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Theoretical equivalence and duality

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Peer-reviewed

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Abstract

Theoretical equivalence and duality are two closely related notions: but their interconnection has so far not been well understood. In this paper I explicate the contribution of a recent schema for duality to discussions of theoretical equivalence. I argue that duality suggests a construal of theoretical equivalence in the physical sciences. The construal is in terms of the isomorphism of models, as defined by the Schema. This construal entails interpretative constraints that should be useful for theoretical equivalence more generally. I illustrate the construal in various formulations of Maxwell's electromagnetic theory.

Description

Funder: Trinity College, University of Cambridge; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000727

Keywords

physics.hist-ph, physics.hist-ph

Journal Title

Synthese

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0039-7857
1573-0964

Volume Title

198

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC