Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-14539-9 — The Philosophy of Cosmology Edited by Khalil Chamcham , Joseph Silk , John D. Barrow , Simon Saunders Frontmatter More Information THE PHILOSOPHY OF COSMOLOGY Following a long-term international collaboration between leaders in cosmology and the philosophy of science, this volume addresses foundational questions at the limits of sci- ence across these disciplines, questions raised by observational and theoretical progress in modern cosmology. Space missions have mapped the Universe up to its early instants, opening up questions on what came before the Big Bang, the nature of space and time, and the quantum origin of the Universe. As the foundational volume of an emerging academic discipline, experts from relevant fields lay out the fundamental problems of contemporary cosmology and explore the routes toward possible solutions. Written for physicists and philosophers, the emphasis is on con- ceptual questions, and on ways of framing them that are accessible to each community and to a still wider readership: those who wish to understand our modern vision of the Universe, its unavoidable philosophical questions, and its ramifications for scientific methodology. KHALIL CHAMCHAM is a researcher at the University of Oxford. He acted as the exec- utive director of the UK collaboration on the ‘Philosophy of Cosmology’ programme. His main research interests are in the chemical evolution of galaxies, nucleosynthesis, dark matter, and the concept of time. He has co-authored four books and co-edited ten, includ- ing From Quantum Fluctuations to Cosmological Structures and Science and Search for Meaning. JOSEPH SILK FRS is Homewood Professor at the Johns Hopkins University, Research Scientist at the Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, CNRS and Sorbonne Universities, and Senior Fellow at the Beecroft Institute for Particle Astrophysics at the University of Oxford. He has written seven popular books on cosmology, including The Big Bang, A Short History of the Universe, and The Infinite Cosmos. His research areas include dark matter, the formation of the galaxies, and the big bang theory. He has received numerous awards and prestigious international fellowships. JOHN D. BARROW FRS is Professor of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge and Director of the Millennium Mathematics Project to improve the appre- ciation of mathematics amongst the general public, teachers, and school students. The recipient of many distinguished prizes, his research interests are in cosmology, gravita- tion, and the interface between particle physics and astronomy. He is also a prolific author; the most recent of his 22 books are 100 Essential Things You Didn’t Know You Didn’t Know about Maths and the Arts, and The Book of Universes. SIMON SAUNDERS is Professor of Philosophy of Physics at the University of Oxford, and a Tutorial Fellow of Merton College, Oxford. He is the lead editor of Many Worlds? Everett, Quantum Theory, and Reality and the author of more than 60 articles in philosophy of physics, with special emphasis on the foundations of quantum mechanics, quantum field theory, and symmetries. He also works on structuralism in philosophy of science and metaphysics, focusing on the logic of identity. He is president-elect of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-14539-9 — The Philosophy of Cosmology Edited by Khalil Chamcham , Joseph Silk , John D. Barrow , Simon Saunders Frontmatter More Information THE PHILOSOPHY OF COSMOLOGY Edited By KHALIL CHAMCHAM University of Oxford JOSEPH SILK University of Oxford JOHN D. BARROW University of Cambridge SIMON SAUNDERS University of Oxford © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-14539-9 — The Philosophy of Cosmology Edited by Khalil Chamcham , Joseph Silk , John D. Barrow , Simon Saunders Frontmatter More Information University Printing House, Cambridge CB2 8BS, United Kingdom One Liberty Plaza, 20th Floor, New York, NY10006, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC3207, Australia 4843/24, 2nd Floor, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, Delhi – 110002, India 79 Anson Road, #06-04/06, Singapore 079906 Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence. www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107145399 c Cambridge University Press 2017 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2017 Printed in the United Kingdom by TJ International Ltd. Padstow Cornwall A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Chamcham, Khalil, editor. Title: The philosophy of cosmology / [edited by] Khalil Chamcham, University of Oxford, Joseph Silk, University of Oxford, John D. Barrow, University of Cambridge, Simon Saunders, University of Oxford. Description: New York : Cambridge University Press, 2017. | Includes index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016045219 | ISBN 9781107145399 (hardback) Subjects: LCSH: Cosmology. Classification: LCC BD493.P49 2017 | DDC 113–dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016045219 ISBN 978-1-107-14539-9 Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-14539-9 — The Philosophy of Cosmology Edited by Khalil Chamcham , Joseph Silk , John D. Barrow , Simon Saunders Frontmatter More Information Contents List of Contributors page viii Preface x Acknowledgments xii Part I Issues in the Philosophy of Cosmology 1 1 The Domain of Cosmology and the Testing of Cosmological Theories 3 George F. R. Ellis 2 Black Holes, Cosmology and the Passage of Time: Three Problems at the Limits of Science 40 Bernard Carr 3 Moving Boundaries? – Comments on the Relationship Between Philosophy and Cosmology 66 Claus Beisbart 4 On the Question Why There Exists Something Rather Than Nothing 76 Roderich Tumulka Part II Structures in the Universe and the Structure of Modern Cosmology 83 5 Some Generalities About Generality 85 John D. Barrow 6 Emergent Structures of Effective Field Theories 109 Jean-Philippe Uzan 7 Cosmological Structure Formation 136 Joel R. Primack v © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-14539-9 — The Philosophy of Cosmology Edited by Khalil Chamcham , Joseph Silk , John D. Barrow , Simon Saunders Frontmatter More Information vi Contents 8 Formation of Galaxies 161 Joseph Silk Part III Foundations of Cosmology: Gravity and the Quantum 179 9 The Observer Strikes Back 181 James Hartle and Thomas Hertog 10 Testing Inflation 206 Chris Smeenk 11 Why Boltzmann Brains do not Fluctuate into Existence from the de Sitter Vacuum 228 Kimberly K. Boddy, Sean M. Carroll and Jason Pollack 12 Holographic Inflation Revised 241 Tom Banks 13 Progress and Gravity: Overcoming Divisions Between General Relativity and Particle Physics and Between Physics and HPS 263 J. Brian Pitts Part IV Quantum Foundations and Quantum Gravity 283 14 Is Time’s Arrow Perspectival? 285 Carlo Rovelli 15 Relational Quantum Cosmology 297 Francesca Vidotto 16 Cosmological Ontology and Epistemology 317 Don N. Page 17 Quantum Origin of Cosmological Structure and Dynamical Reduction Theories 330 Daniel Sudarsky 18 Towards a Novel Approach to Semi-Classical Gravity 356 Ward Struyve Part V Methodological and Philosophical Issues 375 19 Limits of Time in Cosmology 377 Svend E. Rugh and Henrik Zinkernagel 20 Self-Locating Priors and Cosmological Measures 396 Cian Dorr and Frank Arntzenius © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-14539-9 — The Philosophy of Cosmology Edited by Khalil Chamcham , Joseph Silk , John D. Barrow , Simon Saunders Frontmatter More Information Contents vii 21 On Probability and Cosmology: Inference Beyond Data? 429 Martin Sahlén 22 Testing the Multiverse: Bayes, Fine-Tuning and Typicality 447 Luke A. Barnes 23 A New Perspective on Einstein’s Philosophy of Cosmology 467 Cormac O’Raifeartaigh 24 The Nature of the Past Hypothesis 486 David Wallace 25 Big and Small 500 David Z. Albert Index 505 © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-14539-9 — The Philosophy of Cosmology Edited by Khalil Chamcham , Joseph Silk , John D. Barrow , Simon Saunders Frontmatter More Information Contributors David Z. Albert is Professor at the Department of Philosophy, Columbia University, USA. Frank Arntzenius is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford, University Col- lege, Oxford, UK. Tom Banks is Professor at the New High Energy Theory Center and the Department of Physics, Rutgers University, USA. Luke A. Barnes is a postdoctoral researcher at the Sydney Institute for Astronomy, Uni- versity of Sydney, Australia. John D. Barrow