No 2 (2021)

The philosophical analysis of three main paradigms in the basis of physical knowledge is carried out. It is permissible to conclude that in the case of electromagnetic interaction between the emitter and the absorber: 1) the process of interaction of the photon with the medium in space and time can occur; 2) in the case when the photon “teleports” - there is only a relation outside of space and time. The following classification of fundamental concepts, with which the relational paradigm deals, is revealed. The ideal: space and time, field, information, a set of movements of quantum particles. The material: interactions, environment. Nothing more than countable: time, electromagnetic interactions. Uncountable: space, environment, interactions with the environment, a set of movements of quantum particles. Substantial: environment, interactions, information, a set of movements of quantum particles. Relational: space, time, field - as a means of description.

The biblical story begins with the story of the creation of the world out of nothing. In the context of theological tradition, creation means non-self-being; this is the reason for the constant variability of the universe. Biblical Revelation presupposes the assumption of a special kind of ontology of creation: nothing is self-existent, all being is relative and everything is relative to God. The entire history of natural science, starting with Galileo, shows that its development proceeded along the path of concretizing and expanding the field of applicability of the principle of the relativity of being: from Galilean relativity - to Einstein’s special theory of relativity - and, finally, to quantum mechanics - to the fact that one of the greatest physicists of the XX century academician Vladimir Fock called the principle of relativity to the means of observation. Considering quantum mechanics as the last natural link in this chain of realization of the principle of relativity in physics, we can, from the many alternative interpretations of quantum mechanics existing today, single out those that are organically consistent with the fundamental biblical principle of the relativity of being and consistently explain what is perceived as quantum paradoxes. This will allow you to take the next step towards comprehending the fundamental nature of reality.

The further development of the five-dimensional field theory is considered and it is shown that it contains even more new and very promising possibilities that relate to the influence of the dimension of our Universe and its geometry on the physical and geometric characteristics available in it, as well as the identification of the connection between the field equations of this theory and various old and new problems of modern physics, astrophysics and cosmology.

The phenomenon of missed opportunities in the course of two scientific revolutions in fundamental physics is investigated: in the quantum relativistic revolution of the first third of the 20th century and in the gauge revolution that led to the creation of a standard model in elementary particle physics (1954-1974). Two cases of missed opportunities related to H. Poincare and his role in the history of the creation of the special theory of relativity are examined on the material of the first revolution. Two other cases of missed opportunities concerning A. Einstein in connection with the theory of the expanding Universe and with failed attempts to build a unified field theory based on a geometric field program are also considered. It is shown that in these cases epistemological and metaphysical outlooks of scientists were in many respects the causes of the «omissions». We mean the conventionalism of Poincare, as well as Einstein’s belief in the stationarity of the Universe and in the incredible power of mathematics as the only creative beginning in the construction of the physical theories. Two similar plots are explored on the material of the second revolution. The first story refers to the Young-Mills’ concept of the gauge fields, which played a key role in the creation of standard model. Several theorists came very close to this concept and, above all, V. Pauli, who for various reasons did not make a decisive step and missed opportunities to associate their names with the theory of gauge fields. Pauli believed that, despite its theoretical attraction, it could not overcome experimentally - empirical difficulties. The second story is related to the quantum field program being rejected in 1950-1960s by most theorists in favor of the phenomenological S-matrix program. As a result, many theorists have missed their opportunities to contribute to the creation of a standard model. And this “omission” was partly motivated by the positivist thesis that in theory only fundamentally observable values should appear. It is emphasized also that the phenomenon of missed opportunities opens the way for the study of the problem of alternative history of science.