Theoretical equivalence and duality

Theoretical equivalence and duality are two closely related notions: but their interconnection has so far not been well understood. In this paper I explicate the contribution of a recent schema for duality to discussions of theoretical equivalence. I argue that duality suggests a construal of theore...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Synthese (Dordrecht) 2021-06, Vol.198 (6), p.5139-5177
Main Author: De Haro, Sebastian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Education
Electromagnetism
Epistemology
Logic
Maxwell, James Clerk (1831-1879)
Metaphysics
Philosophy
Philosophy of Language
Philosophy of Science
Physical sciences
Physics
Quantum field theory
Symmetries and Asymmetries in Physics
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Summary:Theoretical equivalence and duality are two closely related notions: but their interconnection has so far not been well understood. In this paper I explicate the contribution of a recent schema for duality to discussions of theoretical equivalence. I argue that duality suggests a construal of theoretical equivalence in the physical sciences. The construal is in terms of the isomorphism of models, as defined by the schema. This construal gives interpretative constraints that should be useful for discussions of theoretical equivalence more generally. I illustrate the construal in various formulations of Maxwell’s electromagnetic theory.
ISSN:0039-7857
1573-0964
DOI:10.1007/s11229-019-02394-4