Philosophy of Science 85 (2):225-248 (2018)
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Abstract |
It is commonly claimed that the universality of critical phenomena is explained through particular applications of the renormalization group. This article has three aims: to clarify the structure of the explanation of universality, to discuss the physics of such RG explanations, and to examine the extent to which universality is thus explained. The derivation of critical exponents proceeds via a real-space or a field-theoretic approach to the RG. Building on work by Mainwood, this article argues that these approaches ought to be distinguished: while the field-theoretic approach explains universality, the real-space approach fails to provide an adequate explanation.
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Keywords | renormalisation group emergence reduction multiple realisability universality |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
Reprint years | 2016, 2017, 2018 |
DOI | 10.1086/696812 |
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References found in this work BETA
Making Things Happen: A Theory of Causal Explanation.James Woodward - 2003 - Oxford University Press.
Making Things Happen. A Theory of Causal Explanation.Michael Strevens - 2007 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 74 (1):233-249.
Special Sciences (Or: The Disunity of Science as a Working Hypothesis).J. A. Fodor - 1974 - Synthese 28 (2):97-115.
Minimal Model Explanations.Robert W. Batterman & Collin C. Rice - 2014 - Philosophy of Science 81 (3):349-376.
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Citations of this work BETA
Whence the Effectiveness of Effective Field Theories?Alexander Franklin - 2020 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 71 (4):1235-1259.
Emergence Without Limits: The Case of Phonons.Alexander Franklin & Eleanor Knox - 2018 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 64:68-78.
Market Crashes as Critical Phenomena? Explanation, Idealization, and Universality in Econophysics.Jennifer Jhun, Patricia Palacios & James Owen Weatherall - 2018 - Synthese 195 (10):4477-4505.
Phase Transitions: A Challenge for Intertheoretic Reduction?Patricia Palacios - 2019 - Philosophy of Science 86 (4):612-640.
View all 11 citations / Add more citations
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