[PhilPhys] Friday 17 February - Physics meets Philosophy - Hybrid talk by Valeriya Chasova

[Valeriya Chasova]

Dear all, 

See below an announcement of my talk next week which you are welcome to attend. 

Best wishes, 

Valeriya Chasova 

[ https://valeriyachasova.xyz/ | https://valeriyachasova.xyz/ ] 


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Dear all, 

There will a meeting of our discussion group "Physics meets Philosophy" on February 17th (Friday) at 16:30 CET in the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) Seminar room (Austria, Vienna, Boltzmanngasse 3, 2nd floor). 

The presenter of the session will be Dr Valeriya Chasova (Salzburg/Strasbourg/Louvain-la-Neuve), who will talk about Interference-based experiments in light of direct empirical status . 


Abstract of the talk: 

Symmetry, or invariance under a transformation, frequently occurs in physics, but has been usually interpreted there as either redundant or at best having a heuristic value. However, quite recently it was suggested to bestow direct empirical status (DES) on theoretical symmetries of physics by linking them with empirical symmetries in the world. For example, Galileo’s ship empirical symmetry consists in the invariance of some phenomena within a ship under its boost with respect to the shore. This recognised empirical symmetry yields DES to a theoretical boost symmetry applied to a subsystem. 

While some more such examples of empirical symmetries also got recognised, for other cases it is unclear which of them should be qualified as empirical symmetries and how, and accordingly whether the corresponding theoretical symmetries should get DES. In this talk I will analyse a group of such cases which all are experiments involving interference patterns (the Michelson-Morley experiment, ’t Hooft’s beam-splitter empirical symmetry, Wu-Yang’s beam-splitter empirical symmetry, the Aharonov-Bohm effect) but which all differ in their appreciation (they are considered as respectively apparently failed, thought but recognised, candidate, first thought and then successful). I will present and compare these experiments, reflect on the question of defining them and on its relationship with the notion of empirical symmetry, as well as tell about the resulting impact on the ontology of theoretical symmetries (among others, phase and gauge symmetries). 

Though this topic is quite specific, its philosophical value is substantial and the physical theories concerned by it are rather numerous (including relativistic, quantum and gauge). Moreover, it exemplifies some general issues from physics and philosophy, like various aims for devising experiments and the heuristic and normative aspects in the elaboration of definitions. 


In case you are not able to attend the event in person, you can connect via the following Zoom link: [ https://univienna.zoom.us/j/66250352408?pwd=M245Z2ZsRk1yVCtKTnEwRUk2aXpJQT09 | https://univienna.zoom.us/j/66250352408?pwd=M245Z2ZsRk1yVCtKTnEwRUk2aXpJQT09 ] 

Meeting ID: 662 5035 2408 
Password: 240632 

Best wishes, 

Sebastian Horvat, organiser (horvatsebastian96 at gmail.com) 

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