Wallace, David (2016) Fundamental and emergent geometry in Newtonian physics. [Preprint]

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Abstract

Using as a starting point recent and apparently incompatible conclusions by Simon Saunders (Philosophy of Science 80 (2013) pp.22-48) and Eleanor Knox (British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 65 (2014) pp.863-880), I revisit the question of the correct spacetime setting for Newtonian physics. I argue that understood correctly, these two theories make the same claims both about the background geometry required to define the theory, and about the inertial structure of the theory. In doing so I illustrate and explore in detail the view --- espoused by Knox, and also by Harvey Brown (Physical Relativity, OUP 2005) --- that inertial structure is defined by the dynamics governing subsystems of a larger system. This clarifies some interesting features of Newtonian physics, notably (i) the distinction between using the theory to model subsystems of a larger whole and using it to model complete Universes, and (ii) the scale-relativity of spacetime structure.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Wallace, David dmwallac@usc.edu
Keywords:	gravity spacetime newton-cartan inertial frame
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Physics > Cosmology Specific Sciences > Physics > Fields and Particles Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances
Depositing User:	Professor David Wallace
Date Deposited:	21 Oct 2016 15:23
Last Modified:	21 Oct 2016 15:23
Item ID:	12497
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Physics > Cosmology Specific Sciences > Physics > Fields and Particles Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances
Date:	October 2016
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/12497

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