A Puzzle about Laws, Symmetries and Measurability

Dados Bibliográficos

ID8396372
AutoresJohn Roberts (0000-0002-0059-430X, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, autor correspondente), John T Roberts
Ano2008
Volume59
Fascículo2
Páginas143-168
Data de publicação2008-06-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoThe British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0007-0882 • E-ISSN: 1464-3537
EditoraOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/bjps/axn009
OpenAlexW2108550857
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas29
Referências citadas5

I describe a problem about the relations among symmetries, laws and measurable quantities. I explain why several ways of trying to solve it will not work, and I sketch a solution that might work. I discuss this problem in the context of Newtonian theories, but it also arises for many other physical theories. The problem is that there are two ways of defining the space-time symmetries of a physical theory: as its dynamical symmetries or as its empirical symmetries. The two definitions are not equivalent, yet they pick out the same extension. This coincidence cries out for explanation, and it is not clear what the explanation could be. 1. The Puzzle: Symmetries, Measurability and Invariance1.1 The symmetries and the measurable quantities of Newtonian mechanics1.2 The puzzle2. Two Easy Answers3. Another Unsuccessful Solution: Appeal to Geometrical Symmetries4. Locating the Puzzle5. The Relation between Laws and Measurability6. A Possible Solution

Appeal · Context (archaeology) · Epistemology · Extension (predicate logic) · Geometry · Homogeneous space · Mathematical economics · Physical law · Physics · Sketch · Space (punctuation) · Theoretical physics · Computer Science · Law · Mathematical and Theoretical Analysis · Mathematics · Philosophy · Quantum Mechanics and Applications · Relativity and Gravitational Theory