Einstein's standard and battle-tested geometric theory of gravity--spacetime tells mass how to move and mass tells spacetime how to curve--is expounded in this book by Ignazio Ciufolini and John Wheeler. They give special attention to the theory's observational checks and to two of its consequences: the predicted existence of gravitomagnetism and the origin of inertia (local inertial frames) in Einstein's general relativity: inertia here arises from mass there. The authors explain the modern understanding of the link between gravitation and inertia in Einstein's theory, from the origin of inertia in some cosmological models of the universe, to the interpretation of the initial value formulation of Einstein's standard geometrodynamics; and from the devices and the methods used to determine the local inertial frames of reference, to the experiments used to detect and measure the "dragging of inertial frames of reference." In this book, Ciufolini and Wheeler emphasize present, past, and proposed tests of gravitational interaction, metric theories, and general relativity. They describe the numerous confirmations of the foundations of geometrodynamics and some proposed experiments, including space missions, to test some of its fundamental predictions--in particular gravitomagnetic field or "dragging of inertial frames" and gravitational waves.

This book focuses on the phenomena of inertia and gravitation, one objective being to shed some new light on the basic laws of gravitational interaction and the fundamental nature and structures of spacetime. Chapter 1 is devoted to an extensive, partly new analysis of the law of inertia. The underlying mathematical and geometrical structure of Newtonian spacetime is presented from a four-dimensional point of view, and some historical difficulties and controversies - in particular the concepts of free particles and straight lines - are critically analyzed, while connections to projective geometry are also explored. The relativistic extensions of the law of gravitation and its intriguing consequences are studied in Chapter 2. This is achieved, following the works of Weyl, Ehlers, Pirani and Schild, by adopting a point of view of the combined conformal and projective structure of spacetime. Specifically, Mach’s fundamental critique of Newton’s concepts of ‘absolute space’ and ‘absolute time’ was a decisive motivation for Einstein’s development of general relativity, and his equivalence principle provided a new perspective on inertia. In Chapter 3 the very special mathematical structure of Einstein’s field equations is analyzed, and some of their remarkable physical predictions are presented. By analyzing different types of dragging phenomena, Chapter 4 reviews to what extent the equivalence principle is realized in general relativity - a question intimately connected to the ‘new force’ of gravitomagnetism, which was theoretically predicted by Einstein and Thirring but which was only recently experimentally confirmed and is thus of current interest.

This book fills a gap in the literature. So far there has been no book which deals with inertia and gravitation by explicitly addressing open questions and issues which have been hampering the proper understanding of these phenomena. The book places a strong emphasis on the physical understanding of the main aspects and features of inertia and gravitation. It discusses questions such as: Are inertial forces fictitious or real? Does Minkowski's four-dimensional formulation of special relativity provide an insight into the origin of inertia? Does mass increase relativistically? Why is the inertial mass equivalent to the gravitational mass? Are gravitational phenomena caused by gravitational interaction according to general relativity? Is there gravitational energy? Do gravitational waves carry gravitational energy? Can gravity be quantized?

Physicists and laypersons alike, rejoice! The crumbling, 75-year-old flawed foundation of quantum-physics methodology is facing its imminent coup de grâce, to be replaced by a new, wholly-rational foundation. Myhre's essay fires the first shot, which renders current physics textbooks instantly obsolete Really! He begins with many insightful discoveries, the oldest, of which, dates from a half century ago, when he was a USAF pilot. It is about the great importance of inertia in our lives, of how it determines the size of our atoms and the rate of our aging, and of how Myhre eventually discovered that the number 137 is closely associated with inertia he speculates that the magnitude of inertial force varies throughout the Universe and that it is 137 times greater in the vicinity of the Solar System than at a location in the Universe where it is at a minimum pretty heady stuff yet, his arguments, backed by mathematical equations, are quite convincing. Later, he made the all-important discovery of the quantum attributes of elementary particles, which, when used as units of measure, make the universal physical constants literally vanish from quantum-based equations. This simplification of a main aspect of quantum physics lead Myhre to discover other, heretofore, unknown aspects of our physical environment for example: the simple, but elegant, linkage between electromagnetic and gravitational force; the realization of the beginning of a quantum-gravity model; the fine-structure constant's correct definition; the rôle of updated Planck values in determining the possible existence of an elementary particle of matter that is mediated by the graviton; new, more-rational equations about gravitational phenomena, using the quantum attributes of the hypothetical elementary particle of matter as units of measure; and many more. When Myhre retired, he decided to expose to the world the great truths about our quantum world that he has discovered over the decades. During that time, he kept most of his discoveries to himself because his family, friends, and associates, not being part of the physical community and, therefore, not in the know, would neither appreciate his discoveries nor recognize their importance. With the publication of this essay, Myhre hopes to prompt academic physicists to finalize the coup de grâce that he has begun by continuing to develop this more-coherent foundation for the methodology of quantum physics, which was impossible to achieve in the late 1920s because of the lack of sufficient knowledge at that time.

This book presents a theory of quantum gravitation and inertia based on an original idea proposed by Nicolas Fatio de Duillier in 1690. It hypothesizes that the universe is traversed by infinitely small particles interacting with matter to generate gravitational force.New assumptions are made about the interaction between these particles and matter. These interactions will be modelled using classical mechanics, then using the theory of quantum mechanics known as De Broglie-Bohm.The particles of Nicolas Fatio's aether and the gravitons of the standard model of quantum mechanics are considered to be one and the same entity. These gravitons according to the standard model are particles supposed to be the intermediaries between two distant bodies to create the gravitational force between them.In parallel with the presentation of this theory, this book traces the evolution of ideas on gravitation and inertia over the ages, from antiquity to the present day.

From the infinitesimal scale of particle physics to the cosmic scale of the universe, research is concerned with the nature of mass. While there have been spectacular advances in physics during the past century, mass still remains a mysterious entity at the forefront of current research. Our current perspective on gravitation has arisen over millennia, through the contemplation of falling apples, lift thought experiments and notions of stars spiraling into black holes. In this volume, the world’s leading scientists offer a multifaceted approach to mass by giving a concise and introductory presentation based on insights from their respective fields of research on gravity. The main theme is mass and its motion within general relativity and other theories of gravity, particularly for compact bodies. Within this framework, all articles are tied together coherently, covering post-Newtonian and related methods as well as the self-force approach to the analysis of motion in curved space-time, closing with an overview of the historical development and a snapshot on the actual state of the art. All contributions reflect the fundamental role of mass in physics, from issues related to Newton’s laws, to the effect of self-force and radiation reaction within theories of gravitation, to the role of the Higgs boson in modern physics. High-precision measurements are described in detail, modified theories of gravity reproducing experimental data are investigated as alternatives to dark matter, and the fundamental problem of reconciling any theory of gravity with the physics of quantum fields is addressed. Auxiliary chapters set the framework for theoretical contributions within the broader context of experimental physics. The book is based upon the lectures of the CNRS School on Mass held in Orléans, France, in June 2008. All contributions have been anonymously refereed and, with the cooperation of the authors, revised by the editors to ensure overall consistency.

All Matter Instantaneously Senses All Other Matter in the Universe; Johannes Kepler The Astronomer Who Coined the Word Inertia; Free Fall A Hardly Believable Story of Science; The Cartesian Interlude A Novel Cosmology; Newton's Force of Inertia The Basis of Dynamics; A Century of Consolidation The Early Practitioners of Newtonian Dynamics; Mach's Magic Principle The Unique Inertial System; Albert Einstein Inertia Obscured by Gravitation; Inducing Inertia An Electromagnetic Analogy; Retarded Action at a Distance A Short Lived Misnomer; Clock Confusion in the 20th Century The Connection Between Inertia and Timekeeping; Machian Inertia and the Isotropic Universe A New Force Law;