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Formal statement of the special principle of relativity

Gomori, Marton and Szabo, Laszlo E. (2013) Formal statement of the special principle of relativity. Synthese. ISSN 1573-0964

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Abstract

While there is a longstanding discussion about the interpretation of the extended, general principle of relativity, there seems to be a consensus that the special principle of relativity is absolutely clear and unproblematic. However, a closer look at the literature on relativistic physics reveals a more confusing picture. There is a huge variety of, sometimes metaphoric, formulations of the relativity principle, and there are different, sometimes controversial, views on its actual content. The aim of this paper is to develop a precise language in order to provide a precise formulation of the principle. In view of the fact that the special relativity principle is considered as a universal meta-law, which must be valid for all physical laws in all situations, we try to keep the formalism as general as possible. The benefit of the formal reconstruction is that it makes explicit all the necessary conceptual components of the principle; it brings out many subtle details and the related conceptual problems.


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Item Type: Published Article or Volume
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Gomori, Martongomorim@gmail.com
Szabo, Laszlo E.leszabo@phil.elte.hu
Keywords: relativity principle covariance operational
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory
Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances
Depositing User: Prof. Laszlo E. Szabo
Date Deposited: 10 Jan 2014 16:41
Last Modified: 10 Jan 2014 16:41
Item ID: 10207
Journal or Publication Title: Synthese
Publisher: Springer (Springer Science+Business Media B.V.)
DOI or Unique Handle: 10.1007/s11229-013-0374-1
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory
Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances
Date: 1 December 2013
ISSN: 1573-0964
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/10207

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