Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: It is a striking fact that the theories of the so-called geometric trinity of gravity can model the same gravitational effects with such diverse geometric tools as curvature, torsion, and nonmetricity. Building on Wolf et al., (2024), this contribution clarifies and critiques state-of-the-art responses to this underdetermination: conventionalism, discriminatory approaches such as Ockhamism and (arguably) functionalism, and reinterpretational common core and overarching approaches. Except for Ockhamism, no realist solution has been convincingly articulated. The future of the metric-affine structure that accommodates the geometric trinity seems to lie not in empirically equivalent reformulations but in heuristics of theory building.
Source: Philosophy of Science
Author: Ruward Mulder
Institution: University of California, Irvine
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,550
OpenAlex ID: W7165184162
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