Sterlings 1
Nov 11, 2022 03:45 PM - 05:45 PM(America/New_York)
20221111T1545 20221111T1745 America/New_York Philosophy of Physics: astronomy and cosmology Sterlings 1 PSA 2022 office@philsci.org
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Unpacking Black Hole ComplementarityView Abstract
Contributed PapersPhilosophy of Physics - general / other 03:45 PM - 04:15 PM (America/New_York) 2022/11/11 20:45:00 UTC - 2022/11/11 21:15:00 UTC
Black hole complementarity is an influential set of ideas that respond to the black hole information paradox. Unpacking this literature, I argue that black hole complementarity is about the consistency of quantum characterizations of an evaporating black hole and I delineate two consistency claims—i.e., two principles of black hole complementarity: operational complementarity and descriptive complementarity. A series of thought experiments in the physics literature on black hole complementarity gives us strong reasons to adopt the operational principle and reject the descriptive principle. Consequently, if we can stomach operationalism, then operational complementarity may suffice to resolve the black hole information paradox.
Presenters
SM
Siddharth Muthukrishnan
Graduate Student, University Of Pittsburgh HPS
Excavation in the Sky: Historical Inferences in AstronomyView Abstract
Contributed PapersPhilosophy of Astronomy / Cosmology 04:15 PM - 04:45 PM (America/New_York) 2022/11/11 21:15:00 UTC - 2022/11/11 21:45:00 UTC
Astronomy shares many similarities with historical sciences: the reconstruction of token events, the lack of manipulation, and the reliance on traces. I highlight two benefits of viewing astronomy as a historical science. First, the methodology of historical sciences constitutes a more sufficient description of how astronomers study token events and regularities. Second, how astronomers identify traces of past events offers a more delicate understanding of what traces are. The identification of traces is only gradually achieved through iterations between data-driven approaches and theory-driven approaches, together with the cross-validation between multiple relevant historical events and between diverse datasets.
Presenters
SY
Siyu Yao
Indiana University Bloomington
How Theory-laden are Observations of Black Holes?View Abstract
Contributed PapersPhilosophy of Astronomy / Cosmology 04:45 PM - 05:15 PM (America/New_York) 2022/11/11 21:45:00 UTC - 2022/11/11 22:15:00 UTC
In this paper, we assess the extent to which contemporary observations of black holes---particularly those of the LIGO-Virgo and Event Horizon Telescope Collaborations---are ``theory laden''. General relativistic assumptions enter into the methods of both experiments through the use of simulations of black hole spacetimes. This includes numerical relativity simulations in the case of LIGO-Virgo and general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations in the case of the Event Horizon Telescope. We argue that simulations play an ``ampliative'' role in both experiments, and that this role is problematically circular in the former case, but not the latter.
Presenters
JE
Jamee Elder
Harvard University
JD
Juliusz Doboszewski
University Of Bonn
GR as a classical spin-2 theory?View Abstract
Contributed PapersPhilosophy of Physics - space and time 05:15 PM - 05:45 PM (America/New_York) 2022/11/11 22:15:00 UTC - 2022/11/11 22:45:00 UTC
The spin-2 view on GR has been extremely influential in the particle physics community, including for the development of string theory. Leaving no doubt on its heuristic value, we argue that a foundationalist spin-2 view of GR, as often tacitly taken up as well, runs into a dilemma: either the spin-2 view is physically incoherent, or it leads to an absurd multiplication of alternative viewpoints on GR — in an immediate clash with accepted standards of theorising, and current knowledge of (quantising) gravity.
Presenters
NL
Niels Linnemann
University Of Bremen
Graduate Student
,
University of Pittsburgh HPS
Indiana University Bloomington
University of Bonn
Harvard University
University of Bremen
Presenter
,
Merton College, University of Oxford
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