PhilSci Archive

Gravity and Gauge

Teh, Nicholas (2012) Gravity and Gauge. [Preprint]

[img]
Preview
PDF
Gravity_and_Gauge.pdf

Download (467kB)

Abstract

Philosophers of physics and physicists have long been intrigued by the analogies and disanalogies between gravitational theories and (Yang-Mills-type) gauge theories. Indeed, repeated attempts to col- lapse these disanalogies have made us acutely aware that there are fairly general obstacles to doing so. Nonetheless, there is a special case (viz. that of (2+1) spacetime dimensions) in which gravity is often claimed to be identical to a gauge theory. We subject this claim to philosophical scrutiny in this paper: in particular, we (i) analyze how the standard disanalogies can be overcome in (2+1) dimensions, and (ii) consider whether (i) really licenses the interpretation of (2+1) gravity as a gauge theory. Our conceptual analysis reveals more subtle disanalogies between gravity and gauge, and connects these to interpretive issues in classical and quantum gravity.


Export/Citation: EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL
Social Networking:
Share |

Item Type: Preprint
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Teh, Nicholasnicholas.teh@cs.ox.ac.uk
Keywords: gravity, gauge theory, philosophy of spacetime, general relativity, Chern-Simons theory
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Physics > Classical Physics
Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory
Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances
Depositing User: Dr Nicholas Teh
Date Deposited: 23 Apr 2012 14:07
Last Modified: 23 Apr 2012 14:07
Item ID: 9098
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Physics > Classical Physics
Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory
Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances
Date: April 2012
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/9098

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item