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Hanno Ess?n 2013 Eur. J. Phys. 34 139 doi:10.1088/0143-0807/34/1/139
Hanno Ess?n
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It is pointed out that recent cosmological findings seem to support the view that the mass/energy distribution of the universe defines the Newtonian inertial frames, as originally suggested by Mach. The background concepts of inertial frame, Newton's second law and fictitious forces are clarified. A precise definition of Mach's principle is suggested. Then, an approximation to general relativity discovered by Einstein, Infeld and Hoffmann is used and it is found that this precise formulation of Mach's principle is realized provided the mass/energy density of the universe has a specific value. This value turns out to be twice the critical density. The implications of this approximate result are put into context.
01.40.Ha Learning theory and science teaching
98.70.Vc Background radiations
95.35.+d Dark matter (stellar, interstellar, galactic, and cosmological)
Issue 1 (January 2013)
Received 16 August 2012, in final form 7 November 2012
Published 3 December 2012
Total article downloads: 653
Hanno Ess?n 2013 Eur. J. Phys. 34 139
H Pfister and K H Braun 1985 Class. Quantum Grav. 2 909
H Pfister et al 2005 Class. Quantum Grav. 22 4743
