Quantum Field Theory In A Semiotic Perspective

Viewing physical theories as symbolic constructions came to the fore in the middle of the nineteenth century with the emancipation of the classical theory of the electromagnetic field from mechanics; most notably this happened through the work of Helmholtz, Hertz, Poincaré, and later Weyl. The epistemological problems that nourished this development are today highlighted within quantum field theory. The present essay starts off with a concise and non-technical outline of the firmly based aspects of relativistic quantum field theory, i.e. the very successful description of subnuclear phenomena. The particular methods, by which these different aspects have to be accessed, then get described as distinct facets of quantum field theory. The authors show how these different facets vary with respect to the relation between quantum fields and associated particles. Thus, by emphasising the respective role of various basic concepts involved, the authors claim that only a very general epistemic approach can properly account for this diversity - an account they trace back to the philosophical writings of the aforementioned physicists and mathematicians. Finally, what they call their semiotic perspective on quantum field theory gets related to recent discussions within the philosophy of science and turns out to act as a counterbalance to, for instance, structural realism.

It has been said that `String theorists talk to string theorists and everyone else wonders what they are saying'. This book will be a great help to those researchers who are challenged by modern quantum field theory. Quantum field theory experienced a renaissance in the late 1960s. Here, participants in the Les Houches sessions of 1970/75, now key players in quantum field theory and its many impacts, assess developments in their field of interest and provide guidance to young researchers challenged by these developments, but overwhelmed by their complexities. The book is not a textbook on string theory, rather it is a complement to Polchinski's book on string theory. It is a survey of current problems which have their origin in quantum field theory.

This new volume takes a complete look at how classical field theory, quantum mechanics and quantum field theory are interrelated. It takes a global approach and discusses the importance of quantization by relating it to different theories such as tree amplitude and conservation laws. There arespecial chapters devoted to Euclideanization and renormalization, space and time inversion and the closed-time-path formalism.

Quantum gravity is the name given to a theory that unites general relativity - Einstein's theory of gravitation and spacetime - with quantum field theory, our framework for describing non-gravitational forces. The Structural Foundations of Quantum Gravity brings together philosophers and physicists to discuss a range of conceptual issues that surface in the effort to unite these theories, focusing in particular on the ontological nature of the spacetime that results. Although there has been a great deal written about quantum gravity from the perspective of physicists and mathematicians, very little attention has been paid to the philosophical aspects. This volume closes that gap, with essays written by some of the leading researchers in the field. Individual papers defend or attack a structuralist perspective on the fundamental ontologies of our physical theories, which offers the possibility of shedding new light on a number of foundational problems. It is a book that will be of interest not only to physicists and philosophers of physics but to anyone concerned with foundational issues and curious to explore new directions in our understanding of spacetime and quantum physics.

Axiomatic and constructive approaches to quantum field theory first aim to establish it on precise, non-perturbative bases: general axioms and rigorous definition of specific theories respectively. From the viewpoint of particle physics, the goal is then to develop a relativistic scattering theory, including particle analysis and the derivation of general properties of collision amplitudes. Taking into account successive improvements, this book provides a modern, self-contained, and coherent presentation of important developments from the last twenty years, most of which have not been treated or discussed in detail in earlier books. These developments include in particular the axiomatic derivation, in massive theories, of general causal and momentum-space analyticity properties of multiparticle collision amplitudes; the constructive definition, initially in the (unphysical) euclidean space, of various models including non-super-renormalizable theories treated in the 1980s via phase-space expansions; and the subsequent constructive approach to scattering theory, which provides information on the mass spectrum, asymptotic completeness, and multiparticle structure in increasingly higher energy regions. Originally published in 1993. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

In recent years, many philosophers of modern physics came to the conclusion that the problem of how objectivity is constituted (rather than merely given) can no longer be avoided, and therefore that a transcendental approach in the spirit of Kant is now philosophically relevant. The usual excuse for skipping this task is that the historical form given by Kant to transcendental epistemology has been challenged by Relativity and Quantum Physics. However, the true challenge is not to force modern physics into a rigidly construed static version of Kant’s philosophy, but to provide Kant’s method with flexibility and generality. In this book, the top specialists of the field pin down the methodological core of transcendental epistemology that must be used in order to throw light on the foundations of modern physics. First, the basic tools Kant used for his transcendental reading of Newtonian Mechanics are examined, and then early transcendental approaches of Relativistic and Quantum Physics are revisited. Transcendental procedures are also applied to contemporary physics, and this renewed transcendental interpretation is finally compared with structural realism and constructive empiricism. The book will be of interest to scientists, historians and philosophers who are involved in the foundational problems of modern physics.

The second edition of Non-Perturbative Methods in Two-Dimensional Quantum Field Theory is an extensively revised version, involving major changes and additions. Although much of the material is special to two dimensions, the techniques used should prove helpful also in the development of techniques applicable in higher dimensions. In particular, the last three chapters of the book will be of direct interest to researchers wanting to work in the field of conformal field theory and strings. This book is intended for students working for their PhD degree and post-doctoral researchers wishing to acquaint themselves with the non-perturbative aspects of quantum field theory. Contents: Free Fields; The Thirring Model; Determinants and Heat Kernels; Self-Interacting Fermionic Models; Nonlinear a Models: Classical Aspects; Nonlinear a Models OCo Quantum Aspects; Exact S-Matrices of 2D Models; The Wess-Zumino-Witten Theory; QED 2: Operator Approach; Quantum Chromodynamics; QED 2: Functional Approach; The Finite Temperature Schwinger Model; Non-Abelian Chiral Gauge Theories; Chiral Quantum Electrodynamics; Conformally Invariant Field Theory; Conformal Field Theory with Internal Symmetry; 2D Gravity and String-Related Topics. Readership: Graduate students and researchers in high energy and quantum physics."