Special Theory Seminar

Mach's Holographic Principle

Maulik Parikh

IUCAA/Columbia

Mach's principle is the seductive but vague idea that matter determines inertia. I propose a precise formulation of Mach's principle in which matter and geometry are in one-to-one correspondence. Einstein's equations are not modified and no selection principle is applied to their solutions. Instead, Mach's principle is realized wholly within general relativity, in a way that ties in with string theory and the black hole membrane paradigm.