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Good just isn't good enough - Humean chances and Boltzmannian statistical physics

Beisbart, Claus (2013) Good just isn't good enough - Humean chances and Boltzmannian statistical physics. [Preprint]

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    Abstract

    Statistical physicists assume a probability distribution over micro-states to explain thermodynamic behavior. The question of this paper is whether these probabilities are part of a best system and can thus be interpreted as Humean chances. I consider two Boltzmannian accounts of the Second Law, viz. a globalist and a localist one. In both cases, the probabilities fail to be chances because they have rivals that are roughly equally good. I conclude with the diagnosis that well-defined micro-probabilities under-estimate the robust character of explanations in statistical physics.

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    Item Type: Preprint
    Additional Information: submitted to the Proceedings of ESF workshops ``New directions in the philosophy of science'' in the PSE Series ``The Philosophy of Science in a European Perspective''
    Keywords: ontic probability, D. Lewis, thermodynamics, Boltzmannian statistical physics
    Subjects: Specific Sciences > Probability/Statistics
    Specific Sciences > Physics > Statistical Mechanics/Thermodynamics
    Depositing User: Claus Beisbart
    Date Deposited: 14 Jul 2013 04:53
    Last Modified: 14 Jul 2013 04:53
    Item ID: 9881
    URI: http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/9881

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