On the Meaning of Local Symmetries: Epistemic-ontological Dialectics
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2025 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Foundations of Physics |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| web | https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10701-025-00849-y |
| Doi | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-025-00849-y |
| Keywords | Local symmetries; Bundle geometry; General relativity; Gauge field theory; Relationality |
| Attached files | |
| Description | We propose our account of the meaning of local symmetries. We argue that the general covariance principle and gauge principle both are principles of democratic epistemic access to the law of physics, leading to ontological insights about the objective nature of spacetime. We further argue that relationality is a core notion of general-relativistic gauge field theory, tacitly encoded by its (active) local symmetries. |
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