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READING
SEMINAR IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF STATISTICAL PHYSICS
Purpose
of the course:
The aim of the
course is to make the students familiar with the philosophical
foundations of statistical physics, such as the different notions
of probability applied in statistical mechanics, the nature of
statistical explanation, the role of ergodicity, the problem of the
direction
of time, and its relation to the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
Prerequisites for the
course: The course is
self-contained; it has no specific prerequisites.
Course
schedule: We are going to pick papers from the reading
list of David Wallace: here
Background
literature:
- Lawrence
Sklar: Physics
and Chance, Philosophycal Issues in the Foundations of Statistical
Mechanics (Cambridge University Press, 1993).
- Jos Uffink:
''Compendium of the Foundations of Classical
Statistical Physics,'' in: Jeremy Butterfield and John Earman (eds.):
Philosophy of Physics (Elsevier,
2007).
- Jos Uffink:
''Bluff your way with the Second Law of
Thermodynamics,'' Studies in the
History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, 32, 305-394.
- Jeremy
Butterfield: Philosophy
of Thermal Physics, ps.
- Roman Frigg: A
Field
Guide to Recent Work on the Foundations of Statistical Mechanics, here.
- David Albert:
Time
and Chance (Harvard University Press, 2000).
Reader: here.
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