Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

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

  • Published:
Synthese Aims and scope Submit manuscript

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.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bogen J., Woodward J. (1988) Saving the phenomena. The Philosophical Review 97(3): 303–352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bogen J., Woodward J. (2003) Evading the IRS. Poznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 20: 223–256

    Google Scholar 

  • Chang H. (2004) Inventing temperature: Measurement and scientific progress. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Clark S. R., Jaksch D. (2006) Signatures of the superfluid to Mott-insulator transition in the excitation spectrum of ultracold atoms. New Journal of Physics 8(8): 160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franklin A. (1997) Calibration. Perspectives on Science 5(1): 31–80

    Google Scholar 

  • Galison P. (1997) Image and logic. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Greiner M. et al (2002) Quantum phase transition from a superfluid to a Mott insulator in a gas of ultracold atoms. Nature 45: 39–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hartmann, S. (1996). The world as a process: Simulations in the natural and social sciences. In R. Hegselmann et al. (Eds.), Modelling and simulation in the social sciences from the philosophy of science point of view (pp. 77–100). Theory and decision library. Dordrecht: Kluwer.

  • Hubbard J. (1963) Electron correlations in narrow energy bands. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A 276(1365): 238–257

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes R. I. G. (1999) The Ising model, computer simulation and universal physics. In: Morgan M. S., Morrison M. (eds) Models as mediators: Perspectives on natural and social science. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 97–145

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Humphreys P. (2004) Extending ourselves. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Keller E. F. (2003) Models, simulation, and computer experiments. In: Radder H. (eds) The philosophy of scientific experimentation. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, pp 198–215

    Google Scholar 

  • Merz, M. (2006). Locating the dry lab on the lab map. In Lenhard, J., Kuppers, G., & Shinn, T. (Eds.), Simulation: Pragmatic construction of reality (Vol. 25, pp. 155–172). Sociology of science yearbook. Dordrecht: Springer.

  • Morgan M. S. (2002) Model experiments and models in experiments. In: Magnani L., Nersessian N. J. (eds) Model based reasoning: Science, technology, values. Kluwer, New York, pp 41–58

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Parker W. (2009) Does matter really matter: Computer simulations, experiments, and materiality. Synthese 169(3): 483–496

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stöferle T., Moritz H., Schori C., Köhl M., Esslinger T. (2004) Transition from a strongly interacting 1D superfluid to a Mott insulator. Physical Review Letters 92(13): 130403(4)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vidal G. (2003) Efficient classical simulation of slightly entangled quantum computations. Physical Review Letters 91(4): 147902(4)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winsberg E. (2003) Simulated experiments: Methodology for a virtual world. Philosophy of Science 70(1): 105–125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winsberg E. (2009) A tale of two methods. Synthese 169(3): 575–592

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woodward J. (2000) Data, phenomena and reliability. Philosophy of Science 67: S163–S179

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, University of Toronto, 170 St. George Street (4th Floor), Toronto, ON, M5R 2M8, Canada

    Eran Tal

Authors
  1. Eran Tal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eran Tal.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Tal, E. From data to phenomena and back again: computer-simulated signatures. Synthese 182, 117–129 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-009-9612-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-009-9612-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation