This paper approaches the question of space dimensionality by discussing a neglected argument proposed by Hermann Weyl in 1955. In Why is the World Four-Dimensional? (1955), Weyl offered a different argument from the one generally attributed to him and presented in Raum-Zeit-Materie. In the first sections of the paper, this new argument and its features are spelled-out, and in the last section, I shall develop some useful remarks on the concept of topology of causation that can still inform our reflection on the dimensionality of the world.

Why is the World four-dimensional? Hermann Weyl's 1955 argument and the topology of causation / S. De Bianchi. - In: JOURNAL OF PHYSICS. CONFERENCE SERIES. - ISSN 1742-6588. - 880:1(2017), pp. 012011.1-012011.10. (Intervento presentato al 8. convegno International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy tenutosi a Castiglioncello nel 2016) [10.1088/1742-6596/880/1/012011].

Why is the World four-dimensional? Hermann Weyl's 1955 argument and the topology of causation

S. De Bianchi
2017

Abstract

This paper approaches the question of space dimensionality by discussing a neglected argument proposed by Hermann Weyl in 1955. In Why is the World Four-Dimensional? (1955), Weyl offered a different argument from the one generally attributed to him and presented in Raum-Zeit-Materie. In the first sections of the paper, this new argument and its features are spelled-out, and in the last section, I shall develop some useful remarks on the concept of topology of causation that can still inform our reflection on the dimensionality of the world.
Settore M-FIL/02 - Logica e Filosofia della Scienza
2017
Article (author)
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/838574
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