Dear ISH members,

2 announcements today:

*Call for volunteers - ISHPSSB social media*
We are still searching for a volunteer to take over the role of
communication on social media, which has been handled by Sophie for several
years.
Please contact us if you are interested.

*Lunch Time Talks - Feraz Azhar 9/20 and Porter Williams 9/24*

The Center for Philosophy of Science invites you to join us for our Lunch
Time Talks.  Attend in person, Room 1117 on the 11th floor of the Cathedral
of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh or visit our live stream on
YouTube at *https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrRp47ZMXD7NXO3a9Gyh2sg
<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrRp47ZMXD7NXO3a9Gyh2sg>*.



*LTT: Feraz Azhar*

Friday, September 20 @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm EDT

*Title: Rethinking the Anthropic Principle*

Abstract: The anthropic principle (AP) states that “what we can expect to
observe must be restricted by the conditions necessary for our presence as
observers”. But the phrase “our presence as observers” cannot be uniquely
interpreted in the context of the theories within which AP is meant to be
understood and applied: namely, for *effective* theories. In this talk,
I’ll describe and defend a reformulation of AP, which I’ll refer to as
the *effective
observation principle* (EOP). EOP describes what we can expect to observe
in physical settings by considering our ‘observational situation’ (and not,
specifically, ‘observers’)—understood solely in terms of effective
theories. (Joint work with Niels Linnemann.)

*Can’t make it in-person? This talk will be available online through the
following:*

Zoom:  https://pitt.zoom.us/j/98774887894
<https://pitt.zoom.us/j/98774887894#success>

YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrRp47ZMXD7NXO3a9Gyh2sg.





*LTT: Porter Williams*

Tuesday, September 24 @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm EDT

*Title: The Aim and Structure of Cluster Decomposition*

Abstract:

The architecture of quantum field theory includes a handful of load-bearing
locality or causality conditions. One of the most important is the cluster
decomposition property: roughly speaking, a property intended to capture
the fact that the outcome of experiments at Fermilab is independent of
whatever might be happening in the accelerator tunnel at SLAC. Steven
Weinberg went so far as to call it a foundational requirement of all
experimental science. However, the statistical independence required by
cluster decomposition is in tension with the long-range correlations
characteristic of entangled states. Nevertheless, something very much like
Weinberg’s transcendental-ish claim is probably correct but appreciating
that requires disentangling the role of the cluster decomposition property
from its standard mathematical presentation and elucidating a delicate
relationship between the cluster decomposition property and the ubiquity of
entanglement in quantum field theory.

* This talk will be available online through:*

Zoom:  https://pitt.zoom.us/s/91855041780 and

YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrRp47ZMXD7NXO3a9Gyh2sg.