Foundations of Physics 42 (5):615-631 (2012)
Abstract |
Fine-tuning arguments are a frequent find in the literature on quantum field theory. They are based on naturalness—an aesthetic criterion that was given a precise definition in the debates on the Higgs mechanism. We follow the history of such definitions and of their application at the scale of electroweak symmetry breaking. They give rise to a special interpretation of probability, which we call Gedankenfrequency. Finally, we show that the argument from naturalness has been extended to comparing different models of the physics beyond the Standard Model and that naturalness in this case can at best be understood a socio-historic heuristic
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Keywords | Naturalness Fine-tuning Higgs mechanism Standard model Falsification Interpretation of probability Bayesianism |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
ISBN(s) | |
DOI | 10.1007/s10701-012-9629-9 |
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References found in this work BETA
On Empirically Equivalent Systems of the World.Willard van Orman Quine - 1975 - Erkenntnis 9 (3):313-28.
Truth and Beauty: Aesthetics and Motivations in Science.S. Chandrasekhar - 1987 - University of Chicago Press.
Probabilities and the Fine-Tuning Argument: A Sceptical View.Timothy McGrew, Lydia McGrew & and Eric Vestrup - 2001 - Mind 110 (440):1027-1038.
View all 7 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
Naturalness, the Autonomy of Scales, and the 125GeV Higgs.Porter Williams - 2015 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 51:82-96.
Screams for Explanation: Finetuning and Naturalness in the Foundations of Physics.Sabine Hossenfelder - 2019 - Synthese 198 (Suppl 16):3727-3745.
Model Choice and Crucial Tests. On the Empirical Epistemology of the Higgs Discovery.Peter Mättig & Michael Stöltzner - 2019 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 65:73-96.
Simplified Models: A Different Perspective on Models as Mediators.C. D. McCoy & Michela Massimi - 2018 - European Journal for Philosophy of Science 8 (1):99-123.
View all 11 citations / Add more citations
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