Related papers: A Machian Approach to General Relativity
The incompatibility between GR and QM is generally seen as a sufficient motivation for the development of a theory of Quantum Gravity. If - so a typical argumentation - QM gives a universally valid basis for the description of all natural…
General relativity is a set of physical and geometric principles, which lead to a set of (Einstein) field equations that determine the gravitational field, and to the geodesic equations that describe light propagation and the motion of…
Einstein's theory of general relativity (GR) provides the best available description of gravity. The recent detection of gravitational waves and the first picture of a black hole have provided spectacular confirmations of GR, as well as…
In this paper I argue for a reassessment of special relativity. The fundamental theory of relativity applicable in this Universe has to be consistent with the existence of the massive Universe, and with the effects of its gravitational…
In this note, we discuss the significance of the general principle of relativity for a physical theory that abandons the newtonian concept of force and, hence, uses an entirely different conception for the ``cause'' behind motions of…
This first of two papers is a speculation on the nature of Mach's Principle, derived from the formulation of two questions: (A) Can a globally inertial space and time be associated with a non-trivial global matter distribution? (B) If so,…
In Newtonian gravity, mass is an intrinsic property of matter while in general relativity (GR), mass is a contextual property of matter, i.e., matter can simultaneously possess two different values of mass when it is responsible for two…
The axes of gyroscopes experimentally define non-rotating frames. But what physical cause governs the time-evolution of gyroscope axes? Starting from an unperturbed, spatially flat FRW cosmology, we consider cosmological vorticity…
We consider the possibility of an alternative gravity theory explaining the dynamics of galactic systems without dark matter. From very general assumptions about the structure of a relativistic gravity theory we derive a general expression…
In this paper I describe the genesis of Einstein's early work on the problem of motion in general relativity (GR): the question of whether the motion of matter subject to gravity can be derived directly from the Einstein field equations. In…
Theory of Relativity (Special and General) is one of the most influential theories of the 20th century and has changed the way we view the world. It is part of many undergraduate curriculums and it is often suggested that it should be…
A fascinating and deep question about nature is what one would see if one could probe space and time at smaller and smaller distances. Already the 19th-century founders of modern geometry contemplated the possibility that a piece of empty…
The simplest variant of gauge gravitation theory in Riemann-Cartan spacetime leading to the solution of the problem of cosmological singularity and dark energy problem is investigated. It is shown that this theory by certain restrictions on…
Historians recently rehabilitated Einstein's "physical strategy" for General Relativity (GR). Independently, particle physicists similarly re-derived Einstein's equations for a massless spin 2 field. But why not a light \emph{massive} spin…
The paper presents a metaphysical characterization of spatiotemporal backgrounds from a realist perspective. The conceptual analysis is based on a heuristic sketch that encompasses the common formal traits of the major spacetime theories,…
We develop a novel approach to gravity that we call `matrix general relativity' (MGR) or `gravitational chromodynamics' (GCD or GQCD for quantum version). Gravity is described in this approach not by one Riemannian metric (i.e. a symmetric…
We discuss how developments in physics often imply in the need that spacetime acquires an increasingly richer and complex structure. General Relativity was the first theory to show us the way to connect space and time with the physical…
In the present work we propose a generalization of Newton's gravitational theory from the original works of Heaviside and Sciama, that takes into account both approaches, and accomplishes the same result in a simpler way than the standard…
In this paper we bring to light an hitherto undisclosed richness of this Theory, namely its admitting a consistent reformulation which is able to provide a unified scenario for all kinds of particles, be they lightlike or not. This result…
In quantum gravity there is no notion of absolute time. Like all other quantities in the theory, the notion of time has to be introduced "relationally", by studying the behavior of some physical quantities in terms of others chosen as a…