Related papers: Shape Dynamics
The notion that the metric field in general relativity can be understood as a property of space-time rests on a feature of the theory sometimes called universal coupling -- the claim that rods and clocks "measure" the metric in a way that…
We describe a class of modified gravity theories that deform general relativity in a way that breaks time reversal invariance and, very mildly, locality. The algebra of constraints, local physical degrees of freedom, and their linearized…
Barbour's response to our recent paper on "Mach's principle and higher-dimensional dynamics" describes an approach to Mach's principle in which the universe as a whole is involved in the definition of inertial frames of reference. Moreover,…
The Special Theory of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics merge in the key principle of Quantum Field Theory, the Principle of Locality. We review some examples of its ``unreasonable effectiveness'' (which shows up best in the formulation of…
Equivalence principles are a major part of modern relativity theory. Gravitational shifts can already be calculated within the time domain as motion shifts, and we examine the consequences of reversing this argument and describing motion…
While adhering to the formalism of Special and General Relativity, this paper considers the interpretation of clock rates and the rating of clocks in detail. We also pay particular attention to the crucial requirement of reciprocity between…
There is a vast literature showing the connection between a deformed relativistic kinematics and a curved momentum space, and, in particular, how the former can be obtained from the geometrical properties of the latter. However, there is…
Majorana's arbitrary spin theory is considered in a hyperbolic complex representation. The underlying differential equation is embedded into the gauge field theories of Sachs and Carmeli. In particular, the approach of Sachs can serve as a…
A modern re-visitation of the consequences of the lack of an intrinsic notion of instantaneous 3-space in relativistic theories leads to a reformulation of their kinematical basis emphasizing the role of non-inertial frames centered on an…
I previously showed that Kendall's work on shape geometry is in fact also the geometrical description of Barbour's relational mechanics' reduced configuration spaces (alias shape spaces). I now describe the extent to which Kendall's…
General Relativity on closed spatial topologies can be derived, using a technique called "best-matching", as an evolving 3-geometry subject to constraints. These constraints can be thought of as a way of imposing temporal and spatial…
General relativity is a covariant theory of two transverse, traceless graviton degrees of freedom. According to a theorem of Hojman, Kuchar, and Teitelboim, modifications of general relativity must either introduce new degrees of freedom or…
An effective mathematical framework based on Presymplectic Geometry for dealing with the "phase space picture" of timeless dynamics in General Relativity is presented. In General Relativity, the presence of the scalar Hamiltonian constraint…
I critically discuss two dogmas of the "dynamical approach" to spacetime in general relativity, as advanced by Harvey Brown [Physical Relativity (2005) Oxford:Oxford University Press] and collaborators. The first dogma is that positing a…
Scaling symmetries have previously been examined for classical field theories described by singular Lagrangians; in this article, we apply these results to the first-order formulation of General Relativity. It is shown that the dynamical…
We describe a completely general and fully non-perturbative framework for constructing dynamical reference frames in generally covariant theories, and for understanding the gauge-invariant observables that they yield. Our approach makes use…
Different extended objects can fall in different ways, depending on their internal structures. Some motions are nevertheless impossible, regardless of internal structure. This paper derives universal constraints on extended-body motion,…
We propose a deepening of the relativity principle according to which the invariant arena for non-quantum physics is a phase space rather than spacetime. Descriptions of particles propagating and interacting in spacetimes are constructed by…
Shape Dynamics is a theory of gravity that replaces refoliation invariance for spatial Weyl invariance. Those solutions of the Einstein equations that have global, constant mean curvature slicings, are mirrored by solutions in Shape…
In this two-part essay, we distinguish several senses in which general relativity has been regarded as "locally special relativistic". In Part 1, we focused on senses in which a relativistic spacetime may be said to be "locally…