PhilSci Archive

Can We Know the Global Structure of Spacetime?

Manchak, John Byron (2008) Can We Know the Global Structure of Spacetime? [Preprint]

[img]
Preview
 PDF
Download (208Kb) | Preview

    Abstract

    Here, we briefly review the notion of observational indistinguishability within the context of classical general relativity. We settle a conjecture given by Malament (1977) concerning the subject and then strengthen the result considerably. The upshot is this: There seems to be a robust sense in which the global structure of every cosmological model is underdetermined.

    Export/Citation:EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL
    Social Networking:
    Share |
    Item Type: Preprint
    Additional Information: Forthcoming in Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics
    Keywords: Epistemology, Observational Indistinguishability, Underdetermination, General Relativity, Cosmology
    Subjects: Specific Sciences > Physics
    Depositing User: John Byron Manchak
    Date Deposited: 16 Aug 2008
    Last Modified: 07 Oct 2010 11:16
    Item ID: 4162
    URI: http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/4162

    Actions (login required)

    		 View Item

    Document Downloads