Research lines

Equivalence of Mass and Energy

Einstein's famous equation E=mc2 describes the numerical equivalence of mass and energy. However, what this equivalence means is controversial and it is not clear how to understand the convertibility of mass into energy, and viceversa. We explore the relationship between mass and energy in terms of the concept of emergent property. We also explore this relationship in terms of the standard model of particle physics, including the role of Higgs boson. 

Philosophy of Statistical Mechanics

Statistical mechanics is a foundational theory in physics which is used to understand macroscopic phenomena. We study the role of statistical mechanics in explaining and reducing termodynamic properties and in understanding the assimetry of the direction of time.

Quantum Cognition

Quantum Cognition uses the formalism and the conceptual tools of quantum physics to model and understand cognitive phenomena. Our objective is use this framework to understand basic processes of human thought that seems to be out of the limits of rationality.
 
Members

Dr. Diego Romero Maltrana
Dr.(c) Tomás Veloz
M.Sc. Patricia Palacios
Dr. Pablo Razeto Barry
Dr. Sergio Davis

External collaborators

Dr. Diederik Aerts
 
Publications

Razeto-Barry, P. and Maltrana, D. 2014. Mass as emergent property. (forthcomming)

Aerts, D., Broekaert, J. Sozzo, S. Veloz, T. 2013. Meaning-focused and Quantum-inspired Information Retrieval. arXiv Proceedings of Symposium on Quantum Interaction 2013. (in press)

Aerts, D., Broekaert, J. Sozzo, S. Veloz, T. 2013. The Quantum Challenge in Concept Theory and Natural Language Processing. arXiv preprint arXiv:1306.2838.

Veloz, D. Zhao, X., Aerts, D. 2013. Measuring Conceptual Entanglement in Collections of Documents. Proceedings of Symposium on Quantum Interaction 2013. (in press)

Activities

Diplomado en Filosofía de la Ciencia, mención Filosofía de la Física

Workshop: “Reductionism in Physics and Biology”
 
Links

On Equivalence of Mass and Energy:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/equivME/

On Philosophy of Statistical Mechanics:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/statphys-statmech/
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/statphys-Boltzmann/

On Quantum Cognition:

http://www.vub.ac.be/CLEA/aerts/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_cognition
http://www.quantum-cognition.de/
http://mypage.iu.edu/~jbusemey/quantum/Quantum%20Cognition%20Notes.htm