Philosophy and particle physics

source: CERN

On November 5th and 6th an international interdisciplinary workshop on particle physics and philosophy took place.

On November 5th and 6th the international workshop "Conceptual and Phenomenological Reflections on Gauge Symmetries, the Brout-Englert-Higgs Mechanism, Particles, and Observables" took place, organized interdisciplinary between the Institutes of Physics and Philosophy of the University Graz. Due to the Covid 19 situation it took place online, and brought together more than 40 participants from 5 continents. Fundamental questions were posed to the role of symmetries in physics, if particles like the Higgs have an indepndent reality, or whether they are just mathematical auxiliary constructs. In intensive discussion this workshop showed how difficult this problem is, and shown the worth of synergies between the areas.

Link: https://physik.uni-graz.at/~axm/phil20/

Axel Maas

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