The course is taught through a combination of seminars and tutorials. The Advanced Philosophy of Physics seminar comprises 32 hours in total, 8 x 2 hrs in MT and 8 x 2 hrs in HT
Dr Adam Caulton
Mini-project or no formal assessment; homework completion
Thursdays 9-11am, Radcliffe Humanities Building, Ryle Room
Dr O Maroney, Dr A Caulton and Dr J Read
This series of classes will cover contemporary topics in the philosophy of physics, with emphasis on thermal physics, symmetries and spacetime. Theprimary intended audience is MSt students in Philosophy of Physics, fourth year Physics & Philosophy undergraduates studying the Advanced Philosophy of Physics paper, and MMathPhys and MSc students in Mathematical and Theoretical Physics. Others (especially BPhil students with a Philosophy of Physics interest) are welcome.
The provisional schedule is:
Weeks 1-4 Dr O Maroney
Week 1 What is statistical mechanics? Boltzmann vs Gibbs
Week 2 The reduction of thermodynamics to statistical mechanics
Week 3 The problem of entropy and the Past Hypothesis
Week 4 Fluctuations and Maxwell’s Demon
Weeks 5-6 Dr A Caulton
Week 5 Noether's Theorems
Week 6 The ontology of the Aharanov-Bohm effect
Week 7-8 Dr J Read
Week 7: The hole argument in general relativity
Week 8: Chronogeometry in spacetime theories