Minkowski Spacetime: A Hundred Years Later

2010. Auflage 2010
ISBN: 978-90-481-3474-8
Verlag: Springer

Buch, Englisch, Band 165, 326 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 1530 g

Reihe: Fundamental Theories of Physics

This volume is dedicated to the one hundredth anniversary of the publication of Hermann Minkowski’s paper “Raum und Zeit” in 1909 [1]. The paper presents the textofthetalkMinkowskigaveatthe80thMeetingoftheGermanNaturalScientists and Physicians in Cologne on September 21, 1908. Minkowski’s work on the spacetime representation of special relativity had a huge impact on the twentieth century physics, which can be best expressed by merely stating what is undeniable – that modern physics would be impossible wi- out the notion of spacetime. It is suf cient to mention as an example only the fact that general relativity would be impossible without this notion; Einstein succeeded to identifygravitywith the curvatureofspacetime onlywhen he overcamehis initial hostile reactionto Minkowski’sfour-dimensionalrepresentationof special relativity and adopted spacetime as the correct relativistic picture of the world. While there exists an unanimous consensus on the mathematical signi cance of spacetime for theoretical physics, for a hundred years there has been no consensus on the nature of spacetime itself. The rst sign of this continuing controversy was Sommerfeld’s remark in his notes on Minkowski’s article [2]: “What will be the epistemologicalattitudetowardsMinkowski’sconceptionofthetime-spaceproblem is another question, but, as it seems to me, a question which does not essentially touch his physics”.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Petkov, Vesselin

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Wissenschaftstheorie, Wissenschaftsphilosophie
• Naturwissenschaften Physik Physik Allgemein Geschichte der Physik
• Naturwissenschaften Physik Quantenphysik Relativität, Gravitation
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wissenschafts- und Universitätsgeschichte
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Allgemeines Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften, Formalen Wissenschaften & Technik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

The Impact of Minkowski Spacetime on the Twentieth Century Physics from a Historical Perspective.- Hermann Minkowski, Relativity and the Axiomatic Approach to Physics.- Minkowski’s Modern World.- Implications of Minkowski Spacetime for Theoretical Physics.- Hermann Minkowski and Special Relativity.- The Rich Structure of Minkowski Space.- Minkowski Space-Time and Quantum Mechanics.- Modern Space-Time and Undecidability.- Quantum Space-Times.- Space-Time Extensions in Quantum Gravity.- Conceptual and Philosophical Issues of Minkowski Spacetime.- The Adolescence of Relativity: Einstein, Minkowski, and the Philosophy of Space and Time.- Hermann Minkowski: From Geometry of Numbers to Physical Geometry.- The Mystical Formula and The Mystery of Khronos.- Physical Laws and Worldlines in Minkowski Spacetime.- Time as an Illusion.- Consequences of Minkowski’s Unification of Space and Time for a Philosophy of Nature.