Abstract
It is commonly claimed, both by physicists and philosophers that the universality of critical phenomena is explained through particular applications of the renormalisation group. This paper has three aims: (i) to clarify the structure of the explanation of universality; (ii) to discuss the physics of such renormalisation
group explanations; (iii) 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 renormalisation group. This paper builds on Mainwood (2006) in arguing that these approaches ought to be distinguished: while the real-space approach fails adequately to explain universality, the field-theoretic approach succeeds in the satisfaction of this goal.
group explanations; (iii) 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 renormalisation group. This paper builds on Mainwood (2006) in arguing that these approaches ought to be distinguished: while the real-space approach fails adequately to explain universality, the field-theoretic approach succeeds in the satisfaction of this goal.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 225-248 |
| Number of pages | 23 |
| Journal | PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE |
| Volume | 85 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 10 Apr 2018 |