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Primitive ontology and quantum field theory

Lam, Vincent

In: European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 2015, vol. 5, no. 3, p. 387-397

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    Titel
    • Primitive ontology and quantum field theory
    Autor
    • Lam, Vincent. Department of Philosophy, University of Lausanne, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
    Dokumententyp
    • Postprint
    Sprache
    • Englisch
    Veröffentlicht in
    • European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 2015, vol. 5, no. 3, p. 387-397. Springer Netherlands
    Andere elektronische Ausgabe
    OAI-PMH-ID
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:332066
    Summary
    Primitive ontology is a recently much discussed approach to the ontology of quantum theory according to which the theory is ultimately about entities in 3-dimensional space and their temporal evolution. This paper critically discusses the primitive ontologies that have been suggested within the Bohmian approach to quantum field theory in the light of the existence of unitarily inequivalent representations. These primitive ontologies rely either on a Fock space representation or a wave functional representation, which are strictly speaking unambiguously available only for free systems in flat spacetime. As a consequence, it is argued that they do not constitute fundamental ontologies for quantum field theory, in contrast to the case of the Bohmian approach to quantum mechanics.