Workshop on

Reduction, Emergence and Physics
9 April 2008

Tilburg University, The Netherlands

Physics is arguably the most fundamental science we have. It accounts for a large range of natural phenomena from the very small, at the level of sub-atomic constituents of matter, to the very large, at the level of galaxies located light-years far away from Earth. Furthermore, it offers the best examples of reduction, thus occupying a special position in the philosophical debate of reductionism in science. Yet, the jury is still out concerning the unification of our best physical theories. Case studies can elucidate how the theories of physics relate to each other, whether they are (mutually) reducible and what role emergence plays in all this. This workshop, preceding a three-day conference on Reduction and the Special Sciences, envisages contributions by both physicists and philosophers of physics. The aim is to address and discuss in detail the issues of reductionism, inter-theoretical relations and emergence as they arise in statistical mechanics and quantum theory. A special focus is on the most important challenge for contemporary physics, the unification of quantum mechanics and general relativity in the framework of quantum gravity.