ARCO seminar on "GR from Thermodynamics" + Invitation to present at the discussion club

[Guy Hetzroni]

Dear all, 

We are trying to arrange a mini-workshop with 2-3 talks in the philosophy of physics sometimes in the coming couple of months. If you wish to present your work-in-progress (or a finished paper), please let me know by replying to this email. 

In the meantime, please see the forwarded invitation below to Niels Linnemann's (University of Geneva) talk "GR from Thermodynamics? Jacobson's 1995 `Derivation' De-mystified" at the seminar of the Astrophysics Research Center (ARCO) at the Open University of Israel. The seminar takes place on this coming Monday, and it can be attended remotely via the link below.  

All the best, 

Guy. 

Dr. Guy Hetzroni

Department of Natural Sciences

The Open University of Israel

https://www.openu.ac.il/en/personalsites/GuyHetzroni.aspx

ARCO Seminar : Monday, 10/02

Dear all,

Next week's seminar will take place on Monday 10th February at 15:00, Israeli time. We will be welcoming Dr. Niels Linnemann from the University of Geneva as an online speaker. The seminar will be preceded by pastries at 14:30 in the meeting room.

Title:

GR from Thermodynamics? Jacobson's 1995 `Derivation' De-mystified

Abstract:

n his seminal 1995 paper, Jacobson claims to have provided a `derivation' of the Einstein field equations from thermodynamics. His result is widely taken to suggest that quantum gravity should be approached in a different manner than just through quantising general relativity (GR); in particular, emergent gravity researchers have continuously named Jacobson's derivation as a central motivation for their call for theories with completely different degrees of freedom.

In this talk, we set out to come to terms with what is achieved by Jacobson's paper. We first consider what we take to be the most obvious readings of Jacobson: (i) the derivation is genuinely physical and the field equations can thus be understood as thermodynamic; or (ii) the derivation is of an analogical nature and the field equations can thus be understood as analogously thermodynamic. We argue that both claims cannot be substantiated sufficiently. We then propose a third reading: (iii) the derivation is of a purely epistemic nature and the field equations can thus be understood \emph{via} thermodynamics, albeit not \emph{as} thermodynamics. To illustrate this third option, we will draw parallels to constructivist approaches to spacetime theories.

[Joint work with Dominic Dold (University of Notre Dame).]

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Venue: ARCO Seminar Room 202 + Zoom
Time: 15:00 -- 16:00 IST (GMT+3)
Seminar Host: Dr. Paz Beniamini
Lunch and discussion form: https://forms.gle/1bPdQrgdZDkyKN438
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Zoom Meeting Link:
https://openu.zoom.us/j/96181587332?pwd=y4Nbjj7mlpWNKVNOn5mFciQbLwTk9H.1

Meeting ID: 961 8158 7332
Passcode: J^7cYr?9$@