March, Eleanor and Weatherall, James Owen (2024) A Puzzle About General Covariance and Gauge. [Preprint]
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Abstract
We consider two simple criteria for when a physical theory should be said to be “generally covariant”, and we argue that these criteria are not met by Yang-Mills theory, even on geometric formulations of that theory. The reason, we show, is that the bundles encountered in Yang-Mills theory are not natural bundles; instead, they are gauge-natural. We then show how these observations relate to previous arguments about the significance of solder forms in assessing disanalogies between general relativity and Yang-Mills theory. We conclude by suggesting that general covariance is really about functoriality.
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| Item Type: | Preprint | |||||||||
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| Keywords: | general covariance, Yang-Mills theory, solder forms, general relativity, natural bundles | |||||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Field Theory Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances |
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| Depositing User: | James Owen Weatherall | |||||||||
| Date Deposited: | 07 May 2024 10:44 | |||||||||
| Last Modified: | 07 May 2024 10:44 | |||||||||
| Item ID: | 23381 | |||||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Field Theory Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances |
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| Date: | 2024 | |||||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/23381 |
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