Interpreting Quantum Theories

Traditionally, philosophers of quantum mechanics have addressed exceedingly simple systems: a pair of electrons in an entangled state, or an atom and a cat in Dr. Schrodinger's diabolical device. But recently, much more complicated systems, such as quantum fields and the infinite systems at the thermodynamic limit of quantum statistical mechanics, have attracted, and repaid, philosophical attention. Interpreting Quantum Theories has three entangled aims. The first is to guide those familiar with the philosophy of ordinary QM into the philosophy of 'QM infinity', by presenting accessible introductions to relevant technical notions and the foundational questions they frame. The second aim is to develop and defend answers to some of those questions. Does quantum field theory demand or deserve a particle ontology? How (if at all) are different states of broken symmetry different? And what is the proper role of idealizations in working physics? The third aim is to highlight ties between the foundational investigation of QM infinity and philosophy more broadly construed, in particular by using the interpretive problems discussed to motivate new ways to think about the nature of physical possibility and the problem of scientific realism.
"Ruetsche's book is set apart from many of the recent books of the philosophy of physics, not only in its engagement with the quantum theory of infinite systems (including quantum field theory), but also in its explicit engagement with questions from general philosophy of science ... It is a book that repays close study and which should be discussed extensively by philosophers in the years to come."--Metascience

Contents ; Preface ; Abbreviations and Symbols ; 1. Exegesis Saves: Interpreting Physical Theories ; 2. Quantizing ; 3. Beyond the Stone-von Neumann Theorem ; 4. Representation Without Taxation ; 5. Axioms for Quantum Theories ; 6. Interpreting Quantum Theories: Some Options ; 7. Extraordinary QM ; 8. Interpreting Extraordinary QM ; 9. Is Particle Physics Particle Physics? ; 10. Particles and the Void ; 11. Phenomenological Particle Notions ; 12. A Matter of Degree: Making Sense of Phase Structure ; 13. Interlude: Symmetry Breaking in QSM ; 14. Broken Symmetry and Physicists' QFT ; 15. Morals? ; References