The Gauge Interpretation of the Conventionality of Simultaneity
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.20416/LSRSPS.V5I2.1Keywords:
conventionality of simultaneity, gauge interpretations, diffeomorphisms, synchrony transformationsAbstract
In this work we will consider gauge interpretations of the conventionality of simultaneity as developed initially by Anderson and Stedman, and later by Rynasiewicz. We will make a critical reassessment of these interpretations in relation to the “tradition” as developed in particular by Reichenbach, Grünbaum, and Edwards. This paper will address different issues, including: the relation between these two gauge interpretations; what advantages or defects these gauge approaches might have; how “new” Rynasiewicz’s approach in relation to the previous ones is; how much of the gauge interpretation Rynasiewicz actually applies to deal with objections to the conventionality of simultaneity thesis. The conclusion is that the gauge interpretations, in their current formulation, do not provide a better “rationale” of the conventionality of simultaneity thesis that supersedes the “tradition”.
References
ANDERSON, Ronald, STEDMAN, Geoffrey. 1992. Distance and the conventionality of simultaneity in special relativity. Foundations of Physics Letters, 5, 199-220.
ANDERSON, Ronald; VETHARANIAM, I., STEDMAN, Geoffrey. 1998. Conventionality of synchronization, gauge dependence and test theories of relativity. Physics Reports, 295, 93-180.
BARUT, Asim. 1964 [1980]. Electrodynamics and classical theory of fields and particles. New York: Dover Publications.
BROWN, Harvey. 2005. Physical relativity: spacetime structure from a dynamical perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Book
EDWARDS, W. F. 1963. « Special relativity in anisotropic space ». American Journal of Physics, 31, 482-489.
EINSTEIN, Albert. 1905 [1989]. On the electrodynamics of moving bodies. In STACHEL, John, et al. (eds.). The collected papers of Albert Einstein (English translation). Princeton: Princeton University Press. 140-171.
EINSTEIN, Albert. 1911 [1993]. The theory of relativity. In STACHEL, John, et al. (eds.). The collected papers of Albert Einstein (English translation). Princeton: Princeton University Press. 340-350.
EINSTEIN, Albert. 1917 [1997]. On the special and general theory of relativity. In STACHEL, John, et al. (eds.). The collected papers of Albert Einstein (English translation). Princeton: Princeton University Press. 247-420.
FRIEDMAN, Michael. 1977. Simultaneity in Newtonian mechanics and special relativity. In EARMAN, john, GLYMOUR, Clark, STACHEL, John (eds.), Foundations of space-time theories. Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science (8). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. 403-432.
FRIEDMAN, Michael. 1983. Foundations of space-time theories: relativistic physics and philosophy of science. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
GRÜNBAUM, Adolf. 1955. Logical and philosophical foundations of the special theory of relativity. American Journal of Physics, 23, 450–464.
GRÜNBAUM, Adolf. 1968. Geometry and chronometry in philosophical perspective. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
JAMMER, Max. 2006. Concepts of simultaneity. From antiquity to Einstein and beyond. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
JANIS, Allen. 2014. Conventionality of simultaneity. In ZALDA, Edward (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2014 Edition).
MALAMENT, David. 1977. Causal theories of time and the conventionality of simultaneity. Noûs, 11, 293-300.
MITTELSTAEDT, Peter. 1977. Conventionalism in special relativity. Foundations of Physics, 7, 573-583.
MØLLER, Christian. 1952 [1955]. The Theory of Relativity. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
NORTON, John. 1988. The hole argument. In FINE, Arthur, LEPLIN, Jarrett (eds.). PSA 1988, 2, 56-64.
NORTON, John. 2005. A conjecture on Einstein, the independent reality of spacetime coordinate systems and the disaster of 1913. In KOX, Anne, EINSENSTAED, Jean (eds.). The universe of general relativity. Einstein Studies. Boston: Birkhäuser. 11, 67-102.
POINCARÉ, Henri.1898. La mesure du temps. Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale, 6, 1-13.
POOLEY, Oliver. 2017. Background independence, diffeomorphism invariance, and the meaning of coordinates. In LEHMKUHL, Dennis, SCHIEMANN, Gregor, SCHOLZ, Erhard (eds.). Towards a Theory of Spacetime Theories. Einstein Studies. New York : Birkhäuser. 13, 105-143.
REICHENBACH, Hans. 1920 [1965]. The theory of relativity and a priori knowledge. Berkeley: University of California Press.
REICHENBACH, Hans. 1924 [1969]. Axiomatization of the theory of relativity. Berkeley: University of California Press.
REICHENBACH, Hans. 1927 [1957]. The philosophy of space and time. New York: Dover publications.
RICKLES, Dean. 2008. How’s afraid of background independence? In DIEKS, Dennis (ed.). The ontology of spacetime II. Amsterdam: Elsevier. 133-152.
RYNASIEWICZ, Robert. 2012. Simultaneity, convention, and gauge freedom. Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, 43, 90-4.
SONEGO, Sebastiano, PIN, Massimo. 2009. Foundations of anisotropic relativistic mechanics. Journal of Mathematical Physics, 50.
STACHEL, John, IFTIME, Mihaela. 2005. Fibered manifolds, geometric objects, structured sets, G sets and all that: the hole story from space time to elementary particles, Cornell University Library.
WALD, Robert. 1984. General relativity. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
WINNIE, John. 1970. Special relativity without one-way velocity assumptions. Philosophy of science, 37, 81-99 and 223-238. (81-99) (223-238)
ZHANG, Yuan Zhong. 1997. Special relativity and its experimental foundations. Singapore: World Scientific.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2018 Mario Bacelar Valente
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
