Is the Equality between the Inertial and the Gravitational Mass Empirically Falsifiable?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48160/18532330me9.215Keywords:
inertial mass, gravitational mass, equality, non-empirical or structural interpretation, Einstein, NewtonAbstract
Following a suggestion made by Einstein, a non-empirical or structural interpretation of the equality between the inertial and the gravitational mass is proposed. To this aim, I will relate my line of argument regarding the foundations of the General Relativity to an analogous passage on the history of science in Newton’s preparatory works for the Principia. In both cases, two concepts of mass are mere expressions of two different frames of reference (inertial for Newton, non-inertial for Einstein). As a result, the ongoing experiments, whose aim is to prove empirically the equality between the inertial and gravitational mass, should not be accepted.
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