Tuesday,
4 October 2005
The Geometer as Conjuror
The Status of Force in Newton-Cartan Theory
Alexander Afriat, U. of Urbino, Italy
12:05 pm, 817R Cathedral of Learning
Abstract: I consider epistemological implications
of Cartan's generally covariant theory of Newtonian gravity, which
allows one to choose between a flat geometry plus force, and a curved
geometry into which force has been ‘absorbed’. Can the
geometer conjure up force at the stroke of a pen? Is force an empty
mathematical fiction?
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