Gomes, Henrique (2024) Representational schemes for theories with symmetry. [Preprint]

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Abstract

In the philosophical literature, symmetries of physical theories are most often interpreted according to the general doctrine called \lq{}traditional sophistication\rq{}. But even this doctrine leaves two important gaps in our understanding of such theories: (A) it allows the individuation of isomorphism-classes to remain intractable and thus of limited use, which is why practising physicists frequently invoke \lq{}relational, symmetry-invariant observables\rq{}; and (B) it leaves us with no formal framework for expressing interesting counterfactual statements about different physical possibilities. I will call these \emph{Limitations} of TS. Here I will show that a new Desideratum to be satisfied by theories with symmetries allows us to overcome these Limitations. The new Desideratum is that the theory admits what I will call \emph{representational schemes} for its isomorphism-classes. Each such scheme gives an equally valid reduced formalism for a theory.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Gomes, Henrique gomes.ha@gmail.com 0000-0002-9285-0090
Keywords:	Symmetry, invariance, hole argument, gauge symmetry, gauge-fixing, observables.
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Physics > Classical Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Fields and Particles Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances
Depositing User:	Dr Henrique Gomes
Date Deposited:	16 Oct 2024 12:04
Last Modified:	16 Oct 2024 12:04
Item ID:	24070
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Physics > Classical Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Fields and Particles Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances
Date:	8 October 2024
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/24070

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