Ontological Aspects of Quantum Field Theory.
Title:
Ontological Aspects of Quantum Field Theory.
Author:
Kuhlmann, Meinard.
ISBN:
9789812776440
Personal Author:
Physical Description:
1 online resource (375 pages)
Contents:
Contents -- Preface -- Chapter 1 Introduction -- 1.1 Ontology of QFT: Aims Methods and Work Ahead -- 1.2 A Layperson's Guide to QFT -- 1.3 Basic Mathematical Formulations of QFT -- 1.4 A Layperson's Guide to Ontology Semantics and Epistemology -- 1.5 Overview of this Book -- PART 1: Approaches to Ontology -- Chapter 2 Candidate General Ontologies for Situating Quantum eld Theory -- 2.1 Methodological Preamble -- 2.2 Substance and Attribute -- 2.3 Applied Set Theory -- 2.4 Fact Ontologies -- 2.5 Occurrent Ontologies -- 2.6 Trope Ontologies -- 2.7 Possible Worlds -- 2.8 Factored Ontologies -- 2.9 Tentative Conclusions -- Chapter 3 'Quanta' Tropes or Processes: Ontologies for QFT Beyond the Myth of Substance -- 3.1 A Methodological Preface -- 3.2 'Identical Particles' and the Myth of Substance -- 3.3 Non-Individual Particulars or Quanta -- 3.4 Fields of Trope Structures? -- 3.5 Fields as Free Processes? -- 3.6 Conclusion -- Chapter 4 Analytical Ontologists in Action: A Comment on Seibt and Simons -- 4.1 Ontology and Physics: Seibt Versus Simons -- 4.2 Processes and Ontological Parsimony -- 4.3 Tropes Invariant Factors and Quantum Field Theory -- 4.4 Conclusion -- Chapter 5 How Do Field Theories Refer to Entities in a Field? -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.2 Direct and Descriptive Reference -- 5.3 How Does Linguistic Analysis Apply to Physical Theories? -- 5.4 Direct Reference to Local Fields -- 5.5 Summary -- PART 2: Field Ontologies for QFT -- Chapter 6 A Naive View of the Quantum Field -- 6.1 Introduction -- 6.2 What Teller's Quantum Field Is Not -- 6.3 The VEV Interpretation -- 6.4 Conclusion -- Chapter 7 Comments on Paul Teller's Book "An Interpretive Introduction to Quantum Field Theory" -- 7.1 Introduction -- 7.2 Teller on Quanta -- 7.3 Teller on Fields -- 7.4 Conclusion.
Chapter 8 So What Is the Quantum Field? -- 8.1 Introduction -- 8.2 Giving a Physical Interpretation to the OVQF -- 8.3 The OVQF is Not an "Active Agent" -- 8.4 What Has and Has Not Been Shown -- PART 3: Relativity Measurement and Renormalization -- Chapter 9 On the Nature of Measurement Records in Relativistic Quantum Field Theory -- 9.1 Introduction -- 9.2 The Measurement Problem -- 9.3 Malament's Theorem -- 9.4 Measurement Records -- 9.5 Conclusion -- Chapter 10 No Place for Particles in Relativistic Quantum Theories? -- 10.1 Introduction -- 10.2 Malament's Theorem -- 10.3 Hegerfeldt's Theorem -- 10.4 Doing without "No Absolute Velocity" -- 10.5 Are there Unsharply Localizable Particles? -- 10.6 Are there Localizable Particles in RQFT? -- 10.7 Particle Talk without Particle Ontology -- 10.8 Conclusion -- 10.9 Appendix -- Chapter 11 Events and Covariance in the Interpretation of Quantum Field Theory -- 11.1 The Problem -- 11.2 What Has to Be Done -- 11.3 Modal Property Attribution Schemes -- 11.4 A Perspectival Version of the Modal Interpretation -- 11.5 Application to ARQFT -- 11.6 Histories of Modal Properties -- 11.7 Joint Probabilities of Events -- 11.8 A Possible Alternative: Perspectivalism -- 11.9 Conclusion -- Chapter 12 Measurement and Ontology: What Kind of Evidence Can We Have for Quantum Fields? -- 12.1 QFT and the Appearances of Particle Physics -- 12.2 Intermezzo: A Kantian Account of Ontology -- 12.3 Toward an Empirical Ontology of QFT -- 12.4 Conclusions -- Chapter 13 Renormalization and the Disunity of Science -- 13.1 The Need for Renormalization -- 13.2 The Method of Renormalization -- 13.3 The Renormalization Group -- 13.4 Cartwright on Fundamentalism -- 13.5 Renormalization as Grounds for Disunity -- 13.6 Renormalized QFT as a Fundamental Theory.
PART 4: Gauge Symmetries and the Vacuum -- Chapter 14 The Interpretation of Gauge Symmetry -- 14.1 Introduction -- 14.2 The Ambiguity of Mathematical Representation -- 14.3 Symmetry -- 14.4 Surplus Structure -- 14.5 Constrained Hamiltonian Systems -- 14.6 Yang-Mills Gauge Theories -- 14.7 The Case of General Relativity -- 14.8 The BRST Symmetry -- 14.9 Conclusion -- Chapter 15 Comment on Redhead: The Interpretation of Gauge Symmetry -- 15.1 The Ubiquitous Ambiguity -- 15.2 "Prepotentials" -- 15.3 Redhead's Trilemma -- 15.4 Conclusion -- Chapter 16 Is the Zero-Point Energy Real? -- 16.1 Introduction -- 16.2 The Cosmological Constant Problem -- 16.3 The Classical Ether -- 16.4 The Dirac Negative Energy Sea -- 16.5 Zero-Point Energy -- 16.6 Against Zero-Point Fluctuations -- 16.7 Outlook -- Chapter 17 Two Comments on the Vacuum in Algebraic Quantum Field Theory -- 17.1 AQFT -- 17.2 Comment 1: Ontological Silence of AQFT is Not Ontological Neutrality -- 17.3 Comment 2: It is Not Known Whether Vacuum Correlations Can Have a Common Cause Explanation -- List of Contributors -- Index.
Abstract:
Quantum field theory (QFT) provides the framework for many fundamental theories in modern physics, and over the last few years there has been growing interest in its historical and philosophical foundations. This anthology on the foundations of QFT brings together 15 essays by well-known researchers in physics, the philosophy of physics, and analytic philosophy. Many of these essays were first presented as papers at the conference "Ontological Aspects of Quantum Field Theory", held at the Zentrum für interdisziplinäre Forschung (ZiF), Bielefeld, Germany. The essays contain cutting-edge work on ontological aspects of QFT, including: the role of measurement and experimental evidence, corpuscular versus field-theoretic interpretations of QFT, the interpretation of gauge symmetry, and localization. This book is ideally suited to anyone with an interest in the foundations of quantum physics, including physicists, philosophers and historians of physics, as well as general readers interested in philosophy or science. Contents: Approaches to Ontology: Candidate General Ontologies for Situating Quantum Field Theory (P Simons); 'Quanta', Tropes, or Processes: Ontologies for QFT Beyond the Myth of Substance (J Seibt); Analytical Ontologists in Action: A Comment on Seibt and Simons (M Kuhlmann); How Do Field Theories Refer to Entities in a Field? (S Y Auyang); Field Ontologies for QFT: A Naive View of the Quantum Field (A Wayne); Comments on Paul Teller's Book, "An Interpretive Introduction to Quantum Field Theory" (G Fleming); So What Is the Quantum Field? (P Teller); Relativity, Measurement and Renormalization: On the Nature of Measurement Records in Relativistic Quantum Field Theory (J A Barrett); No Place for Particles in Relativistic Quantum Theories? (H Halvorson & R Clifton); Events and Covariance in the Interpretation of Quantum Field Theory (D
Dieks); Measurement and Ontology: What Kind of Evidence Can We Have for Quantum Fields? (B Falkenburg); Renormalization and the Disunity of Science (N Huggett); Gauge Symmetries and the Vacuum: The Interpretation of Gauge Symmetry (M Redhead); Comment on Redhead: The Interpretation of Gauge Symmetry (M Drieschner et al.); Is the Zero-Point Energy Real? (S Saunders); Two Comments on the Vacuum in Algebraic Quantum Field Theory (M Rédei). Readership: Physicists, historians of physics and philosophers.
Local Note:
Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2017. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.
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