What was Einstein's principle of equivalence?

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  • Cited by (97)

    • Theory (In-)Equivalence and conventionalism in f(R) gravity

      2021, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science
      Citation Excerpt :

      For f(R) Gravity, such alleged conventionalism about geometry has farther-reaching consequences. It appears to threaten a cornerstone of gravitational physics (see e.g. Norton, 1985; Di Casola, 2014; Will, 2018, Ch. 2&3) – the Equivalence Principle(s).

    • Free fall in KvN mechanics and Einstein's principle of equivalence

      2020, Annals of Physics
      Citation Excerpt :

      Einstein himself always insisted on the fundamental importance of this principle to the general theory of relativity. This insistence created a puzzle for philosophers and historians of science [8], because to maintain Einstein’s view that an accelerated laboratory in the absence of gravity is strictly equivalent to a laboratory at rest in a gravitational field, and thus acceleration, like velocity, is a relative quantity, one should assume sufficiently small (in fact, infinitesimal) spacetime regions and limit attention to sufficiently elementary phenomena, because otherwise, due to the presence of curvature, one can detect the difference between the two situations [6]. It is expected that the weak principle of equivalence will be violated in quantum mechanics if it is understood as the independence of the dynamics of a test body on its mass in an external gravitational field.

    • Unweyling Three Mysteries of Nordström Gravity

      2020, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B - Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics
      Citation Excerpt :

      Ironically (and unrealised by Einstein), though, his Entwurf theory defies the principle's original (1907, p. 454) version: Uniform acceleration and a homogenous gravitational field don't produce the same physical effects − not even in infinitesimal approximation (Norton, 2018, §13). NGN therefore naturally lends itself as a test case for different formulations of the Equivalence Principle (see e.g. Norton, 1985; Dieks, 2006; Di Casola et al., 2014; Lehmkuhl, 2019). Thirdly, under the continued pressure of Einstein (Norton, 1993; 2005, §6–8), Nordström was forced to posit “running units” in his theory: In a natural sense (to be unpacked below), units in NGN are no longer fixed: The dimensions and durations of physical systems and processes depend on the gravitational potential.

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