Mach's principle

noun

Physics.

1. the proposition that there is no absolute space and that the inertia and acceleration of a body are determined by all of the matter of the universe.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Mach's principle¹

After E. Mach

Example Sentences

But Albert Einstein is actually the one who named this “Mach’s principle,” after reading Ernst Mach’s earlier musings on the subject.

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And so he has continued to try to apply Mach’s principle to spacecraft engines.

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Einstein took Mach’s Principle, as he called it, to mean that it should be impossible to solve his equations for the case of a solitary object.

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If the cosmological constant couldn’t keep the universe still, then forget about it and Mach’s Principle, Einstein said.

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