Abstract
In this paper we introduce a variational principle from which the fundamental equations of classical physics can be deduced. This principle permits a sort of unification of the gravitational and the electromagnetic fields. The basic point of this variational principle is that the world-line of a material point is parametrized by a parameter a which carries some physical information, namely it is related to the rest mass and to the charge. In particular, the (inertial) rest mass will not be a property of a material point, but it will be a constant of the motion which is determined by the initial conditions. In this framework the equality between the inertial and gravitational mass can be deduced.
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REFERENCES
Th. Kaluza, Sitzungsberichte der K. Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, 1921, p. 966.
L. Landau and E. Lifschitz, Thé orie du Champ (Editions Mir, Moscow, 1966).
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Benci, V., Fortunato, D. A New Variational Principle for the Fundamental Equations of Classical Physics. Foundations of Physics 28, 333–352 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018713122024
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018713122024