München 2019 – scientific programme

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AGPhil: Arbeitsgruppe Philosophie der Physik

AGPhil 9: Philosophy of Cosmology VIII

AGPhil 9.2: Talk

Thursday, March 21, 2019, 11:30–12:00, HS 10

Probability Theory as a Physical Theory Gives Insight in Big Topics. Questions to Mathematicians. — •Louis Vervoort — University of Tyumen

There is something puzzling about probability theory: does it describe individual events (or systems), or rather ensembles of similar systems? At any rate, probabilities are always measured on ensembles. In this sense probability theory, as a physical theory, is unique: other physical theories describe individual measurements and individual systems. Here it is argued that probability theory can be seen as a general theory of causality (or determinism), so dealing with the underlying causal connections between systems. This simple be it radical interpretation suggests new avenues of research for fundamental issues in physics and mathematics. For example, it suggests 1) a generalization of the Central Limit Theorem; and 2) a different approach to address the unification of quantum mechanics and relativity theory. Throughout the article precise questions to mathematicians are formulated to advance this research.