Volume 18: Pages 547-560, 2005

Misunderstandings Related to Einstein's Principle of Equivalence and Einstein's Theoretical Errors on Measurements

C. Y. Lo

Applied and Pure Research Institute, 17 Newcastle Drive, Nashua, New Hampshire 03060 U.S.A.

Einstein's 1911 preliminary application of the equivalence between acceleration and Newtonian uniform gravity to derive gravitational redshifts was commonly but mistakenly regarded to be the same as Einstein's principle of equivalence, which has its foundation in theorems of Riemannian geometry and special relativity. Consequently, limitations due to Newtonian gravity shown in such derivations were incorrectly believed as meaning that Einstein's equivalence principle should not only be inadequate to derive the bending of light, but also have questionable validity itself. Moreover, in Einstein's theory of measurements, his instruments, being in free‐fall states, are incorrectly ignored. Consequently, there are theoretical errors and inconsistency, for example, as shown in the case of Einstein's uniformly rotating disk. However, after the theoretical errors are identified and rectified, the uniformly rotating disk will be an example that illustrates the importance of Einstein's equivalence principle and the inadequacy of Pauli's version. The crucial role of Einstein's equivalence principle in time dilation and space contractions is thus illustrated.

Keywords: Einstein's principle of equivalence, preliminary application of equivalence, Euclidean‐like structure, Einstein‐Minkowski condition

Received: April 26, 2005; Published online: December 15, 2008