How Is Quantum Field Theory Possible?

by Auyang, Sunny Y

• ISBN13: 9780195093445
• ISBN10: 0195093445
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1995-07-27
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Quantum field theory (QFT) is the union of quantum mechanics and Einstein's special theory of relativity. QFT is the most fundamental physical theory and provides the answers to questions about the basic structure of the physical world. However, the way QFT describes the world is so different from the way our senses present it to us that it requires an overhaul of philosophic categories and arguments. How can we know the microscopic world without a satisfactory measurement theory? What are the general conditions of the world that make possible such knowledge? What are the presuppositions of physical theories? Dr.Auyang argues that the current relational- substantial debate on space- time is inadequate and the observer- observed distinction in quantum interpretations illusory becouse they are hampered by philosophical constructs too narrow to accommodate the complicated structures of modern philosophical theories. Modern physical theories have incorporated many presuppositions of empirical knowledge, and consequently the theories inform us about the general nature of the world and out relation to it, in addition to information about elementary particles. The conceptual structure of QFT is extracted and articulated in common- sense terms, and used to answer many longstanding philosophical questions

Author Biography

Sunny Auyang has been a research scientist for 20 years with M.I.T., where she received her Ph.D. in physics

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 3
A Human View of the World in Quantum Field Theory	p. 3
The Categorical Framework of Objective Knowledge	p. 11
Nonrelativistic quantum mechanics	p. 16
The Structure of Quantum Mechanics	p. 16
The Quantum Measurement Problem	p. 22
Relativity and symmetries	p. 26
Geometry and Space-Time	p. 26
Symmetries in Physics	p. 32
The Principles of Relativity and Local Symmetry	p. 38
Quantum field theory	p. 43
Quantum Fields and Elementary Particles	p. 43
Fields, Quantum Fields, and Field Quanta	p. 47
Interacting Fields and Gauge Field Theory	p. 54
Object of experiences: quantum state--observables--statistics	p. 61
Properties and Quantum Properties: Amplitudes	p. 61
The Form of Observation and the Reality of Quantum States	p. 70
The Gap in Understanding: Eigenvalue and Probability	p. 78
Coordinatization of the Quantum World: Observables	p. 85
The General Concept of Objects in Physical Theories	p. 89
The Illusion of the Observer	p. 104
The Mentalism of yes--no Experiments	p. 113
The event structure and the spatio-temporal structure: local fields	p. 119
The Whole and the Individual: Field and Event	p. 119
This-Something: Events or Local Fields	p. 122
The Basic Spatio-Temporal Structure of the Physical World	p. 133
The Referential Structure of Field Theory	p. 152
The States of the Field as a Whole: Field Quanta	p. 157
Identity and Diversity: Quantum Multi-Particle Systems	p. 160
Explicit relations and the causal order: interacting fields	p. 166
Relation and Constant Predication	p. 166
Permanence, Endurance, and the Concepts of Time	p. 169
How Are Regular Successions of Events Possible?	p. 175
Relational Properties: Phase and Potential	p. 183
Causal Relations: Connection and Parallel Transport	p. 187
Thoroughgoing Interaction: Renormalization	p. 189
Epilogue	p. 194
The Intelligibility of the Objective World	p. 194
Measure and probability: quantity, quality, modality	p. 197
Measure: the General Concept of Extensive Magnitudes	p. 197
Function and Distribution: Individual and Collective Qualities	p. 203
Individual, Statistical, and Probabilistic Statements	p. 206
Fiber bundles and interaction dynamics	p. 214
The cosmic and the microscopic: an application	p. 223
Notes	p. 229
Bibliography	p. 265
Index	p. 273
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