146
DOC. 30 FOUNDATION OF GENERAL RELATIVITY
[p. 769]
Doc. 30
The Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity
by
A.
Einstein
[This
first
page
was missing
in the
existing translation.]
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
The
theory
which is
presented
in the
following pages conceivably
constitutes the
farthest-reaching generalization
of
a
theory
which,
today,
is
generally
called the
"theory
of
relativity";
I will call
the
latter
one-in
order to
distinguish
it from
the
first named-the
"special theory
of
relativity,"
which I
assume
to
be
known. The
generalization
of
the
theory
of
relativity
has been facilitated
considerably by
Minkowski,
a
mathematician who
was
the first
one
to
recognize
the formal
equivalence
of
space
coordinates and the time
coordinate,
and utilized this in the
construction of the
theory.
The mathematical tools that
are necessary
for
general
relativity were readily
available in the "absolute differential
calculus,"
which is based
upon
the research
on
non-Euclidean manifolds
by
Gauss, Riemann,
and
Christoffel,
and which has been
systematized by
Ricci and Levi-Civita and has
already
been
applied
to
problems
of
theoretical
physics.
In section B
of
the
present paper
I
developed
all the
necessary
mathematical
tools-which
cannot be assumed to be
known
to
every
physicist-and
I tried to do it in
as simple
and
transparent a manner
as
possible, so
that
a special
study
of
the mathematical literature is
not
required
for
the
understanding
of
the
present paper. Finally,
I want to
acknowledge gratefully my
friend,
the mathematician
Grossmann,
whose
help
not
only
saved
me
the effort of
studying
the
pertinent
mathematical
literature,
but who also
helped me
in
my
search
for the field
equations
of
gravitation.
[The
balance
of
this translation is
reprinted
from
H.
A.
Lorentz et
al.,
The
Principle of Relativity,
trans.
W. Perrett and
G. B.
Jeffery (Methuen, 1923;
Dover
rpt., 1952).]
Previous Page Next Page