Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T11:30:30.709Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

8 - Noether’s First Theorem and the Energy-Momentum Tensor Ambiguity Problem

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2022

James Read
Affiliation:
Pembroke College, Oxford
Nicholas J. Teh
Affiliation:
University of Notre Dame, Indiana
Get access

Summary

Using the converse of Noether’s first theorem, this chapter shows that the Bessel-Hagen-type transformations are uniquely selected in the case of electrodynamics, which powerfully dissolves the methodological ambiguity at hand. It then considers how this line of argument applies to a variety of other cases, including in particular the challenge of defining an energy-momentum tensor for the gravitational field in linearised gravity. Finally, the search for proper Noether energy-momentum tensors is put into context with recent claims that Noether’s theorem and its converse make statements on equivalence classes of symmetries and conservation laws. The aim is to identify clearly the limitations of this latter move, and to develop this position by contrast with recent philosophical discussions about how symmetries relate to the representational capacities of theories.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Philosophy and Physics of Noether's Theorems
A Centenary Volume
, pp. 169 - 196
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×