Observing relativistic trajectories of single photons
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quant-ph updates on arXiv.org / 20h
arXiv:2608.26778v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: While the standard interpretation of quantum mechanics does not assign definite trajectories to particles, the Bohmian interpretation does. Only recently has an operational method for reconciling Bohmian mechanics with relativity been proposed. Here, we experimentally reconstruct relativistic Bohmian trajectories of a single photon in a Michelson-Sag
Misunderstanding Convivial Solipsism: the Necessity of a Perspectival Logic
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quant-ph updates on arXiv.org / 20h
arXiv:2608.26361v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Convivial Solipsism is easily misunderstood. Because it denies the absoluteness of observed events while preserving the universality of quantum mechanics, it invites objections that are often formulated in a classical, non-perspectival language. Such objections appear powerful only because they smuggle back into the discussion the very assumptions th
Quantizing the guiding center: do quantization and coarse graining commute?
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quant-ph updates on arXiv.org / 20h
arXiv:2608.26277v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: We develop a nonperturbative, group-theoretic quantization of the effective guiding center theory of a charged particle drifting in a magnetic field in two spatial dimensions, and compare the resulting quantum theory with a corresponding coarse graining of the underlying microscopic theory. In the classical effective theory, the small gyro motion is
Algorithmic Idealism I: Reconceptualizing Reality Through Information and Experience
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physics.hist-ph updates on arXiv.org / 3d
arXiv:2412.20485v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Algorithmic idealism represents a transformative approach to understanding reality, emphasizing the informational structure of self-states and their algorithmic transitions over traditional notions of an external, objective universe. Rooted in algorithmic information theory, it redefines reality as a sequence of self-state transitions governed by
How Much Geometry Does Newtonian Dynamics Fix?
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physics.hist-ph updates on arXiv.org / 3d
arXiv:2608.21642v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Newtonian mechanics is usually written on a spacetime of fixed geometry. Here we build that geometry, introducing a propagator and a bilinear form only as the description demands. Within this reconstruction the Principle of Inertia emerges as a theorem rather than an independent postulate. Inertial motion is blind to the scale of the form and to th
Does the Actuality of Life Favor Many Actual Histories?
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physics.hist-ph updates on arXiv.org / 3d
arXiv:2608.23255v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: This essay develops a simple conditional argument for many-history ontologies from the fact that life exists. The question is not why our exact evolutionary sequence occurred, but why reality contains the broad class of life-bearing histories at all. If such histories are sufficiently rare, then a single-history ontology makes the existence of life s
Does DESI Provide Evidence for Dynamical Dark Energy?
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physics.hist-ph updates on arXiv.org / 3d
arXiv:2608.21405v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Recent results from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) have been announced as evidence that dark energy is dynamical. We distinguish three claims the headline announcement conflates: (D1) the data disfavour the $Lambda$CDM expansion history; (D2) within GR plus a smooth fluid with Chevallier–Polarski–Linder (CPL) equation of state, the
Dark Matters of Principle: Principles in the Dark Matter Paradigm
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physics.hist-ph updates on arXiv.org / 1d
arXiv:2608.25954v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: This paper re-examines the Dark Matter (DM) problem through the lens of physical principles. We first develop a functionalist account and taxonomy of principles. We propose to define principles in terms of their intended functions or purposes. Their argumentative force boils down to context-sensitive and often tentative reasons for believing them ade
Does Probability Require a Single History?
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physics.hist-ph updates on arXiv.org / 7h
arXiv:2608.22733v3 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Everettian quantum mechanics is often said to lack coherent probability because every possible measurement result occurs. If all of them exist globally, what is probability supposed to be a probability of? This paper defends an axiomatic answer: normalized Born measure is postulated as objective probability over the records borne by an obse
A brief history of quantum vs classical computational advantage
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physics.hist-ph updates on arXiv.org / 7h
arXiv:2412.14703v3 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: In this review article we summarize all experiments claiming quantum computational advantage to date. Our review highlights challenges, loopholes, and refutations appearing in subsequent work to provide a complete picture of the current statuses of these experiments. In addition, we also discuss theoretical computational advantage in exampl
From the November Revolution toward the Millennium
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physics.hist-ph updates on arXiv.org / 7h
arXiv:2608.27279v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: The 4th International Symposium on the History of Particle Physics spanned two decades, from approximately 1980 to 2000. In this opening keynote lecture, I survey developments in particle physics from the prehistory of the $J/\psi$ discovery to the early nineteen-eighties. I offer context for the contributions that follow in the symposium program.
Demystifying Relativistic Quantum Collapse
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physics.hist-ph updates on arXiv.org / 7h
arXiv:2608.26474v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Non-relativistic objective collapse theories have been remarkably successful in addressing the conceptual problems of standard quantum mechanics. Despite substantial efforts, the project of extending them to the relativistic domain remains burdened by significant conceptual objections and technical challenges, often taken to cast doubt on the viabi
Holography as an Information Principle in Quantum Gravity
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physics.hist-ph updates on arXiv.org / 7h
arXiv:2608.26282v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: We draw on ‘t Hooft’s seminal formulation of the holographic principle to analyse the methodological and conceptual role of information in quantum gravity. We argue that, in ‘t Hooft’s work and in later developments, information functions as a substantive guiding principle. We distinguish three aspects of this role: First, holographic bounds on the a
Dey, Arpan (2026) Is Statistical Mechanics Just a Tool? [Preprint]
Struyve, Ward (2026) On substantive Lorentz invariance and quantum theory. Philosophy of Physics, 4 (1). pp. 1-24.
Wiltsche, Harald (2026) The Limit and Its Ground. QBism, Scientific Realism, and the Born Rule. [Preprint]
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