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Projective spacetime

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Abstract

It is suggested that the world is locally projectively flat rather than Euclidean. From this postulate it is shown that an (N+1)-particle system has the global geometry of the symmetric spaceSO(4,N+1)/SO(4)×SO(N+1). A complex representation also exists, with structureSU(2,N+1)/S[U(2)×U(N+1)]. Several aspects of these geometrics are developed. Physical states are taken to be eigenfunctions of the Laplace-Beltrami operators. The theory may provide a rational basis for comprehending the groupsSO(4, 2),SU(2)×U(1),SU(3), etc., of current interest.

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Supported in part by the National Science Foundation.

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Eichinger, B.E. Projective spacetime. Found Phys 7, 673–703 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00708589

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