Author	Mehra, Jagdish. author
Title	Einstein, Hilbert, and The Theory of Gravitation [electronic resource] : Historical Origins of General Relativity Theory / by Jagdish Mehra
Imprint	Dordrecht : Springer Netherlands, 1974
Connect to	http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-2194-4
Descript	96 p. online resource

Some time ago I published a small piece * dealing with a charming little essay on 'the state of ether in magnetic fields', which the sixteen-year-old Einstein had written while he was awaiting admission to the E. T. H. in Zurich. This paper sought to trace the continuity between Einstein's early interest in electrodynamics and his later work on the special and general relativity theories. On reading this paper, Professor Eugene Wigner asked me whether David Hilbert had not independently discovered the field equations of gravitation. ** His impression from his stay in Gottingen (where Wigner had been Hilbert's assistant for one year in the late nineteen-twenties) was that Hilbert had indeed done so, and he asked me if it was true. I replied to Professor Wigner about Hilbert's contribution to the theory of gravitation. t He kindly encouraged me to expand my account to deal with the intricate and exciting details of the early years in the formulation of the general relativity theory of gravitation. This is what I have sought to do in this study. Albert Einstein created the general relativity theory of gravitation and dominated its development through the rest of his life. His early work on the theory of gravitation, from 1912 to 1916, had the drama of high adventure. It culminated in the establishment of its foundations which have remained unassailed by the theoretical and experimental work of succeeding decades

1. Introduction -- 2. Steps Towards a New Theory of Gravitation -- 2.1 The Principles of Equivalence and Relativity -- 2.2 Abrahamโs Objections -- 2.3 Nordstrรถmโs Theory -- 2.4 Einstein and Grossmann: Search for the Mathematical Tools of General Relativity -- 2.5 The Foundation of General Relativity -- 3. Physics and Geometry -- 3.1 The Role of Axiomatization in Hilbertโs Work -- 3.2 Concepts of Space and Geometry -- 3.3 Space-Time and Invariants -- 3.4 Mieโs Field Theory of Matter -- 3.5 Hilbertโs Communication to the Gรถttingen Academy -- 3.6 Axioms of Hilbertโs Theory of Matter -- 3.7 Hilbertโs Fundamental Theorem, Energy Conservation and the World Function -- 4. Completion of the Theory of Gravitation -- 4.1 General Covariance and the Equivalence Principle -- 4.2 Theory of the Gravitational Field -- 4.3 Consequences and Applications of the Theory of Gravitation -- 4.4 The Cosmological Term -- 5. Physical Interpretation of General Covariance -- 5.1 Axiom of Physical Interpretability -- 5.2 Restrictions due to Causality -- 5.3 Hilbertโs Conclusion -- 6. Hamiltonโs Principle and the Conservation Laws -- 6.1 Lorentz and the Hamilton Principle in Einsteinโs Theory -- 6.2 Einstein and the Hamilton Principle -- 7. General Covariance and Conservation Laws -- 7.1 Energy Conservation and the Theory of Invariants -- 7.2 Identities from General Covariance -- 7.3 Bianchi Identities and Hilbertโs Constraint Conditions -- 8. Extension of General Relativity -- 8.1 Generalization of Riemannian Geometry -- 8.2 Weylโs Unified Theory -- 8.3 Five-Dimensional Relativity -- 9. โEin Bleibender Kernโ โ An Enduring Core -- References and Notes -- Index of names

1. Physics
2. History
3. Philosophy and science
4. Physics
5. History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics
6. History of Science
7. Philosophy of Science