My research intertwines philosophy of physics, general philosophy of science, and metaphysics of science. I’m mainly focused on four research areas.
[1] I’m interested in understanding how scientific theories are related and what’s the best way to model relations of reduction and emergence in science, especially in physics. I'm particularly focused on functionalism and functional reduction in science and have worked on developing both David Lewis's original account and a new approach called Semantic Functional Reduction [SEP]. Functional reduction offers a fruitful framework for understanding reduction across various contexts, including thermodynamics, classical mechanics, and biochemical entities. More broadly, I’m interested in the notion of levels of reality and the link between the ontologies of theories valid in different regimes, in the connection between reduction and justification, and in limiting reduction in physics.
[2] I'm interested in the foundations of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. I’m working on the applicability of statistical mechanics and thermodynamics to unconventional domains, such as gravitating systems like globular clusters of stars. These theories help us understand the behaviour of these systems, but the standard application of concepts like equilibrium is problematic. Probing the physics of these atypical systems leads us to reconsider the very foundations of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics.
[3] As part of SNF’s “Temporal Existence” research project, I work on metaphysical aspects of relativity and cosmology, focusing on the ontology of spacetime and the implications of relativity theory for traditional metaphysical topics such as location and persistence.
[4] I work on various topics within the ontology of quantum mechanics, particularly on the physical meaning of the quantum wavefunction. I explored the latter topic in the context of collapse theories and Bohmian mechanics, worked on the application of Ontic Structural Realism to quantum mechanics, and developed a functionalist account to recover three-dimensional objects from the quantum wavefunction within wavefunction realism.
