On de Sitter Invariant Special Relativity and Cosmological Constant as Origin of Inertia

Abstract

Weakening the Euclidean assumption in special relativity and the coordinate-independence hypothesis in general relativity for the de Sitter space, we propose a de Sitter invariant special relativity with two universal constants of speed $c$ and length $R$ based on the principle of relativity and the postulate of universal constants $c$ and $R$ on de Sitter space with Beltrami metric. We also propose a postulate on the origin of the inertial motions and inertial systems as a base of the principle of relativity. We show that the Beltrami-de Sitter space provides such a model that the origin of inertia should be determined by the cosmological constant $Λ$ if the length $R$ is linked with $Λ$. In addition, via the `gnomonic' projection the uniform straight-line motion on Beltrami-de Sitter space is linked with the uniform motion along a great `circle' on de Sitter space embedded in 5-d Minkowski space.