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Time in Special Relativity

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Springer Handbook of Spacetime

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Abstract

We compare and contrast special relativistic time with time in prerelativistic physics. In relativity there are no unique time intervals between events, and there is no unique simultaneity relation. We discuss consequences of this situation for the philosophy of time. Although we do not subscribe to the thesis that relativistic simultaneity is purely conventional, we argue that this simultaneity is unrelated to a flow of time.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. History and Foundations of Science, Utrecht University, 3508 TA, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Dennis Dieks

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  1. Dennis Dieks
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Correspondence to Dennis Dieks .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University, 16802, University Park, PA, USA

    Abhay Ashtekar

  2. Institute for Foundational Studies Hermann Minkowski, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Vesselin Petkov

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Dieks, D. (2014). Time in Special Relativity. In: Ashtekar, A., Petkov, V. (eds) Springer Handbook of Spacetime. Springer Handbooks. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41992-8_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41992-8_6

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-41991-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-41992-8

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