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Gauge Principles, Gauge Arguments and the Logic of Nature

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Christopher A. Martin
Christopher A. Martin*
Affiliation:
Indiana University
*
Send requests for reprints to the author, 130 Goodbody Hall, Bloomington IN 47405; [email protected].
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Abstract

I consider the question of how literally one can construe the “gauge argument,” which is the canonical means of understanding the putatively central import of local gauge symmetry principles for fundamental physics. As I argue, the gauge argument must be afforded (at best) a heuristic reading. Claims to the effect that the argument reflects a deep “logic of nature” must, for numerous reasons I discuss, be taken with a grain of salt.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 69 , Issue S3 , September 2002 , pp. S221 - S234
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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