Related papers: The Fundamentality of Fields
It is argued that quantum gravity has an interpretation as a topological field theory provided a certain constraint from the path intergral measure is respected. The constraint forces us to couple gauge and matter fields to gravity for…
"All men by nature desire to know," states Aristotle in the famous first sentence of his Metaphysics. Knowledge about fundamental particles and interactions, that is, knowledge about the deepest aspects of matter, is certainly high if not…
Some explanations and implications of the underlying theory approach for quantum theories (QM or QFT) are discussed and suggested. This simple idea seems to have significantly nontrivial effects for our understanding of the quantum…
Using the example of classical electrodynamics, I argue that the concept of fields as mediators of particle interactions is fundamentally flawed and reflects a misguided attempt to retrieve Newtonian concepts in relativistic theories. This…
The principle of stationary variance is advocated as a viable variational approach to quantum field theory. The method is based on the principle that the variance of energy should be at its minimum when the state of a quantum system reaches…
Linearity allows several versions of reality to simultaneously exist in the state vector. But it implies that there is no interaction between versions, and that there will never be perception of more than one version. It also implies, in…
Theoretical developments related to the gravitational interaction have questioned the notion of particle in quantum field theory (QFT). For instance, uniquely-defined particle states do not exist in general, in QFT on a curved spacetime.…
The transition from a classical to quantum theory is investigated within the context of orthogonal and symplectic Clifford algebras, first for particles, and then for fields. It is shown that the generators of Clifford algebras have the…
The effects of a magnetic field on the energy and on the spin of free electrons are computed in the framework of quantum field theory. In the case of a constant moderate field and with relatively slow electrons, the derived formulae are…
A core level of basic information for physics is identified, based on an analysis of the characteristics of the parameters space, time, mass and charge. At this level, it is found that certain symmetries operate, which can be used to…
Conventional quantum field theory is a method for studying structureless elementary particles. Non-elementary particles, on the other hand, are those with internal structure or particles that are made up of elementary constituents like the…
This work starts from the premise that sinusoidal plane waves cease to be solutions of field theories when turning on an interaction. A nonlinear interaction term generates harmonics analogous to those observed in nonlinear optical media.…
While its applications have made quantum theory arguably the most successful theory in physics, its interpretation continues to be the subject of lively debate within the community of physicists and philosophers concerned with conceptual…
In this paper I offer an introduction to group field theory (GFT) and to some of the issues affecting the foundations of this approach to quantum gravity. I first introduce covariant GFT as the theory that one obtains by interpreting the…
Energy is no doubt an intuitive concept. Following a previous analysis on the nature of elementary particles and associated elementary quantum fields, the peculiar status and role of energy is scrutinised further at elementary and larger…
The long-standing challenge to describing charged particle dynamics in strong classical electromagnetic fields is how to incorporate classical radiation, classical radiation reaction and quantized photon emission into a consistent unified…
We consider the coupling of quantum fields to classical gravity in the formalism of ensembles on configuration space, a model that allows a consistent formulation of interacting classical and quantum systems. Explicit calculations show that…
We discuss the theory of electromagnetic fields, with an emphasis on aspects relevant to radiofrequency systems in particle accelerators. We begin by reviewing Maxwell's equations and their physical significance. We show that in free space,…
We explore a field theoretical approach to quantum computing and control. This book consists of three parts. The basics of systems theory and field theory are reviewed in Part I. In Part II, a gauge theory is reinterpreted from a systems…
In this talk I describe a recently introduced field-theoretical approach that can be used as an alternative framework to study one-dimensional systems of highly correlated particles.