This blogpost was authored by Professor Nick Huggett. Prof. Huggett is based at the University of Illinois at Chicago, USA, and specialises in the philosophy of science and the philosophy of physics. He returned to the University of Bristol as a Benjamin Meaker Follow-on Fund Visiting Researcher in Spring 2024 to continue working with Professor James Ladyman in the Department of Philosophy.
I was fortunate enough to return to Principal’s House for May 2024, as a follow-up visit to a Benjamin Meaker Distinguished Professor Fellowship in Fall 2022. During my first visit I worked with James Ladyman of the Philosophy Department, and his (then) student Nadia Blackshaw on the interpretation of quantum theory (specifically on the spread of ‘branches’ formed in decoherence). I also completed a paper with Karim Thébault (Philosophy) on the emergence of classical time in quantum cosmology. In the treatments we investigated, a formal analogy is drawn between the physics of the universe and that of molecules; it turns out that the equations are relevantly similar, allowing the use of the ‘Born-Oppenheimer approximation’, developed to describe the latter, to solve either. (If you saw the recent eponymous movie, then you will have seen several of the characters praise Oppenheimer for this work with Born.)
During the recent visit Ladyman, Thébault and I wrote a paper explicating the use of Born-Oppenheimer in its home setting, to calculate the physical properties of molecules: spectra, electron configurations, scattering, and so on. We found that the existing philosophical literature is unwarrantedly skeptical about the power of quantum theory to explain these things. Hopefully this will set straight some misconceptions in the philosophy of chemistry, and open the way for future work by the field.
Principal’s House accommodation is not just a fantastic base for working, it also gave me the opportunity to meet and learn about the work of others. I had many interesting conversations in the communal kitchen, but especially had the opportunity to talk at greater length with the physicist and Benjamin Meaker Distinguished Professor Lev Vaidman. I also enjoyed Bristol again: had some great bike rides, saw some good music, went for walks on the Downs, and of course enjoyed a few pints in the local pubs!
Thank you again!
