Warsaw Spacetime Colloquium #7 - Karim Thébault (2021/01/08)
Channel: International Center for Formal Ontology
Date: 2021-01-11

Title: Poincaré, dark energy, and the deadly robots of Krikkit: Solving the problem of time via superpositions of the cosmological constant

Chair: Antonio Vassallo

Abstract: Henri Poincaré, in a strangely neglected passage towards the end of his monumental essay on `Relative and Absolute Motion’ (Science and Hypothesis, 1905 Chapter 7), appeals to the idea of a planet entirely secluded from the rest of the universe by clouds to argue that ‘as long as nature has secrets’ the distinction between constants of nature and constants of motion will remain ‘highly arbitrary and always precarious’ (p.87). To what extent do such arguments support a relationship between a scientist’s epistemic access to different scales and the categorisation of constants? What are the implications of this view for modern cosmology, in particular the interpretation of the cosmological constant, the nature of time, and the quantization of gravity? And what does any of this have to do with Robots? In this talk I will attempt to answer these and other related questions. (Based on work with Sean Gryb (University of Groningen))
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The Colloquium's goal is to provide a window into the state-of-the-art in the foundations of spacetime physics. It brings together top-level philosophers and physicists willing to share their current research with an international audience. The Colloquium is organized by the Philosophy of Physics Group at the International Center for Formal Ontology, Faculty of Administration and Social Sciences, Warsaw University of Technology.