A Persistent Particle Ontology for Quantum Field Theory in Terms of the Dirac Sea
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8399141 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Dirk-André Deckert (0000-0002-9140-8962, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, corresponding author), Michael Esfeld (0000-0001-9456-3258, University of Lausanne, corresponding author), Andrea Oldofredi (0000-0003-4379-8027, University of Lausanne, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 70 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 747-770 |
| Publication date | 2019-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-0882 • E-ISSN: 1464-3537 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/bjps/axx018 |
| OpenAlex | W2964044101 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 9 |
| References cited | 15 |
We show that the Bohmian approach in terms of persisting particles that move on continuous trajectories following a deterministic law can be literally applied to quantum field theory. By means of the Dirac sea model—exemplified in the electron sector of the standard model neglecting radiation—we explain how starting from persisting particles, one is led to standard QFT employing creation and annihilation operators when tracking the dynamics with respect to a reference state, the so-called vacuum. Since on the level of wave functions, both formalisms are mathematically equivalent, this proposal provides for an ontology of QFT that includes a dynamics of individual processes, solves the measurement problem, and explains the appearance of creation and annihilation events. 1. Bohmian Mechanics from Quantum Mechanics to Quantum Field Theory2. The Dirac Sea Model3. Equilibrium States and the Vacuum4. Excitations of the Vacuum and the Fock Space Formalism5. The Appearance of Particle Creations and Annihilations6. The Merits of the Bohmian Approach
Annihilation · Causal fermion system · Classical mechanics · Creation and annihilation operators · De Broglie–Bohm theory · Dirac (video compression format) · Dirac fermion · Dirac sea · Epistemology · Fermion · Field (mathematics) · Fock space · Ontology · Open quantum system · Physics · Quantum · Quantum field theory · Quantum mechanics · Rotation formalisms in three dimensions · Theoretical physics · Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics · Biofield Effects and Biophysics · Mathematics · Philosophy · Quantum Mechanics and Applications
Quantum Powers and Primitive Ontology
Ultimate-Humeanism
Putting positrons into classical Dirac field theory
Super-Humeanism
Against the disappearance of spacetime in quantum gravity
Particles, fields, and the measurement of electron spin
Super-Humeanism and physics
The fundamentality of fields
A challenge for Super-Humeanism
| Unique citing works | 9 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,13 |
| Citation span | 2018 - 2025 (8) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 8 |