Open AccessIs the Equality between the Inertial and the Gravitational Mass Empirically Falsifiable?
Author(s) -
Josu Zabaleta Imaz
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
metatheoria
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1853-2322
pISSN - 1853-2330
DOI - 10.48160/18532330me9.215
Subject(s) - inertial frame of reference , einstein , interpretation (philosophy) , argument (complex analysis) , falsifiability , twin paradox , gravitation , theory of relativity , theoretical physics , general relativity , physics , classical mechanics , philosophy , four force , linguistics , biochemistry , chemistry , quantum mechanics
Following a suggestion made by Einstein, a non-empirical or structural interpretation of the equality between the inertial and the gravitational mass is proposed. To this aim, I will relate my line of argument regarding the foundations of the General Relativity to an analogous passage on the history of science in Newton’s preparatory works for the Principia. In both cases, two concepts of mass are mere expressions of two different frames of reference (inertial for Newton, non-inertial for Einstein). As a result, the ongoing experiments, whose aim is to prove empirically the equality between the inertial and gravitational mass, should not be accepted.