Related papers: Is there a universal concept of mass in fundamenta…
Newton introduced the concept of mass in his {\it Principia} and gave an intuitive explanation for what it meant. Centuries have passed and physicists as well as philosophers still argue over its meaning. Three types of mass are generally…
The axiomatic definition of mass in classical mechanics, outlined by Mach in the second half of 19th century and improved by several authors, is simplified and extended to the theory of special relativity. According to the extended…
Our concept of mass has evolved considerably over the centuries, most notably from Newton to Einstein, and then even more vigorously with the establishment of the standard model and the subsequent discovery of the Higgs boson. Mass is now…
The fact that mass has an effect on surrounding space is the first essential element of general relativity. This paper unifies this mass/space distinction of general relativity with Newtonian gravity at a subatomic scale and with reported…
These notions in the title are of fundamental importance in any branch of physics. However, there have been great difficulties in finding physically acceptable definitions of them in general relativity since Einstein's time. I shall explain…
The concept of mass is central to any theory of gravity. Nevertheless, defining mass in general relativity is a difficult task, and even when it can be accomplished, we still need to investigate whether the typical properties of mass in…
In this article the concept of mass is analyzed based on the special and general relativity theories and particle (quantum) physics. The mass of a particle (m=E(0)/c^2) is determined by the minimum (rest) energy to create that particle…
Einstein's most famous equation -- $E=mc^2$ -- generated a short-circuit between the concepts of mass and energy, which also affects other concepts like matter, radiation, and vacuum. Physics currently has a mixture of classical,…
Various facets of the concept of mass are discussed. The masses of elementary particles and the search for higgs. The masses of hadrons. The pedagogical virus of relativistic mass.
I analyze the meaning of mass in Newtonian mechanics. First, I explain the notion of primitive ontology, which was originally introduced in the philosophy of quantum mechanics. Then I examine the two common interpretations of mass: mass as…
At first sight, arguments for and against the notion of relativistic mass look like a notorious intra-Lilliputian quarrel between Big-Endians (those who broke their eggs at the larger end) and Little-Endians. However, upon closer inspection…
The renaissance of General Relativity witnessed considerable progress regarding both understanding and justifying Einstein's equations. Both general relativists and historians of the subject tend to share a view, General Relativity…
We point out the conceptual problems related to the application of the standard notion of mass to quarks and recall the arguments that there should be a close connection between the properties of elementary particles and the arena used for…
For over a century the definitions of mass and derivations of its relation with energy continue to be elaborated, demonstrating that the concept of mass is still not satisfactorily understood. The aim of this study is to show that, starting…
Physics was in crisis at the beginning of the twentieth century because the newborn Maxwell's electromagnetism defied mechanistic preconceptions. Albert Einstein understood that the solution to the crisis required an audacious reworking of…
The Standard Model (SM) ascribes the observed mass of elementary particles to an effective interaction between basis states defined without mass terms and a scalar potential associated with the Higgs boson. In the relativistic field theory…
The correct characterization of the concept of mass point in general relativity is a straightforward consequence of the original form of solution given by Schwarzschild to the problem of the Einstein field of a material point.
It is pointed out that recent cosmological findings seem to support the view that the mass/energy distribution of the universe defines the Newtonian inertial frames as originally suggested by Mach. The background concepts of inertial frame,…
Transparencies of the 18th Henry Primakoff lecture at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA, April 11, 2001 and of the Special lecture given at the 7th International Workshop on Topics in Astroparticle and Underground Physics,…
The classical notion of center of mass for an isolated system in general relativity is derived from the Hamiltonian formulation and represented by a flux integral at infinity. In contrast to mass and linear momentum which are well-defined…