Branching space-times

Honorary Chair:

Nuel Belnap (Department of Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh)

Organizers:

Thomas M�ller (Department of Philosophy, University of Bonn)

Tomasz Placek (Department of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University, Krak�w)

Venue: Department of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University, Krak�w, Grodzka 52.

Time: Monday, October 24, and Tuesday, October 25, 2005. Participants should plan to arrive on Sunday, October 23 and leave on Wednesday, October 26 (see timetable).

Supported by the European Science Foundation (ESF),

Scientific network Philosophical and foundational problems of modern physics

Aims of the workshop

Branching space-times (BST) is a framework uniting indeterminism with relativistic space-time. The key ideas, developed as an extension of the well established framework of branching times, were presented in the paper �Branching space-time� by Nuel Belnap (Synthese 92 (1992) pp. 385-434). During the past decade, branching space-times have been employed in a number of investigations into the foundations of physics, mostly in the areas of space-time theories and quantum mechanics, and in the analysis of causation and agency. (Most of the relevant papers can be found at the Pittsburgh Philosophy of Science Preprint Archive.)

The aim of this workshop is to bring together an international group of researchers to discuss issues in the theory of branching space-times, both� foundational and application-oriented. The talks are intended to span as wide a range of topics as possible.

Topics of interest:

A) Logical and structural aspects

- formal structure of models of BST

���� of branching space-times 

- relation of BST to other indeterministic structures

- formal languages based on the framework of BST

B) Applications in physics

- BST and fundamental issues in quantum mechanics

- BST and physical space-time theories

C) Other applications

- BST and causation

- BST vs. branching time as a basis for analyzing agency

Program:

 Timetable and abstracts

List of invited speakers:

Nuel Belnap (Pittsburgh)

Propensities are causal probabilities in BST

Liu Hu (New South Wales)

An Ockhamist Temporal Logic for Branching space-times

Tomasz Kowalski (Canberra)

Amalgamation properties of orthomodular lattices

Storrs McCall (McGill)

The 'objective values' interpretation of probability

Thomas M�ller (Bonn)

BST probabilities in quantum mechanics and in quantum information

Mika Oksanen (Helsinki)

Propensities in Branching Space-times Theory and in Probabilistic Causal Calculus

Tomasz Placek (Krak�w)

(Non)conspiracy in branching space-times

Niko Strobach (Rostock)

Fooling around with tenses

L�szl� Szab� (Budapest)

Objective probability-looking things with and without objective indeterminism

List of contributing young researchers:

Christian de Ronde (Brussels)

Relationalism vs. Substantivalism in Quantum Theory

Cord Friebe (Trento)

Invariant, hyperplane-dependent branching

G�bor Hofer-Szab� (Budapest)

Different- versus common-common-cause-type derivations of the Bell inequalities

Koen Lefever (Brussels)

A comparison of ordinal axiomatic systems for the special theory of relativity

Pierre Uzan (Paris)

Informational Branching Universe

Registration

Registration is free, but the number of participants is limited. You can register via e-mail by writing to one of the organizers, Thomas M�ller (Thomas.Mueller@uni-bonn.de) or Tomasz Placek (uzplacek@cyf-kr.edu.pl).

Young researchers are encouraged to contribute. Five papers by young researchers have been accepted.

Travel and Accomodation

Invited speakers will be accomodated at the University Guest House (Dom Gościnny UJ; see the location on the map below). Other participants are advised to check the official site of Krak�w tourist information for accomodation information.

Reaching Krak�w:

going by train: There are regular train connections to Krak�w main train station (Krak�w Głowny) from many European countries.� Check, e.g., www.bahn.de for times. From the railway station, a taxi to the University Hotel should be less than 25 Złoty (6 EUR).

going by airplane: Krak�w International Airport has regular direct connections to a number of European cities; information can be found on their website. From some destinations it will be necessary to stop in Warszawa. From the airport, a taxi to the University Hotel should be less than 60 Złoty (15 EUR).

Maps

Poland   Krak�w city centre, Guest House