Physics – History and Philosophy of Physics
Scientific paper
2004-09-30
Physics
History and Philosophy of Physics
24 pp., paper for a conference on "History of Geometry, 1930 to 2000", Paris, September 2001, Proceedings to by published by D
Scientific paper
In early 1929, V. Fock (initially in collaboration with D. Iwanenko) and H. Weyl developed independently from each other a general relativistic generalization of the Dirac equation. In the core, they arrived at the same theory by the introduction of a local (topologically trivial) spinor structures and a lifting of the Levi-Civita connection of underlying space-time. They both observed, in slightly different settings, a characteristic underdetermination of the spin connection by a complex phase factor, which gave the symbolical possibility for a reformulation of Weyl's old (1918) idea to characterize the electromagnetic potential by a differential form transforming as a gauge field. Weyl and Fock realized the common mathematical core of their respective approaches in summer 1929, but insisted on differences in perspective. An interesting difference was discussed by Weyl in his Rouse Ball lecture in 1930,. He contrasted the new type of unification strongly to the earlier geometrically unified field theories (including his own). He was quite explicit that he now considered his earlier ideas on geometrization of ``all of physics'' as premature and declared that the new, more empirically based approach would have to go a long way before it could be considered as a true "geometrization" of matter structures.
No associations
LandOfFree
Local spinor structures in V. Fock's and H. Weyl's work on the Dirac equation (1929) does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Local spinor structures in V. Fock's and H. Weyl's work on the Dirac equation (1929), we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Local spinor structures in V. Fock's and H. Weyl's work on the Dirac equation (1929) will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-593710