Mulder, Ruward A. (2024) Is the geometric trinity of gravity a problematic case of underdetermination? In: UNSPECIFIED.

Text 07-2025 Mulder GeoTrin PSA proceedings (draft).pdf Download (587kB)

Abstract

It is a striking fact that the theories of the so-called geometric trinity of gravity can model the same gravitational effects with such diverse geometric tools such as curvature, torsion, and non-metricity. Building on (Wolf et al. 2024), this contribution offers a clarification and expansion of responses to this underdetermination emerging in recent years, namely discriminatory approaches such as Occamism and spacetime functionalism, or reinterpretational approaches such as the common core and overarching solutions. Despite appearances, the future of the metric-affine structure that accommodates the geometric trinity seems to lie not in these empirically equivalent formulations but in heuristic for theory construction.

---

Export/Citation:

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

Social Networking:

Share |

---

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (UNSPECIFIED)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Mulder, Ruward A. ramulder@uci.edu 0000-0002-9684-6267
Keywords:	Geometric trinity of gravity; Teleparallel gravity; Underdetermination; Torsion; Non-metricity; Explanation; Occamism; Functionalism; Re-interpretation; Sophistication; Common core and overarching solutions; Einstein-Cartan geometry; Metric-affine geometries
Subjects:	General Issues > Conventionalism General Issues > Explanation General Issues > Laws of Nature Specific Sciences > Physics General Issues > Realism/Anti-realism Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory General Issues > Structure of Theories Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances General Issues > Theory Change
Depositing User:	Mr. Ruward A. Mulder
Date Deposited:	22 Aug 2025 13:40
Last Modified:	22 Aug 2025 13:40
Item ID:	26282
Subjects:	General Issues > Conventionalism General Issues > Explanation General Issues > Laws of Nature Specific Sciences > Physics General Issues > Realism/Anti-realism Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory General Issues > Structure of Theories Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances General Issues > Theory Change
Date:	17 November 2024
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/26282

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics

Actions (login required)

View Item