![EINSTEIN, Albert. Autograph manuscript, comprising a summary of his paper with Walther Mayer on Unified Field Theory based on Teleparallism, [Berlin, 1931]. 1 full page, folio, neatly headed "Feldgleichungen" at top of the page, a slight fold separation mended, de-acidified and conserved and in a conservation mat; quarter black morocco clamshell case.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2002/NYR/2002_NYR_01174_0097_000(050403).jpg?w=1)
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EINSTEIN, Albert. Autograph manuscript, comprising a summary of his paper with Walther Mayer on Unified Field Theory based on Teleparallism, [Berlin, 1931]. 1 full page, folio, neatly headed "Feldgleichungen" at top of the page, a slight fold separation mended, de-acidified and conserved and in a conservation mat; quarter black morocco clamshell case.
UNIFIED FIELD THEORY AND TELEPARALLISM: EINSTEIN'S SUMMARY OF A 1931 PAPER WITH WALTHER MAYER
A manuscript in which Einstein presents a complete summary of a paper written by Einstein and Walther Mayer, entitled "Systematic Investigations of Compatible Field Equations That Are Possible in a Riemannian Space with Distant Parallelism," presented to the Prussian Academy in its session on 23 April 1931 and later published in its Proceedings. This collaborative paper constitutes the last contribution by Einstein to his theory of distant- or tele-parallelism, one that he had been pursuing since 1928. The theory is characterized by spaces with vanishing curvature but non-vanishing torsion, and Einstein had proposed various field equations, first on the basis of a variational principle and then by heuristically utilizing identities for the field equations. The final investigation, undertaken in collaboration with Mayer, was an attempt to find and classify all field equations that are compatible with a divergence-like identity. The problem leads to a set of 20 algebraic equations for 10 coefficients, and the solution of these equations, given by Einstein and Mayer, allowed them to characterize the possible field equations in four groups (here clearly labeled I-IV), two of which were generalizations of the classical field equations. The manuscript page presents the successive steps of this paper from Ansatz to its final conclusion.
We are grateful to Dr. Tilman Sauer of the Einstein Papers Project at Caltech for identification and elucidation of this manuscript. Sauer is currently preparing materials on Einstein's Unified Field Theories for publication in upcoming volumes of the Einstein papers.
References:
Albert Einstein and Walther Mayer, "Systematische Untersuchungen über kompatible Feldgleichungen, welche in einem Riemannschen Raume mit Fernparallelismus gesetzt werden können." Königlich Preussische Akademie der Wissenschaften (Berlin). Sitzungsberichte (1931): 257-265.
Vladimir P. Vizgin, Unified Field Theories in the First Third of the 20th Century. Boston: Birkäuser, 1994.
UNIFIED FIELD THEORY AND TELEPARALLISM: EINSTEIN'S SUMMARY OF A 1931 PAPER WITH WALTHER MAYER
A manuscript in which Einstein presents a complete summary of a paper written by Einstein and Walther Mayer, entitled "Systematic Investigations of Compatible Field Equations That Are Possible in a Riemannian Space with Distant Parallelism," presented to the Prussian Academy in its session on 23 April 1931 and later published in its Proceedings. This collaborative paper constitutes the last contribution by Einstein to his theory of distant- or tele-parallelism, one that he had been pursuing since 1928. The theory is characterized by spaces with vanishing curvature but non-vanishing torsion, and Einstein had proposed various field equations, first on the basis of a variational principle and then by heuristically utilizing identities for the field equations. The final investigation, undertaken in collaboration with Mayer, was an attempt to find and classify all field equations that are compatible with a divergence-like identity. The problem leads to a set of 20 algebraic equations for 10 coefficients, and the solution of these equations, given by Einstein and Mayer, allowed them to characterize the possible field equations in four groups (here clearly labeled I-IV), two of which were generalizations of the classical field equations. The manuscript page presents the successive steps of this paper from Ansatz to its final conclusion.
We are grateful to Dr. Tilman Sauer of the Einstein Papers Project at Caltech for identification and elucidation of this manuscript. Sauer is currently preparing materials on Einstein's Unified Field Theories for publication in upcoming volumes of the Einstein papers.
References:
Albert Einstein and Walther Mayer, "Systematische Untersuchungen über kompatible Feldgleichungen, welche in einem Riemannschen Raume mit Fernparallelismus gesetzt werden können." Königlich Preussische Akademie der Wissenschaften (Berlin). Sitzungsberichte (1931): 257-265.
Vladimir P. Vizgin, Unified Field Theories in the First Third of the 20th Century. Boston: Birkäuser, 1994.