2009/03/24 by Alexei Grinbaum · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #hep-ph #hep-th #physics.hist-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s10701-012-9629-9
published as Foundations of physics, 42, 615-631, 2012 · 22 pages, 2 figures
arxiv created 2009/03/24 · arxiv updated 2017/01/23
The argument from naturalness is widely employed in contemporary quantum field theory. Essentially a formalized aesthetic criterion, it received a meaning in the debate on the Higgs mechanism, which goes beyond aesthetics. We follow the history of technical definitions of fine tuning at the scale of electroweak symmetry breaking. It is argued that they give rise to a special interpretation of probability, which we call Gedankenfrequency. By extension of its original meaning, the argument from naturalness is used to compare different models beyond the Standard Model. We show that in this case naturalness cannot be defined objectively. Rather, it functions as socio-historical heuristics in particle physics and it contributes to the advent of a probabilistic version of Popper's falsificationism.