The Century-Long Pause in Fundamental Physics
Fundamental physics has not seen a new empirically confirmed ontology since the Dirac equation in 1928, despite advances in theoretical models and particle discoveries. Quantum mechanics functions effectively as a mathematical model for predictions, but its unresolved interpretations suggest it lacks a coherent physical theory. The persistent foundational problems in physics may stem from a methodology prioritizing calculational formalisms over ontological renewal.
- ▪Since 1928, no new ontology in fundamental physics has been widely accepted or empirically confirmed.
- ▪All major experimental confirmations since 1973, including the Higgs boson and gravitational waves, validate ontological frameworks established earlier.
- ▪Alternative theories like string theory and loop quantum gravity have not produced confirmed predictions in fifty years.
- ▪The unresolved interpretations of quantum mechanics reflect a deeper methodological issue rather than a physical puzzle.
- ▪Senior physicists such as Smolin, Woit, Hossenfelder, and Penrose have critiqued the stagnation in foundational physics for over a decade.
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The Century-Long Pause in Fundamental Physics Most readers first encountered quantum mechanics through its interpretations debate: Copenhagen, Everett, Bohm, hidden variables, many-worlds. The debate is painted as one of physics's deepest unresolved puzzles. After 95 years the field cannot resolve which interpretation is correct, and there is no possibility of empirical resolution because all interpretations make the same predictions. The puzzle is much smaller once you separate two questions about it: a mathematical model reproduces measurements, while a physical theory says what in the world makes them come out that way. If QM were a physical theory, the persistence of the disagreement would be intolerable.
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