Remarks on the Equivalence of Inertial and Gravitational Masses and on the Accuracy of Einstein's Theory of Gravity

摘要

This paper investigates the accuracy of Einstein's theory of gravity by studying the gravitational field near a spherically symmetric nonrotating massive body. The well-known Schwarzschild metric, which describes the space-time in the vicinity of such bodies, according to Einstein 's theory of gravity, is compared with the new metric that is derived from first principles, without the use of Einstein's field equation. The basis for the derivation of the new metric is the new mass equivalence principle derived as a consequence of thought experiments and a slightly modified Newton's gravitational law written with the proper time and the proper distance. The new metric predictions are evaluated and compared for accuracy with observations and with the predictions of the perihelion advance and the gravitational redshift of the Schwarzschild metric. It is found that an excellent agreement is obtained between the theory and observations and significant differences from the predictions of the Schwarzschild metric are observed only in the vicinity of the Schwarzschild radius. The new metric has no problems related to the "black hole" geometry, has no coordinate pathologies, does not have the event horizon, and does not have the now famous singularity in the center of the black hole.