Quantum Physics

Track 12: Quantum Field Theory (QFT)

The mathematical and conceptual underpinning for contemporary elementary particle physics is Quantum Field Theory (QFT). Other disciplines of theoretical physics, such as condensed matter physics and statistical mechanics, employ it as well. In a nutshell, QFT is the application of quantum mechanics (QM), which deals with particles, to fields, or systems with an infinite number of degrees of freedom. QFT has become a more widely debated topic in philosophy of science in the recent decade, with questions ranging from technique to semantics to ontology. When considered seriously in terms of its philosophical consequences, QFT appears to provide a description of the world that is at odds with basic classical ideas of particles and fields, as well as some aspects of QM.

Two quantum field theories underpin the standard model of particle physics. Through interactions of force-carrying boson particles with matter-making fermions, this model incorporates the workings of three of the four forces of nature. It is the result of decades of theoretical effort that has been rigorously confirmed by experiment.

• Quantum electrodynamics (QED)


• Quantum chromodynamics (QCD)