« La signification fondamentale des méthodes d’approximation en physique théorique » : Vladimir Fock épistémologue

Abstract

Vladimir Fock (1898-1974) was a Russian-Soviet scientist renowned for his several contributions to modern physics. He was also an interpreter and articulated a critical stance towards the orthodoxy embodied by Niels Bohr in quantum mechanics and Albert Einstein in general relativity. As Fock embraced dialectical materialism, historiography on his contributions to the interpretive debates generally emphasizes his defense of a realistic position, in favor of the objectivity of the outside world. The present article complements this view by drawing on a text by the Soviet physicist so far little known : “The fundamental significance of approximate methods in theoretical physics”. Indeed, it reveals a form of antireductionism essential to the understanding of Fock’s discourse on the interpretation of the theories of modern physics.