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No Place for Particles in Relativistic Quantum Theories?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Hans Halvorson  and
Rob Clifton
Hans Halvorson
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, Princeton University; Department of Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh
Rob Clifton
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, Princeton University; Department of Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh
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Abstract

David Malament (1996) has recently argued that there can be no relativistic quantum theory of (localizable) particles. We consider and rebut several objections that have been made against the soundness of Malament's argument. We then consider some further objections that might be made against the generality of Malament's conclusion, and we supply three no-go theorems to counter these objections. Finally, we dispel potential worries about the counterintuitive nature of these results by showing that relativistic quantum field theory itself explains the appearance of “particle detections.”

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 69 , Issue 1 , March 2002 , pp. 1 - 28
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

†

Send requests for reprints to the first author, Department of Philosophy, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 [email protected].

‡

Thanks to Jeff Barrett and David Malament for helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper.

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