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Minkowski, geometrical and relativeness. (Portuguese. English summary) Zbl 1326.83011

Summary: Einstein published his first article about the Theory of Relativity in 1905 but, at first, few physicists displayed interest in this subject. Relativity began to be known by a wider audience only in 1908, when H. Minkowski gave his lecture “Space and time” [Bull. Calcutta Math. Soc. 1, 135–141 (1909; JFM 40.0745.05)]. Besides Minkowski, other remarkable Göttingen mathematicians studied relativity: David Hilbert, Hermann Weyl and, in a smaller measure, Felix Klein and Emmy Noether. We shall see why these mathematicians were particularly well adapted to the study of this area of physics.

MSC:

83-03 History of relativity and gravitational theory
01A60 History of mathematics in the 20th century
83A05 Special relativity
83C05 Einstein’s equations (general structure, canonical formalism, Cauchy problems)
53Z05 Applications of differential geometry to physics

Citations:

JFM 40.0745.05
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