Universität zu Köln

Hehl, Friedrich W. ORCID: 0000-0003-2503-4744, Itin, Yakov and Obukhov, Yuri N. (2016). On Kottler's path: Origin and evolution of the premetric program in gravity and in electrodynamics. Int. J. Mod. Phys. D, 25 (11). SINGAPORE: WORLD SCIENTIFIC PUBL CO PTE LTD. ISSN 1793-6594

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Abstract

In 1922, Kottler put forward the program to remove the gravitational potential, the metric of spacetime, from the fundamental equations in physics as far as possible. He successfully applied this idea to Newton's gravitostatics and to Maxwell's electrodynamics, where Kottler recast the field equations in premetric form and specified a metric-dependent constitutive law. We will discuss the basics of the premetric approach and some of its beautiful consequences, like the division of universal constants into two classes. We show that classical electrodynamics can be developed without a metric quite straightforwardly: the Maxwell equations, together with a local and linear response law for electromagnetic media, admit a consistent premetric formulation. Kottler's program succeeds here without provisos. In Kottler's approach to gravity, making the theory relativistic, two premetric quasi-Maxwellian field equations arise, but their field variables, if interpreted in terms of general relativity, do depend on the metric. However, one can hope to bring the Kottler idea to work by using the teleparallelism equivalent of general relativity, where the gravitational potential, the coframe, can be chosen in a premetric way.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Hehl, Friedrich W. UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0003-2503-4744 UNSPECIFIED Itin, Yakov UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Obukhov, Yuri N. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-261550
DOI:	10.1142/S0218271816400162
Journal or Publication Title:	Int. J. Mod. Phys. D
Volume:	25
Number:	11
Date:	2016
Publisher:	WORLD SCIENTIFIC PUBL CO PTE LTD
Place of Publication:	SINGAPORE
ISSN:	1793-6594
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language SPECIAL-RELATIVISTIC THEORY; ONSAGER-CASIMIR PRINCIPLE; COSMIC WAVE-PROPAGATION; ANISOTROPIC SPACE-TIME; MAGNETOELECTRIC CRYSTALS; CLASSICAL ELECTRODYNAMICS; RECIPROCITY RELATIONS; SKEWON FIELD; ELECTROMAGNETISM; MEDIA Multiple languages Astronomy & Astrophysics Multiple languages
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/26155