Cao T.Y. (ed.) Conceptual Foundations of Quantum Field Theory

Cambridge University Press, 1999. — 399 p.Quantum field theory is a powerful language for the description of the subatomic constituents of the physical world and the laws and principles that govern them. This book contains up-to-date in-depth analyses, by a group of eminent physicists and philosophers of science, of our present understanding of its conceptual foundations, of the reasons why this understanding has to be revised so that the theory can go further, and of possible directions in which revisions may be promising and productive. These analyses will be of interest to graduate students and research workers in physics who want to know about the foundational problems of their subject. The book will also be of interest to professional philosophers, historians and sociologists of science, because it contains much material for metaphysical and methodological reflections, for historical and cultural analyses, and for sociological analyses of the way in which various factors contribute to the way the foundations are revised.Introduction: Conceptual issues in quantum field theory (by Tian Yu Cao).
Philosophers' Interests in Quantum Field Theory
Why are we philosophers interested in quantum field theory? (by Tian Yu Cao).
Quantum field theory and the philosopher (by Michael Redhead).
Three Approaches to the Foundations of Quantum Field Theory
The usefulness of a general theory of quantized fields (by Arthur S. Wightman).
Effective field theory in condensed matter physics (by R. Shankar).
The triumph and limitations of quantum field theory (by David J. Gross).
Comments (by Sam Treiman).
Discussions.
Does quantum field theory need a foundation? (by Sheldon Lee Glashow).
Mathematics, Statistical Mechanics and Quantum Field Theory
Renormalization group theory: its basis and formulation in statistical physics (by Michael E. Fisher).
Where does quantum field theory fit into the big picture? (by Arthur Jaffe).
The unreasonable effectiveness of quantum field theory (by Roman Jackiw).
Comment: the quantum field theory of physics and of mathematics (by Howard J. Schnitzer).
Quantum Field Theory and Spacetime
Introduction (by John Stachel).
Quantum field theory and spacetime: formalism and reality (by Bryce DeWitt).
Quantum field theory of geometry (by Abhay Ashtekar and Jerzy Lewanowski).
'Localization' in quantum field theory: how much of QFT is compatible with what we know about spacetime (by Carlo Rovelli).
Comments (by John Stachel).
What is quantum field theory and what did we think it was? (by Steven Weinberg).
Comments (by Laurie M. Brown and Fritz Rohrlich).
Discussions.
Renormalization Group
What is fundamental physics? A renormalization group perspective (by David Nelson).
Renormalization group: an interesting yet puzzling idea (by Tian Yu Cao).
Non-Abelian Gauge Theory
Gauge fields, gravity and Bohm's theory (by Nick Huggett and Robert Weingard).
Is the Aharonov-Bohm effect local? (by Richard Healey).
Discussions.
The Ontology of Particles or Fields
The ineliminable classical face of quantum field theory (by Paul Teller).
The logic of quanta (by Steven French and Decio Krause).
Do Feynman diagrams endorse a particle ontology? (by David Kaiser)
On the ontology of QFT (by Fritz Rohrlich).
Panel Discussion