Mach's principle: from Newton's bucket to quantum gravity. Based on the conference at Tübingen, Germany, July 1993 (Q1898628)

The articles of this volume will not be indexed individually. This sixth volume of the Einstein Studies series is based on a conference held at Tübingen in 1993 which was devoted exclusively to the discussion of Mach's principle. Mach's principle which, roughly spoken, expresses the relation of inertia of a small system with the rest of the universe that surrounds it, is understood here in as broad a sense as possible, certainly not restricted to the original formulation of Mach and the influence it had on Einstein. Indeed, the conceptual problem of the interplay of local and global systems arises all physical theories, and it is the purpose of this volume to elucidate this problem in all of its different contexts. The book is divided into eight chapters: 1. Introduction and historical, 2. Nonrelativistic Machian theories, 3. General relativity as a more or less Machian theory, 4. Other formulations of Mach's principle, 5. Frame dragging, 6. Experimental status, 7. Critical reflections, 8. Quantum gravity. Each chapter begins with an introduction, and the presented contributions are accompanied by the lively discussions following them at the conference. Unlike usual conference proceedings, this book does not just present the most recent and loosely connected results of specialists on the field, but attempts to give a comprehensive picture of Mach's principle in its historical, philosophical, astronomical, theoretical and experimental aspects. To this end, important but hardly accessible historical papers on the subject have also been included (partly in extracts) in English translation. The care taken in the preparation of the conference and in the editing process have made this into a delightfully coherent volume which serves not only as an up-to-date status report but provides an invaluable reference source which should be of interest for historians, philosophers and physicists alike.