PIRSA:15050100

Theories of heat as inspiration for electrodynamics: From Kelvin to QFT

Fraser, D. (2015). Theories of heat as inspiration for electrodynamics: From Kelvin to QFT. Perimeter Institute. https://pirsa.org/15050100

Fraser, Doreen. Theories of heat as inspiration for electrodynamics: From Kelvin to QFT. Perimeter Institute, May. 15, 2015, https://pirsa.org/15050100 

          @misc{ pirsa_PIRSA:15050100,
            doi = {10.48660/15050100},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/15050100},
            author = {Fraser, Doreen},
            keywords = {Mathematical physics, Quantum Foundations, Quantum Gravity, Quantum Information},
            language = {en},
            title = {Theories of heat as inspiration for electrodynamics:  From Kelvin to QFT},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute},
            year = {2015},
            month = {may},
            note = {PIRSA:15050100 see, \url{https://pirsa.org}}
          }

Doreen Fraser

University of Waterloo

Talk number
PIRSA:15050100
Collection
Talk Type
Subject
Abstract
Perhaps the first use of the mathematical theory of heat to develop another theory was Thomson’s use of Fourier’s equations to formulate equations for electrostatics in the 1840s. After extracting a lesson from this historical case, I will fast forward more than a century to examine the relationship between classical statistical mechanics and QFT that is induced by analytic continuation. While there is no doubt that this mathematical relationship has been heuristically useful in guiding developments in both statistical mechanics and QFT, this is a case in which the physical interpretation of the mathematics does not carry over from one theory to the other.