Quantum field theory (QFT) is the union of quantum mechanics and Einstein's special theory of relativity. QFT is the most fundamental physical theory and provides the answers to questions about the basic structure of the physical world. However, the way QFT describes the world is so different from the way our senses present it to us that it requires an overhaul of philosophic categories and arguments. How can we know the microscopic world without a satisfactory measurement theory? What are the general conditions of the world that make possible such knowledge? What are the presuppositions of physical theories? Dr.Auyang argues that the current relational- substantial debate on space- time is inadequate and the observer- observed distinction in quantum interpretations illusory becouse they are hampered by philosophical constructs too narrow to accommodate the complicated structures of modern philosophical theories. Modern physical theories have incorporated many presuppositions of empirical knowledge, and consequently the theories inform us about the general nature of the world and out relation to it, in addition to information about elementary particles. The conceptual structure of QFT is extracted and articulated in common- sense terms, and used to answer many longstanding philosophical questions.
Introduction ; 1. Nonrelativistic quantum mechanics ; 2. Relativity and symmetries ; 3. Quantum field theory ; 4. Objects of experiences: Quantum states-observables-statistics ; 5. The event-structure and the spatio-temporal order: local fields ; 6. Explicit relations and the causal order: Interacting fields ; 7. Epilogue ; Appendix A: Measurement and probability: Quantity, quality, modality ; Appendix B: Fiber bundles ; Appendix C: The cosmic and the microscopic: An application ; Notes ; Bibliography
"The union of quantum mechanics and special relativity and its importance to the basic structure of the physical world."--Science & Spirit"The union of quantum mechanics and special relativity and its importance to the basic structure of the physical world."--Science & Spirit
Lillian Hoddeson, Ernest Braun, Jürgen Teichmann, Spencer Weart, USA) Hoddeson, Lillian (Professor of Pysics, Professor of Pysics, University of Illinois, Austria) Braun, Ernest (, Institut fur Sozio-Okonomische Entwicklungsforschung, Germany) Teichmann, Jurgen (, Deutsches Museum, USA) Weart, Spencer (, Center for History of Physics, New York, Ernst Braun
Robert G. Boatright, Valerie Sperling, Clark University) Boatright, Robert G. (Professor of Political Science, Professor of Political Science, Clark University) Sperling, Valerie (Professor of Political Science, Professor of Political Science, Robert G Boatright
Stephen Petrus, Ronald D. Cohen, NY) Petrus, Stephen (Andrew W. Mellon postdoctoral curatorial fellow, Andrew W. Mellon postdoctoral curatorial fellow, Museum of the City of New York, New York, IN) Cohen, Ronald D. (Emeritus Professor of History, Emeritus Professor of History, Indiana University Northwest, Gary, Ronald D Cohen
Gregory Barz, William Cheng, Vanderbilt University) Barz, Gregory (Associate Professor of Musicology/Ethnomusicology, Associate Professor of Musicology/Ethnomusicology, Dartmouth College) Cheng, William (Assistant Professor of Music, Assistant Professor of Music