München 2019 – scientific programme

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GR: Fachverband Gravitation und Relativitätstheorie

GR 17: Alternative Approaches

GR 17.5: Talk

Friday, March 22, 2019, 12:30–12:45, HS 5

Newton's Error - the Concepts of Space and Time — •Alexander Unzicker — Pestalozzi-Gymnasium München

The fantastic success of classical mechanics was based on Isaac Newton's postulate of the existence of space and time. Much later, relativistic effects and quantum phenomenology modified significantly our picture of reality, while leaving the very notion of space and time intact.

In contrast to the current paradigm of theoretical physics, it is argued that both the speed of light c and Planck's constant h are free parameters in a Kuhnian sense. In that case, relativity and quantum theory would be ingenious workarounds rather than solutions of the real problems. c and h may indeed be anomalies that falsify the very concept of space and time, a rather unpleasant perspective for modern physics.