Living Reviews in Relativity (Jun 2014)
On the History of Unified Field Theories. Part II. (ca. 1930 – ca. 1965)
Abstract
The present review intends to provide an overall picture of the research concerning classical unified field theory, worldwide, in the decades between the mid-1930 and mid-1960. Main themes are the conceptual and methodical development of the field, the interaction among the scientists working in it, their opinions and interpretations. Next to the most prominent players, A. Einstein and E. Schrödinger, V. Hlavatý and the French groups around A. Lichnerowicz, M.-A. Tonnelat, and Y. Thiry are presented. It is shown that they have given contributions of comparable importance. The review also includes a few sections on the fringes of the central topic like Born–Infeld electromagnetic theory or scalar-tensor theory. Some comments on the structure and organization of research-groups are also made.
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