Chance in physics : foundations and perspectives

This selection of reviews and papers is intended to stimulate renewed reflection on the fundamental and practical aspects of probability in physics. While putting emphasis on conceptual aspects in the foundations of statistical and quantum mechanics, the book deals with the philosophy of probability in its interrelation with mathematics and physics in general. Addressing graduate students and researchers in physics and mathematics togehter with philosophers of science, the contributions avoid cumbersome technicalities in order to make the book worthwhile reading for nonspecialists and specialists alike. Bayes, Boltzmann and Bohm: Probabilities in Physics....Pages 3-21 The Rise of Statistical Mechanics....Pages 25-38 Boltzmann’s Approach to Statistical Mechanics....Pages 39-54 Microscopic Time Reversibility and the Boltzmann Equation....Pages 55-59 The Direction of Time....Pages 61-82 How to Implement Boltzmann’s Probabilistic Ideas in a Relativistic World?....Pages 83-100 Probability in Orthodox Quantum Mechanics: Probability as a Postulate Versus Probability as an Emergent Phenomenon....Pages 103-114 Bohmian Mechanics....Pages 115-131 Chance of Reduction as Chance of Spontaneous Localisation....Pages 133-147 Probabilities, Decohering Histories, and the Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics....Pages 149-156 Space Time and Probability....Pages 157-165 Hidden Variables, Statistical Mechanics and the Early Universe....Pages 165-181 Perspectives of the Dynamical Reduction Program....Pages 183-193 Relativistic Theory of Continuous Measurements....Pages 195-212 Probabilistic Results for Six Detectors in a Three-Particle GHZ Experiment....Pages 213-223 Classical Versus Quantum Probabilities....Pages 225-232 Does Quantum Chaos Exist?....Pages 235-241 Time-Scales for the Approach to Thermal Equilibrium....Pages 243-251 Einstein’s Nonconventional Conception of the Photon and the Modern Theory of Dynamical Systems....Pages 253-261 What Interpretation for Probability in Physics?....Pages 265-269 Statistical Mechanics and the Propensity Interpretation of Probability....Pages 271-281 Interpreting Probabilities: What’s Interference Got to Do with It?....Pages 283-288

This selection of reviews and papers is intended to stimulate renewed reflection on the fundamental and practical aspects of probability in physics. While putting emphasis on conceptual aspects in the foundations of statistical and quantum mechanics, the book deals with the philosophy of probability in its interrelation with mathematics and physics in general. Addressing graduate students and researchers in physics and mathematics together with philosophers of science, the contributions avoid cumbersome technicalities in order to make the book worthwhile reading for nonspecialists and specialists alike.