Unified Field Theories: in the first third of the 20th century (Science Networks. Historical Studies, 13)

Despite the rapidly expanding ambit of physical research and the continual appearance of new branches of physics, the main thrust in its development was and is the attempt at a theoretical synthesis of the entire body of physical knowledge. The main triumphs in physical science were, as a rule, associ­ ated with the various phases of this synthesis. The most radical expression of this tendency is the program of construction of a unified physical theory. After Maxwellian electrodynamics had unified the phenomena of electricity, magnetism, and optics in a single theoretical scheme on the basis of the con­ cept of the electromagnetic field, the hope arose that the field concept would become the precise foundation of a new unified theory of the physical world. The limitations of an electromagnetic-field conception of physics, however, already had become clear in the first decade of the 20th century. The concept of a classical field was developed significantly in the general theory of relativity, which arose in the elaboration of a relativistic theory of gravitation. It was found that the gravitational field possesses, in addition to the properties inherent in the electromagnetic field, the important feature that it expresses the metric structure of the space-time continuum. This resulted in the following generalization of the program of a field synthesis of physics: The unified field representing gravitation and electromagnetism must also describe the geometry of space-time. Cover Modern Birkhauser Classics Unified Field Theories ISBN 9783034801737 Contents Preface Introduction CHAPTER 1 The Electromagnetic Program for the Synthesis of Physcis INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC PROGRAM DIFFICULTIES OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC PROGRAM: SPECIAL RELATIVITY AND QUANTA UNIFIED FIELD THEORIES BASED ON THE ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD PROGRAM EINSTEIN'S ATTEMPTS MIE'S THEORY THE THEORIES OF ISHIWARA AND NORDSTRÖM SUMMARY CHAPTER 2 The General Theory of Relatively: The Core of the Program of Unified Field Theories THE RELATIVISTIC PROGRAM AND THE GENERAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY EINSTEIN'S ATTITUDE TOWARD THE UNIFYING POSSIBILITIES OF GENERAL RELATIVITY HILBERT'S THEORY: THE FIRST UNIFIED FIELD THEORY BASED ON THE GENERAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY SUMMARY CHAPTER 3 Weyl's Theory: The First Truly Geometrized Unified Field Theory SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION ASPECTS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF WEYL'S THEORY THE IMPORTANCE OF WEYL'S PHILOSOPHICAL INTERESTS EARLIER STUDIES OF UNIFIED FIELD THEORIES EARLIER INVESTICATIONS IN DIFFERENTIAL GEOMETRY THE GEOMETRICAL FOUNDATION OF THE THEORY AND THE BASIC IDEA OF THE UNIFICATION OF GRAVITATION AND ELECTROMAGNETISM THE PROBLEM OF THE FIELD EQUATIONS AND CONSERVATION LAWS IN WEYL'S THEORY THE PROBLEM OF EXPERIMENTAL VERIFICATION OF THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE THEORY (EINSTEIN'S CRITICISM)) PAULI AND WEYL'S THEORY: FROM ACTIVE SUPPORT TO CRITICISM (1919–1920) SUMMARY CHAPTER 4 1921: The Pivotal Year of Unified Geometrized Field Theories THE QUANTUM THEOREITICAL PROGRAM THE DEVELOPMENT OF WEYL'S THEORY EDDINGTON'S THEORY KALUZA'S THEORY EINSTEIN'S THEORIES OF 1919–1923 SUMMARY Chapter 5 Einstein's Decade of Hopes and Disappointments AFFINE THEORY: 1923–1924 THE CONCEPT OF OVERDETERMINATION OF FIELD EQUATIONS AND QUANTA, 1923 AFFINE–METRIC THEORY, 1925–1926 THE PROBLEM OF THE EQUATIONS OF MOTION AND THE FIVE-DIMENSIONAL APPROACH, 1927 GEOMETRY WITH ABSOLUTE PARALLELSIM: 1928–1930 A NEW FIVE-DIMENSIONAL APRROACH (EINSTEIN AND MAYER, 1931-1932) AN OUTLINE OF EINSTEIN'S FURTHER ATTEMPTS (PRINCETON, 1933–1955) SUMMARY CHAPTER 6 The Role of Unified Geometrized Field Theories in the Genesis and Development of Quantum Theory WEYL'S THEORY AND WAVE MECHANICS THE GAUGE FIELD CONCEPT AND UNIFIED FIELD THEORIES (FORMULATION OF THE PROBLEM) POTENTIALS AND FIELD STRENGTHS IN ELECTRODYNAMICS GAUGE TRANSFORMATIONS IN WEYL'S THEORY LOCAL GAUGE TRANSFORMATIONS AND QUANTUN MECHANICS FROM GAUGE SYMMETRY TO GAUGE FIELDS ON THE PATH TO YANG–MILLS THEORY SUMMARY CONCLUDING REMARKS BIBLIOGRAPHY "Despite the rapidly expanding ambit of physical research and the continual appearance of new branches of physics, the main thrust in its development has been the attempts at a theoretical synthesis of the entire body of physical knowledge. Vladimir Vizgin's work presents perhaps the first systematic historico-scientific study of the formation and development of the unified field theories in the general context of 20th century physics. Concentrating on the first three decades of the century and drawing extensively on Russian sources, the author analyses the first successes, failures and paths of further development of the unified field theories. He presents the evolution of these theories as a process of interaction/competition between the geometric field and quantum research programs, and ascertains the relevance of these theories for fundemental concepts in modern field theory."--Jacket