Mirroring as an A Priori Symmetry

Saunders, Simon

doi:10.1086/524421

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…such as parity and combined symmetry of charge conjugation and parity, and these may provide insights into such questions as raised by Saunders. 13 In the present paper we do not further analyse these matters, but instead pose the question: does there exist a fundamental principle that one may invoke to extend the standard model of particle physics to systematically incorporate the Erebus and Nyx fields? We conjecture a symmetry operator A such that h Should A exist, and be realised by nature, the extended Lagrangian density would form a first-principle extension of the standard model to incorporate dark matter; i.e., if Erebus and Nyx indeed describe dark matter.…”

Section: Towards a Standard Model With Erebus And Nyx Fieldsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Dark Matter and Dark Gauge Fields

Ahluwalia

Lee

Schritt

et al. 2008

Dark Matter in Astroparticle and Particle Physics

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Following the unexpected theoretical discovery of a mass dimension one fermionic quantum field of spin one half, we now present first results on two local versions. The Dirac and Majorana fields of the standard model of particle physics are supplemented by their natural counterparts in the dark matter sector. The possibility that a mass dimension transmuting symmetry may underlie a new standard model of particle physics is briefly suggested.

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Section: Towards a Standard Model With Erebus And Nyx Fieldsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Dark Matter and Dark Gauge Fields

Ahluwalia

Lee

Schritt

et al. 2008

Dark Matter in Astroparticle and Particle Physics

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“…A comparativist using the symmetry approach will claim that Leibniz Scaling is a symmetry of Newtonian Gravity, and that models related by that transformation (therefore) represent the same possible world. 16 The Occamist norm is then explicated as a direct symmetry-to-(un)reality inference, for instance via Saunders' Invariance Principle: "only [magnitudes] invariant under exact symmetries are real" (Saunders [2007], p.1-2). The notion of symmetries of physical theories and a justification of their associated symmetry-to-(un)reality inference are notorious topics in the recent philosophy of physics literature, see for instance (Dasgupta [2016], and references therein), as well as (Møller-Nielsen [2017]; Read and Møller-Nielsen [2018]; Martens and Read [2018]; Martens [2018b]).…”

Section: Empirical Equivalency Via Possibility Checkingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Machian Comparativism about Mass

Martens¹

2022

The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science

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Absolutism about mass within Newtonian gravity claims that mass ratios obtain in virtue of absolute masses. Comparativism denies this. Defenders of comparativism promise to recover all the empirical and theoretical virtues of absolutism, but at a lower ‘metaphysical cost’. This article develops a Machian form of comparativism about mass in Newtonian gravity, obtained by replacing Newton’s constant in the law of universal gravitation by another constant divided by the sum over all masses. Although this form of comparativism is indeed empirically equivalent to the absolutist version of Newtonian gravity—thereby meeting the challenge posed by the comparativist’s bucket argument—it is argued that the explanatory power and metaphysical parsimony of comparativism (and especially its Machian form) are highly questionable. 1Absolutism versus Comparativism2Absolute Masses and Mass Ratios3The Argument for Comparativism4Empirical Equivalency via Possibility Checking5A Challenge for Comparativism: The Comparativist’s Bucket6Novel Comparativist Laws 6.1Varying Newton’s constant6.2The Alpha mass6.3Summing over all the masses: Machian comparativism7Metaphysical Parsimony and Explanatory Power 7.1Quantitative and qualitative metaphysical parsimony7.2The conspiracy of mass relations7.3Chain comparativism7.4Metaphysical parsimony at the level of worlds8Conclusion

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“…(Nozick 2001, p. 82) [T]he important things in the world appear as the invariants […] of these transformations. (Dirac 1930, p. 7) Endorsements of the Invariance Principle can also be found in Saunders (2007), Baker (2010), Dewar (2015), Caulton (2015) and Dasgupta (2016), among others. The Invariance Principle is perhaps even more orthodox than Leibniz Equivalence.…”

Section: The Invariance Principlementioning

confidence: 99%

Invariance or equivalence: a tale of two principles

Jacobs

2021

Synthese

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The presence of symmetries in physical theories implies a pernicious form of underdetermination. In order to avoid this theoretical vice, philosophers often espouse a principle called Leibniz Equivalence, which states that symmetry-related models represent the same state of affairs. Moreover, philosophers have claimed that the existence of non-trivial symmetries motivates us to accept the Invariance Principle, which states that quantities that vary under a theory’s symmetries aren’t physically real. Leibniz Equivalence and the Invariance Principle are often seen as part of the same package. I argue that this is a mistake: Leibniz Equivalence and the Invariance Principle are orthogonal to each other. This means that it is possible to hold that symmetry-related models represent the same state of affairs whilst having a realist attitude towards variant quantities. Various arguments have been presented in favour of the Invariance Principle: a rejection of the Invariance Principle is inter alia supposed to cause indeterminism, undetectability or failure of reference. I respond that these arguments at best support Leibniz Equivalence.

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Mirroring as an A Priori Symmetry

Cited by 11 publications

References 21 publications

Dark Matter and Dark Gauge Fields

Dark Matter and Dark Gauge Fields

Machian Comparativism about Mass

Invariance or equivalence: a tale of two principles

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