The Physicists' Debates on Unification in Physics at the End of the 20th Century

Abstract

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A Bridge between Conceptual Frameworks

“…darrow was trying to find some criteria to counterbalance the conceptual and social forces that were undermining the coherence of the theoretical apparatus as well as the compactness of the physics community. 6 My interpretation of darrow's writings as a quest for the methodological unity of physics is analogous to the analysis philosopher of science Jordi Cat (1998) made of the debate between emergence and reductionism in physics as implicitly referring to two different models of unification. in the history of physics, this practical precept has been playing a strong role in the self-perception of unity by practitioners of physics (Cat 1998).…”

Modeling Cracks and Cracking Models: Structures, Mechanisms, Boundary Conditions, Constraints, Inconsistencies and The Proper Domains of Natural Laws

“…52 It is typically assumed in physics texts that the dynamical symmetry breaking in unified electroweak theory, associated with the so-called Higgs mechanism, is an instance of spontaneous symmetry breaking in the sense presented above. 53 For a discussion of unification and the different roles of symmetry breaking see Cat (1998). 54 Begin with the Goldstone theorem: given a field theory obeying the usual conditions (Lorentz invariance, locality, a Hilbert space endowed with a positive-defined inner product, etc.…”

“…55 For details, see, for instance, Coleman (1985), O'Raifeartaigh (1986) and Ryder (1985). 56 Cat (1998). 57 Whewell (1841, 1).…”

“…78 See also Cat (1998). 79 See Batterman (2002) and also Cat (1998) 80 ibid., 101 81 Ibid., Chaps. 1 and 2 82 Ibid., 40 83 Liu (2000).…”

EPSA11 Perspectives and Foundational Problems in Philosophy of Science

“…Recently, the prevalence of theoretical unification has been challenged by Cat (1998Cat ( , 2006, who has pointed out that unity can also lie outside the mathematical structures of scientific theories and consist in borrowing, sharing, and circulation of physical concepts, methods, tools, and techniques among different sub-disciplines. In a similar vein, Grantham (2004) has drawn attention to what he calls "nontheoretical (practical) interconnections" between different fields of a branch of science.…”