Abstract
Many attempts have been made to provide Quantum Field Theory with conceptually clear and mathematically rigorous foundations; remarkable examples are the Bohmian and the algebraic perspectives respectively. In this essay we introduce the dissipative approach to QFT, a new alternative formulation of the theory explaining the phenomena of particle creation and annihilation starting from nonequilibrium thermodynamics. It is shown that DQFT presents a rigorous mathematical structure, and a clear particle ontology, taking the best from the mentioned perspectives. Finally, after the discussion of its principal implications and consequences, we compare it with the main Bohmian QFTs implementing a particle ontology.
Highlights
The Standard Model (SM) of particle physics is currently our most accurate answer to the questions concerning the inherent structure of matter
In this essay we have introduced a new alternative formulation of QFT with a clear particle ontology and a stochastic dynamics based (i) on mathematically and physically rigorous notions from nonequilibrium thermodynamics, and (ii) on sound metaphysical assumptions, taking the best of both worlds, the algebraic and the Bohmian perspectives— dissipative approach to QFT (DQFT) remarkably differs from these approaches
With DQFT we have practically shown that effective QFTs can provide robust and unambiguous ontological pictures of the objects and
Summary
European Journal for Philosophy of Science (2021) 11: 18 the electromagnetic, the weak and the strong interactions, three of the four fundamental forces in nature; only gravity is not taken into account by the SM. In 1955 Rudolf Haag proved that there can be no interaction picture in standard relativistic QFT, since the free and interacting fields cannot act in a common Hilbert space, calling into question the mathematical foundations of the theory (Haag 1955) Such theorem has been interpreted as a no-go result showing the impossibility for a particle ontology in QFT (Fraser 2006; Fraser and Earman 2008). This theory entails the existence of infinitely many inequivalent representations of the CCR: these representations assign different expectation values to the various families of observables, generating a infinitely many physically inequivalent descriptions among which one has to select the proper representation.
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