Katie Robertson
Biographic Data
| ID | 3874378 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Katie Robertson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Katie |
| FAMILY NAME | Robertson |
| SIGNATURE | ROBERTSON K |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Birmingham |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0645-0761 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 11 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 14 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 11 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Why the transfer of stateless refugees by Australia to Nauru is concerning and in breach of international law
The Australian Government should terminate its latest arrangement with the Republic of Nauru, which deflects Australia’s obligations to refugees under international law and will have real and significant consequences for stateless people in need of protection
Theoretical Relicts
When once-successful physical theories are abandoned, common wisdom has it that their characteristic theoretical entities are abandoned with them: examples include phlogiston, light rays, Newtonian forces, Euclidean space. But sometimes a theory sees ongoing use, despite being superseded. What should scientific realists say about the characteristic entities of the theories in such cases? The standard answer is that these ‘theoretical relicts’ are…
Black Hole Thermodynamics
Do black holes expand for the same reason that cups of tea cool down? There is a striking similarity between the laws of black hole mechanics and the laws of thermodynamics; so striking, that some have gone as far as—indeed the orthodoxy in theoretical physics is—to say it is an identity. But others point out differences between the quantities associated to black holes and the quantities of ordinary thermal systems, like cups of tea and boxes of …
A collaborative network trial to evaluate the effectiveness of implementation strategies to maximize adoption of a school-based healthy lunchbox program
Introduction: An important impediment to the large-scale adoption of evidence-based school nutrition interventions is the lack of evidence on effective strategies to implement them. This paper describes the protocol for a "Collaborative Network Trial" to support the simultaneous testing of different strategies undertaken by New South Wales Local Health Districts to facilitate the adoption of an effective school-based healthy lunchbox program ('SW…
Book Forum
Is Thermodynamics Subjective
Thermodynamics is an unusual theory. Prominent figures, including J. C. Maxwell and E. T. Jaynes, have suggested that thermodynamics is anthropocentric, and contemporary approaches label thermodynamics a “subjective theory.” Here, we evaluate the arguments for anthropocentrism but conclude that instead of pointing to an anthropocentric view, they point towards a resource-relative understanding of thermodynamics which can be shorn of the “subjecti…
In Search of the Holy Grail
The search for the statistical mechanical underpinning of thermodynamic irreversibility has so far focussed on the spontaneous approach to equilibrium. But this is the search for the underpinning of what Brown and Uffink have dubbed the ‘minus first law’ of thermodynamics. In contrast, the second law tells us that certain interventions on equilibrium states render the initial state ‘irrecoverable’. In this article, I discuss the unusual nature of…
Asymmetry, Abstraction, and Autonomy
While the fundamental laws of physics are time-reversal invariant, most macroscopic processes are irreversible. Given that the fundamental laws are taken to underpin all other processes, how can the fundamental time-symmetry be reconciled with the asymmetry manifest elsewhere? In statistical mechanics (SM), progress can be made with this question. What I dub the 'Zwanzig-Zeh-Wallace framework' can be used to construct the irreversible equations o…
Stars and steam engines
Foundational puzzles surround (Newtonian) gravitational thermal physics-a realm in which stars are treated as akin to molecules in a gas. Whether such an enterprise is successful and the domain of thermal physics extends beyond our terrestrial sphere is disputed. There are successes (such as the collisionless Boltzmann equation) and paradoxical features (such as the 'gravothermal catastrophe'). Callender (Found Phys 41(6):960-981, 2011) advocates…
Can the two-time interpretation of quantum mechanics solve the measurement problem
Landauer defended
Asymmetry, Abstraction, and Autonomy
While the fundamental laws of physics are time-reversal invariant, most macroscopic processes are irreversible. Given that the fundamental laws are taken to underpin all other processes, how can the fundamental time-symmetry be reconciled with the asymmetry manifest elsewhere? In statistical mechanics (SM), progress can be made with this question. What I dub the 'Zwanzig-Zeh-Wallace framework' can be used to construct the irreversible equations o…
In Search of the Holy Grail
The search for the statistical mechanical underpinning of thermodynamic irreversibility has so far focussed on the spontaneous approach to equilibrium. But this is the search for the underpinning of what Brown and Uffink have dubbed the ‘minus first law’ of thermodynamics. In contrast, the second law tells us that certain interventions on equilibrium states render the initial state ‘irrecoverable’. In this article, I discuss the unusual nature of…
Theoretical Relicts
When once-successful physical theories are abandoned, common wisdom has it that their characteristic theoretical entities are abandoned with them: examples include phlogiston, light rays, Newtonian forces, Euclidean space. But sometimes a theory sees ongoing use, despite being superseded. What should scientific realists say about the characteristic entities of the theories in such cases? The standard answer is that these ‘theoretical relicts’ are…
Book Forum
Stars and steam engines
Foundational puzzles surround (Newtonian) gravitational thermal physics-a realm in which stars are treated as akin to molecules in a gas. Whether such an enterprise is successful and the domain of thermal physics extends beyond our terrestrial sphere is disputed. There are successes (such as the collisionless Boltzmann equation) and paradoxical features (such as the 'gravothermal catastrophe'). Callender (Found Phys 41(6):960-981, 2011) advocates…
Landauer defended
Can the two-time interpretation of quantum mechanics solve the measurement problem
Stars and steam engines
Foundational puzzles surround (Newtonian) gravitational thermal physics-a realm in which stars are treated as akin to molecules in a gas. Whether such an enterprise is successful and the domain of thermal physics extends beyond our terrestrial sphere is disputed. There are successes (such as the collisionless Boltzmann equation) and paradoxical features (such as the 'gravothermal catastrophe'). Callender (Found Phys 41(6):960-981, 2011) advocates…
Asymmetry, Abstraction, and Autonomy
While the fundamental laws of physics are time-reversal invariant, most macroscopic processes are irreversible. Given that the fundamental laws are taken to underpin all other processes, how can the fundamental time-symmetry be reconciled with the asymmetry manifest elsewhere? In statistical mechanics (SM), progress can be made with this question. What I dub the 'Zwanzig-Zeh-Wallace framework' can be used to construct the irreversible equations o…
In Search of the Holy Grail
The search for the statistical mechanical underpinning of thermodynamic irreversibility has so far focussed on the spontaneous approach to equilibrium. But this is the search for the underpinning of what Brown and Uffink have dubbed the ‘minus first law’ of thermodynamics. In contrast, the second law tells us that certain interventions on equilibrium states render the initial state ‘irrecoverable’. In this article, I discuss the unusual nature of…
Book Forum
Is Thermodynamics Subjective
Thermodynamics is an unusual theory. Prominent figures, including J. C. Maxwell and E. T. Jaynes, have suggested that thermodynamics is anthropocentric, and contemporary approaches label thermodynamics a “subjective theory.” Here, we evaluate the arguments for anthropocentrism but conclude that instead of pointing to an anthropocentric view, they point towards a resource-relative understanding of thermodynamics which can be shorn of the “subjecti…
A collaborative network trial to evaluate the effectiveness of implementation strategies to maximize adoption of a school-based healthy lunchbox program
Introduction: An important impediment to the large-scale adoption of evidence-based school nutrition interventions is the lack of evidence on effective strategies to implement them. This paper describes the protocol for a "Collaborative Network Trial" to support the simultaneous testing of different strategies undertaken by New South Wales Local Health Districts to facilitate the adoption of an effective school-based healthy lunchbox program ('SW…
Black Hole Thermodynamics
Do black holes expand for the same reason that cups of tea cool down? There is a striking similarity between the laws of black hole mechanics and the laws of thermodynamics; so striking, that some have gone as far as—indeed the orthodoxy in theoretical physics is—to say it is an identity. But others point out differences between the quantities associated to black holes and the quantities of ordinary thermal systems, like cups of tea and boxes of …
Why the transfer of stateless refugees by Australia to Nauru is concerning and in breach of international law
The Australian Government should terminate its latest arrangement with the Republic of Nauru, which deflects Australia’s obligations to refugees under international law and will have real and significant consequences for stateless people in need of protection
Theoretical Relicts
When once-successful physical theories are abandoned, common wisdom has it that their characteristic theoretical entities are abandoned with them: examples include phlogiston, light rays, Newtonian forces, Euclidean space. But sometimes a theory sees ongoing use, despite being superseded. What should scientific realists say about the characteristic entities of the theories in such cases? The standard answer is that these ‘theoretical relicts’ are…
Physics (7 works) · Theoretical physics (7 works) · Epistemology (6 works) · Philosophy (6 works) · Quantum Mechanics and Applications (6 works) · Computer Science (5 works) · Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics (4 works) · Philosophy and History of Science (4 works) · Statistical Mechanics and Entropy (4 works) · Thermodynamics (4 works)