Research topic: Machs principle

Mach's principle [for E. Mach ], assertion that the inertial effects of mass are not innate in a body, but arise from its relation to the totality of all other masses, i.e., to the universe as a whole. Thus, the inertial forces experienced by a body in accelerated motion have the same physical origin as the gravitational forces it experiences near mass concentrations, namely the mass-energy field described by the general theory of relativity . Inertial forces have a much longer range than gravitational forces, so the role of very distant matter becomes preponderant. According to... Read more