Logical foundation for spacetime
by
István Németi
Rényi Institute, Budapest
Coauthors: Hajnal Andréka, Judit X.\ Madarász and Gergely Székely

The logical foundation for spacetime theories (including relativity) is analogous with the foundation of mathematics (the latter being ZF set theory). E.g. we build up relativity theory in the framework of first order logic, gradually. No familiarity with physics is presupposed. After axiomatizing the theory come streamlining and conceptual analysis (like e.g. "reverse mathematics"). Among the aims are: easy accessibility for the logically minded nonspecialists, unification, simplification, better understanding, and modularity. This talk prepares the ground for several other talks at the conference. Connections with still further talks will be mentioned. There are ties also with the workshop on Monday and the movie at the end. As a motivation for the broader circle of mathematicians we note that spacetime has recently become one of the cutting edge areas of science and is going through fascinating changes making headlines in newspapers.

Date received: August 1, 2005