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- Steven M. Rosen (1988). A Neo-Intuitive Proposal for Kaluza-Klein Unification. Foundations of Physics 18 (11):1093-1139.This paper addresses a central question of contemporary theoretical physics: Can a unified account be provided for the known forces of nature? The issue is brought into focus by considering the recently revived Kaluza-Klein approach to unification, a program entailing dimensional transformation through cosmogony. First it is demonstrated that, in a certain sense, revitalized Kaluza-Klein theory appears to undermine the intuitive foundations of mathematical physics, but that this implicit consequence has been repressed at a substantial cost. A fundamental reformulation of the Kaluza-Klein strategy is then undertaken, one that casts it within a new intuitive context. This is followed by a provisional application of the suggested approach to the specific problem of cosmic evolution. The paper concludes by exploring the far-reaching epistemological implications of the "neo-intuitive" proposal set forth.Reading list | Discuss | Edit | Categorize |My bibliography
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The two major modern accounts of explanation are the causal and unification accounts. My aim in this paper is to provide a kind of unification of the causal and the unification accounts, by using the central technical apparatus of the unification account to solve a central problem faced by the causal account, namely, the problem of determining which parts of a causal network are explanatorily relevant to the occurrence of an explanandum. The end product of my investigation is a causal account of explanation that has many of the advantages of the unification account.
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| Discuss | Edit | Categorize | My bibliography | Export citation | Other links: interscience.wiley.com strevens.org blackwell-synergy.com jstor.org dx.doi.org | Scholar | At my library | More options ...
| | Other links: interscience.wiley.com strevens.org blackwell-synergy.com jstor.org dx.doi.org | Scholar | At my library | More options ... A newly emerged field within economics, known as geographical economics claims to have provided a unified approach to the study of spatial agglomerations at different spatial scales by showing how these can be traced back to the same basic economic mechanisms. We analyze this contemporary episode of explanatory unification in relation to major philosophical accounts of unification. In particular, we examine the role of argument patterns in unifying derivations, the role of ontological convictions and mathematical structures in shaping unification, the distinction between derivational and ontological unification, the issue of how explanation and unification relate and finally the idea that unification comes in degrees.
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| | Scholar | More options ... In this article the problem of unification of mathematical theories is discussed. We argue, that specific problems arise here, which are quite different than the problems in the case of empirical sciences. In particular, the notion of unification depends on the philosophical standpoint. We give an analysis of the notion of unification from the point of view of formalism, Gödel's platonism and Quine's realism. In particular we show, that the concept of “having the same object of study” should be made precise in the case of mathematical theories. In the appendix we give a working proposal of a certain understanding of this notion.
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| Discuss | Edit | Categorize | My bibliography | Export citation | Other links: springerlink.com dx.doi.org | Scholar | At my library | More options ...
| | Other links: springerlink.com dx.doi.org | Scholar | At my library | More options ... Recently, Michael Redhead has argued that the grouping of particles into multiplets by grand unified gauge theories (GUT's) does not, by itself, imply an ontological reduction in the number of elementary particles. While sympathetic to Redhead's argument, in this note I argue that under certain conditions involving Kaluza-Klein theories, GUT's would provide such an ontological reduction.
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| | Other links: jstor.org journals.uchicago.edu dx.doi.org | Scholar | At my library | More options ... This paper is a response to Peter Klein's “Human Knowledge and the Infinite Progress of Reasoning” (also in this issue of this journal). After briefly discussing what Klein says about the requirement, for doxastic justification, that a belief be formed in the right way, I'll make the following three points: Klein's solution to the regress problem isn't an infinitist solution, Klein's position on doxastic justification faces a troubling dilemma, and Klein's objection to foundationalism fails.
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| | Other links: springerlink.com jstor.org | Scholar | At my library | More options ... Alternate View Column AV-06 Keywords: dimensions, Kaluza-Klein, compactified, string theory Published in the April-1985 issue of Analog Science Fiction & Fact Magazine; This column was written and submitted 10/1/84 and is copyrighted © 1984, John G. Cramer. All rights reserved. No part may be reproduced in any form without the explicit permission of the author.
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| | Scholar | More options ... Why did Einstein tirelessly study unified field theory for more than 30 years? In this book, the author argues that Einstein believed he could find a unified theory of all of nature's forces by repeating the methods he used when he formulated general relativity. The book discusses Einstein's route to the general theory of relativity, focusing on the philosophical lessons that he learnt. It then addresses his quest for a unified theory for electromagnetism and gravity, discussing in detail his efforts with Kaluza-Klein and, surprisingly, the theory of spinors. From these perspectives, Einstein's critical stance towards the quantum theory comes to stand in a new light. This book will be of interest to physicists, historians and philosophers of science.
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| | Other links: dx.doi.org | Scholar | At my library | More options ... In his search for a unified field theory that could undercut quantum mechanics, Einstein considered five-dimensional classical Kaluza-Klein theory. He studied this theory most intensively during the years 1938-1943. One of his primary objectives was finding a non-singular particle solution. In the full theory this search got frustrated, and in the x 5 -independent theory Einstein, together with Pauli, argued it would be impossible to find these structures.
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| | Scholar | At my library | More options ... I examine the relation between explanation and unification in both the original Kaluza–Klein theory, which originated in the works of Theodor Kaluza and Oskar Klein in the 1920s, and in the modern Kaluza–Klein theories which date back to the late 1970s and which are still considered by the majority of the physics community to be the best hope for a complete unified theory of all fundamental interactions. I use the conclusions of this case study to assess the merits of Philip Kitcher's account of explanation as unification. I also draw lessons about physicists’ pursuit of the higher dimensional unification of the fundamental forces of nature.
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| | Other links: bjps.oxfordjournals.org dx.doi.org | Scholar | At my library | More options ... Discussion of Steven M. Rosen, A Neo-Intuitive Proposal for Kaluza-Klein Unification
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