Patrick Fraser

I am a doctoral candidate in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Toronto. My research examines issues at the intersection of the philosophy of physics, metaphysics, and the philosophy of language. In particular, I am interested in understanding how specialized mathematical tools, when supplemented with familiar semantical resources from our ordinary conceptual repertoire, furnish physical theories with content.

Email: p.fraser[at]mail.utoronto.ca

Publications

A kinematic derivation of the Born rule, Philosophy of Science, accepted. [preprint]
I derive the Born rule from metaphysical assumptions about the instantiation conditions for quantum-mechanical quantity values, together with general principles about how probabilities associated with measurement outcomes are constrained by the instantiation conditions of the values of the quantities measured.
The Kochen-Specker theorem with determinables and determinates, Philosophy of Science, accepted (with Mike Miller). [preprint]
We argue that the Kochen-Specker theorem is best understood as a prohibition against interpreting quantum theory without determinable-based metaphysical indeterminacy.
From classical to quantum indeterminacy, and back, Philosophy of Science, 2025 (with Mike Miller). [preprint] [journal]
We consider a recent proposal that classical mechanics is metaphysically indeterminate and show how these considerations inform our understanding of the role of quantitative precision in capturing quantum indeterminacy.
Quantum epistemology and constructivism, Journal of Philosophical Logic, 2023 (with Nuriya Nurgalieva and Lidia del Rio). [preprint] [journal]
We use tools from epistemic logic to explore the implications of the Frauchiger-Renner paradox for knowability.
Taming fluctuations for Gaussian states in loop quantum cosmology, Physical Review D, 2021. [preprint] [journal]
I investigate semiclassical states in loop quantum cosmology which asymptotically saturate uncertainty relations.

Works in Progress

• A paper about information-theoretic reconstructions of quantum theory, revise and resubmit.
• A paper about natural properties and quantum theory, revise and resubmit.
• A paper about the metaphysics of algebraic quantum theories, under review.
• A paper about metaphysical indeterminacy and classical logic, under review.
• 'And' on Hilbert space, under review (with Emily Patterson and Mike Miller).
• Classical logic and quantum properties, under review (with Mike Miller and Jessica Wilson). [preprint]