Description: This monograph presents the first detailed exposition of the formal theory of Branching Space-Times (BST). The theory presented here by Nuel Belnap, Thomas Muller, and Tomasz Placek describes how real possibilities can be anchored in a spatio-temporal world that is rudimentarily relativistic. Things that are possible in Cleveland are not possible in San Francisco; other things were possible in 1988 but are not possible in 2021. BST represents such possibilities using a mathematically rigorous framework that combines modality and rudimentary relativistic space-times. The book is divided into two parts: the first contains the exposition of the theory, including detailed proofs; the second contains three applications of BST in metaphysics and philosophy of science, focusing on the use of BST to represent pertinent forms of indeterminism in each area.
This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.Review Quotes: "Belnap, Müller, and Placek defend a novel theory of branching space-times in this mathematically rigorous, engaging monograph at the intersection of metaphysics, philosophy of time, and modern physics." -- L. B. McHenry, CHOICE
"This book develops a rigorous theory of indeterminism asa local and modal concept. Its crucial insight is that our world contains events or processes with alternative, really possible outcomes." -- MathSciNet