Candidate General Ontologies for Situating Quantum Field Theory

Meinard Kuhlmann, Holger Lyre, Andrew Wayne

Approaches to Ontology: Candidate General Ontologies for Situating Quantum Field (P Simons) 'Quanta', Tropes, or Processes: Ontologies for QFT Beyond the Myth of Substance (J Seibt) Analytical Ontologists in Action: A Comment on Seibt and Simons (M Kuhlmann) How Do Field Theories Refer to Entities in a Field? (S Y Auyang) Field Ontologies for QFT: A Naive View of the Quantum Field (A Wayne) Comments on Paul Teller's Book, An Interpretive Introduction to Quantum Field Theory (G Fleming) So What Is the Quantum Field? (P Teller) Relativity, Measurement and Renormalization: On the Nature of Measurement Records in Relativistic Quantum Field (J A Barrett) No Place for Particles in Relativistic Quantum Theories? (H Halvorson & R Clifton) Events and Covariance in the Interpretation of Quantum Field (D Dieks) Measurement and Ontology: What Kind of Evidence Can We Have for Quantum Fields? (B Falkenburg) Renormalization and the Disunity of Science (N Huggett) Gauge Symmetries and the Vacuum: The Interpretation of Gauge Symmetry (M Redhead) Comment on Redhead: The Interpretation of Gauge Symmetry (M Drieschner et al.) Is the Zero-Point Energy Real? (S Saunders) Two Comments on the Vacuum in Algebraic Quantum Field (M Redei).

Vincent Lam

Meinard Kuhlmann

The aim of this paper is to examine one of several candidates for the ontology of today’s most basic theory in physics, quantum field theory (QFT). I will begin by outlining some problems we encounter when we look at different conceptions for the basic entities to which QFT refers. The candidate ontology I wish to consider in this paper is process ontology. I shall characterize process ontology mainly in a negative manner as opposed to substance ontology. The central part will consist in a case study about how the interpretation of Feynman diagrams – the use of which is crucial in QFT – depends on whether we adhere to substance or process ontology. In conclusion I will evaluate my results and point towards some problems faced by process ontology as such.

Décio Krause, Otávio Bueno

In this paper, we examine the concept of particle as it appears in quantum field theories (QFT), focusing on a puzzling situation regarding this concept. Although quantum ‘particles’ arise from fields, which form the basic ontology of QFT, and thus a certain concept of ‘particle’ is al- ways available, the properties ascribed to such ‘particles’ are not completely in agreement with the mathematical and logical description of such fields, which should be taken as individuals.

Chunling Yan