Sébastien Rivat

Sébastien Rivat is a Research Associate at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München's Chair for Philosophy of Science. His academic background includes a PhD in Philosophy from Columbia University (2020), MPhil in History and Philosophy of Science from Cambridge University, Master's in Theoretical Physics (Cambridge Mathematical Tripos), and undergraduate studies at École Centrale Paris. He previously served as a postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (2020-2022).

Rivat's research examines the philosophical implications of modern physics, particularly quantum phenomena and effective field theories. His work bridges history of science, metaphysics, and epistemology, investigating why scientific methodologies succeed. Current projects analyze gauge symmetries, open systems, and discretization methods.

His publications demonstrate consistent focus on renormalization group theory and effective field theories, with historical analyses of their development and philosophical examinations of their implications for scientific realism. Starting in 2025, he will lead an ERC project on the history and philosophy of contemporary physics (RESCALE).

Rivat has taught in Columbia University's Core Curriculum and continues to mentor students in philosophy of science at LMU Munich.