Equivalence Principle  

In General, Versions > s.a. quantum equivalence principle; variation of constants.
* History: Heuristic principle introduced by Einstein in 1907 as a primary motivation for general relativity.
* Weak (idea): Gravity is like an inertial force, in that it affects the linear motion of all (small) objects equally.
$ Weak (Galileo): All pointlike bodies fall in the same way in a (possibly strong) gravitational field; mi mg – mass.
$ Weak (Newton): For (possibly extended) slowly moving bodies in weak fields, mi mg – composition/form.
* Relationships: When all assumptions are satisfied, the two above versions are equivalent.
$ Modern versions: The only long-range field with gravitational-strength couplings to matter is a massless spin-2 field, the graviton; The PPN parameter is the same for all types of matter.
* And general relativity: The wep is built into the theory.
* Remark: This principle concerns the passive gravitational mass mpass, but mact must be equal to mpass in order for momentum to be conserved and Newton's third law to be valid, so an exterior gravitational field is independent of what type of matter produces it; This is more than just a statement on gravitational effects felt by matter.
* Strong (idea): All (small) objects are equally affected by gravity in every respect; A stationary observer in a gravitational potential V is indistinguishable from one moving with acceleration –V and no gravitational field; All gravitational effects can be locally transformed away and no local measurement can detect a gravitational field; Requires that matter be coupled to gravity only through gab and abc, not the curvature.
* And general relativity: It is not built in, and there are situations where it is not satisfied.
@ Strong version: Bertotti & Grishchuk CQG(90); in Ohanian & Ruffini 94 [good]; Aldrovandi et al FP(03)gq/02 [with torsion].

Violations > s.a. Chameleon Field; tests of the equivalence principle; modified lorentz symmetry.
* Of wep: May occur if there are s = 0 and 1 particles with gravitational strength couplings [@ Maddox Nat(91)mar], such as those predicted by some unified theories like string theory; The best known consequences are variation of "constants'', non-universality of free fall, and relative drift of atomic clocks; May also induce oscillations without the need for a mass (& P Halprin).
* Of sep: There are at least two local effects (using infinitesimal-size objects) that can detect gravitational fields, the tidal distorsion of an object, and the precession of a spinning non-spherical gyroscope; A gravitational field implies an unambiguous, nonzero Rabcd; The strong equivalence principle fails even in Newtonian gravity; Violated in QED in curved spacetime, with "faster than light" photons (> see causality violations), and by metric-affine theories that predict vacuum birefringence (> see phenomenology).
@ Of wep: Will PRL(89) [in non-symmetric gravity]; Göklü & Lämmerzahl a0801 [from metric fluctuations].
@ From string dilaton: Damour gq/97-in, gq/97-in; [Landau et al ap/03-wd].
@ Other situations: Ellis gq/03 [leptons]; Ellis et al IJMPA(04)gq/03 [from st foam]; Barrow & Scherrer PRD(04)ap [fermions vs bosons]; Hehl & Obukhov a0705 [and em coupling, axion and dilaton]; Bertolami et al PLB(07), Le Delliou et al a0709-in [dark energy–dark matter interaction in A586].

References
@ General: in Dicke 64; Klein Sci(71)jan; Rabinowitz IEEE(90)phy/07 [falling bodies, history]; Hughes CP(93); Iliev JGP(98)gq; Camacho MPLA(99)gq [continuous quantum measurement]; Rohrlich FP(00) [critique]; Damour gq/01/CRAS [rev]; Ghins & Budden SHPMP(01); Nordtvedt gq/02 [special relativistic]; Drake AJP(06) [and special / general relativity transition]; Schücking & Surowitz gq/07 [Einstein 1907].
@ Geometric formulation: Coleman & Schmidt JMP(95); Iliev JPA(96)gq, JPA(97)gq; Wesson GRG(03) [5D, weak]; Iliev gq/06-in [and geodesic deviation].
@ Criticisms: Logunov et al SPU(96); Ginzburg & Froshenko SPU(95), SPU(96) [reply].
@ In other theories: Olmo PRL(07)gq/06 [in f(R) gravity theories]; > s.a. kaluza-klein.
@ For Casimir energy: Fulling et al PRD(07)ht; Milton et al JPA(07)-a0705; Milton et al a0710-in; Shajesh et al a0711-in.
@ Generalized: Lyre IJMPD(00)gq [for gauge charges]; Chiao gq/02/PRL [extended, and Kramers-Kronig relations]; Mensky PLA(04) [from energy-momentum conservation].
@ Related topics: 't Hooft JGP(84) [and black hole radiation]; Kreinovich & Zapatrin gq/97 [operational]; Carlip AJP(98)gq/99 [and KE]; Özer gq/99 [and electromagnetism]; Rohrlich PRD(01) [despite self-interaction]; Rodrigues & Sharif FP(01)mp/03 [and local Lorentz invariance]; Maluf et al a0704-CQG [tetrads and energy in freely falling frames].


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