Overview
- A must for all theoretical physicists and philosophers of science
- Second edition is significantly expanded with new and strengthened arguments
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Part of the book series: The Frontiers Collection (FRONTCOLL)
Access this book
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Other ways to access
Table of contents (10 chapters)
-
Front Matter
-
Introduction
-
On the Nature of Spacetime: Conceptual and Philosophical Issues
-
Spacetime, Non-Inertial Reference Frames, and Inertia
-
Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
The most important question that is addressed in this book is "what is the nature (the ontological status) of spacetime?" or, equivalently, "what is the dimensionality of the world at the macroscopic level?" The answer to this question is developed via a thorough analysis of relativistic effects and explicitly asking whether the objects involved in those effects are three-dimensional or four-dimensional. This analysis clearly shows that if the world and the physical objects were three-dimensional, none of the kinematic relativistic effects and the experimental evidence supporting them would be possible. The implications of this result for physics, philosophy, and our entire world view are discussed.
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Presently: Assistant Professor, Science College, Concordia University (in fact, I am associated with three departments - Liberal Arts College, Philosophy Department, and Science College)
1984 -1989: Adjunct Professor, Philosophy Department, Sofia University
1986 -1989: Researcher, Institute of Philosophy, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Doctoral degrees in theoretical physics (1997, Concordia University) and philosophy of science (1988, Institute of Philosophy, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences).
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Relativity and the Nature of Spacetime
Authors: Vesselin Petkov
Series Title: The Frontiers Collection
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-27700-5
Publisher: Springer Berlin, Heidelberg
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005
eBook ISBN: 978-3-540-27700-2Published: 18 February 2006
Series ISSN: 1612-3018
Series E-ISSN: 2197-6619
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XII, 300
Number of Illustrations: 60 b/w illustrations
Topics: Classical and Quantum Gravitation, Relativity Theory, Philosophy of Science, Mathematical Methods in Physics