Dear all, A reminder that Adam Caulton will be speaking today from 1.00-2.30pm in the Philosophy Faculty Board Room on "In what sense is quantum field theory a theory of fields?" (abstract below). The talk should last about 45 minutes followed by questions and discussion.
Also, this term's programme of SMG talks is now online: http://www.phil.cam.ac.uk/seminars-phil/SMG Thanks, and best wishes, Dan. - TITLE: In what sense is Quantum Field Theory a theory of fields? ABSTRACT: Quantum field theory, also called “particle physics”, offers our currently best theory of the forces (aside from gravity). So is it a theory describing fields or particles? In my talk, I begin by defending one way to characterise a theory’s ontology as particle-like or field-like. This way is inspired by Wigner, according to which a theory’s ontology is understood according to the way its possible states transform under a particular group. I then report an important result in this field — often called “particle-field duality” — which seems to suggest that field and particle ontologies are equivalent. I aim to clarify this equivalence, and give reasons to believe that it is insufficient to show that the field ontology is not, in fact, preferred — at least in the case of bosonic fields. -- Daniel Williams PhD Candidate in Philosophy Email: [email protected] Trinity Hall, Cambridge _____________________________________________________ To unsubscribe from the CamPhilEvents mailing list, or change your membership options, please visit the list information page: http://bit.ly/CamPhilEvents List archive: http://bit.ly/CamPhilEventsArchive Please note that CamPhilEvents doesn't accept email attachments. See the list information page for further details and suggested alternatives.
