Flat Spacetime Gravitation with a Preferred Foliation
Abstract
Description
Paralleling the formal derivation of general relativity as a flat spacetime theory, we introduce in addition a preferred temporal foliation. The physical interpretation of the formalism is considered in the context of 5-dimensional ``parametrized'' and 4-dimensional preferred frame contexts. In the former case, we suggest that our earlier proposal of unconcatenated parametrized physics requires that the dependence on $τ$ be rather slow. In the 4-dimensional case, we consider and tentatively reject several areas of physics that might require a preferred foliation, but find a need for one in the process (``flowing'') theory of time. We then suggest why such a foliation might reasonably be unobservable.
contribution to proceedings of Conference on Relativistic Dynamics IARD2000, June 26-28, 2000, Tel Aviv, Israel, to appear in Foundations of Physics
contribution to proceedings of Conference on Relativistic Dynamics IARD2000, June 26-28, 2000, Tel Aviv, Israel, to appear in Foundations of Physics