The Flow of Time in the Theory of Relativity

  • Mario Bacelar Valente Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Spain
Keywords: Flow of Time, Proper Timer, Worldline, Relativity of Simultaneíty, Time Dilation

Abstract

According to Dennis Dieks, in the theory of relativity, the «flow of time» results from the succession of events along time-like worldlines.  We have a flow of time per worldline. This leads to a view of now as local to each worldline. In this approach there is no global temporal order of the now-points of different worldlines. For a consistency reason it is imposed a limitation on the assignment of different now-points. Here it is made the claim that this consistency requirement is inbuilt in the theory, and it is presented a detailed analysis of this approach.

Author Biography

Mario Bacelar Valente, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Spain

Mario Bacelar Valente, es Profesor del Departamento de Sistemas Físicos, Químicos y Naturales de laUniversidad Pablo de Olavide, España. Doctor en Filosofía de la Ciencia (PhD) por la Universidad de Sevilla. Susprincipales áreas de interés son el análisis de conceptos físicos y el papel de la matemática en la física. Entre susprincipales publicaciones se cuentan: «Proper time and the clock hypothesis in the theory of relativity».European Journal for Philosophy of Science 6 (2016): pp. 191–207; «Philosophy of Physics», en History andPhilosophy of Science and Technology (Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems – EOLSS) (Paris: UNESCO–EOLSS,2012); «The relation between classical and quantum electrodynamics». Theoria. An International Journal forTheory, History and Foundations of Science 26 (2011): pp. 51–68.

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Published
2016-12-31
How to Cite
[1]
Bacelar Valente, M. 2016. The Flow of Time in the Theory of Relativity. Disputatio. 5, 6 (Dec. 2016), 11-36. DOI:https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3551795.
Section
Articles and Essays