We are pleased to announce that the paper “Shape Space as a Conceptual Space” by Antonio Vassallo has been published open access in Synthese. You can read the full article here. This paper argues that the configuration space central to pure shape dynamics—shape space—should be understood not as a physical arena but as a conceptual space. Drawing on insights from the philosophy of cognitive science, the article examines how this reinterpretation addresses longstanding objections to relationalism and provides a fresh epistemic framework for understanding timeless, background-independent physics. Special attention is given to how…continue reading →

We are happy to share that the chapter “On the Prospects of a de Broglie–Bohm–Barbour–Bertotti Theory” by Antonio Vassallo and Pedro Naranjo has just been published in the volume Guiding Waves in Quantum Mechanics: One Hundred Years of de Broglie–Bohm Pilot-Wave Theory (Oxford University Press, 2025), edited by A. Oldofredi. This chapter investigates whether a de Broglie–Bohm-type quantum theory can be made genuinely background-independent by adapting the relational framework originally developed by Barbour and Bertotti. The authors examine the conceptual and technical challenges involved in formulating a Bohmian dynamics compatible with relational principles…continue reading →