Dr. Laurie Letertre

 I obtained my PhD in physics at the University of Mons, Belgium, in 2016. I obtained a master in philosophy of physics at the University of Bristol, and then completed a PhD in philosophy at the Université Grenoble Alpes, France, in 2022. My thesis focused on the metaphysics of causal nonseparability in quantum physics. I was a postdoc at the Czech Academy of Science within the Centre for Formal Epistemology, and a visiting researcher at the Warsaw University of Technology, within the Philosophy of Physics Research Group of Prof. Antonio Vassallo. I recently received a MSCA postdoctoral grant to work within the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy on the philosophy of spacetime in quantum gravity, starting from June 2023.

Research Interests

My interests initially encompass the metaphysical questions related to the interpretations of quantum mechanics and theoretical generalisations thereof, such as the process matrix formalism in which indefinite causal orders can be defined. I study the potential metaphysical implications of indefinite causal orders, as well as their connection with nonlocality.
I am also interested in the epistemic questions surrounding operational formalisms for physical theories, and the way these formalisms can be used as an epistemic tool to understand theory change and knowledge acquisition in physics.

My present focus is on the status of space and time in quantum physics, from quantum mechanics to quantum gravity.

Recent Publications

▪ Letertre, L. (2021). ‘The operational framework for quantum theories is both epistemologically and ontologically neutral’. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 89, 129-137.

▪ Lam, V., Letertre, L. & Mariani, C. (2022). ‘Quantum Metaphysics and the Foundations of Spacetime’. In ‘The Foundations of Spacetime Physics: Philosophical Perspectives’, Vassallo, A. (Ed.), The Routledge Studies in the Philosophy of Mathematics and Physics. Invited.

▪ Letertre, L., (2022). ‘Causal nonseparability and its implications for spatiotemporal relations’, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 95, 64-74.

▪ Letertre L., (under review, invited book chapter), ‘Métaphysique quantique’. In Sciences & métaphysique, Editions Matériologiques.