Pith. sign in

REVIEW 1 cited by

The Ontology of Compositeness Within Quantum Field Theory

Not yet reviewed by Pith; the record is open.

This paper has not been read by Pith yet. Machine review is queued; the pith claim, tier, and objections will appear here once it completes.

SPECIMEN: schema-true, not a live event

T0 review · schema-true

One-sentence machine reading of the paper's core claim.

pith:XXXXXXXX · record.json · timestamp

arxiv 2307.16531 v2 pith:B7HXVR3S submitted 2023-07-31 physics.hist-ph hep-th

classification physics.hist-phhep-th
keywords compositenessfieldnotionquantumtheoryatomsboundclaim
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal
0 comments
read the original abstract

In this work, we attempt to define a notion of compositeness compatible with Quantum Field Theory. Considering the analytic properties of the S-matrix, we conclude that there is no satisfactory definition of compositeness compatible with Quantum Field Theory. Without this notion, one must claim that all bound states are equally fundamental, that is, one cannot rigorously claim that everyday objects are made of atoms or that atoms are made of protons and neutrons. I then show how an approximate notion of compositeness may be recovered in the regime where the mass of a bound state is close to a multi-particle threshold. Finally, we see that rejecting compositeness solves several of the "problems of everyday objects" encountered in an undergraduate metaphysics course.

Discussion (0). Continue with ORCID to comment.

Forward citations

Cited by 1 Pith paper

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score. Full citation record

  1. A variation on "compositeness" (including higher partial waves)

    nucl-th 2025-02 accept novelty 5.0 of 10

    For finite-range potentials, the compositeness of a bound state is exactly proportional to the probability of finding the particle outside a chosen radius, with a universal factor depending on angular momentum.

Pith tools