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AGPhil: Arbeitsgruppe Philosophie der Physik

AGPhil 6: Spacetime Theories

AGPhil 6.2: Hauptvortrag

Mittwoch, 16. März 2011, 11:45–12:30, BEY 154

How the emergence of spacetime might save the structuralist — •Christian Wüthrich — University of California, San Diego

Spacetime structuralism maintains that spacetime is a relational complex consisting of spacetime points and the spatiotemporal relations they stand in. These points lack intrinsic properties and accrue their identity only by virtue of the position they inhabit in the relational complex. This view faces the difficulty that for highly symmetric spacetimes, such as the Friedman-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker spacetimes, vast classes of points are identical as their relational positions are indiscernible (Wüthrich 2009). In one conceptually very clear approach to formulating a quantum theory of gravity, the so-called causal set theory, the fundamental structures--the causal sets-- ought to be interpreted structurally, too. Analogously, structuralist readings of causal sets confront the challenge of distinguishing relationally indiscernible elements of highly symmetric causal sets. Compared to classical general relativity, however, the problem turns out to be much less severe. The reason for this has to do with the way relativistic spacetimes emerge from causal sets. My talk shall elucidate this emergence and how it acts against the symmetries requisite to challenge the structuralist.