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Comment by nchagnet

Eh I would disagree on such a sharp distinction. Both quantum mechanics and general relativity are theories, and we know that both of them are not accurate descriptions at all scales.

Heck your descriptions of a model is also what we would call an effective theory (i.e. a description valid for a specific range of parameters/scale).

I don't think there's a commonly agreed difference between model and theory and I sure have heard many physicists use them interchangeably when it suits them (and I'm guilty of it myself). Perhaps theory feels 'wider', as in quantum theory encompasses models for many quantum systems, but that's as far as I'd go.

parent nchagnet 8 days ago

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