{"id":350,"date":"2015-02-12T00:16:39","date_gmt":"2015-02-12T00:16:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dabacon.org\/qspeak\/?p=350"},"modified":"2015-02-12T00:16:39","modified_gmt":"2015-02-12T00:16:39","slug":"fqxis-focus-on-events-the-physics-of-what-happens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dabacon.org\/qspeak\/2015\/02\/12\/fqxis-focus-on-events-the-physics-of-what-happens\/","title":{"rendered":"FQXi’s FOCUS ON “EVENTS”: THE PHYSICS OF WHAT HAPPENS"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nFQXi<\/span>‘s FOCUS ON “EVENTS”: THE PHYSICS OF WHAT HAPPENS
\nAn international request for proposals – open to all researchers and
\noutreach specialists<\/p>\n

Initial Applications due February 15, 2015 at 11:59PM EST<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

FQXi<\/span>‘s programming encompasses both ‘open’ requests for proposals and
\nmore targeted programs in particular areas of thought. The current
\nrequest for proposals targets research on the Physics of “Events” both
\nin physics and also in related fields including cosmology,
\nastrophysics, philosophy of physics, complex systems, biophysics,
\ncomputer science, and mathematics.<\/p>\n

Everyday reality is largely made up of events: things that happen and
\ndon’t “un-happen”. These events separate the past from the future via
\nthe present, in which events are “happening”. The world of fundamental
\nphysics, however, is quite different.<\/p>\n

In general relativity (GR) for instance, “event” simply refers to a
\nspace-time location, which may or may not coincide with something
\nhappening. The theory has no fundamental entity that corresponds to an
\nevent that “happens” or does not. In quantum mechanics, the
\nmeasurement of some observable can constitute an “event”, but this
\nprocess is subject to differing theoretical and philosophical
\ninterpretations. The evolving wavefunction — like the evolving matter
\nand gravitational fields in GR — has no “event” built in; they must
\nbe identified by reference to a laboratory or other macroscopic
\nobserver. Furthermore, it is unclear to what extent events in the
\nmacroscopic world should really be considered quantum measurements of
\nthe archetypal variety studied in the quantum foundations literature.<\/p>\n

Thus, both of our fundamental theories of physics are by themselves
\nevent-free (or at best “event-lite”), and we face the question of how
\nto draw a firm connection between these theories and the events that
\nmake up what happens in experienced reality. Drawing those connections
\n— and through the process, analyzing the notion of “event” as it
\nappears in its many forms throughout physics — is the aim of this
\nrequest for proposals.<\/p>\n

Guidelines: http:\/\/fqxi<\/span>.org\/grants\/large\/initial<\/a><\/p>\n

Application: http:\/\/fqxi<\/span>.org\/grants\/large\/initial\/application<\/a><\/p>\n

FAQs: http:\/\/fqxi<\/span>.org\/grants\/large\/initial\/fa<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FQXi‘s FOCUS ON “EVENTS”: THE PHYSICS OF WHAT HAPPENS An international request for proposals – open to all researchers and outreach specialists Initial Applications due February 15, 2015 at 11:59PM EST FQXi‘s programming encompasses both ‘open’ requests for proposals and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-announcement","category-funding"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dabacon.org\/qspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dabacon.org\/qspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dabacon.org\/qspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dabacon.org\/qspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dabacon.org\/qspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dabacon.org\/qspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dabacon.org\/qspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dabacon.org\/qspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dabacon.org\/qspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}