On the discovery of Birkhoff's theorem
History and Philosophy of Physics
2007-05-23 v2 General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Abstract
Birkhoff showed in 1923 that the Schwarzschild solution for the metric from a point particle was also valid in the a priori non-static case as long as the spherical symmetry was maintained. This theorem was actually discovered and published two years earlier by an unknown Norwegian physicist, J.T. Jebsen. His life and scientific career is briefly chronicled.
Cite
@article{arxiv.physics/0508163,
title = {On the discovery of Birkhoff's theorem},
author = {Nils Voje Johansen and Finn Ravndal},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:physics/0508163},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
4 pages, no figures. More references have been included, small changes in text plus new data on Eiesland