Open Questions in Relativistic Physics

(paperback, 375 pages; ISBN 0-9683689-1-3)

Edited by Franco Selleri

Proceedings of a conference held in Athens, Greece in June 1997. Papers discuss the historical background and conceptual as well as empirical difficulties with conventional relativity theory, while new approaches to understanding electromagnetism and gravitation are presented. Contains 38 papers by authors from 17 different countries.

Excerpt from the Preface

Table of contents

About the Editor

Excerpts from the Editor's Preface

"The true conceptual background of the two relativistic theories (special and general) has been re-emerging in recent times, after more than half a century of domination of the neopositivist conception of science. Einstein himself was strongly influenced by positivism in his youth, and admitted that the special theory of relativity was based on a direction of thought conforming with Mach’s ideas. The hegemony of logical empirism had, as a first consequence, that Einstein’s role was somewhat inflated, while the contributions of other authors (Lorentz, Larmor, Poincaré, etc.) were generally underestimated. More than experimental evidence, this was the reason why the typically realistic conjectures, such as that of ether, were eliminated in favour of more abstract conceptions. At the present time the domination of positivism appears to have come to an end, and a new era may be opening for realism."

"A correct understanding of the true history of relativity has recently produced several surprises…"

"It has been firmly established that certain fundamental ingredients of the two relativistic theories are basically arbitrary, the main one being the introduction of the so-called 'Einstein clock synchronisation.'"

"Actually, in recent years it seems to be almost normally accepted in the scientific milieu that the "theory of relativity" is just a name, not to be taken too literally. The total relativism which the theory could seem to embody is now perceived to be only an illusion. One can conclude that not all is relative in relativity, because this theory also contains some features that are observer independent, i.e. features which are absolute!"

"For the reasons cited here, the new trends in relativistic research are based on: (1) Overcoming of positivistic limitations to the conceptions to be used in scientific research; (2) Awareness of the limited applicability of the relativity principle itself; (3) Conventionality of the invariance of the one way velocity of light; (4) Probable existence in nature of absolute velocities; (5) Possibility of re-introducing the luminiferous ether."

Table of Contents

Preface

Velocity of Light

Patrick Fleming:
An Explanation of the Sagnac Effect Based on the Special Theory of Relativity, the de Broglie/Bohm Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, and a Non-Zero Rest Mass for the Photon

F. Goy:
On Synchronisation of Clocks in Free Fall Around a Central Body

Andrzej Horzela:
Remarks on Clock Synchronization

A. G. Kelly:
Synchronisation of Clock-Stations and the Sagnac Effect

Joseph Lévy:
Is Simultaneity Relative or Absolute?

Adolphe Martin:
Reception of Light Signals in Galilean Space-Time

J.Ramalho Croca:
Experiments on the Velocity c

Ramón Risco-Delgado:
Inertial Transformations from the Homogeneity of Absolute Space

F. Selleri:
On a Physical and Mathematical Discontinuity in Relativity Theory

Tom Van Flandern:
What the Global Positioning System Tells Us about Relativity

History and Philosophy

M. Barone:
Some Almost Unknown Aspects of Special Relativity Theory

Jenner Barretto Bastos Filho:
Correspondence and Commensurability in Modern Physics (a Study of the Compton Effect)

Eftichios Bitsakis:
Space and Time: Who was Right, Einstein or Kant?

A. Jannussis:
Einstein and the Development of Physics

Ludwik Kostro:
The Physical and Philosophical Reasons for A. Einstein’s Denial of the Ether in 1905 and its Reintroduction in 1916

N.A. Tambakis:
On the Question of Physical Geometry

G. Tarozzi:
Nonlocality, Relativity, and Two Further Quantum Paradoxes

Alexei A.Tyapkin:
On the History of the Special Relativity Concept

Structures in Space and Time

A. K. T. Assis & J. I. Cisneros:
The Problem of Surface Charges and Fields in Coaxial Cables and its Importance for Relativistic Physics

A.M. Awobode:
A New Appraisal of the Relativistic Quantum Theories of the Electron

V. S. Barashenkov:
Nature of Relativistic Effects and Delayed Clock Synchronization

Mirjana Bozic
On a Relativistic Magnetic Top

Henrik Broberg:
The Interface between Matter and Time: a Key to Gravitation

W. A. Hofer:
Internal Structures of Electrons and Photons and some Consequences in Relativistic Physics

Edward Kapuscik:
Generally Covariant Electrodynamics in Arbitrary Media

Marek Pawlowski:
On Weyl’s Extension of the Relativity Principle as a Tool to Unify Fundamental Interactions

J. P. Wesley:
Evidence for Newtonian Absolute Space and Time

Cosmology and Astrophysics

Halton Arp:
Evolution of Quasars into Galaxies and its Implications for the Birth and Evolution of Matter

J. Brandes:
A Lorentzian Approach to General Relativity: Einstein’s Closed Universe Reinterpreted *

Zbigniew Jacyna-Onyszkiewicz & Bogdan Lange:
The Simplest Inflationary Scenario in Relativistic Quantum Cosmology

D. F. Roscoe:
An Analysis of 900 Rotation Curves of Southern Sky Spiral Galaxies: Are the Dynamics Constrained to Discrete States?

Quantum Theory and Relativity

A.P. Bredimas:
Schrödinger’s "Aether" Unifies Quantum Mechanics and Relativistic Theories

Augusto Garuccio:
Entangled States and the Compatibilty Between Quantum Mechanics and Relativity

Luis Gonzalez-Mestres:
Lorentz Symmetry Violation, Vacuum and Superluminal Particles

A. Jannussis & S. Baskoutas:
On Superluminal Velocities

José L. Sánchez-Gómez:
Are Quantum Mechanics and Relativity Theory really Compatible?

Caroline H Thompson:
Behind the Scenes at the EPR Magic Show

M.A.B. Whitaker:
Relativistic Physics and Quantum Measurement Theory

About the Editor

Franco Selleri received his Ph.D. cum laude from Bologna University in 1958, and has been a fellow of the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare since 1959. He is a member of the New York Academy of Sciences and the Fondation Louis de Broglie, and has served on the Board of Directors of the Italian Physical Society. He has had numerous visiting professorships and fellowships, including CERN, Saclay, Cornell and Dubna. He is the recipient of a medal from Gdanskie Towarzystwo Naukowe (Poland). He has published more than 200 papers in particle physics, quantum theory, relativity and history and philosophy of physics. He is also the author of numerous books, including: Die Debatte um die Quantentheorie (Vieweg, Braunschweig 1983: translated into French, Spanish, Greek, Japanese and Italian); Quantum Paradoxes and Physical Reality (Kluwer, Dordrecht 1990: expanded version of Debatte); Paradossi e Realta (Laterza, Bari 1987: translated into Polish, Portuguese, Greek); Fisica senza Dogma (Dedalo, Bari 1989: translated into Spanish); FISICA, Dizionario enciclopedico, with V. Paticchio (1993); Che cos'e l'energia, Riuniti, Roma (1982). He has edited numerous conference proceedings on topics relating to the foundations of physics.