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The Philosophy and Physics of Duality

De Haro, Sebastian and Butterfield, Jeremy (2025) The Philosophy and Physics of Duality. Oxford University Press, Oxford. ISBN 9780198846338

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Abstract

This monograph discusses dualities in physics: what dualities are, their main examples—from quantum mechanics and electrodynamics to statistical mechanics, quantum field theory and string theory—and the philosophical questions they raise. Part I first conceptualises dualities and discusses their main roles and themes, including how they are related to familiar notions like symmetry and interpretation. It also discusses the main simple examples of dualities: position-momentum, wave-particle, electric-magnetic, and Kramers-Wannier dualities. Part II discusses advanced examples and their inter-relations: particle-soliton dualities, electric-magnetic dualities in quantum field theories, dualities in string theory, and gauge-gravity duality. This Part ends with discussions of the hole argument, and how string theory counts the microstates of a black hole. Part III is an in-depth discussion of general philosophical issues on which dualities bear: theoretical equivalence (two theories 'saying the same thing, in different words'), scientific realism and the under-determination of theories by data, theory succession and the M-theory programme, explanation, and scientific understanding. It proposes a view of scientific theories that it dubs 'the geometric view of theories'. The book's treatment of the examples is at the advanced undergraduate and graduate level, starting from elementary and progressing to more advanced examples. The discussions of philosophical topics, such as referential semantics, theoretical equivalence, scientific realism and scientific understanding, are both self-contained and in-depth. Thus the book is aimed at students and researchers with an interest in the physical examples and philosophical questions about dualities, and also in how physics and philosophy can fruitfully interact with each other.


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Item Type: Open Access Book
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
De Haro, Sebastians.deharo@uva.nl0000-0002-3000-5967
Butterfield, Jeremyjb56@cam.ac.uk0000-0002-0215-5802
Additional Information: This is the book manuscript as submitted for production in October 2024. The book is published by Oxford University Press, under an Open Access Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No-Derivates (CC BY-NC-ND) licence. It can be freely downloaded here as a PDF: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-philosophy-and-physics-of-duality-9780198846338. When citing this work, please refer to the published version.
Keywords: duality, theoretical equivalence, scientific realism, emergence, scientific understanding, string theory, quantum field theory, gauge-gravity duality, hole argument, particles and solitons
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Physics > Classical Physics
Specific Sciences > Physics > Condensed Matter
General Issues > Explanation
Specific Sciences > Physics > Fields and Particles
General Issues > Models and Idealization
Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Gravity
Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Field Theory
Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics
General Issues > Realism/Anti-realism
Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory
Specific Sciences > Physics > Statistical Mechanics/Thermodynamics
General Issues > Structure of Theories
Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances
General Issues > Theory Change
General Issues > Theory/Observation
Depositing User: Dr Sebastian De Haro
Date Deposited: 04 Aug 2025 12:56
Last Modified: 04 Aug 2025 12:56
Item ID: 26099
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Official URL: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-philos...
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Physics > Classical Physics
Specific Sciences > Physics > Condensed Matter
General Issues > Explanation
Specific Sciences > Physics > Fields and Particles
General Issues > Models and Idealization
Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Gravity
Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Field Theory
Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics
General Issues > Realism/Anti-realism
Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory
Specific Sciences > Physics > Statistical Mechanics/Thermodynamics
General Issues > Structure of Theories
Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances
General Issues > Theory Change
General Issues > Theory/Observation
Date: 24 July 2025
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/26099

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