DIEP Seminar by Jeremy Butterfield (Trinity College, Cambridge)
On Dualities and Equivalences Between Physical Theories.
Jeremy Butterfield (U. of Cambridge) is a world-renowned philosopher of physics noted particularly for his work on philosophical aspects of quantum theory, relativity theory and classical mechanics.
| Date | 22 June 2018 |
|---|---|
| Time | 16:00 - 17:00 |
| Location | Science Park 904 |
| Room | Lecture room G4.15 |
Abstract:
The main aim of this paper is to make a remark about the relation between (i) dualities between theories, as `duality' is understood in physics and (ii) equivalence of theories, as `equivalence' is understood in logic and philosophy. The remark is that in physics, two theories can be dual, and accordingly get called `the same theory', though we interpret them as disagreeing---so that they are certainly not equivalent, as `equivalent' is normally understood. So the remark is simple: but, I shall argue, worth stressing---since often neglected. My argument for this is based on the account of duality developed with De Haro: which is illustrated here with several examples, from both elementary physics and string theory. Thus I argue that in some examples, including in string theory, two dual theories disagree in their claims about the world. I also spell out how this remark implies a limitation of proposals (both traditional and recent) to understand theoretical equivalence as either logical equivalence or a weakening of it.
