Lost in the tensors: Einstein's struggles with covariance principles 1912–1916

https://doi.org/10.1016/0039-3681(78)90008-0Get rights and content

First page preview

First page preview
Click to open first page preview

References (44)

  • T. Hirosige

    The Ether Problem, the Mechanistic Worldview, and the Origins of the Theory of Relativity

  • A. Einstein

    Über das Relativitätsprinzip und die aus demselben gezogenen Folgerungen

    Jahrbuch der Radioaktivität und Elekronik

    (1907)
  • A. Einstein

    Über den Einfluss der Schwerkraft auf die Ausbreitung des Lichtes

    Annalen der Physik

    (1911)
  • Lichtgeschwindigkeit und Statik des Gravitationsfeldes

    Annalen der Physik

    (1912)

    Zur Theorie des statischen Gravitationsfelds

    Annalen der Physik

    (1912)
  • A. Einstein

    Die Grundlage der allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie

    Annalen der Physik

    (1916)
    W. Perrett et al.

    The Principle of Relativity

  • J. Earman

    Covariance, Invariance, and the Equivalence of Frames

    Foundations of Physics

    (1974)
  • A. Einstein et al.

    Entwurf einer verallgemeinerten Relativitätstheorie und einer Theorie der Gravitation

    Zeitschrift für Mathematik und Physik

    (1913)
  • A. Einstein

    Zur Relativitätstheorie (Nachtrag)

    Sitzungsberichte, der Königlichen Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin

    (1915)
  • A. Einstein

    Die Feldgleichungen der Gravitation

    Sitzungsberichte, der Königlichen Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin

    (1915)
  • Why Did Einstein's Program Succeed Lorentz's?

  • Einstein/Sommerfeld Briefwechsel, p....
  • B. Hoffmann

    Einstein and Tensors

    Tensor

    (1972)
  • E. Schrödinger

    Die Energiekomponenten des Gravitationsfeldes

    Physikalische Zeitschrift

    (1918)
  • A. Einstein

    Zum gegenwärtigen Stande des Gravitationsproblems

    Physikalische Zeitschrift

    (1913)
  • Einstein/Besso Correspondance, p....
  • H. Jeffreys

    The Secular Perturbations of the Four Inner Planets

    Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

    (1916)
    P. Cohen

    Relativity and the Excess Advances of Perihelia in Planetary Orbits

    University of Pennsylvania M. A. Thesis

    (1971)
  • G. Mie

    Bemerkungen zu der Einsteinschen Gravitationstheorie

    Physikalische Zeitschrift

    (1914)
    G. Mie

    Bemerkungen zu der Einsteinschen Gravitationstheorie

    Physikalische Zeitschrift

    (1914)
  • A. Einstein

    Prinzipielles zur verallgemeinerten Relativitätstheorie und Gravitationstheorie

    Physikalische Zeitschrift

    (1914)
  • Cited by (28)

    • Real-metric spacetime own-surfaces hosting nongeodesic radar paths crossing ‘hemix’ own-lines and shared velocity helices

      2019, Results in Physics
      Citation Excerpt :

      “It is not my purpose in this discussion to represent the general theory of relativity as a system that is as simple and logical as possible, and with the minimum number of axioms; but my main object is to develop this theory in such a way that the reader will feel that the path we have entered upon is psychologically the natural one, and that the underlying assumptions will seem to have the highest possible degree of security.” Notwithstanding the importance of this landmark work—as chronicled in the already cited Lost in the Tensors treatise [23] and in Crawford’s 2011 paper [36] Einstein’s ‘Zurich Notebook’ and the Genesis of General Relativity, the above extract is merely a heuristic appeal for unqualified adoption of the four-vector Minkowski approach as an article of faith. Perhaps the most pertinent statement in this context however was also expressed by Einstein—in his earlier 1912 paper [28]§2:

    • Frames and stresses in Einstein's quest for a generalized theory of relativity

      2019, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B - Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics
    • On the status of the geodesic principle in Newtonian and relativistic physics

      2011, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B - Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics
    • The theories of relativity and Einstein's philosophical turn

      1992, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science
    View all citing articles on Scopus

    Present address c/o Department of Philosophy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn, U.S.A. and Department of Philosophy, The University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, Chicago, Ill. 60680, U.S.A. We are grateful to Dr. Otto Nathan, Trustee of the Einstein Estate, for permission to quote from Einstein's correspondence. We also want to thank the anonymous referee for numerous improvements in an earlier draft of this paper.

    View full text