English

On Selleri's "Weak Relativity''

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2022-09-21 v1 History and Philosophy of Physics

Abstract

F. Selleri's main arguments for the restoration of absolute simultaneity in physics are analysed and shown to be faulty. In particular both the classical Sagnac effect and the recent so-called linear Sagnac effect can be dealt with within special relativity in a natural way. The appeal to the conventionality of simultaneity thesis is also shown to be ineffectual. Other arguments, such as the two spaceships' argument and the block universe argument are briefly examined. Notwithstanding a negative overall assessment, the importance of keeping alive the research on the foundations of relativity is emphasized and Selleri's role in this undertaking appreciated.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2209.09551,
  title  = {On Selleri's "Weak Relativity''},
  author = {Marco Mamone-Capria},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2209.09551},
  year   = {2022}
}

Comments

27 pages, 8 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-28T01:43:14.578Z