•  30
    Critical review: Paul Teller's interpretive introduction to quantum field theory
    with Robert Weingard
    Philosophy of Science 63 (2): 302. 1996.
    Paul Teller's new book, “An Interpretive Introduction to Quantum Field Theory”, is a pioneering work. To the best of our knowledge it is the first book by a philosopher devoted not only to explaining what quantum field theory is, but to clarifying the conceptual issues and puzzles to which the theory gives rise. As such it is an important book, which we hope will greatly stimulate work in the area as other philosophers and physicists react to it.
  •  464
    Why quantize gravity (or any other field for that matter)?
    Proceedings of the Philosophy of Science Association 2001 (3). 2001.
    The quantum gravity program seeks a theory that handles quantum matter fields and gravity consistently. But is such a theory really required and must it involve quantizing the gravitational field? We give reasons for a positive answer to the first question, but dispute a widespread contention that it is inconsistent for the gravitational field to be classical while matter is quantum. In particular, we show how a popular argument (Eppley and Hannah 1997) falls short of a no-go theorem, and discus…Read more
  • The Philosophy of Fields and Particles in Classical and Quantum Mechanics, Including the Problem of Renormalisation
    Dissertation, Rutgers the State University of New Jersey - New Brunswick. 1995.
    This work first explicates the philosophy of classical and quantum fields and particles. I am interested in determining how science can have a metaphysical dimension, and then with the claim that the quantum revolution has an important metaphysical component. I argue that the metaphysical implications of a theory are properties of its models, as classical mechanics determines properties of atomic diversity and temporal continuity with its representations of distinct, continuous trajectories. ;It…Read more
  •  83
    On the field aspect of quantum fields
    with Robert Weingard
    Erkenntnis 40 (3). 1994.
    In this paper we contrast the idea of a field as a system with an infinite number of degrees of freedom with a recent alternative proposed by Paul Teller in Teller (1990). We show that, although our characterisation lacks the immediate appeal of Teller's, it has more success producing agreement with intuitive categorisations than his does. We go on to extend the distinction to Quantum Mechanics, explaining the important role that it plays there. Finally, we take some time to investigate the way …Read more
  •  192
    Entanglement Exchange And Bohmian Mechanics
    Manuscrito 33 (1): 223-242. 2010.
    This paper explains the phenomenon of `entanglement exchange' within the Bohmian approach to quantum mechanics. After explaining Bohmian mechanics and entanglement exchange, in which pairs of particles become entangled without ever interacting causally in the usual, unitary sense, our aim is to use this example, to illustrate how the `pilot wave' mediates non-local correlations. The discussion thus gives a useful new way to think about entanglement exchange, and clarifies the structure of Bohmia…Read more
  •  1052
    This item is a chapter from a book in progress, entitled "True Motion". Leibniz’s mechanics was, as we shall see, a theory of elastic collisions, not formulated like Huygens’ in terms of rules explicitly covering every possible combination of relative masses and velocities, but in terms of three conservation principles, including (effectively) the conservation of momentum and kinetic energy. That is, he proposed what we now call (ironically enough) ‘Newtonian’ (or ‘classical’) elastic collision …Read more
  •  201
    Groups in Mind
    Philosophy of Science 73 (5): 765-777. 2006.
    We consider the question of the manner of the internalization of the geometry and topology of physical space in the mind, both the mechanism of internalization and precisely what structures are internalized. Though we will not argue for the point here, we agree with the long tradition which holds that an understanding of this issue is crucial for addressing many metaphysical and epistemological questions concerning space
  •  48
    What Are Quanta, and Why Does It Matter?
    PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1994. 1994.
    I criticize a certain view of the 'quanta' of quantum mechanics that sees them as fundamentally non-atomistic and fundamentally significant for our understanding of quantum fields. In particular, I have in mind work by Redhead and Teller (1991, 1992 and Teller 1990). I prove that classical particles do not have the rather strong flavour of identity often associated with them; permuting positions and momenta does not produce distinct states. I show that even the label free excitation formalism is…Read more
  •  97
    Skeptical notes on a physics of passage
    Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1326 (1): 9-17. 2014.
    This paper investigates the mathematical representation of time in physics. In existing theories time is represented by the real numbers, hence their formal proper- ties represent properties of time: these are surveyed. The central question of the paper is whether the existing representation of time is adequate, or whether it can or should be supplemented: especially, do we need a physics incorporating some kind of ‘dynamical passage’ of time? The paper argues that the existing mathematical fram…Read more
  •  16
    Gauge fields, gravity and Bohm's theory
    with Robert Weingard
    In Tian Yu Cao (ed.), Conceptual Foundations of Quantum Field Theory, Cambridge University Press. pp. 287-297. 1999.
  •  1
    Philosophy of Physics (review)
    International Studies in Philosophy 27 (4): 139-140. 1995.
  •  382
    Why the parts of absolute space are immobile
    British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 59 (3): 391-407. 2008.
    Newton's arguments for the immobility of the parts of absolute space have been claimed to licence several proposals concerning his metaphysics. This paper clarifies Newton, first distinguishing two distinct arguments. Then, it demonstrates, contrary to Nerlich ([2005]), that Newton does not appeal to the identity of indiscernibles, but rather to a view about de re representation. Additionally, DiSalle ([1994]) claims that one argument shows Newton to be an anti-substantivalist. I agree that its …Read more
  •  25
    The Philosophy of Science (review)
    Teaching Philosophy 21 (4): 416-419. 1998.
  •  59
    A number of commentators (especially French and Redhead, 1988, and Butterfield, 1993) have investigated the status of the principle of the identity of indiscernibles (PII) for bosons and fermions. In this paper I extend that investigation to the full range of quantum particles of any allowed kind of statistics -- `quarticles', that is. I show that for any kind (except bosons and fermions) there are states in which PII is violated by every pair of particles, some pairs and not others, and by no p…Read more
  •  86
    Where should we begin our story? Many books start with Newton, but Newton was responding to both Galileo1 and especially (for our purposes) Descartes. But Galileo and Descartes themselves were writing in the context of late Aristotelianism, and so were trained in and critical of that rich school of thought, so if we want to fully understand their work we would need to understand scholastic views on space and motion (see Grant, 1974, Murdoch and Sylla, 1978 and Ariew and Gabbey, 1998). But late s…Read more
  •  221
    Since antiquity, natural philosophers have struggled to comprehend the nature of three tightly interconnected concepts: space, time, and motion. A proper understanding of motion, in particular, has been seen to be crucial for deciding questions about the natures of space and time, and their interconnections. Since the time of Newton and Leibniz, philosophers’ struggles to comprehend these concepts have often appeared to take the form of a dispute between absolute conceptions of space, time and m…Read more
  •  33
    What did Newton mean by ‘Absolute Motion’?
    In Andrew Janiak & Eric Schliesser (eds.), Interpreting Newton: Critical Essays, Cambridge University Press. pp. 196-218. 2012.
  •  41
    Time’s Arrow and Archimedes’ Point (review)
    Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 59 (4): 1093-1096. 1999.
  •  92
    Interpretations of quantum field theory
    with Robert Weingard
    Philosophy of Science 61 (3): 370-388. 1994.
    In this paper we critically review the various attempts that have been made to understand quantum field theory. We focus on Teller's (1990) harmonic oscillator interpretation, and Bohm et al.'s (1987) causal interpretation. The former unabashedly aims to be a purely heuristic account, but we show that it is only interestingly applicable to the free bosonic field. Along the way we suggest alternative models. Bohm's interpretation provides an ontology for the theory--a classical field, with a quan…Read more
  •  47
    This paper has two goals. (i) I explore the limits of the mathematical theory of spacetime (more generally, differential geometry) as an analytical tool for interpreting early modern thought. While it dramatically clarifies some issues, it can also lead to misunderstandings of some figures, and is a very poor tool indeed for others - Leibniz in particular. (ii) I will show how to blunt a very influential argument against a relational conception of spacetime - the view that the properties and rel…Read more
  •  210
    Weak Discernibility for Quanta, the Right Way
    with Josh Norton
    British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 65 (1): 39-58. 2014.
    Muller and Saunders ([2008]) purport to demonstrate that, surprisingly, bosons and fermions are discernible; this article disputes their arguments, then derives a similar conclusion in a more satisfactory fashion. After briefly explicating their proof and indicating how it escapes earlier indiscernibility results, we note that the observables which Muller and Saunders argue discern particles are (i) non-symmetric in the case of bosons and (ii) trivial multiples of the identity in the case of fer…Read more
  •  74
    Indistinguishability
    with Tom Imbo
    In Daniel Greenberger, Klaus Hentschel & Friedel Weinert (eds.), Compendium of Quantum Physics, Springer. pp. 311-317. 2009.
    an article written with Tom Imbo for the forthcoming Compendium of Quantum Mechanics.