A priori prejudice in Weyl's unintended unification of gravitation and electricity

Afriat, Alexander (2007) A priori prejudice in Weyl's unintended unification of gravitation and electricity.

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Abstract

It is argued that Weyl's theory of gravitation and electricity came out of `mathematical justice': out of the equal rights direction and length. Such mathematical justice was clearly at work in the context of discovery, and is enough, together with a couple of simple and natural operations, to derive all of source-free electromagnetism. Weyl's repeated references to coordinates and gauge are taken to express equal treatment of direction and length.

Keywords:Weyl; relativity; gravitation; electromagnetism; gauge
Subjects:Specific Sciences: Mathematics
Specific Sciences: Physics: Symmetries/Invariances
Specific Sciences: Physics: Relativity Theory
General Issues: History of Science Case Studies
ID Code:3463
Deposited By:Afriat, Alexander
Deposited On:09 August 2007

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