From data to phenomena and back again: computer-simulated signatures.
This paper draws attention to an increasingly common method of using computer simulations to establish evidential standards in physics. By simulating an actual detection procedure on a computer, physicists produce patterns of data ('signatures') that are expected to be observed if a sought-after phe...
| Publicado en: | Synthese Vol. 182; no. 1; pp. 117 - 130 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Springer Nature
Sep2011
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=63540964&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 63540964 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00397857 4LI jtl: Synthese issn: 00397857 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Sep2011 vid: 182 iid: 1 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature artinfo: ui: 63540964 10.1007/s11229-009-9612-y ppf: 117 ppct: 13 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P size: 377KB tig: atl: From data to phenomena and back again: computer-simulated signatures. aug: au: Tal, Eran affil: Department of Philosophy, University of Toronto, 170 St. George Street (4th Floor) Toronto M5R 2M8 Canada su: Computer simulation Data analysis Physics research Reliability (Personality trait) Inference (Logic) Superfluidity sug: subj: Computer simulation Data analysis Physics research Reliability (Personality trait) Inference (Logic) Superfluidity keyword: Computers Experiments Methodology Models Physics Simulations ab: This paper draws attention to an increasingly common method of using computer simulations to establish evidential standards in physics. By simulating an actual detection procedure on a computer, physicists produce patterns of data ('signatures') that are expected to be observed if a sought-after phenomenon is present. Claims to detect the phenomenon are evaluated by comparing such simulated signatures with actual data. Here I provide a justification for this practice by showing how computer simulations establish the reliability of detection procedures. I argue that this use of computer simulation undermines two fundamental tenets of the Bogen-Woodward account of evidential reasoning. Contrary to Bogen and Woodward's view, computer-simulated signatures rely on 'downward' inferences from phenomena to data. Furthermore, these simulations establish the reliability of experimental setups without physically interacting with the apparatus. I illustrate my claims with a study of the recent detection of the superfluid-to-Mott-insulator phase transition in ultracold atomic gases. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Synthese is a copyright of Springer, 2011. All Rights Reserved. item: Synthese holder: Springer Nature dt: @attributes: year: 2011 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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