Related papers: Einstein, Kant, and Taoism
I reconsider Einstein's 1912 "Prague-Theory" of static gravity based on a scalar field obeying a non-linear field equation. I point out that this equation follows from the self-consistent implementation of the principle that all energies…
Conventional approaches to quantum gravity regard quantum principles, such as nonlocality and superposition, as fundamental properties of nature and therefore argue that gravity must also be quantized. In contrast, this work introduces a…
In this paper we consider a thought experiment involving the effect of gravitation on an ideal scale containing a photon. If the tidal forces inherent to a gravitational field are neglected, then one is led to scenario which seems to bring…
Arguing from his "hole" thought experiment, Einstein became convinced that, in cases in which the energy-momentum-tensor source vanishes in a spacetime hole, a solution to his general relativistic field equation cannot be uniquely…
Einstein's theoretical analysis of mass-energy equivalence, already, at the time, experimentally evident in radioactive decays, in two papers published in 1905, as well as Planck's introduction, in 1906, of the concepts of relativistic…
Einstein's distinction between principle theories and constructive theories is methodological rather than metaphysical. Principle theories such as thermodynamics and relativity articulate empirically distilled constraints that delimit…
This article offers a critical engagement with J\"urgen Renn's historiographical approach, with particular focus on "The Evolution of Knowledge" and "The Einsteinian Revolution" (co-authored with Hanoch Gutfreund). It explores how Renn…
In the standard cosmological theory one uses the Einstein concepts of space and time as were originally introduced for the special theory of relativity and the general relativity theory. According to this approach all physical quantities…
The historical and conceptual foundations of General Relativity are revisited, putting the main focus on the physical meaning of the invariant ds, the Equivalence Principle, and the precise interpretation of spacetime geometry. It is argued…
Space-time quantum contributions to the classical Einstein equations of General Relativity are determined. The theoretical background is provided by the non-perturbative theory of manifestly-covariant quantum gravity and the…
A short review of the motivations for supersymmetry in astrophysics and particle physics is given. Despite the amount of theoretical research conducted in the past decades, no observational evidence for supersymmetry has yet been found.…
Careful analysis of parametrized variational principles in mechanics and field theory leads to a generalization of Einstein theory that includes a cosmological stress tensor. This generalization also follows by restricting variations of the…
In a way similar to classical mechanics where we have the concept of inertial time as expressed in the motions of bodies, in the (special) theory of relativity we can regard the inertial time as the only notion of time at play. The inertial…
Einstein's famous 1938 experiment to test relativity of time is plagued by too many ambiguities and does not prove anything. Nevertheless, it is a landmark experiment at the foundation of the modern theory of time perception.
This paper is concerned with a dialogue between Rabindranath Tagore and Albert Einstein, where Tagore argued that our knowledge is essentially human, while Einstein maintained that some kinds of knowledge are more objective. Arguments by…
A consistent classical and quantum relativistic mechanics can be constructed if Einstein's covariant time is considered as a dynamical variable. The evolution of a system is then parametrized by a universal invariant identified with…
Einstein's reply to Weyl about the importance in General Relativity of the identity of the sources of spectral lines is well know. We show that, already in Special Relavitity, Einstein's definition of the unit of time from the frequency of…
In this contribution we report about Feynman's approach to gravitation, starting from the records of his interventions at the Chapel Hill Conference of 1957. As well known, Feynman was concerned about the relation of gravitation with the…
I combine the effects of Planck length, general relativity and Newtonian gravity in one equation, to come up with a semi-classical model of gravity in the form of deviation from Newtonian gravity. Einstein explained nuclear forces in terms…
Some personal reflections are made about the philosophical posture of Erwin Schrodinger, as exposed in one of his book "Ma Conception du Monde". It is argued that the Taoist view of the world, as pursued by Schrodinger, although…