Embedded Files
About the Group
About the Group
I run the Foundations of Thermodynamics Group at NTU Singapore, which is currently funded by the Nanyang Assistant Professorship Grant. Its goal is to provide a space for research on all aspects of the conceptual foundations of thermodynamics, with particular focus on understanding the conceptual foundations of thermodynamics beyond the classical domain, e.g., in the quantum and relativistic domains, how thermodynamics relates to other non-fundamental domains such as condensed matter systems, fluid dynamics and neuroscience, and how it bears on questions in philosophy such as (but not limited to) questions about emergence, reduction, inter-theory relations, the nature of non-fundamental reality, the laws of nature, and the relation between symmetries and reality.
The group is currently supported by Research Associate Mel Ong.
We will be hiring another postdoctoral Research Fellow soon. Stay tuned for more news!
About the Group Members
About the Group Members
Eugene Y. S. Chua, Nanyang Assistant Professor, Group PI: Eugene is Nanyang Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, where he leads the Foundations of Thermodynamics group. His research focuses on the philosophy of science, especially physics. He has published work on black hole evaporation, relativistic and quantum thermodynamics, the foundations of quantum mechanics, and the emergence of time in quantum gravity.
Yichen Luo, Research Fellow: Yichen will be joining us in November 2025, as a postdoctoral research fellow. He received his Ph.D. in philosophy of physics from the University of Western Ontario. His research spans foundational and epistemological issues in black hole physics, General Relativity, and general topics in scientific modeling and explanation. Before his Ph.D., he studied philosophy at Tsinghua University and physics at Beijing Normal University.
Mel Ong, Research Associate: Mel is a philosophy and classics graduate with an interest in logic, especially self-referential paradoxes. She is also interested in film programming and sees it as a tool to promote solidarity. She hopes to highlight and examine stories on queer identity, womanhood and aesthetics. In her free time, she enjoys making digital art.
Finding Balance: Foundations of Thermodynamics Workshop 2026
Finding Balance: Foundations of Thermodynamics Workshop 2026
Organization for the 2026 Foundations of Thermodynamics Workshop is underway! Co-organized with Miguel Ohnesorge, the theme will be a conceptual history of equilibrium and static reasoning. Bringing historians and philosophers of science together, we hope to have a clearer picture of the genealogy of equilibrium and static reasoning, and its role in scientific theorizing -- we hope to trace the idea from Archimedean mechanics, to Newton and the post-Newtonians, classical thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, general relativity, contemporary quantum and gravitational physics, and economics.
Confirmed speakers:
Sara Panteri (Tulane)
Miguel Ohnesorge (Boston University)
Michael Veldman (Western University)
Wayne Myrvold (Western University)
Diana Taschetto (Utrecht)
Helen Meskhidze (Cincinnati)
Eugene Y. S. Chua (NTU Singapore)
Jennifer Jhun (Duke)
Final list of speakers TBD!
Foundations of Thermodynamics Workshop 2025
Foundations of Thermodynamics Workshop 2025
We recently successfully wrapped up our group's first big event, the 2025 Foundations of Thermodynamics workshop. The workshop saw discussions on quantum statistical mechanics and thermodynamics, quasi-local black hole thermodynamics, as well as foundational questions in statistical mechanics.
Talk recordings are available on YouTube here.
Archive of speaker information and abstracts can be found here.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse