Einstein Against Singularities: Analysis versus Geometry

Einstein identified singularities in spacetimes, such as at the Schwarzschild radius, where later relativists only find a coordinate system assigning multiple values to a single spacetime event. These differing judgments derive from differences in mathematical methods. Later relativists employ geometrical structures to correct anomalies in the coordinate systems used in analytic expressions. Einstein took the analytic expressions to be primary and the geometrical structures as mere heuristics that could be overruled if physical assumptions required it. Einstein’s non-geometric methods had a firm base in the history of mathematical methods. They continued the non-geometric orientation of Christoffel, Ricci and Levi-Civita. Einstein’s insistence that singularities must be eliminated marked a departure from earlier tolerance of singularities. It was founded upon his long-term project of eliminating arbitrariness from fundamental physical theories. However, Einstein was willing to theorize with singularities only temporarily if they were the least arbitrary approach then available.