Physics at the Interface

The 21st century has seen the flourishing of interdisciplinary fields at the interface of physics and other disciplines, such as biophysics, econophysics and social physics. The gap between physics and chemistry has also become increasingly blurred. The transfer of concepts, models and methods from physics to other domains raises a host of pressing questions. How does the interpretation, justification and explanatory status of physics approaches change when they are applied to biological and social systems? Do methodological conflicts arise at the physics interface, and if so how might historians and philosophers of science address them? There are also questions about the relationship between work in the philosophy of physics and other sciences. Can ideas from the philosophy of physics shed light on problems in the philosophy of biology, chemistry and the social sciences, and vice versa? 

This workshop will be amongst the first to bring together researchers interested in philosophical issues that arise at the physics interface.

Programme

Thursday 7th September 

12:30-13:30 Lunch + Welcome

13:30-14:20 Margarida Hermida “Physical Explanation and the Autonomy of Biology”

14:20-15:10 Simon Peres “Crafting and Experimenting: Materials at the Interface of Physics and Anthropology”

15:10-15:30 Coffee Break

15:30-16:20 Vanessa Seifert “The Many Laws of the Periodic Table” (online)

16:20-17:10 Robin Hendry “How (Some) Disciplines Emerge”

19:00 Dinner

Friday 8th September

10:20-11:10 Callum Duguid “Metalaws in Biology”

11:10-12:00 Uzma Malik “Stretching - from Physics to Biology”

12:00-13:30 Lunch

13:30-14:20 Jennifer Juhn “Analogies in Econophysics (and Beyond)”

14:20-15:10 Ufuk Tasdan “Econophysics in Finance: Modelling and Performativity”

15:10-15:30 Break

15:30-16:20 Alexey Burluka “Turbulence Theory Formalism for Quantifying Distribution of Societal Contentment”

16:20-17:10 Alexander Franklin “Social Construction, Physical Construction, and Emergence”

Full programme: Physics at the Interface programme

Registration

To register complete the registration form: https://forms.office.com/e/zNCV9yTtkP 

General enquiries about the workshop can be sent to jamesf09@hotmail.co.uk