2014/12/18 by Joseph Polchinski, Polchinski, Joseph · 14 citations
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Duality (order theory) #Epistemology #Equivalence (formal languages) #FOS: Physical sciences #Field (mathematics) #High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th) #Mathematics #Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories #Philosophy #Physics #Property (philosophy) #Pure mathematics #Quantum #Quantum field theory #Quantum mechanics #String (physics) #String theory #Theoretical physics #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1412.5704
published in arXiv (Cornell University) (Cornell University) · Written for a special issue of Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics. 42 pages, 1 figure (guess which one). v2: references added, typos corrected. v3: references added, minor clarifications
openalex publication_date 2014/12/18 · arxiv created 2015/07/27 · arxiv updated 2015/07/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Duality, the equivalence between seemingly distinct quantum systems, is a curious property that has been known for at least three quarters of a century. In the past two decades it has played a central role in mapping out the structure of theoretical physics. I discuss the unexpected connections that have been revealed among quantum field theories and string theories.