University of Toronto's Symplectic Geometry Seminar

Abstract: In his 1915 paper "Foundations of Physics," David Hilbert provided an axiomatic foundation for general relativity based on an action principle. He argued these axioms determine a unique theory in which electrodynamics appears as a consequence of gravitation. This talk, based on the speaker's soon-to-appear English translation, focuses on Hilbert's vision of a uniquely-determined, unified theory of physics based on geometric invariants.