Mach's principle and higher‐dimensional dynamics

We briefly discuss the current status of Mach's principle in general relativity and point out that its last vestige, namely, the gravitomagnetic field associated with rotation, has recently been measured for the earth in the GP‐B experiment. Furthermore, in his analysis of the foundations of Newtonian mechanics, Mach provided an operational definition for inertial mass and pointed out that time and space are conceptually distinct from their operational definitions by means of masses. Mach recognized that this circumstance is due to the lack of any a priori connection between the inertial mass of a body and its Newtonian state in space and time. One possible way to improve upon this situation in classical physics is to associate mass with an extra dimension. Indeed, Einstein's theory of gravitation can be locally embedded in a Ricci‐flat 5D manifold such that the 4D energy‐momentum tensor appears to originate from the existence of the extra dimension. An outline of such a 5D Machian extension of Einstein's general relativity is presented.     

The End Results of General Relativity Theory Via Just Energy Conservation and Quantum Mechanics

Herein we present a whole new approach that leads to the end results of the general theory of relativity via just the law of conservation of energy (broadened to embody the mass and energy equivalence of the special theory of relativity) and quantum mechanics. We start with the following postulate. Postulate: The rest mass of an object bound to a celestial body amounts less than its rest mass measured in empty space, and this, as much as its binding energy vis-á-vis the gravitational field of concern.     

牛顿力学中的惯性质量与狭义相对论中的惯性质量

分别详细说明了在牛顿力学中和在狭义相对论中,惯性和惯性质量的概念是如何引入的.明确地阐述了狭义相对论同牛顿力学相类似,物体(可视为质点或粒子)的固有质量(或静止质量)就是其惯性质量.通过分析,指出并强调了运动质量只是个规定,并非物体惯性的大小真的随运动发生了改变.最后还对静止质量为零、速度为光速的粒子只遵从狭义相对论而...     

Killing time

Theoretical consequences of the gravitational origin of inertial reaction forces, that is, Mach's principle, are explored. It is argued that Mach's principle leads to the conclusion that time, as we normally treat it in our common experience and physical theory, is not a part of fundamental reality; the past and future have a real, objective existence, as is already suggested by both special and general relativity theory. A laboratory scale experiment whereby Mach's principle, and thus radical timeless ness, can be established is mentioned.     

Aberration and the question of equivalence of some ether theories to special relativity

In the last two decades, theories explaining the same experiments as well as special relativity does, were developed by using different synchronization procedures. All of them are ether-like theories. Most authors believe these theories to be equivalent to special relativity, but no general proof was ever given. By means of agedanken experiment on light aberration, we produce strong evidence that this is the case for experiments made in inertial systems.     

耗散系统不可逆过程中的可拓展广义相对论时空关系

在引入非保守非惯性系的基础上对不可逆过程建立非保守系等效性假设，在引入广域度规的基础上对具有复杂行为的时空建立非保守系协变性假设；利用密度分布的不均匀度h(ρ)和粗粒熵S（ρtε）及推导的多标度因数η*计算式，引入非保守惯性质量和非保守引力质量.分析表明，新结果使引力理论与非平衡态统计理论和非线性动力学达到应有的谐和，发展并修正广义相对论. 关键词： 时空关系 耗散系统 不可逆性 可拓展广义相对论 非保守引力质量     

Einstein's First Steps Toward General Relativity: Gedanken Experiments and Axiomatics

Jahrbuch paper is an extraordinary document because it contains his first steps toward generalizing the 1905 relativity theory to include gravitation. Ignoring the apparent experimental disconfirmation of the 1905 relativity theory and his unsuccessful attempts to generalize the mass-energy equivalence, Einstein boldly raises the mass-energy equivalence to an axiom, invokes equality between gravitational and inertial masses, and then postulates the equivalence between a uniform gravitational field and an oppositely directed constant acceleration, the equivalence principle. How did this come about? What is at issue is scientific creativity. This necessitates broadening historical analysis to include aspects of cognitive science such as the role of visual imagery in Einstein's thinking, and the relation between conscious and unconscious modes of thought in problem solving. This method reveals the catalysts that sparked a Gedanken experiment that occurred to Einstein while working on the Jahrbuch paper. A mental model is presented to further explore Einstein's profound scientific discovery.     

Relativity,thermodynamics and entropic forces

A recent assertion that inertial and gravitational forces are entropic forces is discussed. A more conventional approach is stressed herein, whereby entropy is treated as a result of relative motion between observers in different frames of reference. It is demonstrated that the entropy associated with inertial and gravitational forces is dependent upon the well known lapse function of general relativity. An interpretation of the temperature and entropy of an accelerating body is then developed, and used to relate the entropic force to Newton's second law of motion. The entropic force is also derived in general coordinates. An expression of the gravitational entropy of in‐falling matter is then derived by way of Schwarzschild coordinates. As a final consideration, the entropy of a weakly gravitating matter distribution is shown to be proportional to the self‐energy and the stress‐energy‐momentum content of the matter distribution.     

Slow rotation in the bimetric theory of gravitation

The equations describing the moment of inertia and the dragging of inertial frames of slowly rotating neutron stars are derived according to Rosen's bimetric theory of gravitation. Numerical calculations of the properties of neutron stars according to the bimetric theory and general relativity were made using several equations of state. The general trend found is that in the bimetric theory neutron stars with a given mass induce a smaller dragging of inertial frames than in general relativity. The moment of inertia of low-mass stars also is smaller in the bimetric theory. For high-mass stars, however, the moment of inertia is found to be larger in the bimetric theory.In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the D.Sc. degree.     

Attempt to construct a general covariant theory of a scalar gravitational field

An attempt is made in this paper to construct a scalar theory of gravitation which is based on the main postulates of the general theory of relativity (GTR), i.e., on the principle of the equivalence of inertial and gravitational mass and on the principle of general covariance of the theory.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 4, pp. 75–79, April, 1984.     

Planck Mass Plasma Analog of String Theory

In recent years there had been a growing interest in analog models of general relativity, with certain superfluid solutions simulating black hole solutions of Einstein's gravitational field equation. The quantization of a superfluid, composed of discrete particles (helium atoms), treated as a nonrelativistic many body problem does not lead to divergencies as the quantization of Einstein's field equations. Quantization of gravity is possible in string theory, but only if one introduces the daring hypothesis of higher dimensions. But if the gravitational field is made up of discrete elements as superfluid helium is made up of helium atoms, then gravity can be quantized without difficulty in three space and one time dimension. Such a hypothesis, of course, implies that Lorentz invariance is a dynamic symmetry caused by real rod and clock deformations, as it was assumed in the pre-Einstein theory of relativity by Lorentz and Poincaré, which required the existence of an aether. Making the hypothesis that this aether is a kind of superfluid plasma made up of positive and negative Planck mass particles interacting with the Planck force over a Planck length, one obtains an analog of the standard model, including gravity, which can be quantized as a nonrelativistic many body problem. In this model nonrelativistic vortex rings in three space dimensions and one time dimension simulate the relativistic theory of closed strings in ten space-time dimensions. But because in the vortex lattice, one obtains a large dimensionless number conceivably advancing our understanding of the finestructure constant.     

The validity of the formulaE=mc 2 for gravitational energy

Theoretical evidence for the validity of the formulaE =mc ² for gravitational energy in general relativity is reviewed. For isolated bodies the formula applies to both the inertial mass and the mass as a source of gravity. The formula also holds for the case of the mass density (as a source of gravity) of an inhomogeneous medium with small-scale gravitational interactions.     

Analogue Models of and for Gravity

Condensed matter systems, such as acoustics in flowing fluids, light in moving dielectrics, or quasiparticles in a moving superfluid, can be used to mimic aspects of general relativity. More precisely these systems (and others) provide experimentally accessible models of curved-space quantum field theory. As such they mimic kinematic aspects of general relativity, though typically they do not mimic the dynamics. Although these analogue models are thereby limited in their ability to duplicate all the effects of Einstein gravity they nevertheless are extremely important—they provide black hole analogues (some of which have already been seen experimentally) and lead to tests of basic principles of curved-space quantum field theory. Currently these tests are still in the realm of gedanken-experiments, but there are plausible candidate models that should lead to laboratory experiments in the not too distant future.     

基于同时的相对性对钟慢尺缩效应的再认识

同时的相对性、钟慢效应和尺缩效应是狭义相对论时空观的主要内容.鉴于同时性是时空测量的基础,本文从同时的相对性出发详述了对钟慢效应和尺缩效应的再认识:钟慢效应是运动时钟走时率变慢和校表问题的综合表现,其实质是同时的相对性在时间量度上的直接反映;尺缩效应的实质是同时的相对性在空间量度上的反映,也是不同观测者对同一客观事实的不同时空描述.     

弱等效原理的实验检验

惯性质量与引力质量相等是广义相对论基本理论假设之一，这个假设称为等效原理。本文介绍等效原理的检验实验的框架以及检验实验的历史、现状和未来。     

Moving Observers in an Isotropic Universe

This paper considers how the motion of an observer in an isotropic universe may be determined by measurements. This provides a means to identify inertial frames, yielding a simple resolution to the twins paradox of relativity theory in such a universe. We propose that isotropy is a requirement for a frame to be inertial; this makes it possible to relate motion to the large scale structure of the universe.     

Local Scale Invariance and General Relativity

According to the theory of unimodular relativity developed by Anderson and Finkelstein, the equations of general relativity with a cosmological constant are composed of two independent equations, one which determines the null-cone structure of space-time, another which determines the measure structure of space-time. The field equations that follow from the restricted variational principle of this version of general relativity only determine the null-cone structure and are globally scale-invariant and scale-free. We show that the electromagnetic field may be viewed as a compensating gauge field that guarantees local scale invariance of these field equations. In this way, Weyl's geometry is revived. However, the two principle objections to Weyl's theory do not apply to the present formulation: the Lagrangian remains first order in the curvature scalar and the nonintegrability of length only applies to the null-cone structure.     

Derivation of Dirac's Equation from the Evans Wave Equation

The Evans wave equation [1] of general relativity is expressed in spinor form, thus producing the Dirac equation in general relativity. The Dirac equation in special relativity is recovered in the limit of Euclidean or flat spacetime. By deriving the Dirac equation from the Evans equation it is demonstrated that the former originates in a novel metric compatibility condition, a geometrical constraint on the metric vector qused to define the Einstein metric tensor. Contrary to some claims by Ryder, it is shown that the Dirac equation cannot be deduced unequivocally from a Lorentz boost in special relativity. It is shown that the usually accepted method in Clifford algebra and special relativity of equating the outer product of two Pauli spinors to a three-vector in the Pauli basis leads to the paradoxical result X = Y = Z = 0. The method devised in this paper for deriving the Dirac equation from the Evans equation does not use this paradoxical result.     

Elementary particle physics from general relativity

This paper presents a qualitative comparison of opposing views of elementary matter—the Copenhagen approach in quantum mechanics and the theory of general relativity. It discusses in detail some of their main conceptual differences, when each theory is fully exploited as a theory of matter, and it indicates why each of these theories, at its presently accepted state, is incomplete without the other. But it is then argued on logical grounds that they cannot be fused, thus indicating the need for a third revolution in contemporary physics. Toward this goal, the approach discussed is one of further generalizing the theory of general relativity in a way that incorporates the inertial manifestations of matter in covariant fashion, with quantum mechanics serving as a low-energy, linear approximation. Such a theoretical extension of general relativity will be discussed, with applications in elementary particle physics, such as the appearance of mass spectra in the microdomain, as an asymptotic feature of matter, mass doublets (electron-muon and proton-heavy proton), the explanation of pair annihilation and creation from a deterministic field theory, charge quantization, and features of pions.This paper is based on a seminar given at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy, in the summer, 1980. I thank Prof. Abdus Salam and the faculty of the Centre for their hospitality in this period.     

Relativistic perihelion precession of orbits of Venus and the Earth

Among all the theories proposed to explain the “anomalous” perihelion precession of Mercury’s orbit first announced in 1859 by Le Verrier, the general theory of relativity proposed by Einstein in November 1915 alone could calculate Mercury’s “anomalous” precession with the precision demanded by observational accuracy. Since Mercury’s precession was a directly derived result of the full general theory, it was viewed by Einstein as the most critical test of general relativity from amongst the three tests he proposed. With the advent of the space age, the level of observational accuracy has improved further and it is now possible to detect this precession for other planetary orbits of the solar system — viz., Venus and the Earth. This conclusively proved that the phenomenon of “anomalous” perihelion precession of planetary orbits is a relativistic effect. Our previous papers presented the mathematical model and the computed value of the relativistic perihelion precession of Mercury’s orbit using an alternate relativistic gravitational model, which is a remodeled form of Einstein’s relativity theories, and which retained only experimentally proven principles. In addition this model has the benefit of data from almost a century of relativity experimentation, including those that have become possible with the advent of the space age. Using this model, we present in this paper the computed values of the relativistic precession of Venus and the Earth, which compare well with the predictions of general relativity and are also in agreement with the observed values within the range of uncertainty.