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SUMMARY:Reconsidering Relativistic Causality - Jeremy Butterfield
DTSTART:20061009T153000Z
DTEND:20061009T170000Z
UID:TALK5570@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Jeremy Nicholas Butterfield
DESCRIPTION:I discuss the idea of relativistic causality\, i.e. the requir
 ement that causal processes (signals) can propagate only within the light-
 cone. After briefly locating this requirement in  the philosophy of causat
 ion\, my main aim is to draw philosophers' attention to the fact that it i
 s subtle\, and even problematic\, in contemporary physics. For there are s
 cenarios in which it fails. \n\nI report four such scenarios from relativi
 stic quantum physics. Two are familiar to philosophers of physics: viz. th
 e pilot-wave approach\, and the Newton-Wigner representation. \n\nBut I st
 ress two unfamiliar examples: the Drummond-Hathrell  and  Scharnhorst effe
 cts. These effects also illustrate a general moral in the philosophy of ge
 ometry: that the mathematical  structures\, especially the metric tensor\,
  that represent geometry get their geometric significance by dint of detai
 led physical arguments. My exposition of these effects\, and this moral\, 
 follows Brown (2005).
LOCATION:Meeting Room 14\, Centre for Mathematical Sciences
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