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This chapter serves three purposes: (1) I will discuss the modern concept of the virtual particle, its role in theoretical physics and in the philosophy of science in order to make the concept more accessible to the reader. (2) With this deeper understanding of the concept I will describe a pragmatically informed way of accessing the history of the virtual particle concept. I will introduce my main analytical categories: concepts as tools, concepts as representations, the narrative and the false prediction. (3) I will exemplify the use of my historical and analytical tool kit through one central example: The concept of the virtual particle in Richard Feynman’s Space-Time Approach to Quantum Electrodynamics (1949).

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How to Conceive of the Concept of Virtual Particles in a Historical Study of Its Development

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  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年

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  • Markus Ehberger

摘要

This chapter serves three purposes: (1) I will discuss the modern concept of the virtual particle, its role in theoretical physics and in the philosophy of science in order to make the concept more accessible to the reader. (2) With this deeper understanding of the concept I will describe a pragmatically informed way of accessing the history of the virtual particle concept. I will introduce my main analytical categories: concepts as tools, concepts as representations, the narrative and the false prediction. (3) I will exemplify the use of my historical and analytical tool kit through one central example: The concept of the virtual particle in Richard Feynman’s Space-Time Approach to Quantum Electrodynamics (1949).