In Physics, Structure, and Reality, Jill North addresses a set of questions that get to the heart of the project of interpreting physics--of figuring out what physics is telling us about the world. How do we figure out the nature of the world from a mathematically formulated physical theory?
What do we infer about the world when a physical theory can be mathematically formulated in different ways? North argues that there is a certain notion of structure, implicit in physics and mathematics, to which we should pay careful attention in order to discern what physics is telling us about the
nature of reality. North draws lessons for related topics, including the use of coordinate systems in physics, the differences among various formulations of classical mechanics, the nature of spacetime structure, the equivalence of physical theories, and the importance of scientific explanation.
Although the book does not explicitly defend scientific realism, instead taking this to be a background assumption, the account provides an indirect case for realism toward our best theories of physics.
Author(s): Jill North
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 272
City: Oxford
Cover
Physics, Structure, and Reality
Copyright
Dedication
Preface
Contents
1: Introduction
2: What is Structure? Why Care about It?
2.1 An example
2.2 Examples from physics
2.3 Related notions
2.4 Comparing structures
3: Inferences about Structure
3.1 Inference rules
3.2 Structure presupposed by the laws
3.3 Minimizing and matching structure
3.4 Other principles
3.5 Invariance, structure, and coordinates
4: Classical Mechanics
4.1 Introduction
4.2 An overview of the theories
4.2.1 Newtonian mechanics
4.2.2 Lagrangian mechanics
4.3 Examples using Newtonian mechanics
4.4 Newton’s law and Cartesian coordinates
4.5 Examples using Lagrangian mechanics
4.6 Cross-structural comparison
4.7 Applying the minimize-structure rule
5: Spatiotemporal Structure
5.1 The debate about spacetime
5.2 A brief history of space
5.3 A lesson of the traditional examples
5.4 A disagreement about ground
5.5 The disagreement: further details
5.6 An argument for substantivalism
5.7 A challenge for relationalism
6: Realism about Structure
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Taking the mathematics (too) seriously
6.3 A different realism about structure
6.4 Structure, models, and scientific theories
7: On the Equivalence of Physical Theories
7.1 Differing criteria
7.2 Initial cases
7.3 More cases
7.4 Metaphysical and informational equivalence
7.5 Additional cases
7.6 Explanation matters
References
Index
