SL(2, C) invariance and the gravitational field: Moshe Carmeli. General Physics Research Laboratory, Aerospace Research Laboratories, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio 45433
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1972
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 70 KB
- Volume
- 70
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0003-4916
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
The constitutive map is introduced to replace the familiar relation ij : EE and B = &. Its objective is a rigorous functional separation between field-and constitutive equations. The possibility to implement this functional separation is shown to depend critically on the introduction of electric charge as an independent space-time invariant unit, rather than as a unit derived from mass, length, and time. The linear map is shown to be invariant under the con-forma1 group, while the field equations remain invariant under general space-time diffeomorphisms. Algebraic and differential comitants of the linear map are discussed, their physical roles are identified. The impedance of a medium emerges as a space-time invariant. The new concepts are then applied to prove the invariance and constancy of the fine structure "constant" and the ratio e2ih.