Abstract<\/strong>:\nThis is a talk about methodology in the contexts of both discovery and\njustification. When physicists have encountered theoretical roadblocks in\nthe twentieth and twenty-first centuries, a popular strategy has been to borrow\na theoretical framework from another domain (e.g., Feynman diagrams in quantum\nstatistical mechanics, spontaneous symmetry breaking in particle physics, and\nthermodynamics in theories of black holes). What explains the success of\nthis strategy? I will analyze the case study of the development of\nrenormalization group (RG) methods in particle physics and condensed matter\nphysics in the early 1970s. I contend that the analogies between models\nof critical phenomena and models of interacting quantum fields that underpinned\nthe development of RG methods are purely formal<\/em> analogies\u2014that\nis, they are not based on physical similarities between the condensed matter\nand particle physics systems. The recognition that the analogies are\npurely formal carries important implications for the interpretation of quantum\nfield theory as well as bigger picture debates within philosophy of science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Held in conjunction with the Cosmology and the Future of Spacetime<\/em> conference\u00a0(June 12\u201314, 2017).<\/p>\n\n\n\n This conference is supported by\u00a0The Rotman Institute of Philosophy,\u00a0The Department of Philosophy,\u00a0The Department of Mathematics,\u00a0The Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Western\u2019s\u00a0Society of Graduate Students,\u00a0Research Western,\u00a0Western\u2019s School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, and the\u00a0Oxford University Press\u00a0for donating the\u00a0Robert K. Clifton Memorial Book Prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Organizers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Adam Koberinski (chair),\u00a0Thomas De Saegher, Nathan Moore, Marie Gueguen, Philippos Papagiannopoulos, Yousuf Hasan, Peter Verveniotis, Jamie Shaw, Jared Richards, Matthew Howery, Valerie Lynn Therrien, Helen Meskhidze<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Philosophy of Logic, Mathematics, and Physics Graduate Conference June 15-16, 2017 Western University, Stevenson Hall, Room 1145 With Keynote Address from Doreen Fraser (University of Waterloo) \u201cFormal analogies in the development of renormalization group methods\u201d Abstract: This is a talk about methodology in the contexts of both discovery and justification. When physicists have encountered theoretical… June 15, 2017<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
9:30 am <\/td> Eugene Chua (Cambridge University) <\/td> \u201cIs Logic Empirical? Logical ‘Conventionalism’ from an Empirical Standpoint\u201d <\/td><\/tr> 10:45 am <\/td> Jeremy Steeger (University of Notre Dame) <\/td> \u201cBetting on quantum objects\u201d <\/td><\/tr> 11:45 am <\/strong> <\/td> Lunch <\/strong> <\/td> <\/td><\/tr> 1:00 pm <\/td> Alex Meehan (Princeton University)<\/td> \u201cPhysics and the Art of Reformulation\u201d <\/td><\/tr> 2:15 pm <\/td> John Dougherty (University of California, San Diego)<\/td> \u201cSizing up gauge transformations\u201d <\/td><\/tr> 3:30 pm <\/strong> <\/td> Keynote Address:<\/strong> Doreen Fraser (University of Waterloo)\u00a0\u00a0 <\/td> \u201cFormal analogies in the development of renormalization \u201d <\/td><\/tr> 6:30 pm <\/strong> <\/td> Dinner <\/strong> <\/td> <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n June 16, 2017<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
9:30 am <\/td> Adrian Yee (University of Toronto)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/td> \u201cThe Normativity and Topography of Logic\u201d <\/td><\/tr> 10:45 am <\/td> Josh Hunt (University of Michigan)<\/td> \u201cSymmetry and Degeneracy in the Hydrogen Atom\u201d <\/td><\/tr> 11:45 am <\/strong> <\/td> Lunch <\/strong> <\/td> <\/td><\/tr> 1:00 pm <\/td> Jens Jager (Oxford University)<\/td> \u201cConceptual Foundations of Boltzmann’s H-theorem (1872)\u201d <\/td><\/tr> 2:15 pm <\/td> Mike Schneider (University of California, Irvine) <\/td> \u201cWhat’s the problem with the cosmological constant?\u201d <\/td><\/tr> 3:15 pm <\/strong> <\/td> Awarding of the Robert K. Clifton Memorial Book Prize <\/strong> <\/td> Winner: Mike Schneider<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n
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