Description:

Albert Einstein
n.p., 1943
Albert Einstein Signed Offprint Of Argentinian Article Exploring Rik = 0 & Unified Field Theory! With PSA LOA
DS

A special offprint of Albert Einstein's Spanish-language paper "Demostracion de la no existencia de campos gravitacionales sin singularidades de masa total no nula" published in an Argentinian scientific journal in 1941, signed, inscribed, and dated by Albert Einstein (1879-1955) on the front cover at upper right as: "To Dr G. [G]arcia with kind greetings / A. Einstein 1943." N.p. but probably Princeton, New Jersey. The offprint is a redacted version of the actual magazine issue, and includes the front cover, table of contents, and Einstein's article appearing on pp. 5-9. Expected wear including toning, scattered foxing, and minor chipped edges, else near fine. Housed in a custom blue leather folder measuring 9" x 11.5" x .5." Accompanied by a Letter of Authenticity from PSA, dated March 27, 2025, certification number AO08709. Provenance: Through descent from the dedicatory recipient, Godofredo Garcia.

Albert Einstein's paper was translated into Spanish and published under the title "Demostracion de la no existencia de campos gravitacionales sin singularidades de masa total no nula" ["Demonstration of the non-existence of gravitational fields with a non-vanishing total mass free of singularities"] in the Argentinian scientific magazine "Revista, Serie A, Mathematicas y Fisica Theorica" ["Magazine, Series A, Mathematics and Theoretical Physics"] published by the Universidad Nacional de Tucuman (Tucuman, Argentina: Publication No. 280, Vol. 2, Nos. 1 and 2, December 1941.)

Einstein had accepted an invitation to contribute an article to "Revista," a periodical only recently started by Alessandro Terracini, a professor at the National University of Tucuman. "Demostracion de la no existencia de campos gravitacionales…" is not widely known today, though it is significant in an historical context. In it, Einstein attempted to disprove the existence of regular solutions as part of his Unified Field Theory. Einstein described ideas in the 1941 paper that he later revisited in his 1943 collaboration with Wolfgang Pauli, when the pair attempted to prove the non-existence of certain non-singular solutions in the Kaluza-Klein Theory. Though obscure in the 21st C., "Demostracion de la no existencia de campos gravitacionales…" influenced scientific papers throughout the 1940s and 1950s. For more background on Einstein's 1941 paper, please refer to Mariano Galvagno and Gaston Giribet's excellent article, "The Particle Problem In Classical Gravity: A Historical Note on 1941" ("European Journal of Physics," December 2005.)

In Einstein's article, under the heading "Soluciones semejantes infinitesimalmente vecinas" ["Theorem of infinitely close solutions"] on page 8, Einstein refers to the equation Rik = 0. Rik = 0 is perhaps the second most recognized formula associated with Albert Einstein after E = MC2. Rik = 0 was the "simple formula" that Einstein famously scrawled on a chalkboard following Dr. Gustaf Stromberg's astronomy lecture at the California Institute of Technology's Mt. Wilson Observatory in Pasadena, California on January 14, 1931. After the lecture, Einstein wrote "Rik = 0 ?" on the chalkboard, posing it in relation to an attempt to calculate the density formula of the Milky Way. Rik = 0 was just one of many equations that Einstein explored in "Demostracion de la no existencia de campos gravitacionales…"

"Rik" was an abbreviation for the Ricci tensor, a concept in differential geometry developed by the Italian mathematician Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro (1853-1925). The Ricci tensor is used to visually represent how the volume of something in curved space changes due to the presence of curves, or arcs; and to quantify and document how the volume of something performs differently in curved space compared to in normal three-dimensional space. In General Relativity, the Ricci tensor represents volume changes caused by spacetime volume, or gravitational tides. One of the three "classic tests" of General Relativity is trying to calculate the perihelion (closest point of orbit to the sun) of the planet Mercury using the equation Rik = 0, which are essentially vacuum conditions not permitting the presence of an electromagnetic field. The Ricci tensor enabled physicists and astronomers to better conceptualize how bodies and gases behaved in the universe.

By 1941, Einstein was internationally recognized as one of the greatest physicists of all time. He enunciated the General Theory of Relativity, a law explaining the relationship between the speed of light and its consequence, and the equivalence of mass and energy (E=MC2). For his work in theoretical physics—largely for his 1905 paper on photons and photo-electricity—Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics (announced in November 1922, retroactive for 1921). Working on a Unified Field Theory, he then attempted to explain gravitation and electromagnetism within one set of laws.

Einstein dedicated this presentation copy to Godofredo Garcia (1888-1970), a Peruvian mathematician and the author of dozens of books on various advanced mathematical and scientific subjects. Garcia cofounded the Academia Nacional de Ciencias Exactas, Fisicas y Naturales ["National Academy of Exact, Physical, and Natural Sciences"] in Lima, Peru in 1938 and served as its president from 1960-1970.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Provenance: PSA Letter of Authenticity.
  • Dimensions: folder: 9" x 11.5" x .5"
  • Medium: DS

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