Physicists have developed a large variety of theories, models, mechanisms, and methods to study physical systems “scale by scale” and “across scales” since the 1950s (e.g., renormalization methods, effective theories, low-energy theorems, lattice models, scaling laws, symmetry-breaking mechanisms). The RESCALE project aims to explore the historical development and philosophical implications of this new theoretical practice by taking effective field theories and renormalization group methods as case studies. The project’s ambition, ultimately, is to uncover a major historical transformation in 20th-century physics practice and explore its impact on our world picture.

The project is funded by the European Research Council (ERC starting grant ID: 101161899 – The Scale Revolution in Physics: Historical and Philosophical Perspectives) and runs from 2025 to 2030.

Views and opinions expressed in the context of this project are those of the respective researchers only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Council. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.