Summer School: The Nature of Entropy – Arrow of Time

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Arrow of Time

The Nature of Entropy II: Arrow of Time.
NEW DATE AND LOCATION: August 1 – 6, 2022; Kochel am See, Germany

Why is there an arrow of time in a universe guided, on the fundamental level, by time-symmetric microscopic laws? What role does entropy play in explaining the difference between past and future? Is the passage of time real or just a stubborn illusion?

The interdisciplinary summer school wants to tackle these questions head-on. By bringing together young researchers, graduate students, and internationally acclaimed experts working on statistical mechanics, quantum foundations, and the philosophy of science, we will investigate the nature of time in light of modern physics and clarify its relation to entropy. 

Online Workshop: Shape Dynamics – Achievements & Perspectives in Relational Physics

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Shape Dynamics

30 September & 1 October 2021

Shape Dynamics is a framework for formulating physical theories relationally, without reference to absolute space and time. Based on philosophical ideas of Leibniz and Mach, it was introduced by Barbour and Bertotti in 1982 and has since given rise to new approaches to classical, general relativistic, and quantum physics.

The workshop will feature many of the leading researchers in this field and present recent results that offer new perspectives on gravity, spacetime singularities, typicality, the arrow of time, and even quantum gravity.

Summer School: The Nature of Entropy I

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Boltzmann

The Nature of Entropy I: From thermodynamics to black holes.
22 – 27 July 2019 in Saig, Germany.

Entropy is a central physical concept. Considerations about entropy have been indispensable, from its introduction into thermodynamics by Clausius, to the statistical mechanics of Boltzmann and Gibbs, to debates over black hole entropy which is arguably our best guide to a theory of quantum gravity. But do we really understand what entropy is and how it comes to appear in physical laws?

By bringing together young researchers, PhD students, and internationally acclaimed experts working on statistical mechanics, cosmology and the philosophy of science, this international summer school will investigate the notion of entropy, highlight its role at the forefront of modern physics, and discuss related philosophical issues.

Workshop: New Topics in Quantum Foundations

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Quantum Foundations Workshop

  Workshop: New Topics in Quantum Foundations November 29 – 30, 2018     Université de Lausanne Over the past few decades, great work by physicists and philosophers has cleared up much of the early confusion about the foundations of quantum mechanics. Controversies are still ongoing and old prejudices are hard to overcome, but the measurement problem … Read more