Education
PhD in Physics, Oxford University
David Wallace
University of Pittsburgh
Profile
My original training was in theoretical physics: I took a Physics PhD (also at Oxford) before my interests took me towards more conceptual and foundational questions in physics, and from there into philosophy. I like cats and (extinct) dinosaurs, but don't currently own any of either.
Research
My research interests are mostly in the philosophy of physics. I've been particularly active in trying to develop and defend the Everett interpretation of quantum theory (often called the "Many-Worlds Interpretation"); my book on the Everett interpretation, "The Emergent Multiverse", was published in June 2012. But I also have philosophical and conceptual interests in quantum mechanics, quantum field theory, statistical mechanics, general relativity, symmetry and gauge theory, and basically pretty much all of contemporary philosophy of physics. Outside philosophy of physics, I'm interested in emergence and reductionism, in structural realism, and in decision theory.
Most Cited Publications
Wallace, D. (2012). The emergent multiverse: Quantum theory according to the Everett interpretation. Oxford University Press.
Saunders, S., Barrett, J., Kent, A., & Wallace, D. (Eds.). (2010). Many worlds?: Everett, quantum theory, & reality. Oxford University Press.
Greaves, H., & Wallace, D. (2006). Justifying conditionalization: Conditionalization maximizes expected epistemic utility. Mind, 115(459), 607-632.
Wallace, D. (2003). Everett and structure. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, 34(1), 87-105.
Wallace, D. (2003). Everettian rationality: defending Deutsch's approach to probability in the Everett interpretation. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, 34(3), 415-439.
Recent Publications
Wallace, D. (2019). The case for black hole thermodynamics Part II: statistical mechanics. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, 66, 103-117.
Wallace, D. (2019). Isolated systems and their symmetries, part II: local and global symmetries of field theories.
Wallace, D. (2019). Observability, redundancy and modality for dynamical symmetry transformations.
Wallace, D. (2019). Isolated Systems and their Symmetries, Part I: General Framework and Particle-Mechanics Examples.
Wallace, D. (2019). What is orthodox quantum mechanics?. In Philosophers Look at Quantum Mechanics (pp. 285-312). Springer, Cham.