Download or read book Ontological Aspects of Quantum Field Theory written by Meinard Kuhlmann and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2002-11-26 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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. Keywords:Quantum Field Theory;Ontology;Foundations of Physics;Philosophy;Measurement;Gauge Field TheoryReviews:“A strength of the volume is its inclusion of commentaries and exchanges.”Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics

Download or read book Quantum Ontology written by Peter J. Lewis and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016-06-13 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Metaphysicians should pay attention to quantum mechanics. Why? Not because it provides definitive answers to many metaphysical questions-the theory itself is remarkably silent on the nature of the physical world, and the various interpretations of the theory on offer present conflicting ontological pictures. Rather, quantum mechanics is essential to the metaphysician because it reshapes standard metaphysical debates and opens up unforeseen new metaphysical possibilities. Even if quantum mechanics provides few clear answers, there are good reasons to think that any adequate understanding of the quantum world will result in a radical reshaping of our classical world-view in some way or other. Whatever the world is like at the atomic scale, it is almost certainly not the swarm of particles pushed around by forces that is often presupposed. This book guides readers through the theory of quantum mechanics and its implications for metaphysics in a clear and accessible way. The theory and its various interpretations are presented with a minimum of technicality. The consequences of these interpretations for metaphysical debates concerning realism, indeterminacy, causation, determinism, holism, and individuality (among other topics) are explored in detail, stressing the novel form that the debates take given the empirical facts in the quantum domain. While quantum mechanics may not deliver unconditional pronouncements on these issues, the range of possibilities consistent with our knowledge of the empirical world is relatively small-and each possibility is metaphysically revisionary in some way. This book will appeal to researchers, students, and anybody else interested in how science informs our world-view.

Download or read book The Ultimate Constituents of the Material World written by Meinard Kuhlmann and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2013-05-02 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Today, quantum field theory (QFT)—the mathematical and conceptual framework for contemporary elementary particle physics—is the best starting point for analysing the fundamental building blocks of the material world. QFT if taken seriously in its metaphysical implications yields a picture of the world that is at variance with central classical conceptions. The core of Kuhlmann’s investigation consists in the analysis of various ontological interpretations of QFT, e.g. substance ontologies as well as a process-ontological approach. Eventually, Kuhlmann proposes a dispositional trope ontology, according to which particularized properties and not things are the most basic entities, in terms of which all other entities are to be analysed, e.g as bundles of properties. This book was chosen for the 2009 ontos-Award for research on analytical ontology and metaphysics by the German Society for Analytical Philosophy.

Download or read book A Philosophical Approach to Quantum Field Theory written by Hans Christian Öttinger and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2018-01-11 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text presents an intuitive and robust mathematical image of fundamental particle physics based on a novel approach to quantum field theory, which is guided by four carefully motivated metaphysical postulates. In particular, the book explores a dissipative approach to quantum field theory, which is illustrated for scalar field theory and quantum electrodynamics, and proposes an attractive explanation of the Planck scale in quantum gravity. Offering a radically new perspective on this topic, the book focuses on the conceptual foundations of quantum field theory and ontological questions. It also suggests a new stochastic simulation technique in quantum field theory which is complementary to existing ones. Encouraging rigor in a field containing many mathematical subtleties and pitfalls this text is a helpful companion for students of physics and philosophers interested in quantum field theory, and it allows readers to gain an intuitive rather than a formal understanding.

Download or read book The Undivided Universe written by David Bohm and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2006-01-16 with total page 347 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1995. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Download or read book The Meaning of the Wave Function written by Shan Gao and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017-03-16 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the heart of quantum mechanics lies the wave function, a powerful but mysterious mathematical object which has been a hot topic of debate from its earliest stages. Covering much of the recent debate and providing a comprehensive and critical review of competing approaches, this ambitious text provides new, decisive proof of the reality of the wave function. Aiming to make sense of the wave function in quantum mechanics and to find the ontological content of the theory, this book explores new ontological interpretations of the wave function in terms of random discontinuous motion of particles. Finally, the book investigates whether the suggested quantum ontology is complete in solving the measurement problem and if it should be revised in the relativistic domain. A timely addition to the literature on the foundations of quantum mechanics, this book is of value to students and researchers with an interest in the philosophy of physics.

Download or read book On Physics and Philosophy written by Bernard d'Espagnat and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2013-04-07 with total page 518 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "On Physics and Philosophy is an accessible, mathematics-free reflection on the philosophical meaning of the quantum revolution, by one of the world's leading authorities on the subject. D'Espagnat presents an objective account of the main guiding principles of contemporary physics - in particular, quantum mechanics - followed by a look at just what consequences these should imply for philosophical thinking."--

Download or read book A Minimalist Ontology of the Natural World written by Michael Esfeld and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-10-25 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book seeks to work out which commitments are minimally sufficient to obtain an ontology of the natural world that matches all of today’s well-established physical theories. We propose an ontology of the natural world that is defined only by two axioms: (1) There are distance relations that individuate simple objects, namely matter points. (2) The matter points are permanent, with the distances between them changing. Everything else comes in as a means to represent the change in the distance relations in a manner that is both as simple and as informative as possible. The book works this minimalist ontology out in philosophical as well as mathematical terms and shows how one can understand classical mechanics, quantum field theory and relativistic physics on the basis of this ontology. Along the way, we seek to achieve four subsidiary aims: (a) to make a case for a holistic individuation of the basic objects (ontic structural realism); (b) to work out a new version of Humeanism, dubbed Super-Humeanism, that does without natural properties; (c) to set out an ontology of quantum physics that is an alternative to quantum state realism and that avoids any ontological dualism of particles and fields; (d) to vindicate a relationalist ontology based on point objects also in the domain of relativistic physics.

Download or read book Quantum Worlds written by Olimpia Lombardi and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-04-11 with total page 411 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Offers a comprehensive and up-to-date volume on the conceptual and philosophical problems related to the interpretation of quantum mechanics.

Download or read book Quantum Ontology written by Peter J. Lewis and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Metaphysicians should pay attention to quantum mechanics-not because it provides definitive answers to many metaphysical questions, but because it reshapes standard metaphysical debates and opens up unforeseen new possibilities. This book guides readers through the theory of quantum mechanics and its metaphysical implications in a clear and accessible way.

Download or read book Quantum Mechanics Between Ontology and Epistemology written by Florian J. Boge and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-10-24 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the prospects of rivaling ontological and epistemic interpretations of quantum mechanics (QM). It concludes with a suggestion for how to interpret QM from an epistemological point of view and with a Kantian touch. It thus refines, extends, and combines existing approaches in a similar direction. The author first looks at current, hotly debated ontological interpretations. These include hidden variables-approaches, Bohmian mechanics, collapse interpretations, and the many worlds interpretation. He demonstrates why none of these ontological interpretations can claim to be the clear winner amongst its rivals. Next, coverage explores the possibility of interpreting QM in terms of knowledge but without the assumption of hidden variables. It examines QBism as well as Healey’s pragmatist view. The author finds both interpretations or programs appealing, but still wanting in certain respects. As a result, he then goes on to advance a genuine proposal as to how to interpret QM from the perspective of an internal realism in the sense of Putnam and Kant. The book also includes two philosophical interludes. One details the notions of probability and realism. The other highlights the connections between the notions of locality, causality, and reality in the context of violations of Bell-type inequalities.

Download or read book Identity in Physics written by Steven French and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2006-06-22 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Can quantum particles be regarded as individuals, just like books, tables and people? According to the 'received' view - articulated by several physicists in the immediate aftermath of the quantum revolution - quantum physics itself tells us they cannot: quantum particles, unlike their classical counterparts, must be regarded as 'non-individuals' in some sense. However, recent work has indicated that this is not the whole story and that the theory is also consistent with the position that such particles can be taken to be individuals, albeit at a metaphysical price. Drawing on philosophical accounts of identity and individuality, as well as the histories of both classical and quantum physics, the authors explore these two alternative metaphysical packages. In particular, they argue that if quantum particles are regarded as individuals, then Leibniz's famous Principle of the Identity of Indiscernibles is in fact violated. Recent discussions of this conclusion are analysed in detail and, again, the costs involved in saving the Principle are carefully considered. Taking the alternative package, the authors deploy recent work in non-standard logic and set theory to indicate how we can make sense of the idea that objects can be non-individuals. The concluding chapter suggests how these results might then be extended to quantum field theory. Identity in Physics brings together a range of work in this area and further develops the authors' own contributions to the debate. Uniquely, as the title indicates, it situates this work in the appropriate formal, historical, and philosophical contexts.

Download or read book Social Ontology and Modern Economics written by Stephen Pratten and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-09-25 with total page 605 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Economists increasingly recognise that engagement with social ontology – the study of the basic subject matter and constitution of social reality - can facilitate more relevant analysis. This growing recognition amongst economists of the importance of social ontology is due very considerably to the work of members of the Cambridge Social Ontology Group. This volume brings together important papers by members of this group, some previously unpublished, in a collection that reveals the breadth and vitality of this Cambridge project. It provides a brilliant introduction to the central themes explored, perspectives sustained, insights achieved and how the project is moving forward. An initial set of papers examine how ontology is understood and justified within this Cambridge project and consider how it compares with prominent historical and contemporary alternatives. The majority of the included papers involve social ontological analysis being put to work directly in underlabouring for specific types of development in economics. The papers are grouped according to their contribution to clarifying and developing (i) various competing traditions and projects of modern economics, (ii) history of thought contributions, (iii) methodological concerns, (iv) ethics and (v) conceptions of particular aspects of social reality, including money, gender, technology and institutions. Background to and a brief history of the Cambridge group is provided in the Introduction. Social Ontology and Modern Economics will be of interest not only to economists but also philosophers of social science, social theorists and those eager to explore the nature of gender, social institutions and technology.

Download or read book Quantum Mechanics and Fundamentality written by Valia Allori and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-07-27 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edited collection provides new perspectives on some metaphysical questions arising in quantum mechanics. These questions have been long-standing and are of continued interest to researchers and graduate students working in physics, philosophy of physics, and metaphysics. It features contributions from a diverse set of researchers, ranging from senior scholars to junior academics, working in varied fields, from physics to philosophy of physics and metaphysics. The contributors reflect on issues about fundamentality (is quantum theory fundamental? If so, what is its fundamental ontology?), ontological dependence (how do ordinary objects exist even if they are not fundamental?), realism (what kind of realism is compatible with quantum theory?), indeterminacy (can the world itself exhibit ontological indeterminacy?). The book contains contributions from both physicists (including Nobel Prize winner Gerard 't Hooft), science communicators and philosophers.

Download or read book Mathematical Aspects of Quantum Field Theories written by Damien Calaque and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-09-24 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite its long history and stunning experimental successes, the mathematical foundation of perturbative quantum field theory is still a subject of ongoing research. This book aims at presenting some of the most recent advances in the field, and at reflecting the diversity of approaches and tools invented and currently employed. Both leading experts and comparative newcomers to the field present their latest findings, helping readers to gain a better understanding of not only quantum but also classical field theories. Though the book offers a valuable resource for mathematicians and physicists alike, the focus is more on mathematical developments. This volume consists of four parts: The first Part covers local aspects of perturbative quantum field theory, with an emphasis on the axiomatization of the algebra behind the operator product expansion. The second Part highlights Chern-Simons gauge theories, while the third examines (semi-)classical field theories. In closing, Part 4 addresses factorization homology and factorization algebras.

Download or read book Analytic Aspects Of Quantum Fields written by Andrei A Bytsenko and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2003-10-14 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the aims of this book is to explain in a basic manner the seemingly difficult issues of mathematical structure using some specific examples as a guide. In each of the cases considered, a comprehensible physical problem is approached, to which the corresponding mathematical scheme is applied, its usefulness being duly demonstrated. The authors try to fill the gap that always exists between the physics of quantum field theories and the mathematical methods best suited for its formulation, which are increasingly demanding on the mathematical ability of the physicist.

Download or read book The Ontology of Spacetime II written by and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2008-06-17 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The sixteen papers collected in this volume are expanded and revised versions of talks delivered at the Second International Conference on the Ontology of Spacetime, organized by the International Society for the Advanced Study of Spacetime (John Earman, President) at Concordia University (Montreal) from 9 to 11 June 2006. Most chapters are devoted to subjects directly relating to the ontology of spacetime. The book starts with four papers that discuss the ontological status of spacetime and the processes occurring in it from a point of view that is first of all conceptual and philosophical. The focus then slightly shifts in the five papers that follow, to considerations more directly involving technical considerations from relativity theory. After this, Time, Becoming and Change take centre stage in the next five papers. The book ends with two excursions into relatively uncharted territory: a consideration of the status of Kaluza-Klein theory, and an investigation of possible relations between the nature of spacetime and condensed matter physics, respectively. Space and time in present-day physics and philosophy Relatively low level of technicality, easily accessible Introduction from scratch of the debates surrounding time Broad spectrum of approaches, coherently represented