|
| related topics |
| {observables, space, algebra} |
| {theory, mechanics, state} |
| {operator, operators, space} |
| {group, space, representation} |
| {field, particle, equation} |
| {state, states, coherent} |
| {particle, mechanics, theory} |
| {cos, sin, state} |
| {let, theorem, proof} |
|
Are Rindler Quanta Real? Inequivalent particle concepts in quantum field
theory
Rob Clifton, Hans Halvorson
abstract: Philosophical reflection on quantum field theory has tended to focus on how
it revises our conception of what a particle is. However, there has been
relatively little discussion of the threat to the "reality" of particles posed
by the possibility of inequivalent quantizations of a classical field theory,
i.e., inequivalent representations of the algebra of observables of the field
in terms of operators on a Hilbert space. The threat is that each
representation embodies its own distinctive conception of what a particle is,
and how a "particle" will respond to a suitably operated detector. Our main
goal is to clarify the subtle relationship between inequivalent representations
of a field theory and their associated particle concepts. We also have a
particular interest in the Minkowski versus Rindler quantizations of a free
Boson field, because they respectively entail two radically different
descriptions of the particle content of the field in the very same region of
spacetime. We shall defend the idea that these representations provide
complementary descriptions of the same state of the field against the claim
that they embody completely incommensurable theories of the field.
- oai_identifier:
- oai:arXiv.org:quant-ph/0008030
- categories:
- quant-ph hep-th
- comments:
- 62 pages, LaTeX
- arxiv_id:
- quant-ph/0008030
- journal_ref:
- Brit.J.Phil.Sci. 52 (2001) 417-470
- created:
- 2000-08-05
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