Why is the World four-dimensional? Hermann Weyl's 1955 argument and the topology of causation

[摘要] This paper approaches the question of space dimensionality by discussing a neglected argument proposed by Hermann Weyl in 1955. In Why is the World Four-Dimensional? (1955), Weyl offered a different argument from the one generally attributed to him and presented in Raum-Zeit-Materie. In the first sections of the paper, this new argument and its features are spelled-out, and in the last section, I shall develop some useful remarks on the concept of topology of causation that can still inform our reflection on the dimensionality of the world.

[发布机构] Department of Philosophy, Building B, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Bellaterra (Barcelona); 08193, Spain^1

[效力级别] 力学 [学科分类] 力学，机械学