The structure of classical mechanics
| Abstract | How do we learn about the nature of the world from the mathematical formulation of a physical theory? One rule we follow, familiar from spacetime theorizing: posit the least amount of spacetime structure required by the fundamental dynamical laws. I think that we should extend this rule beyond spacetime structure. We should extend the rule to statespace structure. Using this rule, I argue that a classical mechanical world has a surprisingly spare amount of structure. | |||||||||
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