Deterministic versus indeterministic descriptions: not that different after all?

Werndl, Charlotte (2009) Deterministic versus indeterministic descriptions: not that different after all?.

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Abstract

The guiding question of this paper is: how similar are deterministic descriptions and indeterministic descriptions from a predictive viewpoint? The deterministic and indeterministic descriptions of concern in this paper are measure-theoretic deterministic systems and stochastic processes, respectively. I will explain intuitively some mathematical results which show that measure-theoretic deterministic systems and stochastic processes give more often the same predictions than one might perhaps have expected, and hence that from a predictive viewpoint these descriptions are quite similar.

Keywords:observational equivalence, determinism, indeterminism, ergodic theory, stochastic processes
Subjects:Specific Sciences: Complex Systems
Specific Sciences: Physics
General Issues: Determinism/Indeterminism
ID Code:4775
Deposited By:Werndl, Charlotte
Deposited On:27 July 2009
Additional Information:Contribution in: A. Hieke and H. Leitgeb (eds), Reduction, Abstraction, Analysis, Proceedings of the 31st International Ludwig Wittgenstein-Symposium. Ontos, pp. 63-78.