The analysis of observations

Source abstract

Abstract A new method of approach to Eddington’s wave-tensor calculus is given. The basis of the method is the concept of scale invariance. This leads to the idea of a scale basis for the algebra employed, and it is shown that this is only possible for the even Clifford algebras. Thus the origin of the E-number algebra is clearly shown, and the requirement of scale invariance then defines a four-dimensional space in which E-numbers are to be represented. The theory is carried far enough to provide for the simplest physical application— the finestructure of the hydrogen spectrum—and the connexion with Eddington’s statistical theory is also discussed.