CFP: Principles in Physics

Call for abstracts: Principles in Physics, 27-29 March 2023, Wuppertal, Germany 

Scientific principles have played a central role in physics. The principle of relativity, the equivalence principle, the gauge principle, and the correspondence principle, to name a few, form the basis of our best current theories of nature.  On the other hand, the apparent failure of the naturalness principle has sparked a crisis about the future direction of particle physics. From a philosophical point of view, however, physical principles remain undertheorized. Can the much more elaborate philosophical debates about the nature of laws and symmetries also be transferred over to principles, or do principles raise novel metaphysical issues? What methodological role have principles played in the historical development of physics and what can be learnt for contemporary practice? The aim of this workshop is to bring together philosophers, historians and physicists to discuss these and related issues, and to try to initiate a debate about principles in physics.

The “Principles in Physics” workshop will take place 27-29 March 2023 at the University of Wuppertal, Germany. If you are interested in contributing a talk, please submit an abstract of no more than 500 words by the 31 January 2023. To submit an abstract, please go to  https://indico.cern.ch/event/1213191/abstracts/ and follow the “submit new abstract” link. You will need to register a free indico account during the submission process. 

Confirmed speakers include: Emily Adlam (Western University), Alexander Blum (MPIWG Berlin), Karen Crowther (University of Oslo), David DiVincenzo (RWTH Aachen University), Astrid Eichhorn (University of Denmark), Marco Giovanelli (University of Turin), Andreas Weiler (Technical University Munich).

This workshop is organized within the framework of the DFG Research Unit “The Epistemology of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)” by

• Radin Dardashti, University of Wuppertal

• James Fraser, University of Wuppertal

• Robert Harlander, RWTH Aachen University

In case of questions, please contact [email protected].