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Glossary
Mach's Principle
Ernst Mach's principle (1893) essentially states that
the inertial effects of mass are not an innate property
of the body, rather they are the result of
the effect of all the other matter in the universe.
ie. it postulates that the local behavior of matter is influenced
by the global properties of the universe
More specifically, Mach's principle claims
It is not absolute acceleration, but the acceleration relative
to the center of mass of the universe that determine
the inertial proporties of matter.
If a body is accelerated with respect to the total mass of
the universe, it experiences "forces"
such as centrifugal & centripetal force.
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It is incorrect... |
Mach's principle does not offer an explanation of
how the matter in the rest of the universe
influences the inertial properties of of the body.
Furthermore it is now known that
it is incompatible with Einstein's General Theory of Relativity
there is no casual relation between the distance stars and
a local inertial frame.
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However, Mach's Principle was "popularized"
by Albert Einstein, and undoubtedly played some
role as Einstein formulated his
General Theory of Relativity.
Indeed Einstein spent at least some effort
(in vain) to incorporate the
theory into GR
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