Related papers: The Constructivist's Programme and the Problem of …
We provide five rearticulations of the thesis that the structure of spacetime is conventional, rather than empirically determined, based upon variation of the structures that are empirically underdetermined and modal contexts in which this…
This book is an introductory course to basic commutative algebra with a particular emphasis on finitely generated projective modules, which constitutes the algebraic version of the vector bundles in differential geometry. We adopt the…
How does one formalize the structure of structures necessary for the foundations of physics? This work is an attempt at conceptualizing the metaphysics of pregeometric structures, upon which new and existing notions of quantum geometry may…
It is widely accepted that the notion of an inertial frame is central to Newtonian mechanics and that the correct space-time structure underlying $\text{Newton's}$ methods in $\textit{Principia}$ is neo-Newtonian or Galilean space-time. I…
Einstein's distinction between principle theories and constructive theories is methodological rather than metaphysical. Principle theories such as thermodynamics and relativity articulate empirically distilled constraints that delimit…
I show that, by the same criteria that led to Galilean and Special Relativity and gauge symmetries, there is no way to identify a unique set of observables that give the structure of space or spacetime. In some sense, space is lost in the…
Popular wisdom amongst theoretical physicists says that the continuum structure of spacetime is probably not elementary, but rather emergent. While many arguments to support that view arise from speculative ideas, the argument can also be…
Simple physical models of a measuring rod and of a clock are used to demonstrate the contraction of objects and clock retardation in special relativity. It is argued that the models could help in promoting student understanding of special…
The paper presents a metaphysical characterization of spatiotemporal backgrounds from a realist perspective. The conceptual analysis is based on a heuristic sketch that encompasses the common formal traits of the major spacetime theories,…
In this article, I argue that modern spacetime physics causes problems for a number of traditional accounts of modality, but also offers important new ideas about the connection between modal and non-modal features of reality. I suggest…
The conventional spacetime formulation of general relativity may be recast as a dynamics of spatial 3-geometries (geometrodynamics). Furthermore, geometrodynamics can be derived from first principles. I investigate two distinct sets of…
In this course, I talk about the source of mathematical constructivism and its role in the future development of theoretical physics. I describe what physical constructivism is and why it is necessary for the penetration of exact methods of…
An age-old controversy in mathematics concerns the necessity and the possibility of constructive proofs. The controversy has been rekindled by recent advances which demonstrate the feasibility of a fully constructive mathematics. This…
We present a method of constructing perturbative equations of motion for the geometric background of any given tensorial field theory. Requiring invariance of the gravitational dynamics under spacetime diffeomorphisms leads to a PDE system…
In describing a dynamical system, the greatest part of the work for a theoretician is to translate experimental data into differential equations. It is desirable for such differential equations to admit a Lagrangian and/or an Hamiltonian…
This is the first of four papers prompted by a recent literature about a doctrine dubbed spacetime functionalism. This paper gives our general framework for discussing functionalism. Following Lewis, we take it as a species of reduction. We…
Two Lagrangian functions are used to construct geometric field theories. One of these Lagrangians depends on the curvature of space, while the other depends on curvature and torsion. It is shown that the theory constructed from the first…
This paper argues against the proposal to draw from current research into a physical theory of quantum gravity the ontological conclusion that spacetime or spatiotemporal relations are not fundamental. As things stand, the status of this…
A reflexive relation on a set can be a starting point in defining the causal structure of a spacetime in General Relativity and other relativistic theories of gravity. If we identify this relation as the relation between lightlike separated…
The nature of the change in perspective that accompanies the proposal of a unified physical theory deriving from the single dimension of time is elaborated. On expressing a temporal interval in a multi-dimensional form, via a direct…