Fletcher, Samuel C. (2017) Indeterminism, Gravitation, and Spacetime Theory. Making It Formally Explicit: Probability, Causality and Indeterminism. pp. 179-191. ISSN 978-3-319-55486-0

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Abstract

Contemporary discussions of physical determinism that engage with modern spacetime and gravitational theory have typically focused on the question of the global uniqueness of solutions for initial-value problems. In this chapter I investigate the violation of local uniqueness, found in examples like Norton's dome, which are not typically considered in light of spacetime theory. In particular, I construct initial trajectories for massive particles whose worldlines are not uniquely determined from initial data, both for a charged particle in special relativistic electromagnetism and for a freely falling particle in pure general relativity. I also show that the existence of such examples implies the violation of the Strong Energy Condition, and consider their implications for the interpretation of spacetime theory.

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Item Type:	Published Article or Volume
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Fletcher, Samuel C. scfletch@umn.edu 0000-0002-9061-8976
Additional Information:	Volume edited by Gábor Hofer-Szabó and Leszek Wronski. This is the postprint version: after final peer review but before copyediting.
Keywords:	Determinism, Indeterminism, Norton's Dome, Electromagnetism, Special Relativity, General Relativity, Strong Energy Condition, Test Particles
Subjects:	General Issues > Determinism/Indeterminism Specific Sciences > Physics > Fields and Particles General Issues > Models and Idealization Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory
Depositing User:	Prof. Samuel C. Fletcher
Date Deposited:	26 May 2020 22:15
Last Modified:	26 May 2020 22:15
Item ID:	17218
Journal or Publication Title:	Making It Formally Explicit: Probability, Causality and Indeterminism
Publisher:	Springer
DOI or Unique Handle:	10.1007/978-3-319-55486-0_10
Subjects:	General Issues > Determinism/Indeterminism Specific Sciences > Physics > Fields and Particles General Issues > Models and Idealization Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory
Date:	20 April 2017
Page Range:	pp. 179-191
ISSN:	978-3-319-55486-0
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/17218

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