Meaning of Mach's principle | Babel Free

Definitions

The principle that the inertia of a body arises from its relation to the totality of all other bodies in the universe.

Equivalents

Examples

“We now discuss a theory of gravitation and cosmology which is perhaps more strongly rooted in Mach's principle than any other theory discussed so far.”

“Thus, in any case, quantum theory is based on an absolute space-time picture and, therefore, in these formulations Mach's principle is not fulfiled.^([sic]) The following important question arises: Can quantum phenomena be treated in accordance with Mach's principle?”

“This is most famously embodied in Mach's Principle (so named by Einstein), which in its simplest form states that 'mass there influences inertia here'. More formally, it says that inertia is causally determined by the large-scale distribution of matter in the universe.”

CEFR level