholarly journals Two Kindred Neo-Kantian Philosophies of Science: Pap’s The A Priori in Physical Theory and Cassirer’s Determinism and Indeterminism in Modern Physics

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Mormann
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Physical Theory ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Logical Empiricism ◽  
Main Thesis ◽  
Modern Physics ◽  
Continental Tradition ◽  
Determinism And Indeterminism ◽  
Kantian Philosophy

Abstract The main thesis of this paper is that Pap’s The Functional A Priori in Physical Theory and Cassirer’s Determinism and Indeterminism in Modern Physics may be conceived as two kindred accounts of a late Neo-Kantian philosophy of science. They elucidate and clarify each other mutually by elaborating conceptual possibilities and pointing out affinities of neo-Kantian ideas with other currents of 20th century’s philosophy of science, namely, pragmatism, conventionalism, and logical empiricism. Taking into account these facts, it seems not too far fetched to conjecture that under more favorable circumstances Pap could have served as a mediator between the “analytic” and “continental” tradition thereby overcoming the dogmatic dualism of these two philosophical currents that has characterized philosophy in the second half the 20th century.

Generalized Riemann spaces

1956 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 623-625 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Moffat
Keyword(s):  
Curvature Tensor ◽  
Physical Theory ◽  
Dimensional Space ◽  
Riemann Space ◽  
Recent Attempt ◽  
Fundamental Tensor ◽  
Fundamental Properties ◽  
Complex Symmetric ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Generalized Curvature Tensor

ABSTRACTThe recent attempt at a physical interpretation of non-Riemannian spaces by Einstein (1, 2) has stimulated a study of these spaces (3–8). The usual definition of a non-Riemannian space is one of n dimensions with which is associated an asymmetric fundamental tensor, an asymmetric linear affine connexion and a generalized curvature tensor. We can also consider an n-dimensional space with which is associated a complex symmetric fundamental tensor, a complex symmetric affine connexion and a generalized curvature tensor based on these. Some aspects of this space can be compared with those of a Riemann space endowed with two metrics (9). In the following the fundamental properties of this non-Riemannian manifold will be developed, so that the relation between the geometry and physical theory may be studied.

An Application of a New Limitation in Physical Theory

Nature ◽  
1938 ◽  
Vol 142 (3594) ◽  
pp. 535-536
Author(s):  
H. T. FLINT
Keyword(s):  
Physical Theory

scholarly journals Quantum Mechanics as a Physical Theory

Nature ◽  
1935 ◽  
Vol 135 (3425) ◽  
pp. 1025-1026 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. T. F.
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Physical Theory

Physics, Structure, and Reality

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill North
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Realism ◽  
Physical Theory ◽  
Scientific Explanation ◽  
Classical Mechanics ◽  
Careful Attention ◽  
Coordinate Systems ◽  
Spacetime Structure ◽  
The World ◽  
Background Assumption ◽  
And Mathematics

How do we figure out the nature of the world from a mathematically formulated physical theory? What do we infer about the world when a physical theory can be mathematically formulated in different ways? Physics, Structure, and Reality addresses these questions, questions that get to the heart of the project of interpreting physics—of figuring out what physics is telling us about the world. North argues that there is a certain notion of structure, implicit in physics and mathematics, that we should pay careful attention to, and that doing so sheds light on these questions concerning what physics is telling us about the nature of reality. Along the way, lessons are drawn for related topics such as the use of coordinate systems in physics, the differences among various formulations of classical mechanics, the nature of spacetime structure, the equivalence of physical theories, and the importance of scientific explanation. Although the book does not explicitly defend scientific realism, instead taking this to be a background assumption, the account provides an indirect case for realism toward our best theories of physics.

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