dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaC. F. von Weizsaecker's Reconstruction of Physics: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
| Authors | Holger Lyre |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/0309183 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0309183 |
Abstract
Carl Friedrich von Weizsaecker's thinking has always crossed the borders between physics and philosophy. Being a physicist by training he still feels at home in the physics community, as a philosopher by passion, however, his mind cannot stop thinking at the limits of physics. His physical ideas are based on the general conceptual and methodological preconditions of physical theories. Such a line of reasoning about the foundations of physics has brought Weizsaecker into an abstract program of a possible reconstruction of physics in terms of yes-no-alternatives, which he called "ur-theory." I shall start this paper with a review of the basic ideas of ur-theory: the definition of an ur and the connection between ur-spinors and spacetime. I then go over to some of ur-theory's present borders: the construction of quantized spacetime tetrads and the difficulties to incorporate gravity and gauge theories. Finally, I shall discuss the possible prospects of ur-theory -- partly with a view to modern quantum gravity approaches, but mainly in connection with its philosophical implications. Here, one of the crucial questions is, whether form, or, modern, information is an entity per se and what particular consequences this may have.
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"abstract": "Carl Friedrich von Weizsaecker\u0027s thinking has always crossed the borders\nbetween physics and philosophy. Being a physicist by training he still feels at\nhome in the physics community, as a philosopher by passion, however, his mind\ncannot stop thinking at the limits of physics. His physical ideas are based on\nthe general conceptual and methodological preconditions of physical theories.\nSuch a line of reasoning about the foundations of physics has brought\nWeizsaecker into an abstract program of a possible reconstruction of physics in\nterms of yes-no-alternatives, which he called \"ur-theory.\" I shall start this\npaper with a review of the basic ideas of ur-theory: the definition of an ur\nand the connection between ur-spinors and spacetime. I then go over to some of\nur-theory\u0027s present borders: the construction of quantized spacetime tetrads\nand the difficulties to incorporate gravity and gauge theories. Finally, I\nshall discuss the possible prospects of ur-theory -- partly with a view to\nmodern quantum gravity approaches, but mainly in connection with its\nphilosophical implications. Here, one of the crucial questions is, whether\nform, or, modern, information is an entity per se and what particular\nconsequences this may have.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0309183",
"authors": [
"Holger Lyre"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph"
],
"title": "C. F. von Weizsaecker\u0027s Reconstruction of Physics: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0309183"
},
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