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Einstein Studies Editors: Don Howard John Stachel Published under the sponsorship of the Center for Einstein Studies, Boston University Volume 1: Einstein and the History of General Relativity Don Howard and John Stachel, editors Volume 2: Conceptual Problems of Quantum Gravity Abhay Ashtekar and John Stachel, editors Volume 3: Studies in the History of General Relativity Jean Eisenstaedt and A.J. Kox, editors Volume 4: Recent Advances in General Relativity Allen I. Janis and John R. Porter, editors Volume 5: The Attraction of Gravitation: New Studies in the History of General Relativity John Earman, Michel Janssen and John D. Norton, editors Volume 6: Mach’s Principle: From Newton’s Bucket to Quantum Gravity Julian B. Barbour and Herbert Pfister, editors Volume 7: The Expanding Worlds of General Relativity Hubert Goenner, Jürgen Renn, Jim Ritter, and Tilman Sauer, editors Volume 8: Einstein: The Formative Years, 1879–1909 Don Howard and John Stachel, editors Volume 9: Einstein from ‘B’ to ‘Z’ John Stachel Volume 10: Einstein Studies in Russia Yuri Balashov and Vladimir Vizgin, editors Volume 11: The Universe of General Relativity A.J. Kox and Jean Eisenstaedt, editors A.J. Kox Jean Eisenstaedt Editors The Universe of General Relativity Birkhauser¨ Boston • Basel • Berlin A.J. Kox Jean Eisenstaedt Universiteit van Amsterdam Observatoire de Paris Instituut voor Theoretische Fysica SYRTE/UMR8630–CNRS Valckenierstraat 65 F-75014 Paris Cedex 1018 XE Amsterdam France The Netherlands AMS Subject Classification (2000): 01A60, 83-03, 83-06 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The universe of general relativity / A.J. Kox, editors, Jean Eisenstaedt. p. cm. – (Einstein studies ; v. 11) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN-13 978-0-8176-4380-5 (alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-8176-4380-X (alk. paper) 1. Relativity (Physics)–History–Congresses. 2. General relativity (Physics)–History–Congresses. 3. Gravitation–History–Congresses. 4. Cosmology–History–Congresses. 5. Unified field theories–History–Congresses. 6. Einstein, Albert, 1879-1955. I. Kox, Anne J., 1948- II. Eisenstaedt, Jean III. Series. QC173.5.U55 2005 530.11–dc22 2005047817 ISBN-10 0-8176-4380-X e-IBSN 0-8176-4454-7 Printed on acid-free paper. ISBN-13 978-0-8176-4380-5 c 2005 The Center for Einstein Studies The Einstein Studies series is published under the sponsorship of the Center for Einstein Studies, Boston University. All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the writ- ten permission of the publisher (Birkhauser¨ Boston, c/o Springer Science+Business Media Inc., 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter de- veloped is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. Printed in the United States of America. (TXQ/EB) 987654321 www.birkhauser.com This volume is dedicated to the memory of Peter Havas Contents PREFACE ......................................................... ix 1 Fresnel’s (Dragging) Coefficient as a Challenge to 19th Century Optics of Moving Bodies JOHN STACHEL ................................................... 1 2 Poincare’s´ Relativistic Theory of Gravitation SHAUL KATZIR ................................................... 15 3 Standing on the Shoulders of a Dwarf: General Relativity—A Triumph of Einstein and Grossmann’s Erroneous Entwurf Theory JURGEN¨ RENN .................................................... 39 4 Before the Riemann Tensor: The Emergence of Einstein’s Double Strategy JURGEN¨ RENN .................................................... 53 5 A Conjecture on Einstein, the Independent Reality of Spacetime Coordinate Systems and the Disaster of 1913 JOHN D. NORTON ................................................. 67 6 Einstein and the Principle of General Relativity, 1916–1921 CHRISTOPH LEHNER ............................................... 103 7 Einstein and the Problem of Motion: A Small Clue DANIEL KENNEFICK ............................................... 109 8 A Note on General Relativity, Energy Conservation, and Noether’s Theorems KATHERINE BRADING ............................................. 125 9 Weyl vs. Reichenbach on Lichtgeometrie ROBERT RYNASIEWICZ ............................................. 137 viii Contents 10 Dingle and de Sitter Against the Metaphysicians, or Two Ways to Keep Modern Cosmology Physical GEORGE GALE .................................................... 157 11 George Gamow and the ‘Factual Approach’ to Relativistic Cosmology HELGE KRAGH ................................................... 175 12 George McVittie, The Uncompromising Empiricist JOSE´ M. SANCHEZ´ -RON ............................................ 189 13 False Vacuum: Early Universe Cosmology and the Development of Inflation CHRIS SMEENK ................................................... 223 14 Hilbert’s “World Equations” and His Vision of a Unified Science U. MAJER AND T. SAUER ........................................... 259 15 Einstein, Kaluza, and the Fifth Dimension DANIELA WUNSCH¨ ................................................ 277 16 Unified Field Theory: Early History and Interplay Between Mathematics and Physics HUBERT F. M. GOENNER ........................................... 303 17 Is Quantum Gravity Necessary? JAMES MATTINGLY ................................................ 327 18 Einstein in the Daily Press: A Glimpse into the Gehrcke Papers MILENA WAZECK ................................................. 339 19 Syracuse: 1949–1952 JOSHUA GOLDBERG ............................................... 357 20 A Biased and Personal Description of GR at Syracuse University, 1951–1961 E. T. NEWMAN ................................................... 373 Preface A century ago, in 1905, Albert Einstein published, “On the Electrodynamics of Mov- ing Bodies,” in which the foundations were laid for the Special Theory of Relativity. Ten years later his relativistic theory of gravitation and the General Theory of Relativ- ity appeared. Fifty years ago, Einstein passed away in Princeton. In the 1980s, John Stachel, then Editor of the Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, brought together a group of historians, philosophers, physicists, and mathematicians who had one thing in common: a lively interest in the history and foundations of the theories of relativity. At a meeting in 1986 at Osgood Hill, this group met for the first time to discuss the prehistory, development, reception, and other aspects of relativity. It was the beginning of a valuable tradition. Since then every three or four years a meeting has been organized during which historical and foundational issues in general (and special) relativity have been discussed. Osgood Hill was followed by Luminy in 1988. Then came Johnstown (1991), Berlin (1995), Notre Dame (1999), and finally Amsterdam (2002), the proceedings of which are presented in this volume (supplemented with some papers from the preceding meeting). Once again these articles clearly show that an historical approach can lead to new insights into the development and elaboration of relativity. The prehistory of special relativity and an early attempt at a relativistic theory of gravitation are covered in pa- pers by John Stachel and Shaul Katzir, respectively. The birth and early history of gen- eral relativity are the topics of the papers by Jurgen¨ Renn, John Norton, and Christoph Lehner. They are followed by Daniel Kennefick’s contribution, which focuses on one of the major problems in general relativity: the problem of motion. That general rela- tivity has close ties to mathematics becomes clear from Katherine Brading’s paper on the conservation laws and Robert Rynasiewicz’s article on the axiomatization of the theory. Five papers then follow on cosmology, a topic of research that owes much of its existence to General Relativity. George Gale, Helge Kragh, and JoseS´ anchez-Ron´ take a closer look at the work of Herbert Dingle and Willem de Sitter, George Gamov, and George McVittie, respectively, while Chris Smeenk discusses an aspect of more contemporary cosmology. x Preface As is well known, during the second part of his active life Einstein pursued the goal of creating a unified field theory to unify gravitation and electromagnetism. That he was not the only one searching for a unified theory becomes clear from the contri- butions of Ulrich Majer and Tilman Sauer on the work of David Hilbert and of Hubert Goenner on the early history of unified field theory. Next, Daniela Wunsch¨ studies the work of Einstein and Theodor Kaluza, which is not just of historical value but in recent years has provoked much interest. Finally, James Mattingly presents some considerations on the necessity of quantum gravity. The volume concludes with three contributions on a more “personal” level. First, Milena Wazeck uses the recently-discovered papers of the physicist Ernst Gehrcke to provide a view of the reception of relativity by the general public. Next, the two renowned relativists Josh Goldberg and Ted Newman share with us their recollections of the time when they were both actively contributing to the further development of the General Theory of Relativity. A.J.