2011/06/05 by Gordon Belot · 2 citations
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Background independence #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Causal structure #Computer science #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Differential geometry #Epistemology #Explication #Geometry #Independence (probability theory) #Interpretation (philosophy) #Mathematics #Philosophy #Physics #Property (philosophy) #Quantum gravity #Quantum mechanics #Relationship between string theory and quantum field theory #Relativity and Gravitational Theory #Spacetime #Theoretical physics #gr-qc
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s10714-011-1210-x
Forthcoming in General Relativity and Gravitation
arxiv created 2011/06/05 · openalex publication_date 2011/06/17 · arxiv updated 2015/05/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Intuitively speaking, a classical field theory is background-independent if the structure required to make sense of its equations is itself subject to dynamical evolution, rather than being imposed ab initio. The aim of this paper is to provide an explication of this intuitive notion. Background-independence is not a not formal property of theories: the question whether a theory is background-independent depends upon how the theory is interpreted. Under the approach proposed here, a theory is fully background-independent relative to an interpretation if each physical possibility corresponds to a distinct spacetime geometry; and it falls short of full background-independence to the extent that this condition fails.