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Eugene Y. S. Chua

@eugenechua.bsky.social

390 followers 580 following 52 posts

Nanyang Assistant Professor at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Formerly postdoc faculty at Caltech. I work on philosophy of physics and philosophy of science. More at https://eugenechua.com BA Cambridge '17, PhD UC San Diego '23.

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Eugene Y. S. Chua @eugenechua.bsky.social · Oct 4

Hello world! Quick introduction: I work on philosophy of physics (esp. foundations of thermodynamics, time's emergence) and science (working on an account of idealization/approximation, and have an interest in data ethics and inductive practices). More at: eugenechua.com. Excited to be here!

Eugene Y. S. Chua @eugenechua.bsky.social · 2d

Wrote a short piece for the IAI, on my recent paper on black holes and global energy! Contrary to title, I don't claim to have the messy truth behind black hole physics, but I do think we can move (and ppl are) from idealized global approaches to quasi-local approaches, in search of deidealization.

Institute of Art and Ideas @iai.tv · 2d

Over the last century, black holes have evolved from a theoretical curiosity into a key testing ground for modern physics. | https://bit.ly/48Rgc0t

But as Eugene Chua argues, the models rely on untested assumptions, including those behind Hawking’s theory of black hole evaporation.

#philsci ⚛️ 🧪

Hawking radiation and the messy truth behind black hole physics | Eugene Chua

bit.ly

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Eugene Y. S. Chua @eugenechua.bsky.social · 23d

Very happy to announce that the CFP is now open for APSA26: The Inaugural Biennial Conference of the Asian Philosophy of Science Association! It will be held at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The keynote will be Craig Callender. Submission deadline: 31 Dec 2025. URL: tinyurl.com/APSA26

Asian Philosophy of Science Association (APSA) Conference 2026

tinyurl.com

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Reposted by Eugene Y. S. Chua

British Journal for the Philosophy of Science @thebjps.bsky.social · Aug 7

Just accepted:

'The Toll of the Tolman Effect: On the Status of Classical Temperature in General Relativity'
– Eugene Chua & Craig Callender

Abstract in alt text or read the full paper here: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

#philsci #philsky

ABSTRACT. The Tolman effect conflicts with ordinary classical thermodynamics, but is rarely discussed outside of relativistic cosmology. We try to better understand this effect from a foundational perspective and make five claims. (1) It was Einstein who first discovered the effect and his derivation helps us appreciate how robust it is. (2) The standard interpretation in terms of ‘local temperature’ leads to the breakdown of much of classical thermodynamics. (3) We can rescue thermodynamics using Einstein’s preferred interpretation in terms of the ‘wahre Temperatur’ but it too has costs. (4) The effect is best understood in terms of clocks rather than energy loss. (5) We sketch an interpretation of the effect in terms of a third novel temperature. Here, temperature—and thermodynamics—is defined only in relation to local clocks. In sum, we view the fragmentation of temperature in thermodynamics as a natural and expected result of the fragmentation of time in general relativity.

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Eugene Y. S. Chua @eugenechua.bsky.social · Aug 8

Many thanks to Caltech's Linde Center for Science, Society, and Policy for their gracious support, and to Frederick Eberhardt, David Danks, @kathleencreel.bsky.social, @whcsung.bsky.social, and participants of the 2024 TeXneCon, for helpful comments and suggestions!

Eugene Y. S. Chua @eugenechua.bsky.social · Aug 8

My paper w/ Bosco Garcia (UCSD) & Harman Brah (UCLA) on the 'problem of atypicality' for LLM-powered psychiatry is now published at the Journal of Medical Ethics! Just as GPT5 is touting capability as "active thought partner"...

JME link: bit.ly/jme-atypical...
Preprint: bit.ly/atypicality-...

The problem of atypicality in LLM-powered psychiatry

Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly proposed as scalable solutions to the global mental health crisis. But their deployment in psychiatric contexts raises a distinctive ethical concern: the ...

bit.ly

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Eugene Y. S. Chua @eugenechua.bsky.social · Aug 5

@uberwensch.bsky.social link to talks on YouTube are here :)

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Reposted by Eugene Y. S. Chua

Philosophy @ NTU Singapore @nanyang-philosophy.bsky.social · Jul 28

We are hiring in Philosophy at NTU!

Open rank and open area call for tenure-track/tenured positions: philjobs.org/job/show/29338

Assistant Professor/Associate Professor/Full Professor of Philosophy, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore - PhilJobs:JFP Assistant Professor/Associate Professor/Full Professor of Philosoph...

An international database of jobs for philosophers

philjobs.org

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Eugene Y. S. Chua @eugenechua.bsky.social · Jul 27

Talks from the 2025 Foundations of Thermodynamics workshop held at NTU Singapore, co-organized with @wmyrvold.bsky.social, are now available on YouTube here: bit.ly/yt-ftd2025

Thanks again to all participants for attending the workshop and contributing to the lively and fruitful discussions! :)

2025 Foundations of Thermodynamics Workshop, Singapore - YouTube

Recordings of talks from the Foundations of Thermodynamics Workshop held at NTU Singapore 16-18 July 2025.

youtube.com

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Eugene Y. S. Chua @eugenechua.bsky.social · Jul 21

Thanks especially to @wmyrvold.bsky.social for co-organizing. For those interested, talk recordings will be uploaded onto YouTube soon. Already looking forward to the next iteration!

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Eugene Y. S. Chua @eugenechua.bsky.social · Jul 21

It's a wrap! Many thanks to participants of the 2025 Foundations of Thermodynamics workshop for making it a great success. Glad that the first workshop I organized went smoothly :) I got helpful feedback on some new work on the concept of quantum work, and learnt so much from the other speakers!

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Eugene Y. S. Chua @eugenechua.bsky.social · Jul 15

Temperature falls apart yet again! Jokes aside, very excited to share that my paper with Craig Callender, "The Toll of the Tolman Effect: On the Status of Classical Temperature in General Relativity", was accepted for publication in the BJPS! Preprint available here: arxiv.org/abs/2507.10529

The Toll of the Tolman Effect: On the Status of Classical Temperature in General Relativity

The Tolman effect is well-known in relativistic cosmology but rarely discussed outside it. That is surprising because the effect -- that systems extended over a varying gravitational potential exhibit...

arxiv.org

Reposted by Eugene Y. S. Chua

Tim Kellogg @timkellogg.me · Jun 10

When two LLMs debate, both think they’ll win

Absolutely fascinating paper shows that LLMs basically cannot judge their own performance. None of the prompting techniques worked

arxiv.org/abs/2505.19184

When Two LLMs Debate, Both Think They'll Win

Can LLMs accurately adjust their confidence when facing opposition? Building on previous studies measuring calibration on static fact-based question-answering tasks, we evaluate Large Language Models ...

arxiv.org

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Eugene Y. S. Chua @eugenechua.bsky.social · Jun 3

Co-organized with @wmyrvold.bsky.social, the 2025 Foundations of Thermodynamics workshop will be held in NTU from 16-18 July 2025. We have a great slate of participants and I am very much looking forward to it!

Attendance is free and there will be a Zoom option. Details here: bit.ly/3SxvSNi

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Eugene Y. S. Chua @eugenechua.bsky.social · May 16

Looking forward to being back in the Boston area, meeting old friends, and participating in a debate w/ Siddharth about my recent EJPS paper, "Not Quite Killing It", next Tuesday at the ngEHT's 4th History, Philosophy, and Culture working group meeting at Harvard's Black Hole Initiative! 😄

4th HP&C Meeting: May 20, 2025 | ngEHT

www.ngeht.org

Eugene Y. S. Chua @eugenechua.bsky.social · Apr 16

Last class for the philosophy of quantum mechanics! It was so much work since it's the first time I'm teaching this, but it was rewarding to see students leave the course with an appreciation of the open questions at the foundations of quantum mechanics and science 😄

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Eugene Y. S. Chua @eugenechua.bsky.social · Apr 9

Very happy that my paper with @eddykemingchen.bsky.social is officially published with Synthese with open access. It was a great opportunity to survey the space of options when it comes to the Born Rule for Everettians, and see how density matrix realism generalizes them!

Eddy Keming Chen @eddykemingchen.bsky.social · Apr 9

Happy to share that my paper with @eugenechua.bsky.social is now officially published with open access! 🚀

"Decoherence, branching, and the Born rule in a mixed-state Everettian multiverse" link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Thanks to all who offered feedback!

Decoherence, branching, and the Born rule in a mixed-state Everettian multiverse - Synthese

In Everettian quantum mechanics, justifications for the Born rule appeal to self-locating uncertainty or decision theory. Such justifications have focused exclusively on a pure-state Everettian multiv...

link.springer.com

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Eugene Y. S. Chua @eugenechua.bsky.social · Mar 31

Finally caught up on Orb: On the Movements of the Earth. What a rewarding watch, esp. as a philosopher of science! It's a fictionalized pre-history of heliocentrism in the age of the Inquisition, and a rumination on truth, knowledge, faith, humanity. It's also beautifully written and crafted.

Reposted by Eugene Y. S. Chua

Tom Marvan 🇪🇺 @tmarvan.bsky.social · Mar 24

PSA Around the World 2025 - one week to the deadline.
We look forward to receiving your abstracts.

Philosophy of Science Association @philsci.bsky.social · Mar 15

Don't forget to submit your abstract: PSA Around the World 2025 🌍 Focus: Eastern & Central Europe.

🗓️ Deadline: March 31, 2025
💻 Fully online, Nov 6, 14, 22
$50 fee (waivers available).

More info: philsci.org/psa_arou...
📄 Submit abstracts: http://psaatw25.scie...

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Eugene Y. S. Chua @eugenechua.bsky.social · Mar 25

Always nice to be back in Caltech. Looking forward to co-presenting with Craig Callender on the Tolman effect and the temperature concept in general relativity, at the &HPS10 conference this week!

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Reposted by Eugene Y. S. Chua

Anna Alexandrova @annaalexandrova.bsky.social · Mar 18

The first article in the special issue @martinkusch.bsky.social and I are coediting is out! Thomas Uebel lays to rest various myths about the Vienna Circle views of social sciences, proving yet again that they were right about pretty much everything. #philsci #philsky #histsci #sts

Logical empiricist anti-exceptionalism in its Austro-German context

www.sciencedirect.com

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Reposted by Eugene Y. S. Chua

Journal for General Philosophy of Science (JGPS) @jgps.bsky.social · Mar 17

In merging gen. relativity with quantum gravity, we risk losing time itself. The 'thermal time hypothesis' says time emerges thermodynamically—but does it smuggle in dynamics from the start? A new article by @eugenechua.bsky.social appraises TTH📄👇 link.springer.com/article/10.1... #philsci #philsky

A promotional graphic for a new article titled “The Time in Thermal Time” by Eugene Y. S. Chua, published in the Journal for General Philosophy of Science. The left side of the image displays the title in bold black text, followed by the author's name in yellow, and an image of the journal's cover. The right side features a yellow text box with the abstract of the article. The journal and DOI are listed at the bottom.

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Eugene Y. S. Chua @eugenechua.bsky.social · Feb 27

Looking forward to meeting colleagues and speaking on this paper on idealization, de-Idealization, and asymptotic reasoning I wrote with @yichenluo.bsky.social (UWO), at Lingnan and HKUST in Hong Kong next week!

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Eugene Y. S. Chua @eugenechua.bsky.social · Feb 23

The Asian Philosophy of Science Association is planning to convene our first conference in 2026! We are looking for institutions, particularly in Asia, who are interested in hosting APSA26. If interested, please send us a proposal! Details here: www.philsciasia.org#13

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Eugene Y. S. Chua @eugenechua.bsky.social · Feb 19

I was invited to write an article for @iai.tv on the emergence of time in quantum gravity, based on some past work, recent work, and work in progress.

I used to watch IAI lectures and debates all the time as an aspiring philosophy student, so it's a milestone to be able to contribute to it now! 😄

Can time emerge from a timeless world? | Eugene Chua

iai.tv

Eugene Y. S. Chua @eugenechua.bsky.social · Feb 10

Can time emerge from thermodynamics? My paper scrutinizing the thermal time hypothesis is officially published with @springernature.com at @jgps.bsky.social! Full-text view-only link here: rdcu.be/d9fhd

The Time in Thermal Time

rdcu.be

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