English

The relational ontology of contemporary physics

History and Philosophy of Physics 2022-02-01 v2 Quantum Physics

Abstract

Quantum theory can be understood as pointing to an ontology of relations. I observe that this reading of quantum mechanics is supported by the ubiquity of relationality in contemporary fundamental physics, including in classical mechanics, gauge theories, general relativity, quantum field theory, and the tentative theories of quantum gravity.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2201.00907,
  title  = {The relational ontology of contemporary physics},
  author = {Francesca Vidotto},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2201.00907},
  year   = {2022}
}

Comments

To appear in the volume "Quantum Mechanics and Fundamentality: Naturalizing Quantum Theory between Scientific Realism and Ontological Indeterminacy", edited by Valia Allori, Springer Nature