Calendar

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The Structure of Space and Time, and Physical Indeterminacy- Hanoch Ben-Yami (CEU) 4:30 pm
The Structure of Space and Time, and Physical Indeterminacy- Hanoch Ben-Yami (CEU) @ NYU Philosophy Dept. rm 302
Nov 20 @ 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Tickets
I introduce a sequence which I call indefinite: a sequence every element of which has a successor but whose number of elements is bounded; this is no contradiction. I then consider the possibility of space and time being indefinitely divisible. This is theoretically possible and agrees with experience. If this is space and time’s structure, then even if the laws of nature are deterministic, the behaviour of physical systems will be probabilistic. This approach might[...]
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When Fields Are Not Degrees of Freedom, Mario Hubert (Columbia) 4:30 pm
When Fields Are Not Degrees of Freedom, Mario Hubert (Columbia) @ CUNY Grad Center, 5307
Nov 28 @ 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Tickets
We show that in the Maxwell–Lorentz theory of classical electrodynamics most initial values for fields and particles lead to an ill-defined dynamics, as they exhibit singularities or discontinuities along light-cones. This phenomenon suggests that the Maxwell equations and the Lorentz force law ought rather to be read as a system of delay differential equations, that is, differential equations that relate a function and its derivatives at different times. This mathematical reformulation, however, leads to physical[...]
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2017 Oct November 2018 Dec 2019