Physics Education, History, and Foundations of Physics: Foundations
In the contest of Foundations of physics, the complex process of formulation of new theories, their experimental corroboration, consequent acceptance by the scientific community, and the possible final obsolescence due to the formulation of alternative theories are analyzed, by means of case studies in modern physics. A particular attention will be paid to the conceptual frame and to philosophical considerations.
The formulation and analysis of a physical theory require the evaluation of both the mathematical formalism and its epistemological interpretation. The interpretation is unavoidably influenced by a series of factors that are not strictly scientific: cultural heritage, philosophical and religious influences, Weltanschauung (at the same time image, vision, and description of the external world)... All this elements are parts of the "influential metaphysics" which is relevant for the development and evolution of physical theories.
Quantum Mechanics is the main field of research, and the investigation concerns in particular the relevance and the meaning of wave/particle duality. About its importance, paramount results of Quantum Mechanics (Bohr atom, Schrödinger equation, Heisenberg uncertainty relations) can be derived from such duality.
Concerning its meaning, Greenberger/Yasin inequality, Bunge concept of “quanton”, and Lévy-Leblond analysis on fermion/boson duality have been crucial for a critical reconsideration of the ontology of Quantum Mechanics: «The whole vast body of experimental results which have probed and confirmed quantum mechanics can in fact be regarded as contributions to experimental metaphysics» (Abner Shimony, 1993)
Wave/particle duality
Other research topics are:
- Quantum Zeno effect
- Experimental verifications of Bohm formulation of Quantum Mechanics
- Schrödinger equation from an exact uncertainty principle
- Ozawa and Fujikawa uncertainty relations
Systematic and statistical errors
Staff: Gianluca Introzzi
Back to Physics Education, History, and Foundations of Physics