Mach's principle

English

Wikibooks

Etymology

Named after German physicist Ernst Mach, to whom the hypothesis is often attributed. Coined by Albert Einstein, who sought to incorporate the hypothesis into his theory of general relativity.

Proper noun

Mach's principle

1. (physics) The principle that the inertia of a body arises from its relation to the totality of all other bodies in the universe.
   • 1988, J. V. Narlikar, A. K. Kembhavi, Nonstandard Cosmologies, Vittorio Canuto, Bruce G. Elmegreen (editors), Handbook of Astronomy, Astrophysics and Geophysics, Volume II: Galaxies and Cosmology, Gordon and Breach, page 390,

     We now discuss a theory of gravitation and cosmology which is perhaps more strongly rooted in Mach's principle than any other theory discussed so far.

   • 1995, Wolfram Schommers, Symbols, Pictures and Quantum Reality, World Scientific, page 94:

     Thus, in any case, quantum theory is based on an absolute space-time picture and, therefore, in these formulations Mach's principle is not fulfiled.^[sic] The following important question arises: Can quantum phenomena be treated in accordance with Mach's principle?

   • 2010, David S. Oderberg, “‘Whatever is Changing is Being Changed by Something Else’: A Reappraisal of Premise One of the First Way”, in John Cottingham, Peter Hacker, editors, Mind, Method, and Morality, Oxford University Press, page 152:

     This is most famously embodied in Mach's Principle (so named by Einstein), which in its simplest form states that 'mass there influences inertia here'. More formally, it says that inertia is causally determined by the large-scale distribution of matter in the universe.

   Synonym: Mach's conjecture

Translations

principle in physics

• Catalan: principi de Mach m
• Finnish: Machin periaate
• German: Machsches Prinzip n, Mach-Prinzip n
• Italian: principio di Mach m

Further reading

• Absolute rotation on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Frame-dragging on Wikipedia.Wikipedia