TITLE:
Experiments and Functional Realism
AUTHORS:
Edward MacKinnon
KEYWORDS:
Quark Gluon Plasma, Experimental Realism, Standard Model
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Microphysics,
Vol.7 No.4,
January
11,
2018
ABSTRACT: This article focuses on interpreting theories when they are functioning in an
ongoing investigation. The sustained search for a quark-gluon plasma serves
as a prime example. The analysis treats the Standard Model of Particle Physics
as an Effective Field Theory. Related effective theories functioning in different
energy ranges can have different functional ontologies, or models of the reality
treated. A functional ontology supplies a categorial framework that grounds
and limits the language used in describing experiments and reporting results.
The scope and limitations of such a local functional realism are evaluated.