Quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity are the two central pillars on which contemporary physics rests. Quantum field theory links and builds on them, thus constituting our most fundamental physical theory. It is of proven predictive and explanatory power. Yet this power has been purchased at considerable conceptual costs: the conceptual foundations of quantum field theory are ill-understood. Success in deriving predictions from its complex mathematical formalism has not required the kind of clear analysis which is the goal philosophy of physics. Previous research by Professor Healey has resulted in an interpretation of non-relativistic quantum theory. In this research, he is investigating the prospects of extending this work to an interpretation of quantum field theory. If this extension proves possible, this would result in a significant advance in our most fundamental physical theory. But the possibility of the extension is not a presupposition of this research. Whether or not the interactive interpretation that he has already advanced can be successfully extended to quantum field theory, progress in understanding that theory is most likely to result from a focused investigation which begins with a definite interpretation of ordinary quantum mechanics, even if that interpretation must be more or less radically modified before it yields understanding of quantum field theory.
