The physics of condensed matter, in contrast to quantum physics or cosmology, is not traditionally associated with deep philosophical questions. However, as science - largely thanks to more powerful computers - becomes capable of analysing and modelling ever more complex many-body systems, basic questions of philosophical relevance arise. Questions about the emergence of structure, the nature of cooperative behaviour, the implications of the second law, the quantum-classical transition and many other issues. This book is a collection of essays by leading physicists and philosophers. Each investigates one or more of these issues, making use of examples from modern condensed matter research. Physicists and philosophers alike will find surprising and stimulating ideas in these pages.
Introduction (B. Falkenburg, M. Morrison).- Reduction: On the Success
and Limitations of Reductionism in Physics (H. Meyer-Ortmanns).- On the
Relation between the Second Law of Thermodynamics and Classical and Quantum
Mechanics (B. Drossel).- Dissipation in Quantum Mechanical Systems - Where is
the System and Where is the Reservoir? (J. Ankerhold).- Explanation via
Microreduction - One the Role of Scale Separation for Quantitative Modelling
(R. Hillerbrand).- Emergence: Why is More Different? (M. Morrison).- Autonomy
and Scales (R. Battermann).- More is Different...Sometimes: Ising Models,
Emergence, and Undecidability (P. Humphreys).- Functional Reduction and
Emergence (S. Bangu).- Parts and Wholes:.- Stability, Energence and
Part-Whole Reduction (A. Hüttemann, R. Kühm, O. Terzidis).- Between Rigor and
Reality: Many-Body Models in Condensed Matter Physics (A. Gelfert).- How Do
Quasi-Particles Exist? (B. Falkenburg).- A Mechanistic Reading of Quantum
Laser Theory (M. Kuhlmann).
Prof. Brigitte Falkenburg TU Dortmund, Germany
Prof. Margaret Morrison University of Toronto, Canada.
