Figures of light in the early history of relativity (1905-1914) - Archive ouverte en Histoire etPhilosophie des Sciences et des Techniques Accéder directement au contenu
Chapitre D'ouvrage Année : 2018

Figures of light in the early history of relativity (1905-1914)

Résumé

Albert Einstein’s bold assertion of the form-invariance of the equation of a spherical light wave with respect to inertial frames of reference (1905) became, in the space of six years, the preferred foundation of his theory of relativity. Early on, however, Einstein’s universal light-sphere invariance was challenged on epistemological grounds by Henri Poincaré, who promoted an alternative demonstration of the foundations of relativity theory based on the notion of a light ellipsoid. A third figure of light, Hermann Minkowski’s lightcone also provided a new means of envisioning the foundations of relativity. Drawing in part on archival sources, this paper shows how an informal, international group of physicists, mathematicians, and engineers, including Einstein, Paul Langevin, Poincaré, Hermann Minkowski, Ebenezer Cunningham, Harry Bateman, Otto Berg, Max Planck, Max Laue, A. A. Robb, and Ludwig Silberstein, employed figures of light during the formative years of relativity theory in their discovery of the salient features of the relativistic worldview.
Fichier principal
Vignette du fichier
2018-be-walter.pdf (689.48 Ko) Télécharger le fichier
Origine : Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s)
Loading...

Dates et versions

hal-01879025 , version 1 (21-09-2018)

Licence

Paternité - Pas d'utilisation commerciale - Pas de modification

Identifiants

Citer

Scott A. Walter. Figures of light in the early history of relativity (1905-1914). David E. Rowe; Tilman Sauer; Scott A. Walter. Beyond Einstein: Perspectives on Geometry, Gravitation, and Cosmology in the Twentieth Century, 14, Birkhäuser, pp.3-50, 2018, Einstein Studies, 978-1-4939-7706-2. ⟨10.1007/978-1-4939-7708-6_1⟩. ⟨hal-01879025⟩
379 Consultations
418 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

Gmail Facebook X LinkedIn More