Article Title：Theories of Newtonian gravity and empirical indistinguishability
Abstract：
In this essay, I examine the curved spacetime formulation of Newtonian gravity known as Newton-Cartan gravity and compare it with flat spacetime formulations. Two versions of Newton-Cartan gravity can be identified in the physics literature-a weak version and a strong version. The strong version has a constrained Hamiltonian formulation and consequently a well-defined gauge structure, whereas the weak version does not (with some qualifications). Moreover, the strong version is best compared with the structure of what Earman (World enough and spacetime. Cambridge: MIT Press) has dubbed Maxwellian spacetime. This suggests that there are also two versions of Newtonian gravity in flat spacetime-a weak version in Maxwellian spacetime, and a strong version in Neo-Newtonian spacetime. I conclude by indicating how these alternative formulations of Newtonian gravity impact the notion of empirical indistinguishability and the debate over scientific realism. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Newtonian gravity; gauge system; empirical indistinguishability
DOI: 10.1016/j.shpsb.2003.10.004
Source：STUDIES IN HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF MODERN PHYSICS
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