André Bonaly
André Bonaly | |
|---|---|
| Known for | Topological model of space-time |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Theoretical physics, mathematics |
| Institutions | University of Paris X (Nanterre) |
André Bonaly is a researcher known for heterodox theoretical work on the mathematical and topological structure of space-time. He is listed in The Worldwide List of Dissident Scientists.
Work
Bonaly, associated with the University of Paris X (Nanterre), is the author of "The trace of time in Poincaré sections of a topological space," in which he proposes that observable space-time can be identified with an ordered sequence of three-dimensional "Poincaré sections" embedded in a four-dimensional topological space, with the mappings between successive sections representing infinitesimal increments of time. He offers this as a definition of time and as a tentative resolution of paradoxes in special relativity.
In collaboration with Michel Bounias (and others), Bonaly co-authored the multi-part series "Scanning the structure of ill-known spaces," which builds a model of physical space from set theory and topology—beginning from the empty set and non-well-founded sets—and identifies mass with disruptions in homeomorphic mappings between successive Poincaré sections. These speculative foundations-of-physics proposals lie outside the physical mainstream.