Ruth Kastner

Dr. Ruth Kastner

Philosophy Department, Skinner Building, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

29Years (1998-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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15 May 2012 in Foundations of Physics
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RKRuth Kastner
Ruth Kastner


8 April 2017 in Foundations of Physics
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RKRuth Kastner
Ruth Kastner

4 June 1999 in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics
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RKRuth Kastner
Ruth Kastner

9 March 2017 in Entropy
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RKRuth Kastner
Ruth Kastner
It was first suggested by David Z. Albert that the existence of a real, physical non-unitary process (i.e., “collapse”) at the quantum level would yield a complete explanation for the Second Law of Thermodynamics (i.e., the increase in entropy over time). The contribution of such a process would be to provide a physical basis for the ontological indeterminacy needed to derive the irreversible Second Law against a backdrop of otherwise reversible, deterministic physical laws. An alternative understanding of the source of this possible quantum “collapse” or non-unitarity is presented herein, in terms of the Transactional Interpretation (TI). The present model provides a specific physical justification for Boltzmann’s often-criticized assumption of molecular randomness (Stosszahlansatz), thereby changing its status from an ad hoc postulate to a theoretically grounded result, without requiring any change to the basic quantum theory. In addition, it is argued that TI provides an elegant way of reconciling, via indeterministic collapse, the time-reversible Liouville evolution with the time-irreversible evolution inherent in so-called “master equations” that specify the changes in occupation of the various possible states in terms of the transition rates between them. The present model is contrasted with the Ghirardi–Rimini–Weber (GRW) “spontaneous collapse” theory previously suggested for this purpose by Albert.

17 June 2019 in Foundations of Physics
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RKRuth Kastner
Ruth Kastner