History of Covariance Principles

对爱因斯坦来说，协方差原理是他的狭义相对论和广义相对论（1905年和1915年）的精髓。它们体现了理论的进步。从具有绝对静止状态的以太理论到狭义相对论的过渡是通过要求狭义相对论定律在洛伦兹变换下必须协变实现的。由于狭义相对论的洛伦兹协方差将惯性参照系映射到惯性参照系上，因此爱因斯坦在1905年发表的著名论文中提出的狭义相对论的洛伦兹协方差足以保证该理论满足惯性运动的相对论原理。诺顿博士正在研究相对论中协方差原理的历史和发展，以及它们与相对性原理、马赫原理和等效原理的联系。他正在思考自爱因斯坦时代以来，这一领域的思想是如何发展的，并在追溯现在标准的现代观点是如何与爱因斯坦自己的观点几乎完全不一致的——爱因斯坦自己的观点在70年前广受赞誉。这项研究有望为历史学家、哲学家和物理学家提供一个关于基础时空理论中最重要问题之一的纠缠和令人困惑的发展的概要视图。

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.