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journal
conference
organizational
committee & editorial staff
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10:00am Saturday, March 6, 1999
Adamson Wing, Baker Hall 136A, CMU
David
Malament, David B. and Clara
E. Stern Professor from the Department of Philosophy at the
University of Chicago and the Committee on the
Conceptual Foundations of Science,
will give the keynote
address:
"A Remark about Rotation and Relative Rotation in Relativity Theory"
Abstract:
It turns out that within the framework of general relativity, in some
cases at least, it is a rather delicate and interesting question just
what it means to say that an extended body is or is not "rotating".
Moreover, the reasons for this do not have much to do with traditional
controversy over "absolute vs. relative" conceptions of motion. Rather
they concern particular geometric complexities that arise when one
allows for the possibility of spacetime curvature. The goal of the talk
is to formulate a no-go theorem that makes precise the claim that no
criterion of "rotation" in general relativity satisfies a short list of
(seemingly) modest adequacy conditions.
Mark Philip Shipman
Last modified: Wed Feb 24 20:34:29 EST 1999
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