Are General Relativity and Teleparallel Gravity Theoretically Equivalent?

Teleparallel gravity shares many qualitative features with general relativity, but differs from it in the following way: whereas in general relativity, gravitation is a manifestation of spacetime curvature, in teleparallel gravity, spacetime is (always) flat. Gravitational effects in this theory arise due to spacetime torsion. It is often claimed that teleparallel gravity is an equivalent reformulation of general relativity. In this paper we question that view. We argue that the theories are not equivalent, by the criterion of categorical equivalence or any stronger criterion, and that teleparallel gravity posits strictly more structure than general relativity.

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Publication Details

Journal
Philosophy of Physics
Published
2025-01-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.31389/pop.152
Citations
5
Primary Topic
Relativity and Gravitational Theory
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
5.77
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article

Are General Relativity and Teleparallel Gravity Theoretically Equivalent?

James Owen Weatherall, Helen Meskhidze
5 citations
Philosophy of Physics
Relativity and Gravitational Theory
5.77
article

Are General Relativity and Teleparallel Gravity Theoretically Equivalent?

James Owen Weatherall, Helen Meskhidze
article en
5 citations

Abstract

Teleparallel gravity shares many qualitative features with general relativity, but differs from it in the following way: whereas in general relativity, gravitation is a manifestation of spacetime curvature, in teleparallel gravity, spacetime is (always) flat. Gravitational effects in this theory arise due to spacetime torsion. It is often claimed that teleparallel gravity is an equivalent reformulation of general relativity. In this paper we question that view. We argue that the theories are not equivalent, by the criterion of categorical equivalence or any stronger criterion, and that teleparallel gravity posits strictly more structure than general relativity.

Philosophy of PhysicsVol. 3(1)
Openalex Percentile: Top 4%
Relativity and Gravitational Theory
5.77
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