Does General Relativity Highlight Necessary Connections in Nature?

Synthese 199 (1-2):1-23 (2021)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

The dynamics of general relativity is encoded in a set of ten differential equations, the so-called Einstein field equations. It is usually believed that Einstein's equations represent a physical law describing the coupling of spacetime with material fields. However, just six of these equations actually describe the coupling mechanism: the remaining four represent a set of differential relations known as Bianchi identities. The paper discusses the physical role that the Bianchi identities play in general relativity, and investigates whether these identities --qua part of a physical law-- highlight some kind of a posteriori necessity in a Kripkean sense. The inquiry shows that general relativistic physics has an interesting bearing on the debate about the metaphysics of the laws of nature.

Other Versions

No versions found

Similar books and articles

Dependence relations in general relativity.Antonio Vassallo - 2019 - European Journal for Philosophy of Science 10 (1):1-28.
The ontology of General Relativity.Gustavo E. Romero - 2014 - In Mario Novello & Santiago E. Perez Bergliaffa (eds.), Cosmology and Gravitation. Cambridge: Cambridge Scientific Publishers. pp. 177-191.
Einstein's gravitation is Einstein-Grossmann's equations.Alfonso Leon Guillen Gomez - 2015 - Journal of Advances in Physics 11 (3):3099-3110.

Analytics

Added to PP
2021-01-05

Downloads
759 (#33,119)

6 months
126 (#42,236)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Antonio Vassallo
Warsaw University of Technology

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

On the Plurality of Worlds.David K. Lewis - 1986 - Malden, Mass.: Wiley-Blackwell.
Laws and symmetry.Bas C. Van Fraassen - 1989 - New York: Oxford University Press.
Naming and Necessity.Saul Kripke - 1980 - Philosophy 56 (217):431-433.
Scientific Essentialism.Brian Ellis - 2001 - New York: Cambridge University Press.
Naming and Necessity.S. Kripke - 1972 - Tijdschrift Voor Filosofie 45 (4):665-666.

View all 48 references / Add more references