Artificial vs Substantial Gauge Symmetries: a Criterion and an Application to the Electroweak Model

Abstract

To systematically answer the generalized Kretschmann objection, we propose a mean to make operational a criterion widely recognized as allowing to decide if the gauge symmetry of a theory is artificial or substantial. Our proposition is based on the dressing field method of gauge symmetry reduction, a new simple tool from mathematical physics. This general scheme allows in particular to straightforwardly argue that the notion of spontaneous symmetry breaking is superfluous to the empirical success of the electroweak theory. Important questions regarding the context of justification of the theory then arise.

13 pages. Revised version accepted for publication in Philosophy of Science. The author thanks the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable input

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