Leibnizian relationalism for general relativistic physics

DOI10.1016/J.SHPSB.2016.08.006MaRDI QIDQ333955zbMATH OpenOpenAlexWikidataFDO

Authors Antonio Vassallo, Michael Esfeld

Publication date 31 October 2016

Published in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science. Part B. Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1608.07257

zbMATH Keywords

gravitydualitygeneral relativityhumeanismLeibnizian relationalismshape dynamics

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Physics (00A79) Einstein's equations (general structure, canonical formalism, Cauchy problems) (83C05) Axiomatics, foundations (70A05)

Abstract: An ontology of Leibnizian relationalism, consisting in distance relations among sparse matter points and their change only, is well recognized as a serious option in the context of classical mechanics. In this paper, we investigate how this ontology fares when it comes to general relativistic physics. Using a Humean strategy, we regard the gravitational field as a means to represent the overall change in the distance relations among point particles in a way that achieves the best combination of being simple and being informative.

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Cites work

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Cited in

(4)

• Does general relativity highlight necessary connections in nature?
• Loop quantum gravity: a new threat to humeanism? I: The problem of spacetime
• On the argument from physics and general relativity
• Super-Humeanism: a starving ontology

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