Einstein's Equivalence Principle and the Gravitational Red Shift II

TL;DR

This paper argues that the gravitational red shift cannot be solely explained by Einstein's equivalence principle and requires the full framework of general relativity for accurate prediction.

Contribution

It demonstrates that claims attributing the gravitational red shift solely to the equivalence principle are incorrect, emphasizing the necessity of the full theory of general relativity.

Findings

Equivalence principle-based arguments are false for predicting gravitational red shift.

Only general relativity can correctly predict the gravitational red shift.

Challenges the common interpretation of red shift as a verification of the equivalence principle.

Abstract

Long before the general theory of relativity was finally formulated in 1916, arguments based entirely on Einstein's equivalence principle predicted the well known phenomenon of the gravitational red shift. Precisely the same arguments are widely being used today to derive the same phenomenon. Accordingly, it is often claimed that the observed gravitational red shift is a verification of the equivalence principle rather than a verification of the full theory of general relativity. Here we show that, contrary to these claims, the arguments based on the equivalence principle are false and that \it{only the full theory of general relativity can correctly and unambiguously predict the gravitational red shift}.