Restoring particle phenomenology

•We address the issue of particle localizability in quantum field theory.•We discuss a no-go theorem against particle ontology by Arageorgis and Stergiou (2013).•We show that Arageorgis–Stergiou׳s theorem does not violate relativistic causality.

No-go theorems are known in the literature to the effect that, in relativistic quantum field theory, particle localizability in the strict sense violates relativistic causality. In order to account for particle phenomenology without particle ontology, Halvorson and Clifton (2002) proposed an approximate localization scheme. In a recent paper, Arageorgis and Stergiou (2013) proved a no-go result that suggests that, even within such a scheme, there would arise act–outcome correlations over the entire spacetime, thereby violating relativistic causality. Here, we show that this conclusion is untenable. In particular, we argue that one can recover particle phenomenology without having to give up relativistic causality.