Related papers: The Fundamentality of Fields
Despite its name, Quantum Field Theory (QFT) has been built to describe interactions between localizable particles. For this reason the actual formalism of QFT is partly based on a suitable generalization of the one already used for systems…
Since the quantum field theory treats a system of particles, there must be a distribution which is associated with the system of particles. It means that a meaningful quantity is adjoined in the system of particles. It seems that these…
Algebraic quantum field theory is an approach to relativistic quantum physics, notably the theory of elementary particles, which complements other modern developments in this field. It is particularly powerful for structural analysis but…
At the primary level of reality as described by quantum field theory, a fundamental particle like an electron represents a stable, discrete, propagating excited state of its underlying quantum field. QFT also tells us that the lowest vacuum…
Quantum foundations are still unsettled, with mixed effects on science and society. By now it should be possible to obtain consensus on at least one issue: Are the fundamental constituents fields or particles? As this paper shows,…
The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of recent work on pilot-wave approaches to quantum field theory. In such approaches, systems are not only described by their wave function, as in standard quantum theory, but also by some…
The formalism of quantum mechanics is presented in a way that its interpretation as a classical field theory is emphasized. Two coupled real fields are defined with given equations of motion. Densities and currents associated to the fields…
Quantum field theory offers physicists a tremendously wide range of application; it is both a language with which a vast variety of physical processes can be discussed and also it provides a model for fundamental physics, the so-called…
The quantum field theory in the presence of classical background electromagnetic fields is reviewed. We give a pedagogical introduction to the Feynman-Furry method of describing non-perturbative interactions with very strong electromagnetic…
Physics beyond the standard model can affect top-quark physics indirectly. We describe the effective field theory approach to describing such physics, and contrast it with the vertex-function approach that has been pursued previously. We…
The challenges posed by the development of field theories, both classical and quantum, force us to question their most basic and foundational ideas like the role and origin of space-time, the meaning of physical states, etc. Among them the…
Relativistic quantum mechanics can be considered to have begun with a search for wave equations corresponding to each intrinsic spin. However, relativistic quantum physics differs fundamentally from the non-relativistic wave mechanics. It…
The quantum theory of fields is largely based on studying perturbations around non-interacting, or free, field theories, which correspond to a collection of quantum-mechanical harmonic oscillators. The quantum theory of an ordinary fluid is…
Quantum field theory has formed the conceptual framework of most of physics for more than sixty years. It incorporates a complete revision of our conception of the nature of matter and existence itself. Yet it is rarely taught, or even…
We comment on the present status, the concepts and their limitations, and the successes and open problems of the various approaches to a relativistic quantum theory of elementary particles, with a hindsight to questions concerning quantum…
In classical mechanics matter and fields are completely separated. Matter interacts with fields. For particle physicists this is not the case. Both matter and fields are represented by particles. Fundamental interactions are mediated by…
In the present paper we propose a new approach to quantum fields in terms of category algebras and states on categories. We define quantum fields and their states as category algebras and states on causal categories with partial involution…
It is shown that adopting the \emph{Quantum Field} ---extended entity in space-time build by dynamic appearance propagation and annihilation of virtual particles--- as the primary ontology the astonishing features of quantum mechanics can…
In classical theory, the physical systems are elucidated through the concepts of particles and waves, which aim to describe the reality of the physical system with certainty. In this framework, particles are mathematically represented by…
The possibility of a quantum system to exhibit properties that are akin to both the classically held notions of being a particle and a wave, is one of the most intriguing aspects of the quantum description of nature. These aspects have been…