Philosophy of Physics Seminar (Thursday - Week 4, TT24)

Abstract: We consider the duality between General Relativity and the theory of Einstein algebras, in the extended setting where one permits non-Hausdorff manifolds. We show that the duality breaks down, and then go on to discuss a sense in which general relativity, formulated using non-Hausdorff manifolds, exhibits excess structure when compared to Einstein algebras. We discuss how these results bear on a class of algebraically-motivated deflationist views about spacetime ontology. We conclude with a conjecture concerning non-Hausdorff spacetimes with no bifurcate curves.

Based on collaborative work with James Owen Weatherall.

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With speaker’s consent, talks will be recorded and published on YouTube. Our channel is:

https://www.youtube.com/c/OxfordPhilosophyofPhysics/videos