Berlin 2015 – scientific programme
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GR: Fachverband Gravitation und Relativitätstheorie
GR 3: Classical General Relativity
GR 3.4: Talk
Monday, March 16, 2015, 17:10–17:30, H 2013
General Relativity with a Variable Speed of Light — •Alexander Unzicker1 and Jan Preuss2 — 1Pestalozzi-Gymnasium München — 2Technische Universität München
Einstein's first idea of how to describe curved paths of light, outlined in his 1911 paper on a variable speed of light, has a much closer similarity to general relativity than commonly perceived. The geodetic in a curved spacetime or the fastest path in a Euclidean space with variable c are actually two equivalent formulations of the same physics. Though this has been occasionally recognized in the literature, there seemed to be little need to change perspective. However, in 1957 Robert Dicke first pointed out that a variable speed formulation of general relativity could encompass Mach's principle, an idea with which Einstein had always been intrigued. Here, Dicke's idea is presented in a new form, using the Poisson equation. The relation to the usual Einstein equations is discussed.