59 found
Order:
  1. On the Common Structure of Bohmian Mechanics and the Ghirardi–Rimini–Weber Theory Dedicated to GianCarlo Ghirardi on the occasion of his 70th birthday.Valia Allori, Sheldon Goldstein, Roderich Tumulka & Nino Zanghì - 2008 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 59 (3):353 - 389.
    Bohmian mechanics and the Ghirardi-Rimini-Weber theory provide opposite resolutions of the quantum measurement problem: the former postulates additional variables (the particle positions) besides the wave function, whereas the latter implements spontaneous collapses of the wave function by a nonlinear and stochastic modification of Schrödinger's equation. Still, both theories, when understood appropriately, share the following structure: They are ultimately not about wave functions but about 'matter' moving in space, represented by either particle trajectories, fields on space-time, or a discrete set of (...)
    Direct download (15 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   123 citations  
  2. Primitive Ontology and the Structure of Fundamental Physical Theories.Valia Allori - 2013 - In Alyssa Ney & David Albert (eds.), The Wave Function: Essays on the Metaphysics of Quantum Mechanics. , US: Oxford University Press USA. pp. 58-75.
    For a long time it was believed that it was impossible to be realist about quantum mechanics. It took quite a while for the researchers in the foundations of physics, beginning with John Stuart Bell [Bell 1987], to convince others that such an alleged impossibility had no foundation. Nowadays there are several quantum theories that can be interpreted realistically, among which Bohmian mechanics, the GRW theory, and the many-worlds theory. The debate, though, is far from being over: in what respect (...)
    Direct download (3 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   55 citations  
  3. Primitive Ontology in a Nutshell.Valia Allori - 2015 - International Journal of Quantum Foundations 1 (2):107-122.
    The aim of this paper is to summarize a particular approach of doing metaphysics through physics - the primitive ontology approach. The idea is that any fundamental physical theory has a well-defined architecture, to the foundation of which there is the primitive ontology, which represents matter. According to the framework provided by this approach when applied to quantum mechanics, the wave function is not suitable to represent matter. Rather, the wave function has a nomological character, given that its role in (...)
    Direct download (5 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   28 citations  
  4. Predictions and Primitive Ontology in Quantum Foundations: A Study of Examples.Valia Allori, Sheldon Goldstein, Roderich Tumulka & Nino Zanghì - 2014 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 65 (2):323-352.
    A major disagreement between different views about the foundations of quantum mechanics concerns whether for a theory to be intelligible as a fundamental physical theory it must involve a ‘primitive ontology’ (PO), i.e. variables describing the distribution of matter in four-dimensional space–time. In this article, we illustrate the value of having a PO. We do so by focusing on the role that the PO plays for extracting predictions from a given theory and discuss valid and invalid derivations of predictions. To (...)
    Direct download (10 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   45 citations  
  5. Many Worlds and Schrodinger's First Quantum Theory.Valia Allori, Sheldon Goldstein, Roderich Tumulka & Nino Zanghì - 2011 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 62 (1):1-27.
    Schrödinger’s first proposal for the interpretation of quantum mechanics was based on a postulate relating the wave function on configuration space to charge density in physical space. Schrödinger apparently later thought that his proposal was empirically wrong. We argue here that this is not the case, at least for a very similar proposal with charge density replaced by mass density. We argue that when analyzed carefully, this theory is seen to be an empirically adequate many-worlds theory and not an empirically (...)
    Direct download (11 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   46 citations  
  6.  63
    Statistical Mechanics and Scientific Explanation: Determinism, Indeterminism and Laws of Nature.Valia Allori (ed.) - 2020 - Singapore: World Scientific.
    The book explores several open questions in the philosophy of statistical mechanics. Each chapter is written by a leading expert in the field. Here is a list of some questions that are addressed in the book: 1) Boltzmann showed how the phenomenological gas laws of thermodynamics can be derived from statistical mechanics. Since classical mechanics is a deterministic theory there are no probabilities in it. Since statistical mechanics is based on classical mechanics, all the probabilities statistical mechanics talks about cannot (...)
  7. A New Argument for the Nomological Interpretation of the Wave Function: The Galilean Group and the Classical Limit of Nonrelativistic Quantum Mechanics.Valia Allori - 2017 - International Studies in the Philosophy of Science (2):177-188.
    In this paper I investigate, within the framework of realistic interpretations of the wave function in nonrelativistic quantum mechanics, the mathematical and physical nature of the wave function. I argue against the view that mathematically the wave function is a two-component scalar field on configuration space. First, I review how this view makes quantum mechanics non- Galilei invariant and yields the wrong classical limit. Moreover, I argue that interpreting the wave function as a ray, in agreement many physicists, Galilei invariance (...)
    Direct download (9 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   10 citations  
  8.  93
    Wave-functionalism.Valia Allori - 2021 - Synthese 199 (5-6):12271-12293.
    In this paper I present a new perspective for interpreting the wavefunction as a non-material, non-epistemic, non-representational entity. I endorse a functional view according to which the wavefunction is defined by its roles in the theory. I argue that this approach shares some similarities with the nomological account of the wave function as well as with the pragmatist and epistemic approaches to quantum theory, while avoiding the major objections of these alternatives.
    Direct download (4 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   5 citations  
  9.  95
    Quantum Mechanics and Fundamentality: Naturalizing Quantum Theory between Scientific Realism and Ontological Indeterminacy.Valia Allori (ed.) - 2022 - Cham: Springer.
    This edited collection provides new perspectives on some metaphysical questions arising in quantum mechanics. These questions have been long-standing and are of continued interest to researchers and graduate students working in physics, philosophy of physics and metaphysics. It features contributions from a diverse set of researchers, ranging from senior scholars to junior academics, working in varied fields, from physics to philosophy of physics and metaphysics. The contributors reflect on issues about fundamentality (is quantum theory fundamental? If so, what is its (...)
    Direct download (3 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   2 citations  
  10. Scientific Realism without the Wave-Function: An Example of Naturalized Quantum Metaphysics.Valia Allori - 2020 - In Juha Saatsi & Steven French (eds.), Scientific Realism and the Quantum. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    Scientific realism is the view that our best scientific theories can be regarded as (approximately) true. This is connected with the view that science, physics in particular, and metaphysics could (and should) inform one another: on the one hand, science tells us what the world is like, and on the other hand, metaphysical principles allow us to select between the various possible theories which are underdetermined by the data. Nonetheless, quantum mechanics has always been regarded as, at best, puzzling, if (...)
    Direct download (3 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   4 citations  
  11.  95
    Quantum mechanics, time and ontology.Valia Allori - 2019 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 66 (C):145-154.
    Against what is commonly accepted in many contexts, it has been recently suggested that both deterministic and indeterministic quantum theories are not time‐reversal invariant, and thus time is handed in a quantum world. In this paper, I analyze these arguments and evaluate possible reactions to them. In the context of deterministic theories, first I show that this conclusion depends on the controversial assumption that the wave‐function is a physically real scalar field in configuration space. Then I argue that answers which (...)
    Direct download (4 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   5 citations  
  12. On the Metaphysics of Quantum Mechanics.Valia Allori - 2013 - In Soazig Lebihan (ed.), La philosophie de la physique: d'aujourd'hui a demain. Editions Vuibert.
    What is quantum mechanics about? The most natural way to interpret quantum mechanics realistically as a theory about the world might seem to be what is called wave function ontology: the view according to which the wave function mathematically represents in a complete way fundamentally all there is in the world. Erwin Schroedinger was one of the first proponents of such a view, but he dismissed it after he realized it led to macroscopic superpositions (if the wave function evolves in (...)
    Direct download (3 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   10 citations  
  13. Maxwell's Paradox: The Metaphysics of Classical Electrodynamics and its Time Reversal Invariance.Valia Allori - 2015 - Analytica: an electronic, open-access journal for philosophy of science 1:1-19.
    In this paper, I argue that the recent discussion on the time - reversal invariance of classical electrodynamics (see (Albert 2000: ch.1), (Arntzenius 2004), (Earman 2002), (Malament 2004),(Horwich 1987: ch.3)) can be best understood assuming that the disagreement among the various authors is actually a disagreement about the metaphysics of classical electrodynamics. If so, the controversy will not be resolved until we have established which alternative is the most natural. It turns out that we have a paradox, namely that the (...)
    Direct download (6 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   6 citations  
  14. Quantum Mechanics and Paradigm Shifts.Valia Allori - 2015 - Topoi 34 (2):313-323.
    It has been argued that the transition from classical to quantum mechanics is an example of a Kuhnian scientific revolution, in which there is a shift from the simple, intuitive, straightforward classical paradigm, to the quantum, convoluted, counterintuitive, amazing new quantum paradigm. In this paper, after having clarified what these quantum paradigms are supposed to be, I analyze whether they constitute a radical departure from the classical paradigm. Contrary to what is commonly maintained, I argue that, in addition to radical (...)
    Direct download (9 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   4 citations  
  15.  14
    Primitive Beable is not Local Ontology: On the Relation between Primitive Ontology and Local Beables.Valia Allori - 2021 - Critica 159 (53):15-43.
    When discussing quantum ontology, the debate has recently focused on comparing and contrasting wavefunction realism and its rivals. Among them one finds the primitive ontology approach, which is often conflated with the local beables program. In this paper I wish to clarify what I take to be the distinction between the notion of primitive ontology and the one of local beable. I argue that the primitive ontology is the local beable which allows for a dynamical, constructive explanation which preserves symmetries.
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   2 citations  
  16. Primitive Ontology and the Classical World.Valia Allori - 2016 - In R. Kastner, J. Jeknic-Dugic & G. Jaroszkiewicz (eds.), Quantum Structural Studies: Classical Emergence from the Quantum Level. World Scientific. pp. 175-199.
    In this paper I present the common structure of quantum theories with a primitive ontology, and discuss in what sense the classical world emerges from quantum theories as understood in this framework. In addition, I argue that the primitive ontology approach is better at answering this question than the rival wave function ontology approach or any other approach in which the classical world is nonreductively ‘emergent:’ even if the classical limit within this framework needs to be fully developed, the difficulties (...)
    Direct download (4 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   3 citations  
  17. Scientific Realism and Primitive Ontology Or: The Pessimistic Induction and the Nature of the Wave Function.Valia Allori - 2018 - Lato Sensu 1 (5):69-76.
    In this paper I wish to connect the recent debate in the philosophy of quantum mechanics concerning the nature of the wave function to the historical debate in the philosophy of science regarding the tenability of scientific realism. Being realist about quantum mechanics is particularly challenging when focusing on the wave function. According to the wave function ontology approach, the wave function is a concrete physical entity. In contrast, according to an alternative viewpoint, namely the primitive ontology approach, the wave (...)
    Direct download (6 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   2 citations  
  18. Seven Steps Toward the Classical World.Valia Allori, Detlef Duerr, Nino Zanghi & Sheldon Goldstein - 2002 - Journal of Optics B 4:482–488.
    Classical physics is about real objects, like apples falling from trees, whose motion is governed by Newtonian laws. In standard quantum mechanics only the wave function or the results of measurements exist, and to answer the question of how the classical world can be part of the quantum world is a rather formidable task. However, this is not the case for Bohmian mechanics, which, like classical mechanics, is a theory about real objects. In Bohmian terms, the problem of the classical (...)
    Direct download (2 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   10 citations  
  19.  34
    Why Scientific Realists Should Reject the Second Dogma of Quantum Mechanics.Valia Allori - 2020 - In Meir Hemmo & Orly Shenker (eds.), Quantum, Probability, Logic: Itamar Pitowsky’s Work and Influence. Springer. pp. 19-48.
    The information-theoretic approach to quantum mechanics, proposed by Bub and Pitowsky, is a realist approach to quantum theory which rejects the “two dogmas” of quantum mechanics: in this theory measurement results are not analysed in terms of something more fundamental, and the quantum state does not represent physical entities. Bub and Pitowsky’s approach has been criticized because their rejection of the first dogma relies on their argument that kinematic explanations are more satisfactory than dynamical ones. However, little attention has been (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   2 citations  
  20. What is Bohmian Mechanics.Valia Allori & Nino Zanghi - 2004 - International Journal of Theoretical Physics 43:1743-1755.
    Bohmian mechanics is a quantum theory with a clear ontology. To make clear what we mean by this, we shall proceed by recalling first what are the problems of quantum mechanics. We shall then briefly sketch the basics of Bohmian mechanics and indicate how Bohmian mechanics solves these problems and clarifies the status and the role of of the quantum formalism.
    Direct download (2 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   9 citations  
  21. (1 other version)On the Classical Limit of Quantum Mechanics.Valia Allori & Nino Zanghì - 2008 - Foundations of Physics 10.1007/S10701-008-9259-4 39 (1):20-32.
    Contrary to the widespread belief, the problem of the emergence of classical mechanics from quantum mechanics is still open. In spite of many results on the ¯h → 0 asymptotics, it is not yet clear how to explain within standard quantum mechanics the classical motion of macroscopic bodies. In this paper we shall analyze special cases of classical behavior in the framework of a precise formulation of quantum mechanics, Bohmian mechanics, which contains in its own structure the possibility of describing (...)
    Direct download (10 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   6 citations  
  22.  20
    Quantum ontology and intuitions.Valia Allori - 2024 - European Journal for Philosophy of Science 14 (3):1-21.
    Among the various proposals for quantum ontology, both wavefunction realists and the primitive ontologists have argued that their approach is to be preferred because it relies on intuitive notions: locality, separability and spatiotemporality. As such, these proposals should be seen as normative frameworks asserting that one should choose the fundamental ontology which preserves these intuitions, even if they disagree about their relative importance: wavefunction realists favor preserving locality and separability, while primitive ontologists advocate for spatiotemporality. In this paper, first I (...)
    Direct download (3 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  23.  77
    La natura delle cose: introduzione ai fondamenti e alla filosofia della fisica.Valia Allori, Mauro Dorato, Federico Laudisa & Nino Zanghi (eds.) - 2005 - Roma: Carocci.
    The year 2005 has been named the World Year of Physics in recognition of the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein's "Miracle Year," in which he published four landmark papers which had deep and great influence on the last and the current century: quantum theory, general relativity, and statistical mechanics. Despite the enormous importance that Einstein’s discoveries played in these theories, most physicists adopt a version of quantum theory which is incompatible with the idea that motivated Einstein in the first place. (...)
    Direct download (3 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   5 citations  
  24.  59
    (1 other version)Response to authors "The Road to Maxwell's Demon".Valia Allori - 2015 - International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 29 (1):94-98.
    I recently reviewed Hemmo and Shenker's book "The Road to Maxwell's Demon" and the authors subsequently replied to my criticism. Here is my response to them.
    Direct download (4 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   3 citations  
  25. Space, Time, and (how they) Matter: a Discussion about some Metaphysical Insights Provided by our Best Fundamental Physical Theories.Valia Allori - 2016 - In G. C. Ghirardi & J. Statchel (eds.), Space, Time, and Frontiers of Human Understanding. Springer. pp. 95-107.
    This paper is a brief (and hopelessly incomplete) non-standard introduction to the philosophy of space and time. It is an introduction because I plan to give an overview of what I consider some of the main questions about space and time: Is space a substance over and above matter? How many dimensions does it have? Is space-time fundamental or emergent? Does time have a direction? Does time even exist? Nonetheless, this introduction is not standard because I conclude the discussion by (...)
    Direct download (3 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   1 citation  
  26.  19
    Spontaneous localization theories with a particle ontology.Valia Allori - 2020 - In Valia Allori, Angelo Bassi, Detlef Duerr & Nino Zanghi (eds.), Do Wave Functions Jump? Perspectives on the Work of GianCarlo Ghirardi. Springer. pp. 73-93.
    Spontaneous localization theory is a quantum theory proposed by GianCarlo Ghirardi, together with Alberto Rimini and Tullio Weber in 1986. However, soon it became clear to Ghirardi that his work was more than just one theory: he actually developed a framework, a family of theories in which the wavefunction jumps, but where the ontology of the theory is underdetermined. After acknowledging that the wavefunction did not provide a satisfactory ontology, he assumed that matter was described by a continuous matter density (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   1 citation  
  27.  16
    Hidden Variables and Bell’s Theorem: Local or Not?Valia Allori - 2024 - Theoria. An International Journal for Theory, History and Foundations of Science.
    Bell’s inequality is an empirical constrain on theories with hidden variables, which EPR argued are needed to explain observed perfect correlations if keeping locality. One way to deal with the empirical violation of Bell’s inequality is by openly embracing nonlocality, in a theory like the pilot-wave theory. Nonetheless, recent proposals have revived the possibility that one can avoid nonlocality by resorting to superdeterministic theories. These are local hidden variables theories which violate statistical independence which is one assumption of Bell’s inequality. (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  28.  27
    Who’s Afraid of the Measurement Problem?Valia Allori - 2024 - In Angelo Bassi, Sheldon Goldstein, Roderich Tumulka & Nino Zanghi (eds.), Physics and the Nature of Reality: Essays in Memory of Detlef Dürr. Springer. pp. 393-409.
    Scientific realists usually claim that quantum mechanics can be made compatible with scientific realism by solving the measurement problem, even if there is disagreement about which solution is best. In this paper I argue this is due to having different views about what it means to make quantum theory compatible with scientific realism: ‘relaxed’ realists think it is enough to solve the adequacy problem, ‘modest’ realists believe that there is also a precision problem, while ‘robust’ realists insist that quantum theory (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  29. What is It Like to be a Relativistic GRW Theory? Or: Quantum Mechanics and Relativity, Still in Conflict After All These Years.Valia Allori - 2022 - Foundations of Physics 52 (4):1-28.
    The violation of Bell’s inequality has shown that quantum theory and relativity are in tension: reality is nonlocal. Nonetheless, many have argued that GRW-type theories are to be preferred to pilot-wave theories as they are more compatible with relativity: while relativistic pilot-wave theories require a preferred slicing of space-time, foliation-free relativistic GRW-type theories have been proposed. In this paper I discuss various meanings of ‘relativistic invariance,’ and I show how GRW-type theories, while being more relativistic in one sense, are less (...)
    Direct download (4 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  30.  70
    Fundamental physical theories: mathematical structures grounded on a primitive ontology.Valia Allori - 2007 - Dissertation, Rutgers
    In my dissertation I analyze the structure of fundamental physical theories. I start with an analysis of what an adequate primitive ontology is, discussing the measurement problem in quantum mechanics and theirs solutions. It is commonly said that these theories have little in common. I argue instead that the moral of the measurement problem is that the wave function cannot represent physical objects and a common structure between these solutions can be recognized: each of them is about a clear three-dimensional (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   3 citations  
  31.  17
    Relativistic Pilot-Wave Theories as the Rational Completion of Quantum Mechanics and Relativity.Valia Allori - 2023 - In Andrea Oldofredi (ed.), Guiding Waves In Quantum Mechanics: 100 Years of de Broglie-Bohm Pilot-Wave Theory. Oxford University Press.
    Einstein thought that quantum mechanics was incomplete because it was nonlocal. In this paper I argue instead that quantum theory is incomplete, even if it is nonlocal, and that relativity is incomplete because its minimal spatiotemporal structure cannot naturally accommodate such nonlocality. So, I show that relativistic pilot-wave theories are the rational completion of quantum mechanics as well as relativity: they provide a spatiotemporal ontology of particles, as well as a spatiotemporal structure able to explain quantum correlations.
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  32.  10
    What if We Lived in the Best of All Possible (Quantum) Worlds?Valia Allori - forthcoming - In P. Castro, J. W. M. Bush & J. R. Croca (eds.), Advances in Pilot Wave Theory – From Experiments to Foundations. Springer.
    For scientific realists, quantum mechanics is unsatisfactory because it suffers from the measurement problem. However, there are at least three promising solutions: the pilot-wave theory, the many-worlds theory, and the theory of spontaneous collapse. In this paper I argue that the measurement problem is a false problem for the realist: it was proposed as the last resort to convince the positivists that the theory is not empirically adequate. Instead realists should focus on preserving the reductive explanatory schema that had worked (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  33. Decoherence and the classical limit of quantum mechanics.Valia Allori - 2002 - Dissertation, University of Genova, Italy
    In my dissertation (Rutgers, 2007) I developed the proposal that one can establish that material quantum objects behave classically just in case there is a “local plane wave” regime, which naturally corresponds to the suppression of all quantum interference.
    Direct download (2 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   3 citations  
  34. (1 other version)Free Will in a Quantum World?Valia Allori - 2019 - In J. Acacio de Barros & Carlos Montemayor (eds.), Quanta and Mind: Essays on the Connection Between Quantum Mechanics and Consciousness. Springer Verlag.
    In this paper, I argue that Conway and Kochen’s Free Will Theorem (1,2) to the conclusion that quantum mechanics and relativity entail freedom for the particles, does not change the situation in favor of a libertarian position as they would like. In fact, the theorem more or less implicitly assumes that people are free, and thus it begs the question. Moreover, it does not prove neither that if people are free, so are particles, nor that the property people possess when (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  35. E' completa la descrizione della realta' fisica fornita dalla meccanica quantistica?Valia Allori & Nino Zanghi - 2007 - Il Protagora 9:163-180.
    In this paper (in Italian) we discuss how quantum theories can be thought of as having the same structure. If so, even the theories that appear to be about the wave function are incomplete, even if in a way which is very different from the one Einstein proposed.
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  36. (1 other version)Ontologie quantistiche di particelle, campi e lampi.Valia Allori & Nino Zanghi - 2007 - In Vincenzo Fano & Mauro Antonelli (eds.), "Strutture dello spazio tra fisica e psicologia" Teorie e Modelli XII, III. Pitagora. pp. 9-29.
    La meccanica quantistica è una delle più grandi conquiste intellettuali del xx secolo. Le sue leggiregolano il mondo atomico e subatomico e si riverberano su una miriade di fenomeni del mondomacroscopico, dalla formazione dei cristalli alla superconduttività, dalle proprietà dei fluidi a bassatemperatura agli spettri di emissione di una candela che brucia o di una supernova che esplode, daimeccanismi di combustione della fornace solare ai principi di base delle nanotecnologie. Non c’èquasi nulla nel mondo che ci circonda su cui non (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  37. From No-signaling to Spontaneous Localization Theories.Valia Allori - 2019 - International Journal of Quantum Foundations 5:1-10.
    GianCarlo Ghirardi passed away on June 1st, 201. He would have turned 83 on October 28, 2018. He was without any doubt one of the most prominent theoretical physicists working on the foundation and the philosophy of quantum mechanics. In this paper I review some of his achievements and underline how his research influenced the philosophy of physics community.
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  38. La storia del gatto che era sia vivo che morto.Valia Allori - 2009 - In Enrico Giannetto (ed.), Da Archimede a Majorana: la fisica nel suo divenire. Guaraldi. pp. 273-283.
    Questa è la breve storia , forse un poco romanzata, del gatto che, se non forse il più citato, è di sicuro il più bistrattato della storia della fisica e della filosofia: il gatto di Schrödinger.
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  39.  50
    “The Paradox of Deterministic Probabilities”.Valia Allori - 2022 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 1 (DOI: 10.1080/0020174X.2022.20655):0-00.
    This paper aims to investigate the so-called paradox of deterministic probabilities: in a deterministic world, all probabilities should be subjective; however, they also seem to play important explanatory and predictive roles which suggest they are objective. The problem is then to understand what these deterministic probabilities are. Recent proposed solutions of this paradox are the Mentaculus vision, the range account of probability, and a version of frequentism based on typicality. All these approaches aim at defining deterministic objective probabilities as to (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  40.  33
    Contemporary Echoes of the World Soul: Quantum Mechanics and Consciousness.Valia Allori - 2021 - In James Wilberding (ed.), World Soul: A history. New York, NY, United States of America: Oxford University Press. pp. 320-342.
    Quantum mechanics is a groundbreaking theory: not only it is extraordinarily empirically adequate but also it is claimed to having shattered the classical paradigm of understanding the observer-observed distinction as well as the part-whole relation. This, together with other quantum features, has been taken to suggest that quantum theory can help us understand the mind-body relation in a unique way, in particular to solve the hard problem of consciousness along the lines of panpsychism. In this paper, after having briefly presented (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  41.  28
    Fundamental Objects without Fundamental Properties: A Thin-oriented Metaphysics Grounded on Structure.Valia Allori - forthcoming - In D. Aerts, J. Arenhart, C. De Ronde & G. Sergioli (eds.), Probing the Meaning and Structure of Quantum Mechanics.
    The scientific realist wants to read the metaphysical picture of reality through our best fundamental physical theories. The traditional way of doing so is in terms of objects, properties, and laws of nature. For instance, there are families of fundamental particles individuated by their properties of mass and charge, which determine how they move around. One could call this view an object-oriented metaphysics grounded on properties. In this paper, I wish to present an alternative view that one can dub a (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  42.  9
    Many-Worlds: Why is it not the Consensus?Valia Allori - 2022 - Quantum Reports 5 (1):80-101.
    In this paper, I argue that the many-worlds theory, even if it is arguably the mathematically most straightforward realist reading of quantum formalism, even if it is arguably local and deterministic, is not universally regarded as the best realist quantum theory because it provides a type of explanation that is not universally accepted. Since people disagree about what desiderata a satisfactory physical theory should possess, they also disagree about which explanatory schema one should look for in a theory, and this (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  43.  19
    Towards a Structuralist Elimination of Properties.Valia Allori - 2022 - In Quantum Mechanics and Fundamentality: Naturalizing Quantum Theory between Scientific Realism and Ontological Indeterminacy. Cham: Springer. pp. 141-155.
    Scientific realists investigate the ontology of the world and explain the observed phenomena by using our best fundamental physical theories. These theories describe the behavior of fundamental objects in terms of their fundamental properties, which determine their behavior. This paper is the natural companion of another paper in which I propose an alternative to this traditional account of metaphysics, according to which fundamental objects have no other fundamental property than the one needed to specify their nature. In that paper I (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  44.  18
    Spontaneous Localization Theories.Valia Allori - 2022 - In Olival Freire (ed.), Oxford Handbook on the History of Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics.
    Spontaneous localization theories are a class of quantum theories which solve the so-called measurement problem by non-linearly and stochastically modifying the Schrödinger dynamics. In this paper I briefly explain where these theories are coming from, what their driving ideas and main features are, and how they were historically developed. Also, I discuss their empirical and ontological adequacy, as well as their relativistic extensions and their experimental confirmation.
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  45.  23
    On the Galilean Invariance of the Pilot-Wave Theory.Valia Allori - 2022 - Foundations of Physics 52 (5):1-21.
    Many agree that the pilot-wave theory is to be understood as a first-order theory, in which the law constrains the velocity of the particles. However, while Dürr, Goldstein and Zanghì maintain that the pilot-wave theory is Galilei invariant, Valentini argues that such a symmetry is mathematical but it has no physical significance. Moreover, some wavefunction realists insist that the pilot-wave theory is not Galilei invariant in any sense. It has been maintained by some that this disagreement originates in the disagreement (...)
    Direct download (4 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  46. How to Make Sense of Quantum Mechanics : Fundamental Physical Theories and Primitive Ontology.Valia Allori - manuscript
    Quantum mechanics has always been regarded as, at best, puzzling, if not contradictory. The aim of the paper is to explore a particular approach to fundamental physical theories, the one based on the notion of primitive ontology. This approach, when applied to quantum mechanics, makes it a paradox-free theory.
    Direct download (3 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  47.  43
    Do Wave Functions Jump? Perspectives on the Work of GianCarlo Ghirardi.Valia Allori, Angelo Bassi, Detlef Duerr & Nino Zanghi (eds.) - 2020 - Springer.
    Book to honor the work of GianCarlo Ghirardi.
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  48.  16
    (1 other version)Some Reflections on the Statistical Postulate: Typicality, Probability and Explanation between Deterministic and Indeterministic Theories.Valia Allori - 2020 - In Statistical Mechanics and Scientific Explanation: Determinism, Indeterminism and Laws of Nature. Singapore: World Scientific.
    A common way of characterizing Boltzmann’s explanation of thermodynamics in term of statistical mechanics is with reference to three ingredients: the dynamics, the past hypothesis, and the statistical postulate. In this paper I focus on the statistical postulate, and I have three aims. First, I wish to argue that regarding the statistical postulate as a probability postulate may be too strong: a postulate about typicality would be enough. Second, I wish to show that there is no need to postulate anything, (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  49.  23
    (1 other version)The Kantian Legacy in Nineteenth-Century Science (review).Valia Allori - 2009 - Journal of the History of Philosophy 47 (3):478-479.
    The book originates from an international conference held in November 2000 at the Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology at MIT. The main conviction of the authors is that not only the development of modern mathematics, foundations of mathematics, and mathematical logic, but also the development of modern scientific thought can be better understood as an evolution from Kant. The main reason for focusing on the nineteenth century is that this will allow us to set aside the (...)
    No categories
    Direct download (3 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  50.  40
    Book review of: "The Road to Maxwell's Demon: Conceptual Foundations of Statistical Mechanics" by M. Hemmo and O. Shenker. [REVIEW]Valia Allori - 2013 - International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 27 (4):453-456.
    Book review of Meir Hemmo and Orly Shenker's book "The Road to Maxwell's Demon: Conceptual Foundations of Statistical Mechanics.".
    Direct download (3 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   4 citations  
1 — 50 / 59