What is the role and meaning of probability in physical theory, in particular in two of the most successful theories of our age, quantum physics and statistical mechanics? Laws once conceived as universal and deterministic, such as Newton‘s laws of motion, or the second law of thermodynamics, are replaced in these theories by inherently probabilistic laws. This collection of essays by some of the world‘s foremost experts presents an in-depth analysis of the meaning of probability in contemporary physics. Among the questions addressed are: How are probabilities defined? Are they objective or subjective? What is their explanatory value? What are the differences between quantum and classical probabilities? The result is an informative and thought-provoking book for the scientifically inquisitive.
Author(s): Yemima Ben-Menahem, Meir Hemmo (auth.), Yemima Ben-Menahem, Meir Hemmo (eds.)
Series: The Frontiers Collection
Edition: 1
Publisher: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
Year: 2012
Language: English
Pages: 324
Tags: Statistical Physics, Dynamical Systems and Complexity;Quantum Physics;Probability Theory and Stochastic Processes;Philosophy of Science
Front Matter....Pages i-xii
Introduction....Pages 1-16
Physics and Chance....Pages 17-40
Typicality and the Role of the Lebesgue Measure in Statistical Mechanics....Pages 41-58
Typicality and Notions of Probability in Physics....Pages 59-71
Deterministic Laws and Epistemic Chances....Pages 73-85
Measures over Initial Conditions....Pages 87-98
A New Approach to the Approach to Equilibrium....Pages 99-113
Revising Statistical Mechanics: Probability, Typicality and Closure Time....Pages 115-134
How Many Maxwell’s Demons, and Where?....Pages 135-148
Locality and Determinism: The Odd Couple....Pages 149-165
Why the Tsirelson Bound?....Pages 167-185
Three Attempts at Two Axioms for Quantum Mechanics....Pages 187-200
Generalized Probability Measures and the Framework of Effects....Pages 201-217
Infinitely Challenging: Pitowsky’s Subjective Interpretation and the Physics of Infinite Systems....Pages 219-232
Bayesian Conditioning, the Reflection Principle, and Quantum Decoherence....Pages 233-247
The World According to de Finetti: On de Finetti’s Theory of Probability and Its Application to Quantum Mechanics....Pages 249-280
Four and a Half Axioms for Finite-Dimensional Quantum Probability....Pages 281-298
Probability in the Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics....Pages 299-311
Back Matter....Pages 313-321
