1 research outputs found
The philosophical significance of the concept of superposition in quantum field theory
I analyse the applicability of the concept of superposition within quantum field theory (QFT) in order to consider the physical interpretation of a simple interacting theory.
First, I consider the significance of âsuperpositionâ in classical physics motivated by the philosophical framework developed by Wilson (2006; 2017), via the analyses of âsuperpositionâ developed by Volkmann (1896; 1910) and Simons (1987) in addition to a historical survey of its application with special reference to Fourier techniques. The concept has a patchwork or façade structure, with application subject to âprolongationâ and âsemantic mimicryâ. Proper usage of âsuperpositionâ is associated with identifying partial states and laws that provide a natural description of complicated phenomena supporting physically salient explanations, inductive inferences and counterfactual reasoning.
Secondly, I demonstrate that application of âsuperpositionâ in quantum physics is a prolongation of its classical usage involving new rules of application.
Thirdly, I analyse the historical origins of QFT and the mature theory to indicate where, and how, proper application of âsuperpositionâ is made to free theories, whilst semantic mimicry is involved in the interpretation of interacting theories. Improper and often implicit appeals are made to âsuperpositionâ to incorrectly claim physical interpretations of interacting theories. Two major related failures of âsuperpositionâ are identified, associated with the initial postulation of putative fields and corresponding states associated with different particle types, and with the nonlinearity of the coupled field equations, so that natural descriptions of interacting states using familiar concepts are unavailable. Renormalization is interpreted as a symptom and pragmatic partial remedy for the failure of âsuperpositionâ such that empirically successful calculations are supported using LSZ scattering theory and the Gell-Mann and Low theorem.
Finally, I suggest that the interpretation of QFT is best approached within the context of an engineerâs perspective rather than a metaphysicianâs, having implications for wider philosophical debates