Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T12:18:37.845Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

11 - Substantive General Covariance and the Einstein–Klein Dispute: A Noetherian Approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2022

James Read
Affiliation:
Pembroke College, Oxford
Nicholas J. Teh
Affiliation:
University of Notre Dame, Indiana
Get access

Summary

Famously, Klein and Einstein were embroiled in an epistolary dispute over whether General Relativity has any physically meaningful conserved quantities. This chapter explores the consequences of Noether’s second theorem for this debate and connects it to Einstein’s search for a ‘substantive’ version of general covariance as well as his quest to extend the Principle of Relativity. The chapter’s argument is that Noether’s second theorem provides a clear way to distinguish between theories in which gauge or diffeomorphism symmetry is doing real work in defining charges, as opposed to cases in which this symmetry stems from Kretchmannization. Finally, a comment is made on the relationship between this Noetherian form of substantive general covariance and the notion of ‘background independence’.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Philosophy and Physics of Noether's Theorems
A Centenary Volume
, pp. 274 - 295
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×