15 research outputs found
Temporal Logic of Minkowski Spacetime
We present the proof that the temporal logic of two-dimensional Minkowski
spacetime is decidable, PSPACE-complete. The proof is based on a type of
two-dimensional mosaic. Then we present the modification of the proof so as to
work for slower-than-light signals. Finally, a subframe of the
slower-than-light Minkowski frame is used to prove the new result that the
temporal logic of real intervals with during as the accessibility relation is
also PSPACE-complete
The Temporal Logic of two dimensional Minkowski spacetime is decidable
We consider Minkowski spacetime, the set of all point-events of spacetime
under the relation of causal accessibility. That is, can access if an electromagnetic or (slower than light) mechanical signal could be
sent from to . We use Prior's tense language of
and representing causal accessibility and its converse relation. We
consider two versions, one where the accessibility relation is reflexive and
one where it is irreflexive.
In either case it has been an open problem, for decades, whether the logic is
decidable or axiomatisable. We make a small step forward by proving, for the
case where the accessibility relation is irreflexive, that the set of valid
formulas over two-dimensional Minkowski spacetime is decidable, decidability
for the reflexive case follows from this. The complexity of either problem is
PSPACE-complete.
A consequence is that the temporal logic of intervals with real endpoints
under either the containment relation or the strict containment relation is
PSPACE-complete, the same is true if the interval accessibility relation is
"each endpoint is not earlier", or its irreflexive restriction.
We provide a temporal formula that distinguishes between three-dimensional
and two-dimensional Minkowski spacetime and another temporal formula that
distinguishes the two-dimensional case where the underlying field is the real
numbers from the case where instead we use the rational numbers.Comment: 30 page
The temporal logic of two-dimensional Minkowski spacetime with slower-than-light accessibility is decidable
We work primarily with the Kripke frame consisting of two-dimensional
Minkowski spacetime with the irreflexive accessibility relation 'can reach with
a slower-than-light signal'. We show that in the basic temporal language, the
set of validities over this frame is decidable. We then refine this to
PSPACE-complete. In both cases the same result for the corresponding reflexive
frame follows immediately. With a little more work we obtain
PSPACE-completeness for the validities of the Halpern-Shoham logic of intervals
on the real line with two different combinations of modalities.Comment: 20 page
The Asymmetric Nature of Time
This open access monograph offers a detailed study and a systematic defense of a key intuition we typically have, as human beings, with respect to the nature of time: the intuition that the future is open, whereas the past is fixed. For example, whereas it seems unsettled whether there will be a fourth world war, it is settled that there was a first world war. The book contributes, in particular, three major and original insights. First, it provides a coherent, non-metaphorical, and metaphysically illuminating elucidation of the intuition. Second, it determines which model of the temporal structure of the world is most appropriate to accommodate the intuition, and settles on a specific version of the Growing Block Theory of time (GBT). Third, it puts forward a naturalistic foundation for GBT, by exploiting recent results of our best physics (viz. General Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, and Quantum Gravity). Three main challenges are addressed: the dismissal of temporal asymmetries as non-fundamental phenomena only (e.g., thermodynamic or causal phenomena), the epistemic objection against GBT, and the apparent tension between GBT and relativistic physics. It is argued that the asymmetry between the open future and the fixed past must be grounded in the temporal structure of the world, and that this is neither precluded by our epistemic device, nor by the latest approaches to Quantum Gravity (​e.g., the Causal Set Theory). Aiming at reconciling time as we find it in ordinary experience and time as physics describes it, this ​innovative book ​will raise the interest of both academic researchers and ​graduate students working on the philosophy of time. More generally, it ​presents contents of interest for all metaphysicians and non-dogmatic philosophers of physics. This is an open access book
The Asymmetric Nature of Time
This open access monograph offers a detailed study and a systematic defense of a key intuition we typically have, as human beings, with respect to the nature of time: the intuition that the future is open, whereas the past is fixed. For example, whereas it seems unsettled whether there will be a fourth world war, it is settled that there was a first world war. The book contributes, in particular, three major and original insights. First, it provides a coherent, non-metaphorical, and metaphysically illuminating elucidation of the intuition. Second, it determines which model of the temporal structure of the world is most appropriate to accommodate the intuition, and settles on a specific version of the Growing Block Theory of time (GBT). Third, it puts forward a naturalistic foundation for GBT, by exploiting recent results of our best physics (viz. General Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, and Quantum Gravity). Three main challenges are addressed: the dismissal of temporal asymmetries as non-fundamental phenomena only (e.g., thermodynamic or causal phenomena), the epistemic objection against GBT, and the apparent tension between GBT and relativistic physics. It is argued that the asymmetry between the open future and the fixed past must be grounded in the temporal structure of the world, and that this is neither precluded by our epistemic device, nor by the latest approaches to Quantum Gravity (​e.g., the Causal Set Theory). Aiming at reconciling time as we find it in ordinary experience and time as physics describes it, this ​innovative book ​will raise the interest of both academic researchers and ​graduate students working on the philosophy of time. More generally, it ​presents contents of interest for all metaphysicians and non-dogmatic philosophers of physics. This is an open access book
Temporal logic of Minkowski spacetime
We present the proof that the temporal logic of two-dimensional Minkowski spacetime is decidable, PSPACE-complete. The proof is based on a type of two-dimensional mosaic. Then, we present the modification of the proof so as to work for slower-than-light signals. Finally, a subframe of the slower-than-light Minkowski frame is used to prove the new result that the temporal logic of real intervals with during as the accessibility relation is also PSPACE-complete
PSA 2020
These preprints were automatically compiled into a PDF from the collection of papers deposited in PhilSci-Archive in conjunction with the PSA 2020