This discussion centers on the quest for original texts of Albert Einstein's General Relativity (GR) papers, emphasizing the importance of studying his work in its original form. Participants highlight the limitations of relying solely on Einstein's writings due to advancements in GR over the past century. Key points include the distinction between general covariance and the absence of prior geometry in GR, as well as the equivalence principle's local applicability. Recommendations for further reading include works by Misner, Thorne, Wheeler, and Clifford Will's "Was Einstein Right?" to gain a comprehensive understanding of GR.
PREREQUISITESStudents of physics, researchers in gravitational theory, and anyone interested in the historical and conceptual foundations of General Relativity will benefit from this discussion.
atyy said:We start with Newton's laws in an inertial frame. When we transform to a noninertial frame, we pick up "Christoffel symbols". If instead of defining "same form" without Christoffel symbols, we define it as including the Christoffel symbols, then Newton's laws are valid in any frame.
It is the same with special relativity, which is capable of handling accelerated frames (eg. Rindler coordinates).
I like http://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0603087 .
aashay said:But the moment you bring Christoffel symbols into the picture, don't you march away from Newtonian Physics to General Relativity by taking into account the effects of curvature? And all this has been done quite recently after GR was developed and not at the time of Newton.vCorrect me if I am wrong as I am quite new to General Relativity.