Geometry, pregeometry and beyond

DOI10.1016/J.SHPSB.2005.01.002zbMATH Open1222.83001arXivgr-qc/0411053OpenAlexW3102631896WikidataQ110037906 ScholiaQ110037906MaRDI QIDQ640220FDOQ640220

Johanna Piilonen, Markku Lehto, Diego Meschini

Publication date: 17 October 2011

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

Abstract: This article explores the overall geometric manner in which human beings make sense of the world around them by means of their physical theories; in particular, in what are nowadays called pregeometric pictures of Nature. In these, the pseudo-Riemannian manifold of general relativity is considered a flawed description of spacetime and it is attempted to replace it by theoretical constructs of a different character, ontologically prior to it. However, despite its claims to the contrary, pregeometry is found to surreptitiously and unavoidably fall prey to the very mode of description it endeavours to evade, as evidenced in its all-pervading geometric understanding of the world. The question remains as to the deeper reasons for this human, geometric predilection--present, as a matter of fact, in all of physics--and as to whether it might need to be superseded in order to achieve the goals that frontier theoretical physics sets itself at the dawn of a new century: a sounder comprehension of the physical meaning of empty spacetime.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0411053

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zbMATH Keywords

beyond geometryempty spacetimegeometry in physicsgeometry in pregeometry

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Physics (00A79) Introductory exposition (textbooks, tutorial papers, etc.) pertaining to relativity and gravitational theory (83-01)

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Cited In (8)

• Pregeometric spaces from Wolfram model rewriting systems as homotopy types
• Advances in geometry
• On the dynamics between gravity and entanglement
• Planck-scale physics: Facts and beliefs
• Quantum gravity through geometric algebra
• Geometry and the quest for theoretical generality
• Title not available (Why is that?)
• Pregeometric modelling of the spacetime phenomenology.

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