The structural foundations of quantum gravity [[electronic resource] /] / edited by Dean Rickles, Steven French, and Juha Saatsi

• Autore: Rickles
• Pubblicazione: Oxford, : Clarendon; New York, : Oxford University Press, 2006
• Edizione: 1st ed.
• Descrizione fisica: xii, 270 p. : ill
• Disciplina: 530.143
• Soggetto topico: Quantum gravity; Physics
• Altri autori: RicklesDean FrenchSteven SaatsiJuha
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Intro -- Contents -- Notes on Contributors -- 1. Quantum Gravity Meets Structuralism: Interweaving Relations in the Foundations of Physics -- 1.1 Quantum Gravity: Background, Concepts, and Methods -- 1.1.1 The Hole Argument and Spacetime Ontology -- 1.1.2 Gauging the Hole Argument -- 1.1.3 Enter Quantum Gravity -- 1.1.4 Categorizing the Manifold Methods -- 1.1.5 What's Wrong with Background-Dependent Methods? -- 1.1.6 What's Right about Background-Independent Methods? -- 1.1.7 Background Independence and Structuralism -- 1.2 Structuralism and Structural Realism -- 1.2.1 Motivating Structuralism -- 1.2.2 What is Structuralism? -- 1.2.3 …and Where Does it Come from? -- 1.2.4 Structural Realism -- 2. Structural Realism and Quantum Gravity -- 2.1 Structural Realism -- 2.2 Physical Reality of Spacetime and Quantum Fields -- 2.3 Quantum Gravity -- 3. Structure, Individuality, and Quantum Gravity -- 3.1 What is Structural Realism? -- 3.2 Structure and Individuality -- 3.3 Effective Field Theory and Asymptotic Quantization -- 3.4 String Theory -- 3.5 Quantum General Relativity: Some Preliminary Problems -- 3.5.1 States or Processes: Which is Primary? -- 3.5.2 Formalism and Measurability -- 3.6 Canonical Quantization (Loop Quantum Gravity) -- 3.7 The Causal Set (Causet) Approach -- 3.8 What Structures to Quantize? -- 4. Points, Particles, and Structural Realism -- 4.1 What is Structural Realism? -- 4.2 Underdetermination -- 4.3 What is Ontic Structural Realism? -- 4.4 Objects -- 4.5 Sophisticated Substantivalism -- 4.6 Stachel's Generalized Hole Argument for Sets -- 4.7 Stachel on Identical Particles -- 4.8 Identical Particles and Identity over Time -- 4.9 Two Morals for Quantum Gravity -- 5. Holism and Structuralism in Classical and Quantum General Relativity -- 5.1 Introduction: Two Strands of Philosophy of Physics that Ought to be Brought together. ; 5.2 Many 'Realisms' or One? -- 5.2.1 What, Exactly, is a Physical Structure? -- 5.3 A Case Study: The Holistic and Structural Nature of General-Relativistic Spacetime in a Class of Models of GR -- 5.3.1 The Hole Argument and its Consequences -- 5.3.2 The Dynamical Individuation of Point-Events -- 5.4 Developing Hints for the Quantum Gravity Programme -- 5.5 Structural Spacetime Realism -- 5.5.1 The Nature of Point-Events and Overcoming the Substantivalism/Relationism Debate -- 6. Time and Structure in Canonical Gravity -- 6.1 Introduction -- 6.2 Constraints, Gauge, and Holes -- 6.2.1 Hamiltonian Systems: Constraints and Gauge -- 6.2.2 Constraints and Gauge in General Relativity -- 6.2.3 Interpreting Gauge Theories -- 6.3 What is the Problem of Time? -- 6.4 A Snapshot of the Philosophical Debate -- 6.4.1 Time Series from A to D -- 6.4.2 Maudlin versus Earman -- 6.5 Catalogue of Responses -- 6.5.1 Timefull Stratagems -- 6.5.2 Timeless Stratagems -- 6.6 Enter Structuralism -- 6.7 Conclusion -- 7. The Case for Background Independence -- 7.1 Introduction -- 7.2 A Brief History of Relational Time -- 7.3 What Physicists Mean When We Talk about Relational Space and Time -- 7.4 General Relativity as a Partly Relational Theory -- 7.4.1 The Problem of Time and Related Issues -- 7.5 Relationalism and the Search for the Quantum Theory of Gravity -- 7.5.1 The Causal Set Theory -- 7.5.2 Loop Quantum Gravity -- 7.5.3 Causal Dynamical Triangulation Models -- 7.5.4 Background-Independent Approaches to String and M Theory -- 7.6 Relationalism and Reductionism -- 7.6.1 The Challenge of the String Theory Landscape -- 7.7 A Relational Approach to the Problems of Unification and Determination of the Standard Model Parameters -- 7.8 Relationalism and Natural Selection -- 7.9 What about the Cosmological Constant Problem?. ; 7.10 The Issue of Extending Quantum Theory to Cosmology -- 7.10.1 Relational Approaches to Quantum Cosmology -- 7.10.2 Relational Approaches to Going beyond Quantum Theory -- 7.11 Conclusions -- 8. Quantum Quandaries: A Category-Theoretic Perspective -- 8.1 Introduction -- 8.2 Lessons from Topological Quantum Field Theory -- 8.3 The * -Category of Hilbert Spaces -- 8.4 The Monoidal Category of Hilbert Spaces -- 8.5 Conclusions -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y.
• Sommario/riassunto: What is spacetime? General relativity and quantum field theory answer this question in very different ways. This collection of essays by physicists and philosophers looks at the problem of uniting these two most fundamental theories of our world, focusing on the nature of space and time within this new quantum framework, and the kind of metaphysical picture suggested by recent developments in physics and mathematics. This is a book that will inspire furtherphilosophical reflection on recent advances in modern physics.
• Titolo autorizzato: The structural foundations of quantum gravity
• ISBN: 9780191515026; 0191515027; 0-19-169943-8; 0-19-151502-7; 1-280-75769-8; 1-4294-6511-5
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Record Nr.: 9910807110903321
• Lo trovi qui: Univ. Federico II