Related papers: Spacetime Conventionalism Revisited
The traditional metaphysical debate between static and dynamic views in the philosophy of time is examined in light of considerations concerning the nature of time in physical theory. Adapting the formalism of Rovelli (1995, 2004), I set…
We provide detailed evidence for the claim that nonperturbative quantum gravity, defined through state sums of causal triangulated geometries, possesses a large-scale limit in which the dimension of spacetime is four and the dynamics of the…
In this letter we discuss the possibility of treating the spacetime by itself as a kind of deformable body for which we can define an fundamental lattice, just like atoms in crystal lattices. We show three signs pointing in that direction.…
The usual quantization of a classical space-time field does not touch the non-geometrical character of quantum mechanics. We believe that the deep problems of unification of general relativity and quantum mechanics are rooted in this poor…
The ontology proposed in this paper is aimed at demonstrating that it is possible to understand the counter-intuitive predictions of quantum mechanics while still retaining much of the framework underlying classical physics, the implication…
A simple, though rarely considered, thought experiment on relativistic rotation is described in which internal inconsistencies in the theory of relativity seem to arise. These apparent inconsistencies are resolved by appropriate insight…
Our main purpose here is to study some qualitative aspects of space and time. These include the notion of space and time regarded as the containers of respectively bodies and events, the divisibility of space, and the unrepeatability of…
The notions of time in the theories of Newton and Einstein are reviewed so that certain of their assumptions are clarified. These assumptions will be seen as the causes of the incompatibility between the two different ways of understanding…
For many years now it has become conventional for theorists to argue that "space-time is doomed", with the difficulties in finding a quantum theory of gravity implying the necessity of basing a fundamental theory on something quite…
The canonical description is based on the prior choice of a spacelike foliation, hence making a reference to a spacetime metric. However, the metric is expected to be a dynamical, fluctuating quantity in quantum gravity. After presenting…
Contemporary relativity theory is restricted in two points: (1) a use of the Riemannian space-time geometry and (2) a use of inadequate (nonrelativistic) concepts. Reasons of these restrictions are analysed in [1]. Eliminating these…
A new interpretation of the causality implementation in the Lienard-Wiechert solution raises new doubts against the validity of the Lorentz-Dirac equation and the limits of validity of the Minkowski structure of spacetime.
Some examples from the mathematics of shape are presented that question some of the almost hidden assumptions behind results on limiting behaviour of finitary approximations to space-time. These are presented so as to focus attention on the…
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…
In my previous work, physics/0205011, I reported several observations on special relativity, its experimental facts and its relations to quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics. These observations made us conscious: Special relativity…
`How do our ideas about quantum mechanics affect our understanding of spacetime?' This familiar question leads to quantum gravity. The complementary question is also important: `How do our ideas about spacetime affect our understanding of…
In this paper, we construct and investigate a hierarchy of spatio-temporal formalisms that result from various combinations of propositional spatial and temporal logics such as the propositional temporal logic PTL, the spatial logics RCC-8,…
Paralleling the formal derivation of general relativity as a flat spacetime theory, we introduce in addition a preferred temporal foliation. The physical interpretation of the formalism is considered in the context of 5-dimensional…
We propose a constructive and dynamical redefinition of spatial structure, grounded in the interplay between mechanical evolution and observational acts. Rather than presupposing space as a static background, we interpret space as an…
Research in quantum gravity strongly suggests that our world in not fundamentally spatiotemporal, but that spacetime may only emerge in some sense from a non-spatiotemporal structure, as this paper illustrates in the case of causal set…