München 2006 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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GR: Gravitation und Relativitätstheorie

GR 103: Quintessenz, Machsches Prinzip

GR 103.2: Vortrag

Montag, 20. März 2006, 18:10–18:30, K

Mach’s Principle and a Variable Speed of Light — •Alexander Unzicker — Pestalozzi-Gymnasium München

Mach’s principle, according to which the origin of gravitational interaction depends on the presence of all the masses in the universe, was expressed in a quantitative form by Sciama (MNRAS 113,34 (1953)). Since this idea suggests a variable speed of light (VSL), it is shown here that a variable c causes a spacetime curvature which is agreement with the classical tests of general relativity. The locally measured c₀ however does not change, since time and length scales defined by atomic transitions change as well. Similar arguments were given by Dicke (Rev.Mod.Phys 29, 363 (1957)). A VSL opens the possibility to write the total energy of a particle as E=mc²; this necessarily leads to the proportionality of inertial and gravitating mass, the equivalence principle. Furthermore, a formula for c depending on the mass distribution is given that reproduces Newtons law of gravitation. This mass distribution allows to calculate a slightly variable term that corresponds to the ‘constant’ G. The present proposal may also supply an alternative explanation to the flatness problem and the horizon problem in cosmology.