Non-relativistic geometry and the equivalence principle

The Special Relativistic Equivalence Principle: Gravity Theory’s Foundation

Einstein’s Equivalence Principle asserts that physical phenomena occuring in a laboratory which undergoes constant acceleration through gravity-free inertial space should be identical in all respects to that which occurs in local gravity. By incorporating special relativity theory into an extended version of the Equivalence Principle — the Special Relativistic Equivalence Principle (SREP) — pos...

The Equivalence Principle in the Non-baryonic Regime

We consider the empirical validity of the equivalence principle for non-baryonic matter. Working in the context of the THǫμ formalism, we evaluate the constraints experiments place on parameters associated with violation of the equivalence principle (EVPs) over as wide a sector of the standard model as possible. Specific examples include new parameter constraints which arise from torsion balanc...

The Equivalence Principle, the Covariance Principle

The equivalence principle, which states the local equivalence between acceleration and gravity, requires that a free falling observer must result in a co-moving local Minkowski space. On the other hand, covariance principle assumes any Gaussian system to be valid as a space-time coordinate system. Given the mathematical existence of the co-moving local Minkowski space along a time-like geodesic...

The Equivalence Principle

Questioning the Equivalence Principle

The Equivalence Principle (EP) is not one of the “universal” principles of physics (like the Action Principle). It is a heuristic hypothesis which was introduced by Einstein in 1907, and used by him to construct his theory of General Relativity. In modern language, the (Einsteinian) EP consists in assuming that the only long-range field with gravitational-strength couplings to matter is a massl...