invites everybody to the eleventh of its interdisciplinary seminars in the series "Foundations". In this series CLEA invites scholars that are actively engaged in the research on the foundations of a particular discipline. Their lectures will always be directed
to an interdisciplinary audience, and the discussions aim at confronting
the foundations of the different disciplines.
(Professor at the Departement de Physique Théorique, Université de Genève)
Friday, November 08 at 5 p.m. in room L210 (buildingL,HILOK)
Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Campus Oefenplein.
In last year's conference "Einstein meets Magritte" I explained that in spite of the two revolutions Quanta and Relativity, the physicist in the street has clung against all evidence to an idea of world reality which is more or less that of Leibniz and Descartes: a void recipient filled with little particles and other kinds of ether. Here I would like to develop the end of my lecture last year "Quanta and Relativity: Two Failed Revolutions" where I proposed to take seriously the philosophy of Newton and Clarke. I will first recall the philosophy of Descartes and Leibniz: Space is nothing but a system of relations devoid of metaphysical or ontological existence. I will discuss this notion in its historical context from the 15th to the 20th century and the inherent difficulties to which it leads. After this, I turn my attention to the view of Newton and Clarke and explain how a reexamination allows us to reformulate their ideas into a theory which avoids the usual criticisms. Finally, I will explain how modern physics can be built, in particular how the quantum world is to be really understood.
About the speaker:
Constantin Piron was trained as a physicist at the Ecole Polytechnique de Lausanne. His work lies at the basis of an axiomatic approach to quantum mechanics, commonly called the "Geneva Approach". He has published "Foundations of Quantum Physics" (1976) and "Mécanique quantique, bases et applications" (1990), and is professor of theoretical physics at the University of Geneva, Switzerland.
The presentation with questions will last about an hour. Afterwards, an hour or more is reserved for an in-depth, group discussion of the topic.
More info at the CLEA office: phone 02-644 26 77 (afternoon) or via the Web-page: http://cleamc11.vub.ac.be/CLEA/