The Open Past in an Indeterministic Physics

Foundations of Physics 53 (1):1-11 (2022)
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Abstract

Discussions on indeterminism in physics focus on the possibility of an open future, i.e. the possibility of having potential alternative future events, the realisation of one of which is not fully determined by the present state of affairs. Yet, can indeterminism affect also the past, making it open as well? We show that by upholding principles of finiteness of information one can entail such a possibility. We provide a toy model that shows how the past could be fundamentally indeterminate, while also explaining the intuitive (and observed) asymmetry between the past—which can be remembered, at least partially—and the future—which is impossible to fully predict.

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Nicolas Gisin
University of Geneva

Citations of this work

Quantum Epistemology and Constructivism.Patrick Fraser, Nuriya Nurgalieva & Lídia del Rio - 2023 - Journal of Philosophical Logic 52 (6):1561-1574.

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References found in this work

Time and Chance.David Z. Albert - 2000 - Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
The propensity interpretation of probability.Karl R. Popper - 1959 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 10 (37):25-42.
A Probabilistic Theory of Causality.P. Suppes - 1973 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 24 (4):409-410.

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