Are field quanta real objects? Some remarks on the ontology of quantum field theory |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Mathematics, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031, PR China;2. Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, PR China;3. Department of Physics, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031, PR China;1. Theoretical Physics Division, Chern Institute of Mathematics, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, People’s Republic of China;2. School of Physics, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, People’s Republic of China;3. Departamento de Física Aplicada II, Universidad de Sevilla, E-41012 Sevilla, Spain;4. Center for Nanofabrication and System Integration, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, People’s Republic of China;5. Chongqing Key Laboratory of Multi-Scale Manufacturing Technology, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, People’s Republic of China;6. Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 2, Singapore 117543, Singapore |
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| Abstract: | One of the key philosophical questions regarding quantum field theory is whether it should be given a particle or field interpretation. The particle interpretation of QFT is commonly viewed as being undermined by the well-known no-go results, such as the Malament, Reeh-Schlieder and Hegerfeldt theorems. These theorems all focus on the localizability problem within the relativistic framework. In this paper I would like to go back to the basics and ask the simple-minded question of how the notion of quanta appears in the standard procedure of field quantization, starting with the elementary case of the finite numbers of harmonic oscillators, and proceeding to the more realistic scenario of continuous fields with infinitely many degrees of freedom. I will try to argue that the way the standard formalism introduces the talk of field quanta does not justify treating them as particle-like objects with well-defined properties. |
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| Keywords: | Quantum field theory Fock space Harmonic oscillators Field quantization Particles Ontology |
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