Rickles, Dean (2014) Dual Theories: ‘Same But Different’ or ‘Different But Same’? [Preprint]

PDF (Submitted to E. Castellani and D. Rickles (eds.) "Dualities" (special issue for Studies int he History and Philosophy of Modern Physics)) dual.pdf - Submitted Version Download (223kB)

Abstract

I argue that, under the glitz, dual theories are examples of theoretically equivalent descriptions of the same underlying physical content: I distinguish them from cases of genuine underdetermination on the grounds that there is no real incompatibility involved between the descriptions. The incompatibility is at the level of unphysical structure. I argue that dual pairs are in fact very strongly analogous to gauge- related solutions even for dual pairs that look the most radically distinct, such as AdS/CFT.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Rickles, Dean dean.rickles@sydney.edu.au
Keywords:	Quantum gravity, string theory, duality, underdetermination, theory equivalence
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Gravity Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances
Depositing User:	Dr Dean Rickles
Date Deposited:	03 Mar 2015 15:42
Last Modified:	03 Mar 2015 15:42
Item ID:	11354
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Gravity Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances
Date:	18 November 2014
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/11354

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