Comments on the Papers of Cushing and Redhead: "Models, High-Energy Theoretical Physics and Realism" and "Quantum Field Theory for Philosophers"
PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1982:100 - 111 (1982)
| Abstract | In response to Cushing it is urged that the vicissitudes of quantum field theory do not press towards a nonrealist attitude towards the theory as strongly as he suggests. A variety of issues which Redhead raises are taken up, including photon localizability, the wave-particle distinction in the classical limit, and the interpretation of quantum statistics, vacuum fluctuations, virtual particles, and creation and annihilation operators. It is urged that quantum field theory harbors an unacknowledged inconsistency connected with the fact that the zero point energy has observable consequences, while to avoid infinities it must be "thrown away". Finally, Redhead's conception of ephemerals is pressed and the paper concludes with the suggestion that the particle concept largely drops out of quantum field theory. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | No categories specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,672 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesMichael L. G. Redhead (1982). Quantum Field Theory for Philosophers. PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1982:57 - 99.
James T. Cushing (1982). Models, High-Energy Theoretical Physics and Realism. PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1982:31 - 56.
Don Robinson (1994). The History and Philosophy of Quantum Field Theory. PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1994:61 - 68.
Harvey R. Brown & Rom Harré (eds.) (1988). Philosophical Foundations of Quantum Field Theory. Oxford University Press.
Jonathan Bain (forthcoming). Effective Field Theories. In R. Batterman (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Physics. Oxford Univ Press.
James T. Cushing (1982). Models and Methodologies in Current Theoretical High-Energy Physics. Synthese 50 (1):5 - 101.
Peter J. Riggs (2008). Reflections on the Debroglie–Bohm Quantum Potential. Erkenntnis 68 (1):21 - 39.
Stephan Hartmann (1998). Idealization in Quantum Field Theory. In Niall Shanks (ed.), Idealization in Contemporary Physics.
E. S. & H. Zinkernagel (2002). The Quantum Vacuum and the Cosmological Constant Problem. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B 33 (4):663-705.
Svend E. Rugh & Henrik Zinkernagel (2002). The Quantum Vacuum and the Cosmological Constant Problem. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B 33 (4):663-705.
Michael Redhead (1990). A Philosopher Looks at Quantum Field Theory. In Harvey R. Brown & Rom Harré (eds.), Philosophical Foundations of Quantum Field Theory. Clarendon Press.
Henry P. Stapp (1990). Comments on 'Nonlocal Influences and Possible Worlds'. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 41 (1):59-72.
Rob Clifton & Hans Halvorson (2001). Entanglement and Open Systems in Algebraic Quantum Field Theory. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B 32 (1):1-31.
Michael Redhead & Paul Teller (1992). Particle Labels and the Theory of Indistinguishable Particles in Quantum Mechanics. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 43 (2):201-218.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2011-05-29Total downloads6 ( #145,547 of 549,065 )Recent downloads (6 months)2 ( #37,252 of 549,065 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
