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Ontological Economy and Grand Unified Gauge Theories

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

M. L. G. Redhead
Affiliation:
Department of History and Philosophy of Science, Chelsea College, University of London
J. S. Steigerwald
Affiliation:
Department of History and Philosophy of Science, Chelsea College, University of London

Extract

In his paper, “Grand Unified Gauge Theories and the Number of Elementary Particles,“ Robert Weingard (1984) suggests what he calls the Extended Redhead's Principle (ERP) for elementary particles: “Two particles for which there are conceivable circumstances in which one can be ‘rotated’ or reoriented into the other are the same (species of) particles” (p. 154). The philosophical soundness of such a principle is questionable.

Type
Discussion
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association 1986

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References

Redhead, M. L. G. (1983), “Quantum Field Theory for Philosophers”, in PSA 1982, vol. 2, P. D. Asquith and T. Nickles (eds.). East Lansing: Philosophy of Science Association.Google Scholar
Redhead, M. L. G. (1984), “Unification in Science”, British Journal for Philosophy of Science 35: 274–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weingard, R. (1984), “Grand Unified Gauge Theories and the Number of Elementary Particles”, Philosophy of Science 51: 150–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar