Dual theories: 'Same but different' or 'different but same'?. (August 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rickles, Dean
• Is Part Of: Studies in history and philosophy of modern physics. Volume 59(2017)
• Page Start: 62
• Page End: 67
• Publication Date: 2017-08
• Subjects: Quantum gravity -- String theory -- Duality -- Underdetermination -- Theory equivalence; Physics -- Philosophy -- Periodicals; Physics -- History -- Periodicals; 530.01
• DOI: 10.1016/j.shpsb.2015.09.005
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1355-2198

Abstract

Abstract: I argue that, underneath the glitz, dual theories are simply examples of theoretically equivalent descriptions of the same underlying physical content: I distinguish them from cases of genuine underdetermination on the grounds that there is no real incompatibility involved between the descriptions. The incompatibility is at the level of purely unphysical structure. I argue that dual pairs are in fact very strongly analogous to gauge-related solutions even for dual pairs that look the most radically distinct, such as AdS/CFT. However, again by analogy with gauge freedom, I conjecture that dualities always point to a more fundamental (intrinsic) description, namely that in which the representational redundancy is eliminated.