Weatherall, James Owen and Manchak, John Byron (2013) The Geometry of Conventionality. [Preprint]

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Abstract

Hans Reichenbach famously argued that the geometry of spacetime is conventional in relativity theory, in the sense that one can freely choose the spacetime metric so long as one is willing to postulate a "universal force field". Here we make precise a sense in which the field Reichenbach defines fails to be a "force". We then argue that there is an interesting and perhaps tenable sense in which geometry is conventional in classical spacetimes. We conclude with a no-go result showing that the variety of conventionalism available in classical spacetimes does not extend to relativistic spacetimes.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Weatherall, James Owen weatherj@uci.edu Manchak, John Byron manchak@uw.edu
Keywords:	Reichenbach, conventionality of geometry, general relativity, Newton-Cartan theory, geometrized Newtonian gravitation
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Physics > Classical Physics General Issues > Conventionalism General Issues > Logical Positivism/Logical Empiricism General Issues > Philosophers of Science Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory
Depositing User:	James Owen Weatherall
Date Deposited:	08 Feb 2013 14:36
Last Modified:	20 Feb 2013 13:32
Item ID:	9551
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Physics > Classical Physics General Issues > Conventionalism General Issues > Logical Positivism/Logical Empiricism General Issues > Philosophers of Science Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory
Date:	2013
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/9551

Available Versions of this Item

• The Geometry of Conventionality. (deposited 08 Feb 2013 14:36) [Currently Displayed]
  • The Geometry of Conventionality. (deposited 20 Feb 2013 13:32)
    • The Geometry of Conventionality. (deposited 13 Jan 2014 16:06)
    • The Geometry of Conventionality. (deposited 08 Aug 2013 08:26)

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