The objective of the conference is to deliberate the mathematical,
physical and philosophical elements of different understandings of
Relativity Theory; the physical and philosophical arguments and commitments
shaping its interpretations, including its applications, especially those
in relativistic cosmology and relativistic quantum theory. The organizing
committee is open for examination of recent advantages in the
interpretational problems of Relativity Theory, as well as, for analysis of
the cultural, ideological and philosophical factors that have roles in its
evolution, and development of the modern physical world view determined to
a considerable extent by that theory. The conference intends to review the
fruitfulness of orthodox Relativity, as developed from the
Einstein-Minkowski formulation, and to suggest how history and philosophy
of science clarify the relationship between the accepted relativistic
formal structure and the various physical interpretations associated with
it. While the
organizing committee encourages critical investigations and welcomes both
Einsteinian and non-Einsteinian (Lorentzian, etc.) approaches, including the recently
proposed ether-type theories, it is assumed that the received formal
structure of the theory is valid and anti-relativistic papers will not be
accepted. Metaphysical consideration connected to Relativity Theory may be
included into the program only if it definitely contributes to the
clarification of the mathematical, physical and philosophical aspects of
the theory and is kept closely related to science. The meeting was initiated by Professor Duffy, the
establisher and organizer of the regular meetings on the Physical
Interpretation of Relativity Theory (PIRT) in London, and should
contribute to the series of PIRT meetings by discussing the usual PIRT
themes with a special emphasis on the philosophical aspects but not
excluding mathematical and physical approaches. The organizing committee
equally waits for contributions by mathematicians, physicists and
philosophers and hopes that the meeting will give opportunity to establish
communication among researchers of the region and
those of other parts of the world working in this field. The standard length of an address
will be 30 minutes but there will be provision for longer contributions by
invited speakers (circa 40 minutes)
and shorter contributions (circa 20 minutes). Please indicate your
intention to participate in the meeting to the conference co-ordinator as early as
possible.
GENERAL OBJECTIVES OF
THE
CONFERENCE
Loránd Eötvös
as young university professor
at Pest
University
(Today Loránd Eötvös
University)
The Torsion Balance
invented by Loránd Eötvös
(The ”Eötvös Pendulum”)