A Covariant Field Theory of Inertia

Abstract

A central problem in the conventional elementary particle theory that is based on the formal structure of quantum mechanics, and in Einstein’s original theory of gravitation, has to do with the origin of the inertial mass of matter. To resolve the problem, it would perhaps be significant to keep in view two outstanding empirical features of inertial mass. The first one, which has been known since the earliest observations of planetary motion, is that the masses of all interacting matter seem to have the same polarity. This is evidenced by the observation that the force of gravity has always been observed to be attractive. The second feature of inertial mass, which has only been known since the onset of high-energy elementary particle research, is that the inertial mass values in the microscopic domain lie in a sharply peaked distribution of values, not unlike the spectral distribution of frequencies of a radiating gas. It is suggested in the present analysis that a satisfactory understanding of the origin of inertial mass may not emerge until both of these observed properties can be derived from a common theoretical base.