No Place for Particles in Relativistic Quantum Theories?

David Malament (1996) has recently argued that there can be no relativistic quantum theory of (localizable) particles. We consider and rebut several objections that have been made against the soundness of Malament’s argument. We then consider some further objections that might be made against the ge...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Philosophy of science 2002-03, Vol.69 (1), p.1-28
Main Authors: Halvorson, Hans, Clifton, Rob
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Causality
Conflict
Correlation
Covariance
David Malament
Elementary particles
History of science and technology
Hyperplanes
Microphysics
Particle energy
Particle physics
Philosophy of science
Physical sciences and techniques
Quantum field theory
Quantum mechanics
Quantum physics
Quantum theory
Radiation counters
Relativism
Relativistic particles
Science
Spacetime
Special relativity
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Summary:David Malament (1996) has recently argued that there can be no relativistic quantum theory of (localizable) particles. We consider and rebut several objections that have been made against the soundness of Malament’s argument. We then consider some further objections that might be made against the generality of Malament’s conclusion, and we supply three no‐go theorems to counter these objections. Finally, we dispel potential worries about the counterintuitive nature of these results by showing that relativistic quantum field theory itself explains the appearance of “particle detections.”
ISSN:0031-8248
1539-767X
DOI:10.1086/338939