Philosophical and Formal Foundations of Modern Physics
Les Treilles, 23-28 April 2007
Organisation: Alexei Grinbaum, Michel Bitbol
Participants (invitation only):
John Baez, Howard Barnum, Katherine Brading, Jeffrey Bub, Brigitte Falkenburg, Michael Friedman, Lucien Hardy, Patricia Kauark-Leite, Marc Lachieze-Rey, Hermann Nicolai, Paolo Parrini, Jean Petitot, Oliver Pooley, Thomas Ryckman, Matteo Smerlak, Rob Spekkens, Paul Teller, Christopher Timpson
Contact:
Program
Monday, April 23
7:30 pm Alexei Grinbaum and Michel Bitbol Introduction and welcoming remarks
Tuesday, April 24
Morning session. Chair: Jean Petitot
9:30 am Hermann Nicolai Quantum gravity: an introductory survey
10:30 am Oliver Pooley Background independence
11:30 am… Coffee break
12 noon Lucien Hardy The causaloid formalism: a tentative framework for quantum gravity
LUNCH
Afternoon session. Chair: Hermann Nicolai
4 pm John Baez Quantum quandaries: a category-theoretic perspective
5 pm… Coffee break
5:30 pm Marc Lachièze-Rey Geometry and algebra around space-time
Wednesday, April 25
Morning session. Chair: Michael Friedman
9:30 am Brigitte Falkenburg Wave-particle duality: a neglected topic in the philosophical discussion of quantum theory
10:30 am Rob Spekkens Insights into wave-particle duality from an epistemic interpretation of quantum states
11 :30 am… Coffee break
12 noon Jean Petitot Non commutative geometry and theoretical physics
LUNCH
Afternoon session. Chair: Thomas Ryckman
4 pm Paul Teller Provisional knowledge in physics and elsewhere
5 pm General discussion
Thursday, April 26
Morning session. Chair: Michel Bitbol
9:30 am Michael Friedman Einstein and the relativized a priori
10:30 am Katherine Brading Hilbert, the foundations of physics, and Einstein's general theory of relativity
11:30 am… Coffee break
12 noon Thomas Ryckman Weyl, Cartan and la méthode du repère mobile
LUNCH
4 pm Paolo Parrini Epistemological conventionalism beyond the geochronometrical problems
5 pm… Coffee break
5:30 pm Patricia Kauark-Leite Transcendental philosophy and quantum theory
Friday, April 27
Morning session. Chair : Alexei Grinbaum
10:00 am Howard Barnum Toward information-processing characterizations of quantum and classical theory
11:00 am… Coffee break
11:15 am Matteo Smerlak Relational quantum mechanics and EPR
12 noon Christopher Timpson What kind of theory is quantum information theory?
LUNCH
Afternoon : excursion or free time
9:00 am Jeffrey Bub Information and objectivity in quantum mechanics
