Space, Time, and Ontology in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Renewable Energy Partnerships in Development Cooperation: Towards a Relational Theory of Technical Assistance
Sustainability Research Institute SCHOOL OF EARTH AND ENVIRONMENT Renewable energy partnerships in development cooperation: Towards a relational theory of technical assistance Lena J. Kruckenberg January 2015 Sustainability Research Institute Paper No. 77 Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy Working Paper No. 200 SRI PAPERS SRI Papers (Online) ISSN 1753-1330 A later version of this paper is forthcoming in Energy Policy: Kruckenberg, L.J., 2015. Renewable energy partnerships in development cooperation: Towards a relational understanding of technical assistance. Energy Policy, 77, 11–20. Doi: 10.1016/j.enpol.2014.11.004 First published in 2015 by the Sustainability Research Institute (SRI) Sustainability Research Institute (SRI), School of Earth and Environment, The University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)113 3436461 Fax: +44 (0)113 3436716 Email: [email protected] Web-site: http://www.see.leeds.ac.uk/sri About the Sustainability Research Institute The Sustainability Research Institute conducts internationally recognised, academically excellent and problem-oriented interdisciplinary research and teaching on environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainability. We draw on various social and natural science disciplines, including ecological economics, environmental economics, political science, policy studies, development studies, business and management, geography, sociology, science and technology studies, ecology, environmental science and soil science in our work. The Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy (CCCEP) brings together some of the world's leading researchers on climate change economics and policy, from many different disciplines. It was established in 2008 and its first phase ended on 30 September 2013. Its second phase commenced on 1 October 2013. -
2008. Pruning Some Branches from 'Branching Spacetimes'
CHAPTER 10 Pruning Some Branches from “Branching Spacetimes” John Earman* Abstract Discussions of branching time and branching spacetime have become com- mon in the philosophical literature. If properly understood, these concep- tions can be harmless. But they are sometimes used in the service of debat- able and even downright pernicious doctrines. The purpose of this chapter is to identify the pernicious branching and prune it back. 1. INTRODUCTION Talk of “branching time” and “branching spacetime” is wide spread in the philo- sophical literature. Such expressions, if properly understood, can be innocuous. But they are sometimes used in the service of debatable and even downright per- nicious doctrines. The purpose of this paper is to identify the pernicious branching and prune it back. Section 2 distinguishes three types of spacetime branching: individual branch- ing, ensemble branching, and Belnap branching. Individual branching, as the name indicates, involves a branching structure in individual spacetime models. It is argued that such branching is neither necessary nor sufficient for indeterminism, which is explicated in terms of the branching in the ensemble of spacetime mod- els satisfying the laws of physics. Belnap branching refers to the sort of branching used by the Belnap school of branching spacetimes. An attempt is made to sit- uate this sort of branching with respect to ensemble branching and individual branching. Section 3 is a sustained critique of various ways of trying to imple- ment individual branching for relativistic spacetimes. Conclusions are given in Section 4. * Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA The Ontology of Spacetime II © Elsevier BV ISSN 1871-1774, DOI: 10.1016/S1871-1774(08)00010-7 All rights reserved 187 188 Pruning Some Branches from “Branching Spacetimes” 2. -
Arxiv:2103.15570V2 [Physics.Hist-Ph] 22 Jun 2021 to This Article in Its Purpose and Content
An Analysis of the Concept of Inertial Frame Boris Čulina Department of Mathematics University of Applied Sciences Velika Gorica Zagrebačka cesta 5, 10410 Velika Gorica, Croatia e-mail: [email protected] Abstract. The concept of inertial frame of reference is analysed. It has been shown that this fundamental concept of physics is not clear enough. A definition of inertial frame of reference is proposed which expresses its key inherent property. The definition is operational and powerful. Many other properties of inertial frames follow from the definition or it makes them plausible. In particular, the definition shows why physical laws obey space and time symmetries and the principle of relativity, it resolves the problem of clock synchronization and the role of light in it, as well as the problem of the geometry of inertial frames. keywords: inertial frame of reference, space and time symmetries, the principle of relativity, clock synchronization, physical geometry The concept of inertial frame is a fundamental concept of physics. The opinion of the author is that not enough attention has been paid to such a significant concept, not only in textbooks, but also in the scientific literature. In the scientific literature, many particular issues related to the concept of inertial frame have been addressed, but, as far as the author is aware, a sys- tematic analysis of this concept has not been made. DiSalle’s article [DiS20] in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy gives an overview of the histori- cal development of the concept of an inertial frame as an essential part of the historical development of physics. -
On the Ontology of Spacetime: Substantivalism, Relationism, Eternalism, and Emergence
Found Sci DOI 10.1007/s10699-015-9476-1 On the Ontology of Spacetime: Substantivalism, Relationism, Eternalism, and Emergence Gustavo E. Romero1 Ó Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015 Abstract I present a discussion of some issues in the ontology of spacetime. After a characterisation of the controversies among relationists, substantivalists, eternalists, and presentists, I offer a new argument for rejecting presentism, the doctrine that only present objects exist. Then, I outline and defend a form of spacetime realism that I call event substantivalism. I propose an ontological theory for the emergence of spacetime from more basic entities (timeless and spaceless ‘events’). Finally, I argue that a relational theory of pre-geometric entities can give rise to substantival spacetime in such a way that relationism and substantivalism are not necessarily opposed positions, but rather complementary. In an appendix I give axiomatic formulations of my ontological views. Keywords Ontology Á Physics Á Spacetime For there neither is nor will be anything else besides what is, since Fate has fettered it to be whole and changeless. Parmenides (Fragment 8. From the translation in Kirk et al.1983). 1 Introduction Discussions and controversies about the nature of space and time in Western thought can be traced to the early Pre-Socratic philosophers (Graham 2006; Jammer 2012; Romero 2012). The position of Aristotle, who understood time as a measure of motion, and its contrast with the Platonic view, shaped the ontological controversy of the Hellenistic period, the Late Antiquity, and even the Middle Ages (see Sorabji 1983). It was not, however, until the development of Newtonian physics and the Leibniz–Clarke corre- spondence (Leibniz and Clarke 2000), that what is now called relationism-substantivalism & Gustavo E. -
Principle of Relativity in Physics and in Epistemology Guang-Jiong
Principle of Relativity in Physics and in Epistemology Guang-jiong Ni Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433,China Department of Physics , Portland State University, Portland,OR97207,USA (Email: [email protected]) Abstract: The conceptual evolution of principle of relativity in the theory of special relativity is discussed in detail . It is intimately related to a series of difficulties in quantum mechanics, relativistic quantum mechanics and quantum field theory as well as to new predictions about antigravity and tachyonic neutrinos etc. I. Introduction: Two Postulates of Einstein As is well known, the theory of special relativity(SR) was established by Einstein in 1905 on two postulates (see,e.g.,[1]): Postulate 1: All inertial frames are equivalent with respect to all the laws of physics. Postulate 2: The speed of light in empty space always has the same value c. The postulate 1 , usually called as the “principle of relativity” , was accepted by all physicists in 1905 without suspicion whereas the postulate 2 aroused a great surprise among many physicists at that time. The surprise was inevitable and even necessary since SR is a totally new theory out broken from the classical physics. Both postulates are relativistic in essence and intimately related. This is because a law of physics is expressed by certain equation. When we compare its form from one inertial frame to another, a coordinate transformation is needed to check if its form remains invariant. And this Lorentz transformation must be established by the postulate 2 before postulate 1 can have quantitative meaning. Hence, as a metaphor, to propose postulate 1 was just like “ to paint a dragon on the wall” and Einstein brought it to life “by putting in the pupils of its eyes”(before the dragon could fly out of the wall) via the postulate 2[2]. -
Reconstructing William Craig Explanation of Absolute Time Based on Islamic Philosophy
Reconstructing William Craig Explanation of Absolute Time Based on Islamic Philosophy M. S. Kavyani (1), H. Parsania (2), and H. Razmi (3) Department of Philosophy of Physics, Baqir al Olum University, 37185-787, Qom, I. R. Iran. (2) Permanent Address: Department of Social Sciences, Tehran University, Tehran, I. R. Iran. (3) Permanent Address: Department of Physics, University of Qom, Qom, I. R. Iran. (1) [email protected] (2) [email protected] (3) [email protected] Abstract After the advent of the theory of special relativity, the existence of an absolute time in nature was rejected in physics society. In recent decades, William Craig has endeavored to offer an interpretation of empirical evidences corresponding to theory of relativity with the preservation of an absolute time. His strategy is based on two viewpoints including dynamical theory of time and the Eminent God’s temporal being. After considering and criticizing these two viewpoints, using the well-known overall substantial motion of nature in Islamic philosophy and thus the realization of a general time for all the nature, we have tried to reconstruct Craig argument for an absolute time. Although Craig has considered some evidences from modern physics reasoning on an absolute time, the special advantage of the approach considered here is in this fact that it connects better the existing gap between the metaphysics and the physics of the argument. Keywords: Absolute time; Theory of relativity; William Craig; The dynamical time theory; Islamic Philosophy; Nature overall substantial motion; General time Introduction In classical mechanics, the absolute universal time was considered as the measure of the events chronology and a parameter for determining their priority, posteriority, and simultaneity. -
Exploring the Social Processes of Leadership and Organizing
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by UNL | Libraries University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Leadership Institute Faculty Publications Leadership Institute 12-2006 Relational Leadership Theory: Exploring the social processes of leadership and organizing Mary Uhl-Bien University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/leadershipfacpub Part of the Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods Commons Uhl-Bien, Mary, "Relational Leadership Theory: Exploring the social processes of leadership and organizing" (2006). Leadership Institute Faculty Publications. 19. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/leadershipfacpub/19 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Leadership Institute at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Leadership Institute Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Published in The Leadership Quarterly 17:6 (December 2006), pp. 654-676: The Leadership Quarterly Yearly Review of Leadership; doi 10.1016/j.leaqua.2006.10.007 Copyright © 2006 Elsevier Inc. Used by permission. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/10489843 Published online November 16, 2006. Relational Leadership Theory: Exploring the social processes of leadership and organizing Mary Uhl-Bien Department of Management University of Nebraska–Lincoln Lincoln, NE 68588 USA Abstract Relational leadership is a relatively new term in the leadership literature, and because of this, its meaning is open to interpretation. In the present article I describe two perspectives of relational leadership: an entity perspective that fo- cuses on identifying attributes of individuals as they engage in interpersonal relationships, and a relational perspec- tive that views leadership as a process of social construction through which certain understandings of leadership come about and are given privileged ontology. -
Biology Assessment
Master thesis Biology Assessment on the feasibility of anticipating Synthetic Biology Wietse Hage Under the supervision of dr. Y. Saghai and dr. M.A.J. MacLeod January 21, 2021 ”It is not down on any map; true places never are.” Moby-Dick, or, the Whale Herman Melville MSc Philosophy of Science, Technology and Society - PSTS Faculty of Behavioural, Management, and Social Sciences, University of Twente, Enschede, the Netherlands Acknowledgements Arnhem, January 21, 2021 What a fascinating journey we’ve had. First and foremost, I would like to thank Yashar Saghai. During the one and a half year this thesis took to write, Yashar and I met almost every two weeks! This adds up to 40 plus meet- ings, not including our trip to the Anticipation conference in Oslo. It is hard for me to find words that convey my gratitude towards you Yashar: I hope that my future work shows the influence you had on me, both as a philosopher and a writer. The second person who played a crucial part lifting this thesis up to the level it standstoday is Miles MacLeod. Having someone with your background take a critical look at my work is a true gift: thank you for the insightful comments and the time you took to discuss Robert Rosen’s controversial ideas with me. Another individual who deserves mentioning is Virgil Rerimassie, who took the time to sit down over coffee to explain his work in his own words. I would like to thank my girlfriend Iris, who during all of these months remained patient, caring and loving; thank you for sticking by my side piertje, definitely during my grumpier phases. -
Putting Space in Place: Philosophical Topography and Relational
Putting Space in Place: Philosophical Topography and Relational Geography 1. Introduction: Space and Geography Although a discipline often characterized as essentially spatial in its orientation, geography seems only very seldom to have devoted significant attention to exploring the concept of space itself. Indeed, the shift in geographical thinking over the last fifty years or so towards a mode of thinking that takes space as bound up with social and political process actually serves to reinforce, rather than rectify, the neglect of space itself within geographical theorizing. A similar point could also be made with respect to many of the theorists on whom geography draws. Both Foucault and Lefebvre, for instance, while they emphasize the inextricability of the spatial and the socio-political, nevertheless rely upon a notion of space that remains essentially unarticulated and largely unexplored. Just what the phenomenon of space might be that is at issue in the various spatialities and spatializations that appear in their work thus remains obscure (in spite of Lefebvre’s own claims) – and it is no less so in most of the other thinkers who have been taken up within recent geographic discourse or in the geographical appropriations of their thought. Thus from Deleuze through to Sloterdijk spatial ideas and images are constantly in play, and yet what is at issue in the very idea of space and the spatial is almost never directly addressed. In this latter respect, any criticism of geographical theory for its relative neglect of space cannot be restricted to geography alone – with some notable exceptions, very few thinkers, no matter what the discipline, have given serious attention to the phenomenon of space, any more than to the phenomena of time and of place, but have tended instead to deal with various forms or modes of space – to spatialities rather than to space as such. -
Lost in the Tensors: Einstein's Struggles with Covariance Principles 1912-1916"
JOHN EARMAN and CLARK GL YMOUR LOST IN THE TENSORS: EINSTEIN'S STRUGGLES WITH COVARIANCE PRINCIPLES 1912-1916" Introduction IN 1912 Einstein began to devote a major portion of his time and energy to an attempt to construct a relativistic theory of gravitation. A strong intimation of the struggle that lay ahead is contained in a letter to Arnold Sommerfeld dated October 29, 1912: At the moment I am working solely on the problem of gravitation and believe 1 will be able to overcome all difficulties with the help of a local, friendly mathemat- ician. But one thing is certain, that I have never worked so hard in my life, and that I have been injected with a great awe of mathematics, which in my naivet~ until now I only viewed as a pure luxury in its subtler forms! Compared to this problem the original theory of relativity is mere child's play.' Einstein's letter contained only a perfunctory reply to a query from Sommerfeld about the Debye-Born theory of specific heats. Obviously disappointed, Som- merfeld wrote to Hilbert: 'My letter to Einstein was in vain . Einstein is evidently so deeply mired in gravitation that he is deaf to everything else? Sommerfeld's words were more prophetic than he could possibly have known; the next three years were to see Einstein deeply mired in gravitation, sometimes seemingly hopelessly so. In large measure, Einstein's struggle resulted from his use and his misuse, his understanding and his misunderstanding of the nature and implications of covariance principles. In brief, considerations of general covariance were bound up with Einstein's motive for seeking a 'generalized' theory of relativity; mis- understandings about the meaning and implementation of this motivation threatened to wreck the search; and in the end, the desire for general covariance helped to bring Einstein back onto the track which led to what we now recognize *Present address c/o Department of Philosophy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn, U.S.A. -
Relationalism About Mechanics Based on a Minimalist Ontology of Matter
Relationalism about mechanics based on a minimalist ontology of matter Antonio Vassallo,∗ Dirk-André Deckert,† Michael Esfeld‡ Accepted for publication in European Journal for Philosophy of Science This paper elaborates on relationalism about space and time as motivated by a minimalist ontology of the physical world: there are only matter points that are individuated by the distance relations among them, with these re- lations changing. We assess two strategies to combine this ontology with physics, using classical mechanics as example: the Humean strategy adopts the standard, non-relationalist physical theories as they stand and interprets their formal apparatus as the means of bookkeeping of the change of the distance relations instead of committing us to additional elements of the on- tology. The alternative theory strategy seeks to combine the relationalist ontology with a relationalist physical theory that reproduces the predictions of the standard theory in the domain where these are empirically tested. We show that, as things stand, this strategy cannot be accomplished without compromising a minimalist relationalist ontology. Keywords: relationalism, parsimony, atomism, matter points, ontic structural realism, Humeanism, classical mechanics Contents 1 From atomism to relationalism about space and time 2 2 From ontology to physics: two strategies 11 ∗Université de Lausanne, Faculté des lettres, Section de philosophie, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. E- arXiv:1609.00277v1 [physics.hist-ph] 1 Sep 2016 mail: [email protected] †Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität -
Newtonian Space-Time
L1lCU .. l.HC I..i.~UU Ul 411 LU •••..)C .lU,)I.~1.lJ.LLol.L.LI".Uu..) ,)t'IA •••.••,•.) u.I...J.y v....I.UUU6.l..L1." V.L u.~ ...1...1••.• 10cIIs Of all pQHible eVeJlts; it is called "sp:l.ce-time." (3) The instant.l!!::ousthree-dimensional spaces, which so far as (2) goes are entirely separ.lte, form p:lrt of a luger connected, structure: sp:lce-time is, intrinsicallr, :z fOllr-dimensional real affine space-that is, it possesses a a notion of "str:light line," having the same properties in respect of inter- section (and. so also parallelism) as in a Euclidean space of four di- y REMARKS TODAY AND TO};!OR.~.OW WILL BE BASED UPON A RATHER mensions. (The stmight lines of space-time are to be thought of as repre- lengthy paper, written witl1severl1 simultaneous objectives: senting all F{)ssibleuniform rectilinear lIIotiollS.2) Moreover, the natural M. (I) To cast light upon the issues involved in a celebrated pass:lge of intel- projection of space-time upon T (assigning to every possible event its lectu:ll history, and incidentally to clarify some of the purely historical cir- "epoch" or "date") is an :lffine mapping; :lnd the Euclide:ln structures of cumstances; the insontar.eous spaces :lre compatible with their :lffine structures as the ( 2) By elucidating those is'sues, to help furnish insight on related questions of fibersof this ffi3.pping. current interest; The technicalities of this :l.ccountneed not too much concern those to whom they (3) To promote an attitude tow:lrd philosophical questions that was a prevalent :lreunfa.miliar; but it is important to remark that the structure required by (3), one in the seventeenth century, th3.tseems to me sound and admirable, and which I shall refer to as the "kinematical connection" of space-time, and which th:lt seems not to be prewaLenttoday.