Valia Allori
Assistant
Professor of Philosophy, Northern Illinois University
Zulaf Hall 920, Dekalb, 60115 IL
Phone: 815 753 6412 (office) , E-mail: vallori@niu.edu
Education
Ph.D. (Philosophy) Rutgers 2007
Ph. D. (Physics) University of Genova 2001
M.A. (Physics) University of Milano1997
Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Physics,
Metaphysics
Overview:
Valia Allori has studied physics and philosophy first in Italy, her
home
country, and then in the United States. She has worked in the
foundations of
quantum mechanics, in particular in the framework of Bohmian mechanics,
a
quantum theory without observers. Her main concern has always been to
understand
what the world is really like and how we can use our best physical
theory to
answer such general metaphysical questions. In her physics doctoral
dissertation, she discussed the classical limit of quantum mechanics,
to
analyze the connections between the quantum and the classical theories.
What
does it mean that a theory, in a certain approximation, reduces to
another? Is
the classical explanation of macroscopic phenomena essentially
different from
the one provided by quantum mechanics? In her philosophy doctoral
dissertation
she turned to more general questions that involve the structure of
fundamental
physical theories, the metaphysical status and the epistemological role
of the
theoretical entities used in these theories. Do all fundamental
physical
theories have the very same structure, contrarily to what one might
think? If
so, what is this telling us about the nature of explanation? She has
worked
mainly in collaboration with Detlef Duerr, Sheldon Goldstein, Roderich
Tumulka
and Nino Zanghi in Bohmian mechanics, writing several articles with
them. She
is also co-author of a book on the philosophy and foundations of
physics,
written in Italian, together with Mauro Dorato, Federico Laudisa and
Nino
Zanghi. The book, "La Natura delle Cose" (The Nature of Things), has
been written mainly for a philosophy or a physics student who is
interested in
the main problems of the theory of relativity, statistical mechanics,
quantum
theory and causation, but it might be accessible, even if with some
effort, by an
interested reader.
Curriculum vitae (HTML) (PDF)
Research activity
Personal background
People
Conferences
Teaching
For more details on Valia's research and
personal interest, see her personal web page.
Publications:
Book
·
"La
Natura delle Cose: Introduzione ai Fondamenti
e alla Filosofia della Fisica", (transl.: "The Nature of Things:
Introduction to the Philosophy and the Foundation of Physics"), with M.
Dorato, F. Laudisa, N. Zanghi. Carocci eds.,
Articles (Philosophy)
· "On the Common Structure of Bohmian Mechanics and the Ghirardi-Rimini-Weber Theory" with S. Goldstein, R. Tumulka, and N. Zanghi. The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 59 (3), 353-389 (2008)
·
"Ontologie
Quantistiche di Particelle, Campi e Lampi" (transl.: "Quantum
Ontologies of Particles, Fields and Flashes"), with N. Zanghi. E.
Fano and M. Antonelli (eds.), "Strutture dello spazio tra fisica e
psicologia", Teorie e Modelli, XII, III. 9-29 (2007).
· "Puo' la Descrizione Quanto-Meccanica della Realta' Fisica Essere Considerata Completa?" (transl.: "Can Quantum-Mechanical Description of Physical Reality Be Considered Complete?"), with N. Zanghi. Il Protagora vol. 9, 163-180 (2007)
· "What is Bohmian Mechanics", with N. Zanghi. International Journal of Theoretical Physics 43, 1743-1755 (2004)
·
"Seven
Steps Toward the Classical
World", with D. Duerr, S. Goldstein,