Rivat, Sébastien (2023) Wait, Why Gauge? [Preprint]
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Text (forthcoming in the British Journal for the Philosophy of Science)
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Abstract
Philosophers of physics have spent much effort unpacking the structure of gauge theories. But surprisingly, little attention has been devoted to the question of why we should require our best theories to be locally gauge invariant in the first place. Drawing on Steven Weinberg's works in the mid-1960s, I argue that the principle of local gauge invariance follows from Lorentz invariance and other natural assumptions in the context of perturbative relativistic quantum field theory. On this view, gauge freedom is a mere accidental feature of an already highly constrained set of quantities; the distinctive structure of our best gauge theories, in turn, traces back to the peculiar space-time transformation properties of particles like photons, gluons, and gravitons. I conclude by drawing a few interpretative lessons for the philosophy of gauge theories.
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| Item Type: | Preprint | ||||||
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| Keywords: | Quantum Field Theory; Gauge Theories; Symmetry Principles; Lorentz Invariance; Local Gauge Invariance | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Physics > Fields and Particles Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Field Theory General Issues > Structure of Theories Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances |
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| Depositing User: | Sébastien Rivat | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 31 Aug 2023 16:06 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 31 Aug 2023 16:06 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 22481 | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Physics > Fields and Particles Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Field Theory General Issues > Structure of Theories Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances |
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| Date: | 2023 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/22481 |
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