[PhilPhys] Next Week - Lunch Time Talks - Lucy James 10/15 and Bob Batterman 10/18

[Center for Phil Sci]

The Center for Philosophy of Science invites you to join us for our Lunch
Time Talks.  Attend in person, Room 1117 on the 11th floor of the Cathedral
of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh or visit our live stream on
YouTube at *https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrRp47ZMXD7NXO3a9Gyh2sg
<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrRp47ZMXD7NXO3a9Gyh2sg>*.





*LTT: **Lucy James *



Tuesday, October 15th @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm EDT



*Title: Primordial Black Holes in Perspective*



*Abstract:*

This talk gives an illustration of some general ideas about perspectival
disagreement, using the case of primordial black holes (PBHs). Some
theoretical arguments for their existence are considered, alongside a
cursory review of some literature discussing the possibility of acquiring
empirical data that would distinguish primordial from astrophysical black
holes. Finally, and most substantially, a putative explanatory role of PBHs
is discussed in the context of matter formation and spacetime ’emergence’.
Differences between the ways in which PBHs are understood from alternative
perspectives are pointed out: PBHs have (some) different properties
depending on whether they are being studied by the mathematical general
relativist, the experimentally inclined astrophysicist, or the speculative
cosmologist. Such perspectival disagreement need not be indicative of
ontological pluralism. It is argued instead that instances of perspectival
disagreement point to physics being an incomplete enterprise, whose
evolution is unavoidably constrained by epistemic limitations. Unificatory
projects are considered progressive, since such projects provide the most
likely sources of metaphysical insight when they are successful. Adding
precision to our understanding of the salient characteristics of the
perspectives in question, when perspectival disagreement occurs, can pave
the way for more successful unification projects.



*Can’t make it in-person? This talk will available online through the
following:*



Zoom:  https://pitt.zoom.us/j/99322492076



YouTube at: *https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrRp47ZMXD7NXO3a9Gyh2sg
<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrRp47ZMXD7NXO3a9Gyh2sg>*.







*LTT: **Bob Batterman*



Friday, October 18th @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm EDT



*Title: Deep Learning, Correlations, and the Statistics of Natural Images*



*Abstract:*

In this paper I will highlight certain connections between Deep Neural
Networks (DNNs) and Renormalization Group methods in statistical physics.
I will suggest that some of these similarities can be exploited to
understand why some DNNs can be so successful.  Specifically, I will
suggest that DNNs generalize as well as they do because their training
allows them to discover/recover certain remarkably robust statistical
regularities present in their (diverse) training data sets.



*Can’t make it in-person? This talk will available online through the
following:*



Zoom:  https://pitt.zoom.us/j/94223992589



YouTube at: *https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrRp47ZMXD7NXO3a9Gyh2sg
<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrRp47ZMXD7NXO3a9Gyh2sg>*.
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