History of Covariance Principles

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

For Einstein, principles of covariance were the essence of his special and general theories of relativity (1905 and 1915). They embodied the advances made by the theories. The transition from an aether theory with an absolute state of rest to special relativity was effected through the requirement that the laws of special relativity must be covariant under Lorentz transformation. Since the Lorentz covariance of special relativity mapped inertial frames of reference onto inertial frames of reference, the Lorentz covariance of special relativity, as presented in Einstein's celebrated 1905 paper, was sufficient to guarantee that the theory satisfied the principle of relativity of inertial motion. Dr. Norton is examining the history and development of principles of covariance in relativity theory and their connection with relativity principles, Mach's principle and the principle of equivalence. He is considering how the ideas in this whole area have developed since Einstein's time and is tracing how the now standard modern view has come to disagree almost completely with Einstein's own view--the view universally celebrated 70 years ago. This study promises to present historians, philosophers and physicists with a synoptic view of the tangled and confusing developments of one of the most important problems in foundations space and time theory.