The singular nature of space-time

Lam, Vincent (2006) The singular nature of space-time. In [2006] Philosophy of Science Assoc. 20th Biennial Mtg (Vancouver): PSA 2006 Contributed Papers.

There is a more recent version of this eprint available. Click here to view it.

Full text available as:
PDF - Requires a viewer, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader or other PDF viewer.

Abstract

We consider to what extent the fundamental question of space-time singularities is relevant for the philosophical debate about the nature of space-time. After reviewing some basic aspects of the space-time singularities within GR, we argue that the well known difficulty to localize them in a meaningful way may challenge the received metaphysical view of space-time as a set of points possessing some intrinsic properties together with some spatio-temporal relations. Considering the algebraic formulation of GR, we argue that the space-time singularities highlight the philosophically misleading dependence on the standard geometric representation of space-time.

Keywords:Space-time singularities, space-time points, intrinsic properties, non-local feature, algebraic formualtion.
Subjects:Specific Sciences: Physics: Cosmology
Specific Sciences: Physics: Relativity Theory
Conferences and Volumes:[2006] Philosophy of Science Assoc. 20th Biennial Mtg (Vancouver): PSA 2006 Contributed Papers
ID Code:2980
Deposited By:Lam, Vincent
Deposited On:14 October 2006

Available Versions of this Item