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arXiv · 0708.1958

Charge, geometry, and effective mass

Gerald E. Marsh
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Abstract

Charge, like mass in Newtonian mechanics, is an irreducible element of electromagnetic theory that must be introduced ab initio. Its origin is not properly a part of the theory. Fields are then defined in terms of forces on either masses--in the case of Newtonian mechanics, or charges in the case of electromagnetism. General Relativity changed our way of thinking about the gravitational field by replacing the concept of a force field with the curvature of space-time. Mass, however, remained an irreducible element. It is shown here that the Reissner-Nordstrom solution to the Einstein field equations tells us that charge, like mass, has a unique space-time signature.

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Gerald E. Marsh. 2008-01-17. Charge, geometry, and effective mass. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-008-9209-1

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