Beyond the Dynamical Universe

Unifying Block Universe Physics and Time as Experienced

Inbunden, Engelska, 2018

Av Michael Silberstein, W.M. Stuckey, Timothy McDevitt, USA) Silberstein, Michael (, Professor, Department of Philosophy, Elizabethtown College, USA) Stuckey, W.M. (, Professor of physics, Elizabethtown College, USA) McDevitt, Timothy (, Professor of mathematics, Elizabethtown College, Silberstein Et Al, SILBERSTEIN ET AL

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Theoretical physics and foundations of physics have not made much progress in the last few decades. Whether we are talking about unifying general relativity and quantum field theory (quantum gravity), explaining so-called dark energy and dark matter (cosmology), or the interpretation and implications of quantum mechanics and relativity, there is no consensus in sight. In addition, both enterprises are deeply puzzled about various facets of time including above all, time as experienced. The authors argue that, across the board, this impasse is the result of the "dynamical universe paradigm," the idea that reality is fundamentally made up of physical entities that evolve in time from some initial state according to dynamical laws.Thus, in the dynamical universe, the initial conditions plus the dynamical laws explain everything else going exclusively forward in time. In cosmology, for example, the initial conditions reside in the Big Bang and the dynamical law is supplied by general relativity. Accordingly, the present state of the universe is explained exclusively by its past. This book offers a completely new paradigm (called Relational Blockworld), whereby the past, present and future co-determine each other via "adynamical global constraints," such as the least action principle. Accordingly, the future is just as important for explaining the present as is the past. Most of the book is devoted to showing how Relational Blockworld resolves many of the current conundrums of both theoretical physics and foundations of physics, including the mystery of time as experienced and how that experience relates to the block universe.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2018-02-15
Mått163 x 237 x 28 mm
Vikt874 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor448
FörlagOUP OXFORD
ISBN9780198807087

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Michael David Silberstein is Professor of Philosophy at Elizabethtown College and Affiliated Faculty in the philosophy department at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he is also a faculty member in the Foundations of Physics Program and a Fellow on the Committee for Philosophy and the Sciences. He is an NEH Fellow. His primary research interests are foundations of physics and foundations of cognitive science, respectively. He is also interested in how these branches of philosophy and science bear on more general questions of reduction, emergence and explanation. Mark Stuckey is a professor of physics at Elizabethtown College where he teaches an array of physics courses to include general relativity and quantum mechanics. He has published in the areas of relativistic cosmology, dark matter, dark energy, quantum gravity, and foundations of physics. Timothy McDevitt is a professor of mathematics at Elizabethtown College where he teaches a variety of math courses. His research is highlyinterdisciplinary and he has published in applied mechanics, numerical analysis, physics, education, and medicine.

Part I: Book OverviewOverture for Ants1: IntroductionPart II: Adynamical Explanation: Physics2: The Block Universe from Special Relativity3: Resolving Puzzles, Problems and Paradoxes from General Relativity4: Relational Blockworld and Quantum Mechanics5: Relational Blockworld and Quantum Field Theory6: Relational Blockworld Approach to Unification and Quantum GravityPart III: Adynamical Explanation: Time as Experienced7: Conscious Experience and the Block Universe8: Relational Blockworld: Experience, Time and Space ReintegratedCoda for AntsReferences