The dynamical origin of spacetime symmetries
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35588/cc.v7d8352Keywords:
Dynamical approaches to spacetime, Problem of space, Spacetime symmetry, Congruence, Transcendental perspectiveAbstract
The main objective of this article is to present a proposal concerning the relation between chronogeometry and dynamics in spacetime theories that explores a middle ground, as an alternative to the two approaches—the geometrical and the dynamical—that have dominated recent discussions. This proposal can also be understood as advancing a notion of spacetime symmetry that is dynamically constituted. To explore this possibility, the article adopts as its general framework the idea that the determination of physical space is provided by principles that impose the comparability of physical quantities. Starting from the notion of congruence, which is central to Helmholtz’s and Weyl’s formulations of the problem of space, I connect this idea with certain conditions derived from the requirement that physical quantities be determined by subsystems that function as measuring devices, and I highlight the consequences this has for accounts of the relation between spacetime and dynamical symmetries. Along the way, I propose an interpretation of the principles that Weyl, in his formulation of the problem of space, characterizes as synthetic.
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