Castellani, Elena and Margoni, Emilia (2022) Renormalization Group Methods: What Explanation? [Preprint]
|
Text
Castellani, Margoni, Renormalization group methods - What explanation.pdf - Submitted Version Download (272kB) | Preview |
Abstract
Renormalization and Renormalization Group (RG) have proven to be very powerful tools in contemporary physics, with a decisive influence on how to conceive of key physical
aspects, including theories themselves. While they can be tackled from a variety of standpoints, this paper focuses on a peculiar philosophical issue, i.e. the nature of explanations based on RG methods. After a short, historical overview to set out the physical context, we scrutinize recent debates on the topic, with a specific focus on Margaret Morrison's seminal work. With respect to Morrison's account, where RG explanation is portrayed as mathematical, non-reductive, and non-causal, our argument is twofold. First, we argue that RG theory's explanatory role cannot reside exclusively in its mathematical character, independently from a physical interpretation. Second, we more generally question the explanatory role of RG methods due to their effective nature.
Export/Citation: | EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL |
Social Networking: |
Item Type: | Preprint | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Creators: |
|
|||||||||
Keywords: | Renormalization group, E�ective theories, Critical phenomena, Non-causal explanation, Mathematical explanation | |||||||||
Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Physics > Condensed Matter General Issues > Explanation Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Field Theory Specific Sciences > Physics > Statistical Mechanics/Thermodynamics |
|||||||||
Depositing User: | Dr. Emilia Margoni | |||||||||
Date Deposited: | 25 Mar 2022 04:25 | |||||||||
Last Modified: | 25 Mar 2022 04:25 | |||||||||
Item ID: | 20372 | |||||||||
Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Physics > Condensed Matter General Issues > Explanation Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Field Theory Specific Sciences > Physics > Statistical Mechanics/Thermodynamics |
|||||||||
Date: | 20 March 2022 | |||||||||
URI: | http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/20372 |
Monthly Views for the past 3 years
Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years
Plum Analytics
Actions (login required)
![]() |
View Item |