Aditya Jha

About

Supervisors: Hasok Chang and Neil Dewar

Thesis topic: What is Temperature, Really?

Research interests

Foundations of physics, philosophy of mathematical modelling, Buddhist philosophy and its parallels with western philosophy, Indian astronomical traditions.

PhD synopsis

In my dissertation, I look into the question 'What is Temperature, Really?', a question that is motivated by a) the presence of multiple (and often incompatible) definitions of temperature when the concept of temperature is extended to non-equilibrium regimes, and b) the growing importance of modelling heat flows in non-equilibrium regimes at scales (e.g., nanoscale) where the conceptual extensions of temperature may lose their precise and unified meaning. By surveying both philosophy and physics literature, I examine whether it is possible to unify the difference conceptions of temperature.

Prior education

2019–2023, University of Canterbury (UC), New Zealand
PhD in (Applied) Mathematics

May–June 2023, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
Visiting PhD student, Department of Linguistics and Philosophy

Jan–June 2022, University of Cambridge, UK
Visiting PhD student, Department of History and Philosophy of Science

2017–2019, Nalanda University, Rajgir, India
MA in Buddhist Studies

2009–2013, National Institute of Technology, Trichy, India
BTech in Civil Engineering

Research positions and work experience

Research Fellow, Institute Vienna Circle, University of Vienna (Oct 2022–Mar 2023)
(Invited) Visiting Researcher, Observatoire de Paris (postponed)
Research Assistant, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Canterbury (UC), NZ (2020)
Tutor, Engineering Mathematics, UC, NZ (2019–20)
Tutor, Philosophy of Science, UC, NZ (2019–20)
Head, Content Research, Insights IAS, Bengaluru, India (2014–23)

Selected publications and works

(5) Are mathematical explanations causal explanations in disguise?
2024, Philosophy of Science
(with Campbell, D., Montelle, C. and Wilson, P.)

(4) Does topology provide sufficient structure for non-causal explanations?
2023, PhD thesis (Foundations of Applied Mathematics), UC, NZ

(3) On the continuum fallacy: is temperature a continuous function?
2023, Foundations of Physics
(with Campbell, D., Montelle, C., and Wilson, P.)

(2) Not so distinctively mathematical explanations: topology and dynamical systems
2022, Synthese
(with Campbell, D., Montelle, C., and Wilson, P.)

(1) A mathematical model of Dignaga's hetu-cakra
2020, Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research

Academic awards and scholarships

Queens'-Daim PhD Scholarship (2023–26)
Cambridge Trust PhD Scholarship (2023–26)
Rausing, Williamson and Lipton PhD Scholarship (declined)
Institute Vienna Circle Fellowship (2022)
Award for Young Researchers, Spanish Society of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science (2021)
Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Young Historian of Science Award Nominee (2022)
UC School of Mathematics and Statistics Research Continuation Scholarship (2022–23)
UC College of Engineering Doctoral Scholarship, (2019–22)
New Zealand Mathematical Society (NZMS) Student Travel Award (2023 and 2021)
Nalanda Excellence in Academia Scholarship (2019)

Service

Refereeing:
Philosophy of Science

Organisation:
Co-organiser, Cambridge Foundations of Physics Reading Group, 2023
Co-organiser, Unity of Science Reading Group, Institute Vienna Circle, 2022
Co-organiser, New Zealand Mathematics and Statistics Postgraduate Conference, Wainui, 2020

Selected talks

On the Continuum Fallacy: Is Temperature a Continuous Function? (under various titles)

Physics Meets Philosophy Group, Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information – Vienna, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Mar 2023 (talk PDF)
Annual Bergen Philosophy of Science Workshop, Department of Philosophy, University of Bergen, Norway (workshop page)

Are There Purely Topological Explanations of the Number of Equilibria of Pendulum Systems?

63rd British Applied Mathematics Colloquium (poster), April 2022 (conference page)
Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute, Graduate Talks on Geometry and Topology (GT)^2, University of Sydney, Aug 2021 (YouTube link)

Does Topology Provide Sufficient Structure for Non-Causal Explanations?

Causation and Complexity Workshop, University of Salzburg, September 2022 (link)

Distinctively Mathematical Explanations: Micro-Physics Matters

X Conference of the Spanish Society for Logic, Methodology, and Philosophy of Science, Nov 2021

Formal Analogies, Scientific Explanation, and Understanding

Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science Conference, May 2021 (link)

A Buddhist Take on Mathematical Modelling

Consonances I: Mathematics, Language, and the Moral Sense of Nature Conference, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Maynooth University, August 2023 (conference page)
10th Biennial Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Philosophy of Science Association, College of Arts and Sciences, VinUniversity, Vietnam, July 2023
Shaping the World: Science, Technology and Philosophy as Forms of Knowledge, University of Naples Federico II, Oct 2022
University of Cambridge Postgraduate Conference, Dynamic Encounters between Buddhism and the West, sponsored by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), June 2021

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