Fundamentality, Scale, and the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect

Shech, Elay; McGivern, Patrick

doi:10.1007/s10670-019-00161-y

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…First, how are we to understand the thesis that mesoscale structures are natural kinds? One interpretation, consistent with Batterman’s claim that the middle-out strategy supports a middle way between normatively relativized and metaphysical notions of natural kinds, is that he is advocating a kind of scale-relative ontology, as in Ladyman and Ross’s (2007) Every Thing Must Go and Shech and McGivern’s (2021) “Fundamentality, Scale, and the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect.” Perhaps one could appeal to Ladyman and Ross’s account of “real patterns” as nonredundant projectible regularities to argue that mesoscale structures are genuine entities. Redundancy here may be understood dynamically because the middle-out strategy greatly simplifies the dynamics of systems of interest compared with microscale descriptions.…”

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confidence: 80%

Review of Robert W. Batterman’s A Middle Way: A Non-Fundamental Approach to Many-Body Physics - Robert W. Batterman, A Middle Way: A Non-Fundamental Approach to Many-Body Physics. New York: Oxford University Press (2021), 174 pp. $74 (hardcover).

Shech

2023

Philos. sci.

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Non-Fundamental Approach to Many-Body Physics is an extraordinarily insightful book, far-reaching in its scope and significance, interdisciplinary in character due to connections made between physics, materials science and engineering, and biology, and groundbreaking in the sense that it reflects on important scientific domains that are mostly absent from current literature. The book presents a hydrodynamic methodology, which Batterman explains is pervasive in science, for studying many-body systems as diverse as gases, fluids, and composite materials such as wood, steel, and bone. Following Batterman, I will call said methodology "the middle-out strategy." Batterman's main thesis is that the middle-out strategy is superior to alternatives, solves an important autonomy problem, and, consequently, implies that certain mesoscale structures (explained below) ought to be considered natural kinds.In what follows, I unpack and flesh out these claims, starting with a discussion of the levels of reality and its representation. Afterwards, I briefly outline the contents of the book's chapters and then identify issues that seem to me to merit further clarification. Last, I outline an application of the middle-out strategy for the realism debate. All citations are from A Middle Way, and use of quotation marks without page numbers signifies terms that arise throughout the book.To start, it is helpful to think about systems and their description at three different scales.There is the macroscopic scale of everyday objects that are considered homogenous and are described "top-down" by "non-fundamental" theories like thermodynamics and fluid mechanics, and laws such as the thermodynamic equations of state, the Navier-Stokes equations (for fluids) and Navier-Cauchy equations (for solids). The continuum description of macroscale objects and systems is an idealization of sorts. For example, a dilute solution of sugar (the solute) in water (the solvent) may be treated as a fictional homogenous blob. Of course, in reality, the watersugar solution is composed of molecules. Thus, there is the microscopic scale of atoms and molecules in which systems are considered heterogenous and are represented "bottom-up" by

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confidence: 80%

Review of Robert W. Batterman’s A Middle Way: A Non-Fundamental Approach to Many-Body Physics - Robert W. Batterman, A Middle Way: A Non-Fundamental Approach to Many-Body Physics. New York: Oxford University Press (2021), 174 pp. $74 (hardcover).

Shech

2023

Philos. sci.

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“…Last, idealisations in the form of the two‐dimensional limit allow for the exploration of the full spectrum of the quantum exchange phase and corresponding quantum statistics (Shech, 2015, 2019; Shech & Gelfert, 2019; Shech & McGivern, 2021). Specifically, in two dimensions quantum theory has the representational capacity to characterise anyons, which are particles that obey fractional quantum statistics and are contrasted with bosons and fermions (Wilczek, 1982, 1990).…”

Section: An Outline Of An Account Of Understanding‐withmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Specifically, in two dimensions quantum theory has the representational capacity to characterise anyons, which are particles that obey fractional quantum statistics and are contrasted with bosons and fermions (Wilczek, 1982, 1990). Fractional statistics in turn play are role in explaining the fractional quantum Hall effect (Bain, 2016; Shech & McGivern, 2021). In all such cases, idealisations facilitate exploration of modal structure, which in turns affords understanding along the lines of (i)–(iii) discussed above.…”

Section: An Outline Of An Account Of Understanding‐withmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scientific understanding in the Aharonov‐Bohm effect

Shech

2022

Theoria

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By appealing to resources found in the scientific understanding literature, I identify in what senses idealisations afford understanding in the context of the (magnetic) Aharonov‐Bohm effect. Three types of concepts of understanding are discussed: understanding‐what, which has to do with understanding a phenomenon; understanding‐with, which has to do with understanding a scientific theory; and understanding‐why, which has to do with the reason some phenomenon occurs. Consequently, I outline an account of understanding‐with that is suggested by the historical controversy surrounding the Aharonov‐Bohm effect.

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“…A new generation of philosophical accounts of multiscale modeling from authors including Bursten (2018), Batterman and Green (2021), Jhun (2021), Batterman (2021), Rice (2021), and Shech and McGivern (2021) have drawn attention to the complex landscape of ontic and epistemic constraints imposed by the relations between the component models at varying relative scales (macro, meso, micro). In particular, Batterman and Green (2021) and Batterman (2021) have argued that concepts arising at the mesoscale, as opposed to micro-or macroscales, can serve as a locus of scientific knowledge that earlier accounts of scientific modeling overlooked.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiscale Modeling in Neuroethology: The Significance of the Mesoscale

Dhein

Bursten

2023

Philos. sci.

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Recent accounts of multiscale modeling investigate ontic and epistemic constraints imposed by relations between component models at varying relative scales (macro, meso, micro). These accounts often focus especially on the role of the meso, or intermediate, relative scale in a multiscale model. We aid this effort by highlighting a novel role for mesoscale models: they can function as a focal point, and rationale, for disagreement between researchers who otherwise share theoretical commitments. We illustrate with a case study in multiscale modeling of insect behavior, arguing that the cognitive map debate in neuroethology research is best understood as a mesoscale disagreement.

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Fundamentality, Scale, and the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect

Cited by 6 publications

References 47 publications

Review of Robert W. Batterman’s A Middle Way: A Non-Fundamental Approach to Many-Body Physics - Robert W. Batterman, A Middle Way: A Non-Fundamental Approach to Many-Body Physics. New York: Oxford University Press (2021), 174 pp. $74 (hardcover).

Review of Robert W. Batterman’s A Middle Way: A Non-Fundamental Approach to Many-Body Physics - Robert W. Batterman, A Middle Way: A Non-Fundamental Approach to Many-Body Physics. New York: Oxford University Press (2021), 174 pp. $74 (hardcover).

Scientific understanding in the Aharonov‐Bohm effect

Multiscale Modeling in Neuroethology: The Significance of the Mesoscale

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