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    UK energy strategies under uncertainty: synthesis report

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    Position Uncertainty in the Heisenberg Uncertainty Relation

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    Position measurements are examined under the assumption that object position x_t and probe position X_t just after the measurement are expressed by a linear combination of positions x_0 and X_0 just before the measurement. The Heisenberg uncertainty relation between the position uncertainty and momentum disturbance holds when the measurement error \epsilon(x_t) for the object position x_t is adopted as the position uncertainty. However, the uncertainty in the measurement result obtained for x_0 is the standard deviation of the measurement result, and not the measurement error \epsilon(x_0). This difference is due to the reduction of a wave packet. The validity of the linearity assumption is examined in detail.Comment: Corrected typos. 18 pages, to be published in Prog. Theor. Phys

    Morality, Uncertainty

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    Non-Consequentialist moral theories posit the existence of moral constraints: prohibitions on performing particular kinds of wrongful acts, regardless of the good those acts could produce. Many believe that such theories cannot give satisfactory verdicts about what we morally ought to do when there is some probability that we will violate a moral constraint. In this article, I defend Non-Consequentialist theories from this critique. Using a general choice-theoretic framework, I identify various types of Non-Consequentialism that have otherwise been conflated in the debate. I then prove a number of formal possibility and impossibility results establishing which types of Non-Consequentialism can -- and which cannot -- give us adequate guidance through through a risky world

    Eddington & Uncertainty

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    Sir Arthur Eddington is considered one of the greatest astrophysicist of the twentieth century and yet he gained a stigma when, in the 1930s, he embarked on a quest to develop a unified theory of gravity and quantum mechanics. His attempts ultimately proved fruitless and he was unfortunately partially shunned by some physicists in the latter portion of his career. In addition some historians have been less than kind to him regarding this portion of his work. However, detailed analysis of how this work got started shows that Eddington's theories were not as outlandish as they are often purported to be. His entire theory rested on the use of quantum mechanical methods of uncertainty in the reference frames of relativity. Though the work was ultimately not fruitful, in hindsight it did foreshadow several later results in physics and his methods were definitely rigorous. In addition, his philosophy regarding determinism and uncertainty was actually fairly orthodox for his time. This work begins by looking at Eddington's life and philosophy and uses this as a basis to explore his work with uncertainty.Comment: new version to appear in Physics in Perspective (either Sept. or Dec. issue
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