NDLI: From data to phenomena and back again: computer-simulated signatures

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Tal, Eran
Copyright Year	2009
Abstract	This paper draws attention to an increasingly common method of using computer simulations to establish evidential standards in physics. By simulating an actual detection procedure on a computer, physicists produce patterns of data (‘signatures’) that are expected to be observed if a sought-after phenomenon is present. Claims to detect the phenomenon are evaluated by comparing such simulated signatures with actual data. Here I provide a justification for this practice by showing how computer simulations establish the reliability of detection procedures. I argue that this use of computer simulation undermines two fundamental tenets of the Bogen–Woodward account of evidential reasoning. Contrary to Bogen and Woodward’s view, computer-simulated signatures rely on ‘downward’ inferences from phenomena to data. Furthermore, these simulations establish the reliability of experimental setups without physically interacting with the apparatus. I illustrate my claims with a study of the recent detection of the superfluid-to-Mott-insulator phase transition in ultracold atomic gases.
Starting Page	117
Ending Page	129
Page Count	13
File Format	PDF
ISSN	00397857
Journal	Synthese
Volume Number	182
Issue Number	1
e-ISSN	15730964
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Netherlands
Publisher Date	2009-07-28
Publisher Place	Dordrecht
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Models Simulations Experiments Computers Methodology Physics Logic Philosophy of Language Epistemology Philosophy of Science Metaphysics
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Philosophy Social Sciences

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