Physical Theory as Logico-Operational Structure

Buch | Softcover

336 Seiten

2012 | Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1979
Springer (Verlag)
978-94-009-9771-4 (ISBN)

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In two earlier volumes, entitled The Logico-Algebraic Approach to Quan tum Mechanics (hereafter LAA I, II), I have presented collections of research papers which trace out the historical development and contem porary flowering of a particular approach to physical theory. One might characterise this approach as the extraction of an abstract logico-algebraic skeleton from each physical theory and the reconstruction of the physical theory as construction of mathematical and interpretive 'flesh' (e. g. , measures, operators, mappings etc. ) on this skeleton. The idea is to show how the specific features of a theory that are easily seen in application (e. g. , 'interference' among observables in quantum mechanics) arise out of the character of its core abstract structure. In this fashion both the deeper nature of a theory (e. g. , in what precise sense quantum mechanics is strongly statistical) and the deeper differences between theories (e. g. clas sical mechanics, though also a 'mechanics', is not strongly statistical) are penetratingly illuminated. What I would describe as the 'mainstream' logico-algebraic tradition is captured in these two collections of papers (LAA I, II). The abstract, structural approach to the characterisation of physical theory has been the basis of a striking transformation, in this century, in the understanding of theories in mathematical physics. There has emerged clearly the idea that physical theories are most significantly characterised by their abstract structural components.

Process Philosophy and Quantum Dynamics.- Formal Languages and the Foundations of Physics.- Is the Hilbert space language too rich?.- Generalized Quantum Mechanics.- Quantum Logic.- The Operational Approach to Quantum Mechanics.- Completeness of Quantum Logic.- Quantum Logical Calculi and Lattice Structures.- An Operational Approach to Quantum Probability.- Index of Names.- Index of Subjects.

Reihe/Serie	The Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science ; 7
Zusatzinfo	XVII, 336 p.
Verlagsort	Dordrecht
Sprache	englisch
Maße	155 x 235 mm
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Allgemeines / Lexika
Themenwelt	Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie ► Quantenphysik
ISBN-10	94-009-9771-X / 940099771X
ISBN-13	978-94-009-9771-4 / 9789400997714
Zustand	Neuware