Events

Julian Sonner

Mar 31

Erik Curiel

Apr 7

Karim Thebault

Apr 7

Jeroen van Dongen and Klaas Landsman

Apr 9

Ana-Maria Cretu

2:00 PM

Apr 14

David Kubiznak

Apr 14

Antonis Antoniou

Apr 21

Delilah Gates

Apr 21

Raul Carballo-Rubio

Apr 28

Neil Nafar

Apr 28

Sanne Vergouwen

BHI Colloquium

Julian Sonner

Description

When

Monday, March 31, 2025 11:00 AM

Where

Foundations Seminar

Erik Curiel

Description

Meeting ID: 930 4120 7032 Password: HarvardBHI

When

Monday, March 31, 2025 9:30 AM

Where

BHI Colloquium

Karim Thebault

Description

Model-Based Explication and Quantum Singularity Resolution

Abstract: There are, at present, no singularity theorems (or resolution theorems) valid for the full domain of quantum gravity. Moreover, lack of empirical data means that a limited range of constraints in model building are available. Finally, limited analytically tractability means most existent treatments are focused on the quantization of finite dimensional truncations of classical cosmological or black hole models — and, even then, often require numerical approaches for exploration of the solutions. These worries notwithstanding, one can certainly ask, and in some cases answer, physically interesting questions regarding the resolution or not of singularities within this restricted context. The approach is a form of model-based reasoning in which idealized models mediate our understanding of the properties of full, physically representational, theory. In this talk I will consider the idea of model-based explication in the context of refining the concept of singularity resolution, drawing upon my own past work on big bang singularity resolution in quantum cosmology and my current work on black hole singularity resolution.

Bio: I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Bristol. My current research is principally within physics and the philosophy of physics. My main research focus is the problem of time in classical and quantum theories of gravity. Further topics of current interest include dynamical approaches to symmetry, black hole physics, analogue gravity, quantum cosmology, the arrow of time in quantum theory, the foundations of general relativity, and quantum chemistry. I have written two books: Analogue Quantum Simulation (Springer, 2022) is a monograph on the epistemology of analogue quantum simulation written with Dominik Hangleiter and Jacques Carolan; and Time Regained Volume 1: Symmetry and Evolution in Classical Mechanics (OUP 2023) is the first volume of project on the problem of time with Sean Gryb.

When

Monday, April 7, 2025 11:00 AM

Where

Foundations Seminar

Jeroen van Dongen and Klaas Landsman

Description

Meeting ID: 930 4120 7032 Password: HarvardBHI

When

Monday, April 7, 2025 9:30 AM

Where

Ana-Maria Cretu

Description

Human Computers as Instruments

Abstract: Human computers and scanners were scientific workers who per- formed calculations or reduced and analysed data before the advent of electronic computers. They were a staple of big science during the 19th century and early to mid 20th century. Yet, despite their prevalence within big science their epistemic roles remain virtually unexamined. This paper investigates the epistemic roles of the Harvard Human Computers at the Harvard College Observatory 1880-1920 and of the Bristol Scanners at the Bristol Nuclear Research Group 1935-1955. We identify, evaluate, and compare three frameworks which help us understand the instrumentalisation of human computers and scanners and the downstream negative consequences of their instrumentalisation for the methodology of science.

Meeting ID: 930 4120 7032 Password: HarvardBHI

When

Wednesday, April 9, 2025 2:00 PM

Where

BHI Colloquium

David Kubiznak

Description

When

Monday, April 14, 2025 11:00 AM

Where

Foundations Seminar

Antonis Antoniou

Description

Meeting ID: 930 4120 7032 Password: HarvardBHI

When

Monday, April 14, 2025 9:30 AM

Where

BHI Colloquium

Delilah Gates

Description

When

Monday, April 21, 2025 11:00 AM

Where

Foundations Seminar

Raul Carballo-Rubio

Description

Meeting ID: 930 4120 7032 Password: HarvardBHI

When

Monday, April 21, 2025 9:30 AM

Where

BHI Colloquium

Neil Nagar

Description

Event Horizon and Environs (ETHER)

Abstract: To date, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has imaged only two supermassive black holes at resolutions finer than 50 gravitational radii: M87 and SgrA*.
Ongoing and planned upgrades to the EHT enable demographic studies
of black holes at these scales – the focus of this talk.

We will present the Event Horizon and Environs (ETHER) sample of single and
binary black holes, a curated database for selection of (current and future) EHT targets. We will also present the progress in imaging single black holes in ETHER with the EHT, and the expectations of imaging and monitoring binary black holes into the future. Finally, we will discuss a newly identified population of the most massive black holes (thus the largest black hole shadows) in the nearby universe, and its implications for the EHT.

Bio: Neil Nagar is a professor at the University of Concepcion, Chile, and a member of the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration. He is is the Director of the ‘TITANs Millennium Nucleus’, a group of forty researchers and students across four universities in Chile. Nagar graduated as an engineer and mathematician at BITS, Pilani, India, before completing his Doctorate in Astronomy at the University of Maryland, College Park in 2000.

Nagar’s interests include supermassive black holes, galaxy evolution, and the origin of ultra high energy cosmic rays.

When

Monday, April 28, 2025 11:00 AM

Where

Foundations Seminar

Sanne Vergouwen

Description