Categorical generalization and physical structuralism

DOI10.1093/BJPS/AXV002MaRDI QIDQ4554982zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Raymond Lal, Nicholas J. Teh

Publication date 19 November 2018

Published in The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1404.3049, http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/11425/1/PhilSciArxivCat.pdf

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Logic in the philosophy of science (03A10) General theory of categories and functors (18A99) General and philosophical questions in quantum theory (81P05) Einstein's equations (general structure, canonical formalism, Cauchy problems) (83C05)

Abstract: Category theory has become central to certain aspects of theoretical physics. Bain [Synthese, 190:1621--1635 (2013)] has recently argued that this has significance for ontic structural realism. We argue against this claim. In so doing, we uncover two pervasive forms of category-theoretic generalization. We call these `generalization by duality' and `generalization by categorifying physical processes'. We describe in detail how these arise, and explain their significance using detailed examples. We show that their significance is two-fold: the articulation of high-level physical concepts, and the generation of new models.

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