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arXiv:astro-ph/0006423 (astro-ph)
[Submitted on 29 Jun 2000]

Title:Reflections on Gravity

Authors:Norbert Straumann (Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Zurich)
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Abstract: A pedagogical description of a simple ungeometrical approach to General Relativity is given, which follows the pattern of well understood field theories, such as electrodynamics. This leads quickly to most of the important weak field predictions, as well as to the radiation damping of binary pulsars. Moreover, certain consistency arguments imply that the theory has to be generally invariant, and therefore one is bound to end up with Einstein's field equations. Although this field theoretic approach, which has been advocated repeatedly by a number of authors, starts with a spin-2 theory on Minkowski spacetime, it turns out in the end that the flat metric is actually unobservable, and that the physical metric is curved and dynamical.
Short sections are devoted to tensor-scalar generalizations, the mystery of the vacuum energy density, and quintessence.
Comments: Concluding talk at the ESA-CERN Workshop, CERN, 5-7 April 2000
Subjects: Astrophysics (astro-ph)
Cite as: arXiv:astro-ph/0006423
  (or arXiv:astro-ph/0006423v1 for this version)
  https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.astro-ph/0006423

Submission history

From: Norbert Straumann [view email]
[v1] Thu, 29 Jun 2000 12:34:22 UTC (157 KB)
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