On the observational equivalence of continuous-time deterministic and indeterministic descriptions

DOI10.1007/S13194-010-0011-5MaRDI QIDQ693104zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Charlotte Werndl

Publication date 7 December 2012

Published in European Journal for Philosophy of Science (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1310.1620, http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/31093/1/On%20the%20observational%20equivalence%28lsero%29.pdf

zbMATH Keywords

classical physicscontinuous-time descriptionsdeterminismergodic theoryindeterminismobservational equivalencestochastic processes

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

General theory of mathematical modeling (00A71) Physics (00A79) Logic in the philosophy of science (03A10)

Abstract: This paper presents and philosophically assesses three types of results on the observational equivalence of continuous-time measure-theoretic deterministic and indeterministic descriptions. The first results establish observational equivalence to abstract mathematical descriptions. The second results are stronger because they show observational equivalence between deterministic and indeterministic descriptions found in science. Here I also discuss Kolmogorov's contribution. For the third results I introduce two new meanings of `observational equivalence at every observation level'. Then I show the even stronger result of observational equivalence at every (and not just some) observation level between deterministic and indeterministic descriptions found in science. These results imply the following. Suppose one wants to find out whether a phenomenon is best modeled as deterministic or indeterministic. Then one cannot appeal to differences in the probability distributions of deterministic and indeterministic descriptions found in science to argue that one of the descriptions is preferable because there is no such difference. Finally, I criticise the extant claims of philosophers and mathematicians on observational equivalence.

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Cited in

(8)

• Interpretive analogies between quantum and statistical mechanics
• On two mathematical definitions of observational equivalence: manifest isomorphism and \(\varepsilon\)-congruence reconsidered
• On choosing between deterministic and indeterministic models: underdetermination and indirect evidence
• Time and determinism
• A letter on the present state of affairs. Prior, indeterminism and relativity 40 years later
• On the non-equivalence of observables in phase-space reconstructions from recorded time series
• Interpretation neutrality in the classical domain of quantum theory
• Are deterministic descriptions and indeterministic descriptions observationally equivalent?

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