Lusanna, Luca and Pauri, Massimo (2005) General Covariance and the Objectivity of Space-Time Point-Events. [Preprint]

Preview

PDF Oxford-LusannaPauri-Keyw.pdf Download (234kB)

Abstract

"The last remnant of physical objectivity of space-time" is disclosed, beyond the Leibniz equivalence, in the case of a continuous family of spatially non-compact models of general relativity. The "physical individuation" of point-events is furnished by the intrinsic degrees of freedom of the gravitational field, (viz, the "Dirac observables") that represent - as it were - the "ontic" part of the metric field. The physical role of the "epistemic" part (viz. the "gauge" variables) is likewise clarified. At the end, a peculiar four-dimensional "holistic and structuralist" view of space-time emerges which includes elements common to the tradition of both "substantivalism" and "relationism". The observables of our models undergo real "temporal change" and thereby provide a counter-example to the thesis of the "frozen-time" picture of evolution.

---

Export/Citation:

EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL

Social Networking:

Share |

---

Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Lusanna, Luca Pauri, Massimo
Additional Information:	This paper is an enlarged version of a talk given at the ESF Network International Conference on "Foundations of Space-Time Theories", Oxford, England, March 23-28, 2004.
Keywords:	Hole Argument/Space-time Objectivity/Physical Individuation/ /Dirac Observables/Gauge Freedom/Temporal Change
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory
Depositing User:	Prof. Massimo Pauri
Date Deposited:	06 Mar 2005
Last Modified:	07 Oct 2010 15:13
Item ID:	2224
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory
Date:	March 2005
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/2224

Available Versions of this Item

• General Covariance and the Objectivity of Space-time Point-events. (deposited 25 Feb 2005)
  • General Covariance and the Objectivity of Space-Time Point-Events. (deposited 06 Mar 2005) [Currently Displayed]

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics

Actions (login required)

View Item