What is Fundamental?

Description

Are there truly fundamental entities in nature? Or are the things that we regard as fundamental in our theories – for example space, time or the masses of elementary particles – merely awaiting a derivation from a new, yet to be discovered theory based on elements that are more fundamental? This was the central question posed in the 2018 FQXi essay competition, which drew more than 200 entries from professional physicists, philosophers, and other scholars. This volume presents enhanced versions of the fifteen award-winning essays, giving a spectrum of views and insights on this fascinating topic. From a prescription for “when to stop digging” to the case for strong emergence, the reader will find here a plethora of stimulating and challenging ideas - presented in a largely non-technical manner - on which to sharpen their understanding of the language of physics and even the nature of reality. Front Matter ....Pages i-viii Introduction (Anthony Aguirre, Brendan Foster, Zeeya Merali)....Pages 1-4 Fundamental? (Emily Adlam)....Pages 5-12 Against Fundamentalism (Matthew Leifer)....Pages 13-25 The Politics of Fundamentality (Alyssa Ney)....Pages 27-36 Of Lego and Layers (and Fundamentalism) (Dean Rickles)....Pages 37-47 Fundamentality Here, Fundamentality There, Fundamentality Everywhere (Marc Séguin)....Pages 49-61 Mind Before Matter: Reversing the Arrow of Fundamentality (Markus P. Müller)....Pages 63-73 Things, Laws, and the Human Mind (Tejinder P. Singh)....Pages 75-84 The Case for Strong Emergence (Sabine Hossenfelder)....Pages 85-94 Mad-Dog Everettianism: Quantum Mechanics at Its Most Minimal (Sean M. Carroll, Ashmeet Singh)....Pages 95-104 Bell’s Theory of Beables and the Concept of ‘Universe’ (Ian T. Durham)....Pages 105-114 Fundamentality, Explanation, and the Unity of Science (Gregory N. Derry)....Pages 115-121 When Do We Stop Digging? Conditions on a Fundamental Theory of Physics (Karen Crowther)....Pages 123-133 Fundamental is Non-random (Ken Wharton)....Pages 135-146 Socrates, Atoms and Being: A Platonic Dialogue (Mozibur Rahman Ullah)....Pages 147-168 ‘Fundamentality’ as a Linguistic Paradigm and Linguistics as a Fundamental Paradigm (Aditya Dwarkesh)....Pages 169-177 Back Matter ....Pages 179-187