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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons™
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Articles 1 - 3 of 3
Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The Temporal Asymmetry Of Influence Is Not Statistical, Emily Adlam
The Temporal Asymmetry Of Influence Is Not Statistical, Emily Adlam
Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research
We argue that the temporal asymmetry of influence is not merely the result of thermodynamics: it is a consequence of the fact that modal structure of the universe must admit only processes which cannot give rise to contradictions. We appeal to the process matrix formalism developed in the field of quantum foundations to characterise processes which are compatible with local free will whilst ruling out contradictions, and argue that this gives rise to ‘consistent chaining’ requirements that explain the temporal asymmetry of influence. We compare this view to the perspectival account of causation advocated by Price and Ramsey.
Music: Numbers In Motion, Graziano Gentili, Luisa Simonutti, Daniele C. Struppa
Music: Numbers In Motion, Graziano Gentili, Luisa Simonutti, Daniele C. Struppa
Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research
Music develops and appears as we allow numbers to acquire a dynamical aspect and create, through their growth, the various keys that permit the richness of the musical texture. This idea was simply adumbrated in Plato’s work, but its importance to his philosophical worldview cannot be underestimated. In this paper we begin by discussing what is probably the first written record of an attempt to create a good temperament and then follow the Pythagoreans approach, whose problems forced musicians, over the next several centuries up to the Renaissance and early modern times, to come up with many different variations.
The Merchant And The Mathematician: Commerce And Accounting, Graziano Gentili, Luisa Simonutti, Daniele C. Struppa
The Merchant And The Mathematician: Commerce And Accounting, Graziano Gentili, Luisa Simonutti, Daniele C. Struppa
Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research
In this article we describe the invention of double-entry bookkeeping (or partita doppiaas it was called in Italian), as a fertile intersection between mathematics and early commerce. We focus our attention on this seemingly simple technique that requires only minimal mathematical expertise, but whose discovery is clearly the result of a mathematical way of thinking, in order to make a conceptual point about the role of mathematics as the humus from which disciplines as different as operations research, computer science, and data science have evolved.