Einstein Against Singularities: Analysis versus Geometry

التفاصيل البيبلوغرافية
العنوان: Einstein Against Singularities: Analysis versus Geometry
المؤلفون: Norton, John D.
المصدر: Philosophy of Physics 2(1) (2024) 13:1-73
سنة النشر: 2024
المجموعة: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Physics (Other)
مصطلحات موضوعية: Physics - History and Philosophy of Physics, General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
الوصف: Einstein identified singularities in spacetimes, such as at the Schwarzschild radius, where later relativists only find a coordinate system assigning multiple values to a single spacetime event. These differing judgments derive from differences in mathematical methods. Later relativists employ geometrical structures to correct anomalies in the coordinate systems used in analytic expressions. Einstein took the analytic expressions to be primary and the geometrical structures as mere heuristics that could be overruled if physical assumptions required it. Einstein's non-geometric methods had a firm base in the history of mathematical methods. They continued the non-geometric orientation of Christoffel, Ricci and LeviCivita. Einstein's insistence that singularities must be eliminated marked a departure from earlier tolerance of singularities. It was founded upon his longterm project of eliminating arbitrariness from fundamental physical theories. However, Einstein was willing to theorize with singularities only temporarily if they were the least arbitrary approach then available.
نوع الوثيقة: Working Paper
DOI: 10.31389/pop.91
URL الوصول: http://arxiv.org/abs/2408.02790
رقم الأكسشن: edsarx.2408.02790
قاعدة البيانات: arXiv