- #1
metroplex021
- 151
- 0
Hi folks,
I've been reading about Montonen-Olive duality and understand that two different classical theories can give rise to the same QFT. In particular, we can have a classical theory of electrically charged particles giving rise to a magnetic monopole, and a classical theory of magnetic monopoles giving rise to a composite charged particle -- and have these both as limits of one QFT. The literature on this issue makes clear that the first theory will be the h->0 limit of the QFT with the magnetic charge held fixed, and the second theory will be the h->0 limit of the QFT with the electrical charged held fixed.
But what I don't understand is *why* it is that, when we have a theory of electrically charged particles we regard h as a function of charge and hold the magnetic charged fixed when taking the limit; and vice versa for the theory of magnetic charges. Can anyone give me even a qualitative explanation of why this is the case? I'd appreciate it very much!
Thanks
I've been reading about Montonen-Olive duality and understand that two different classical theories can give rise to the same QFT. In particular, we can have a classical theory of electrically charged particles giving rise to a magnetic monopole, and a classical theory of magnetic monopoles giving rise to a composite charged particle -- and have these both as limits of one QFT. The literature on this issue makes clear that the first theory will be the h->0 limit of the QFT with the magnetic charge held fixed, and the second theory will be the h->0 limit of the QFT with the electrical charged held fixed.
But what I don't understand is *why* it is that, when we have a theory of electrically charged particles we regard h as a function of charge and hold the magnetic charged fixed when taking the limit; and vice versa for the theory of magnetic charges. Can anyone give me even a qualitative explanation of why this is the case? I'd appreciate it very much!
Thanks