Vesselin Petkov

Relativity and the Nature of Spacetime (eBook, PDF)

• Format: PDF

Produktbeschreibung

This is not a typical book on relativity. It puts the emphasis on conceptual questions: Why is there no such thing as absolute motion? What is the physical meaning of relativity of simultaneity? But, the most important question that is addressed in this book is "what is the nature 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.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
• Seitenzahl: 316
• Erscheinungstermin: 23. Juni 2009
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9783642019623
• Artikelnr.: 37368274

Autorenporträt

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).

Inhaltsangabe

Introduction.
- On the Impossibility of Detecting Uniform Motion.
- Exploring the Internal Logic of Galileo's Principle of Relativity.
- Relativity in Euclidean Space and in Spacetime.
- Relativity and the Dimensionality of the World: Spacetime Is Real.
- Quantum Mechanics and the Nature of Spacetime.
- The Nature of Spacetime and the Validity of Scientific Theories.
- Propagation of Light in Non-inertial Reference Frames.
- Calculating the Electric Field of a Charge in a Non-inertial Reference Frame.
- Inertia as a Manifestation of the Reality of Spacetime.
- Appendices.
- References.
- Index.

Rezensionen

From the reviews of the second edition:
"The book under review is mainly devoted to the physical consequences of special relativity and to the unveiling of the very nature of spacetime. ... The book is clear and well written and the bibliographic references are very good. It is recommended to physicists and to philosophers of science." (Francesco Sorge, Mathematical Reviews, Issue 2011 i)