The Philosophy and Physics of Duality

Sebastian De Haro is Associate Professor in Philosophy of Science at the University of Amsterdam. He works in philosophy of physics, philosophy of science, and philosophy of technology. After obtaining his PhD in theoretical physics at Utrecht University, De Haro worked as a research associate at the University of California, Los Angeles; the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Potsdam; and King's College, London. While teaching physics and philosophy at Amsterdam University College, he obtained his PhD in philosophy of science at Trinity College, University of Cambridge.Jeremy Butterfield is a Senior Research Fellow (Emeritus) at Trinity College, University of Cambridge. He previously worked at the Faculty of Philosophy and Jesus College in Cambridge, and at All Souls College, University of Oxford. Butterfield's research in the philosophy of physics has mainly focused on relativity theory, classical mechanics, and quantum theory. He is a Fellow of the British Academy.

There is so much to appreciate in The Philosophy and Physics of Duality, in part because there is just so much in it, including, on the philosophical side, the account of scientific theories, the explication of the concept of duality, the new definition of empirical equivalence, and the argument for scientific realism. Then there is all of the work de Haro and Butterfield have done setting out results and reasoning from across the field of contemporary physics. It is a tour de force, well worth working through.

• Preface 1: Introduction Part I. A Schema for Dualities 2: Theories, Interpretations, and Symmetries 3: Duality as Isomorphism 4: Simple Examples Part II. Advanced Examples of Dualities 5: Particle-Soliton Dualities 6: Quark Confi nement as Dual Superconductivity 7: Electric-Magnetic Duality in Yang-Mills Theories 8: Elements of String Theory Dualities 9: M-theory and Gauge-Gravity Duality 10: A Tale of Two Holes in Spacetime Part III. Theoretical and Practical Functions of Duality 11: Equivalence in Logic and Philosophy of Science 12: Duality and Theoretical Equivalence 13: Realism and Equivalence 14: The Geometric View of Theories 15: Understanding and Explanation 16: Conclusion References