The Philosophy and Physics of Duality

The Philosophy and Physics of Duality discusses what dualities are and the philosophical questions they raise. This book also examines the main examples of duality—from quantum mechanics and electrodynamics to statistical mechanics, quantum field theory, and string theory. Part I conceptualizes dualities and discusses their main roles and themes, including how they are related to familiar notions like symmetry and interpretation. It then goes through the main simple examples of dualities: position-momentum, wave-particle, electric-magnetic, and Kramers-Wannier dualities. Part II discusses advanced examples and their inter-relations: particle-soliton dualities, electric-magnetic dualities in quantum field theories, dualities in string theory, and gauge-gravity dualities. Part III offers an in-depth exploration of the general philosophical issues onto which dualities bear: theoretical equivalence, scientific realism and the under-determination of theories by data, theory succession and the M-theory programme, explanation, and scientific understanding. Finally, the authors propose a view of scientific theories in this book—they call their account the geometric view of theories. This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read on the Oxford Academic platform and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.

1 - Introduction
2 - Theories, Interpretations, and Symmetries
3 - Duality as Isomorphism
4 - Simple Examples
5 - Particle-Soliton Dualities
6 - Quark Confi nement as Dual Superconductivity
7 - Electric-Magnetic Duality in Yang-Mills Theories
8 - Elements of String Theory Dualities
9 - M-theory and Gauge-Gravity Duality
10 - A Tale of Two Holes in Spacetime
11 - Equivalence in Logic and Philosophy of Science
12 - Duality and Theoretical Equivalence
13 - Realism and Equivalence
14 - The Geometric View of Theories
15 - Understanding and Explanation
16 - Conclusion

Sebastian De Haro is Associate Professor in Philosophy of Science at the University of Amsterdam. He works in philosophy of physics, philosophy of science, and philosophy of technology. After obtaining his PhD in theoretical physics at Utrecht University, De Haro worked as a research associate at the University of California, Los Angeles; the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Potsdam; and King's College, London. While teaching physics and philosophy at Amsterdam University College, he obtained his PhD in philosophy of science at Trinity College, University of Cambridge. Jeremy Butterfield is a Senior Research Fellow (Emeritus) at Trinity College, University of Cambridge. He previously worked at the Faculty of Philosophy and Jesus College in Cambridge, and at All Souls College, University of Oxford. Butterfield's research in the philosophy of physics has mainly focused on relativity theory, classical mechanics, and quantum theory. He is a Fellow of the British Academy.