Theory Selection in Particle Physics: A Quantitative Case Study of the Evolution of Weak-Electromagnetic Unification Theory

Abstract

Drawing a distinction between the micro-level process of theory choice and the macro-level process of theory selection within science, this paper presents an analysis of the development of the weak-electromagnetic unification programme within the specialty of weak interactions in high energy physics. Bibliometric techniques are used to understand the process of theory selection during the rapid interaction of new theoretical and empirical developments. Employing an evolutionary analogy, the interplay of theory and experiment is analyzed during the theory selection process in the context of the history of the specialty. From this perspective, theory and experiment are seen to be closely dependent, as theorists depend heavily on experimental results for both the construction and confirmation of models, while at the same time experimental work depends on theory for understanding the relevance of results.