On 25 November, this workshop will consider various case studies portraying either emergent behaviour or other important issues in statistical mechanics and assess the indispensable vs. dispensable nature of of the thermodynamic limit.

Recent philosophical work has stressed the importance of various kinds of limits for a range of fundamental issues in physics. In this workshop we will consider the significance of the thermodynamic limit and the continuum limit across a variety of case studies. Our goal is to assess the role limits play in physics and the importance of limit relations to questions of emergence and other foundational problems in statistical mechanics and other areas of physics.

Location

All talks will take place in room 2.06 of the Lakatos Building (marked “LAK” on the LSE Campus Map).

Directions
(click me for a handy Google map) 

For further help finding your way please see the LSE Maps and Directions website.

Programme

Friday 25 November
14:45–15:00 Welcome and opening remarks
15:00–16:00 Elay Shech (Auburn + Durham): “Comparing Strong and Weak Emergence in Phase Transitions and Anyons”
16:00–17:00 Vincent Ardourel (Université catholique de Louvain): “The infinite limit as an eliminable approximation for phase transitions”
17:00–17:30 Coffee and tea break
17:30–18:30 Patrick McGivern (Wollongong + Durham): “Why look for emergence in the limit?”
18:30–19:30 Eleanor Knox (KCL): “Emergence without limits: a case study”
19:30 Concluding remarks

Organisers

 

This workshop is sponsored by the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science and by the LSE Philosophy of Physics Research Group.

CPNSS LSE Philosophy of Physics