Geodesic Universality in General Relativity.
According to recent arguments, the geodesic principle strictly interpreted is compatible with Einstein's field equations only in pathologically unstable circumstances and, hence, cannot play a fundamental role in the theory. It is shown here that geodesic dynamics can still be coherently reinterpret...
| Published in: | Philosophy of Science Vol. 80; no. 5; pp. 1076 - 1089 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Cambridge University Press
Dec2013
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| Summary: | According to recent arguments, the geodesic principle strictly interpreted is compatible with Einstein's field equations only in pathologically unstable circumstances and, hence, cannot play a fundamental role in the theory. It is shown here that geodesic dynamics can still be coherently reinterpreted within contemporary relativity theory as a universality thesis. By developing an analysis of universality in physics, I argue that the widespread geodesic clustering of diverse free-fall massive bodies observed in nature qualifies as a universality phenomenon. I then show how this near-geodetic clustering can be explained despite the pathologies associated with strict geodesic motion in Einstein's theory. |
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