This paper criticizes the traditional philosophical account of the quantization of gauge theories and offers an alternative. On the received view, gauge theories resist quantization because they feature distinct mathematical representatives of the same physical state of affairs. This resistance is overcome by a sequence of ad hoc modifications, justified in part by reference to semiclassical electrodynamics. Among other things, these modifications introduce ”ghosts”: particles with unphysical properties which do not appear in asymptotic states and which are said to be purely a notational convenience. I argue that this sequence of modifications is unjustified and inadequate, making it a poor basis for the interpretation of ghosts. I then argue that gauge theories can be quantized by the same method as any other theory. On this account, ghosts are not purely notation: they are coordinates on the classical configuration space of the theory—specifically, on its gauge structure. This interpretation does not fall prey to the standard philosophical arguments against the significance of ghosts, due to Weingard. Weingard’s argumentative strategy, properly applied, in fact tells in favor of ghosts’ physical significance.

本文批评了规范理论量子化的传统哲学解释，并提供了一种替代方法。在公认的观点上，规范理论抵制量子化，因为它们具有相同物理状态的不同数学代表。这种阻力是通过一系列特别修改来克服的，部分原因是参考了半经典电动力学。除其他外，这些修改引入了“幽灵”：具有非物理性质的粒子，它们不会以渐近状态出现，据说纯粹是为了符号方便。我认为这一系列的修改是不合理和不充分的，这使得它成为解释鬼魂的糟糕基础。然后我认为规范理论可以通过与任何其他理论相同的方法进行量化。在这个帐户上，鬼不是纯粹的符号：它们是理论经典配置空间上的坐标——具体来说，是其规范结构上的坐标。由于温加德，这种解释不会成为反对鬼魂重要性的标准哲学论证的牺牲品。Weingard 的论证策略，如果应用得当，实际上表明了鬼的物理意义。