The Breakdown of Effective Field Theory in Particle Physics: Lessons for Understanding Intertheoretic Relations.

Effective field theory (EFT) is a computationally powerful theoretical framework, finding application in many areas of physics. The framework, applied to the Standard Model of particle physics, is even more empirically successful than our theoretical understanding would lead us to expect. I argue th...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Philosophy of Science Vol. 92; no. 1; pp. 100 - 121
Autor principal: Koberinski, Adam
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Cambridge University Press Jan2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:Effective field theory (EFT) is a computationally powerful theoretical framework, finding application in many areas of physics. The framework, applied to the Standard Model of particle physics, is even more empirically successful than our theoretical understanding would lead us to expect. I argue that this is a problem for our understanding of how the Standard Model relates to some successor theory. The problem manifests as two theoretical anomalies involving relevant parameters: the cosmological constant and the Higgs mass. The persistent failure to fix these anomalies from within suggests that the way forward is to go beyond the EFT framework.