The Many Dimensions of the String Theory Wars

String theory, over its near five decade history, has attracted a great deal of controversy, which continues to evolve to the present day. The string theory controversy has novel aspects which highlight how contemporary science continues to develop. Those novel aspects include: non-empirical scientific methodologies and theory appraisal; a negotiation of the boundary between science and non-science where the dominant group is forced to defend its authority; and a potentially new form of peer review. With the controversy yet to be settled, at stake is how science is understood within high energy physics, acceptable methods for generating theoretical science and the optimal organization of expert communities. There are many points of conflict in the string wars. Rather than a debate between two incompatible and opposing sides, this thesis offers a more complex understanding of the string wars. The picture that is presented is organised into a taxonomy that groups the points of conflict into debates concerning ‘philosophy’, ‘sociology’, ‘technology’ and ‘methodology’. This approach seeks to shift the understanding of the debates from where it currently stands, namely where the string wars are held up as evidence of an emergent conceptualisation of science that is contested by a traditional conception of science, to a more nuanced understanding. Instead of two opposing sides, characterised by a positive and negative appraisal of string theory, a variety of positions can been identified, each concerning a different point of conflict

Probing novelty at the LHC: Heuristic appraisal of disruptive experimentation

In this paper, ‘novelty’ is explored through a recent historical episode from high energy experimental physics to offer an understanding of novelty as disruption. I call this the ‘750 GeV episode’, an episode where two Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiments, CMS and ATLAS, each independently observed indications of a new resonance at approximately 750 GeV. With further data collection, the initial excess was determined to be a statistical fluctuation. The approach taken, in the analysis of interviews conducted with physicists who were involved in the ‘750 GeV episode’, is to consider novelty as a valued difference. Following this conceptually driven approach, disambiguate between several notions of novelty through the identification of varied differences. This disambiguation is achieved through exploring differences expressed in comparison to varied expressions of the standard model, and through exploring varied ‘types’ of difference (properties and entities) to introduce disruptive exploratory experimentation, a complementary understanding ‘exploratory experimentation’ (Elliott, 2007; Steinle, 1997, 2002). I show that the kinds of novelty framed as most valuable are those that violate expectations and are difficult to incorporate into the existing structures of knowledge. In such instances, disruption to the existing ontology or ways of knowing is valued. This positive appraisal of disruption, and contradiction over confirmation, is considered in the recent context of high-energy physics, where several physicists have claimed that there is a lack of promising directions for the future, or even that the field is in a ‘crisis’. I show that the role of disruption explains the differences between the differing notions of novelty. Furthermore, I show that the positive appraisal of disruption is based on forward looking assessments of future fertility, or heuristic appraisal (Nickles, 1989, 2006). Within the context of concerns of a lack of available promising future directions, disruption becomes a generator of alternative futures

Constraints and Divergent Assessments of Fertility in Non-empirical Physics in the History of the String Theory Controversy

This paper examines historic appraisals of string theory to develop a less abstract understanding of the string theory controversy and assessment in non-empirical physics. This historical approach reveals several points of conflict in the controversy, each centring on a constraint. By proceeding stepwise through these constraints, I reveal the role that constraints played in determining divergent assessments of string theory. Rather than disagreement between two competing methods, a level of agreement is found amongst those critical and supportive of string theory as to the commitment to the relevant constraints, but disagreement as to the sufficiency of consistency, the path to background independence and a non-perturbative formulation, and how to interpret the significance of applications. Furthermore, the string theory community itself is shown to be divided in its commitment to the necessity of uniqueness and the legitimacy of anthropic reasoning. These varied assessments, guided by considerations of constraints, have informed divergent claims as to the past and future fertility of string theory. These are claims as to the value of string theory in guiding research in quantum gravity: claims as to whether string theory has and will be valuable as a means rather than an end. To appear in Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science

Creativity and Modelling the Measurement Process of the Higgs self-coupling at the LHC and HL-LHC

This paper provides an account of the nature of creativity in high-energy physics experiments through an integrated historical and philosophical study of the current and planned attempts to measure the self-coupling of the Higgs boson by two experimental collaborations (ATLAS and CMS) at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the planned High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC). A notion of creativity is first identified broadly as an increase in the epistemic value of a measurement outcome from an unexpected transformation, and narrowly as a condition for knowledge of the measurement of the self-coupling of the Higgs. Drawing upon Tal’s model-based epistemology of measurement (2012) this paper shows how without change to ‘readings’ (or ‘instrument indicators’) a transformation to the model of the measurement process can increase the epistemic value of the measurement outcome. Such transformations are attributed to the creativity of the experimental collaboration. Creativity, in this context, is both a product, a creative and improved model, and the distributed collaborative process of transformation to the model of the measurement process. For the case of the planned measurements at the HL-LHC, where models of the measurement process perform the epistemic function of prediction, creativity is included in the models of the measurement process, both as projected quantified creativity and as an assumed property of the future collaborations

The Next Generation Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration: History, Philosophy, and Culture

This white paper outlines the plans of the History Philosophy Culture Working Group of the Next Generation Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration.Comment: 23 pages, 1 figur

The Next Generation Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration: History, Philosophy, and Culture

This white paper outlines the plans of the History Philosophy Culture Working Group of the Next Generation Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration

The Many Dimensions of the String Theory Wars

String theory, over its near five decade history, has attracted a great deal of controversy, which continues to evolve to the present day. The string theory controversy has novel aspects which highlight how contemporary science continues to develop. Those novel aspects include: non-empirical scientific methodologies and theory appraisal; a negotiation of the boundary between science and non-science where the dominant group is forced to defend its authority; and a potentially new form of peer review. With the controversy yet to be settled, at stake is how science is understood within high energy physics, acceptable methods for generating theoretical science and the optimal organization of expert communities. There are many points of conflict in the string wars. Rather than a debate between two incompatible and opposing sides, this thesis offers a more complex understanding of the string wars. The picture that is presented is organised into a taxonomy that groups the points of conflict into debates concerning ‘philosophy’, ‘sociology’, ‘technology’ and ‘methodology’. This approach seeks to shift the understanding of the debates from where it currently stands, namely where the string wars are held up as evidence of an emergent conceptualisation of science that is contested by a traditional conception of science, to a more nuanced understanding. Instead of two opposing sides, characterised by a positive and negative appraisal of string theory, a variety of positions can been identified, each concerning a different point of conflict

How uncertainty can save measurement from circularity and holism

Measurement results depend upon assumptions, and some of those assumptions are theoretical in character. This paper examines particle physics measurements in which a measurement result depends upon a type of assumption for which that very same result may be evidentially relevant, thus raising a worry about potential circularity in argumentation. We demonstrate how the practice of evaluating measurement uncertainty serves to render any such evidential circularity epistemically benign. Our analysis shows how the evaluation and deployment of uncertainty evaluation constitutes an in practice solution to a particular form of Duhemian underdetermination that improves upon Duhem's vague notion of “good sense,” avoids holism, and reconciles theory dependence of measurement with piecemeal hypothesis testing

The Next Generation Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration: History, Philosophy, and Culture

Peer reviewed: TrueFunder: Volkswagen FoundationFunder: John Templeton Foundation and the Gordon and Betty Moore FoundationThis white paper outlines the plans of the History Philosophy Culture Working Group of the Next Generation Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration.</jats:p