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Are Dynamic Shifts Dynamical Symmetries?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2023

Caspar Jacobs Open the ORCID record for Caspar Jacobs [Opens in a new window]
Caspar Jacobs*
Affiliation:
Merton College, University of Oxford, Merton Street, Oxford, United Kingdom
*
Email: caspar.jacobs@merton.ox.ac.uk
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Abstract

Shifts are a well-known feature of the literature on spacetime symmetries. Recently, discussions have focused on so-called dynamic shifts, which by analogy with static and kinematic shifts enact arbitrary linear accelerations of all matter (as well as a change in the gravitational potential). But in mathematical formulations of these shifts, the analogy breaks down: while static and kinematic shift act on the matter field, the dynamic shift acts on spacetime structure instead. I formulate a different, “active,” version of the dynamic shift which does act on matter, and analyse the consequences of this reformulation for Newton–Cartan theory and Maxwell gravitation.

Type
Contributed Paper
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 90 , Issue 5 , December 2023 , pp. 1352 - 1362
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Philosophy of Science Association

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