The heuristic function of duality

DOI10.1007/S11229-018-1708-9MaRDI QIDQ2052641zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Sebastian de Haro

Publication date 26 November 2021

Published in Synthese (Search for Journal in Brave)

Copyright license Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1801.09095

zbMATH Keywords

heuristicsdualitymethodology in quantum gravity

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

General and philosophical questions in quantum theory (81P05) Methods of quantum field theory in general relativity and gravitational theory (83C47)

Abstract: I conceptualise the role of dualities in quantum gravity, in terms of their functions for theory construction. I distinguish between two functions of duality in physical practice: namely, discovering and describing 'equivalent physics', vs. suggesting 'new physics'. I dub these the 'theoretical' vs. the 'heuristic' functions of dualities. The distinction seems to have gone largely unnoticed in the philosophical literature: and it exists both for dualities, and for the more general relation of theoretical equivalence. The paper develops the heuristic function of dualities: illustrating how they can be used, if one has any luck, to find and formulate new theories. I also point to the different physical commitments about the theories in question that underlie these two functions. I show how a recently developed schema for dualities articulates the differences between the two functions.

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Cited in

(3)

• Entanglement entropy and non-local duality: quantum channels and quantum algebras
• Conceptual analysis of black hole entropy in string theory
• Emergence and correspondence for string theory black holes

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