George Jaroszkiewicz
This chapter focuses on the fact that by definition, empty spacetime cannot be observed. Therefore, there is room here not only for different mathematical models of the information void (the spacetime region devoid of any detection apparatus) but also for different interpretations as to what space and time actually mean there. The chapter discusses Mach’s relationalism and Einstein’s view of the aether. It discusses Planck’s quantization hypothesis, photons, and the possibility of modelling the information void with something other than Minkowski spacetime. The chapter finishes with a discussion of Hartland Snyder’s quantized spacetime algebra, a modification of standard relativistic quantum theory that may yet provide a better model for the void than classical Minkowski spacetime. The chapter shows that in Snyder’s model, space is quantized but time is not.
Oxford University Press eBooks•Jan 1, 2016•0 citations