Research Interests

My research addresses issues in both general philosophy of science and philosophy of physics. As to the former, my focus is on the problem of scientific representation and the nature of scientific theories. I am currently working on a book on models and theories in science, in which I critically review the common conceptions of models and theories and try to show how some of the difficulties that these conceptions face can be circumvented. In my attempt to understand how scientific representation works, representation in the arts (in particular painting and literature) plays an important role, as I believe that in order to comprehend scientific representation it is essential to recognise what it shares in common with and how it differs from representation in other domains.

My work in the philosophy of physics so far has been concerned with problems that arise in connection with quantum mechanics, chaos theory, and complexity theory. I am currently involved in a research project investigating the nature of probabilistic forecasts in chaotic climate models. Through my engagement with chaos theory I became interested in the foundation of statistical physics, a field that is beset with both conceptual and formal problems. My current research focuses on how probabilities are introduced and interpreted in statistical mechanics, and on how our stance on this issue affects our understanding of irreversibility, the approach to equilibrium, and the (alleged) reduction of thermodynamics to statistical mechanics.