On the discovery of Birkhoff's theorem

Nils Voje Johansen; Finn Ravndal

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On the discovery of Birkhoff's theorem

Nils Voje Johansen·Finn Ravndal

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Abstract

Birkhoff showed in 1923 that the Schwarzschild solution for the metric from a point particle was also valid in the a priori non-static case as long as the spherical symmetry was maintained. This theorem was actually discovered and published two years earlier by an unknown Norwegian physicist, J.T. Jebsen. His life and scientific career is briefly chronicled.

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Nils Voje Johansen, Finn Ravndal. 2005-09-06. On the discovery of Birkhoff's theorem. https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0508163

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