arXiv subjects

Eugene J. Surowitz

Publications and source records attributed to Eugene J. Surowitz.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2012

Einstein's Apple: His First Principle of Equivalence

After a historical discussion of Einstein's 1907 principle of equivalence, a homogeneous gravitational field in Minkowski spacetime is constructed. It is pointed out that the reference frames in gravitational theory can be understood as spaces with a flat connection and torsion defined through teleparallelism. This kind of torsion was introduced by Einstein in 1928. The concept of torsion is discussed through simple examples and some historical observations.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2005

Redshifts and Killing Vectors

Courses in introductory special and general relativity have increasingly become part of the curriculum for upper-level undergraduate physics majors and master's degree candidates. One of the topics rarely discussed is symmetry, particularly in the theory of general relativity. The principal tool for its study is the Killing vector. We provide an elementary introduction to the concept of a Killing vector field, its properties, and as an example of its utility apply these ideas to the rigorous determination of gravitational and cosmological redshifts.

gr-qc↗