DDRIG: Enigmatic Nature: Absent Laws and Hidden Objects in Theoretical Physics

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

This Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant provides supports a research project in history of science about the history of theoretical physics from 1967 to 2004. This project explores how theoretical physicists came to regard nature as enigmatic, in the sense of both demanding and resisting interpretation. For these physicists, it became possible to think of nature as shaped by laws that are only faintly or indirectly evidenced within it, and to conceive of the world of human perception as an imprint, artifact, or effect of some absent and yet-unknown ordering principles. This shift of perspective has had significant consequences for the character of scientific theory over the last fifty years; in particular, its effects can be seen in the proliferation of theoretical concepts that embed the observable world within some larger physical or mathematical space, often by appealing to unobserved or “hidden” entities. The broad goal of this research is to produce the first systematic historical account of this transformation in scientific thought, and in doing so to contribute to popular science programming and public outreach efforts, to produce publicly available oral history interviews with prominent living physicists, and to bring historical perspective to conversations among physicists and philosophers about the future of theoretical physics. This research explores this shift in scientific theory through archival research, oral history interviews, and conceptual analysis, focusing on five episodes in theoretical physics between 1967 and 2004: the development of renormalization group theory in condensed matter physics, the search for hidden symmetries in particle physics, the theorization of dark matter candidates in astrophysics, debates over multiverse ideas and anthropic reasoning in cosmology, and the formulation of black hole thermodynamics and the holographic principle. This project will contribute to three active areas of scholarly research: the history of modern physics, historical and social studies of scientific practice and theory, and the history of US culture and political economy. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.