A pr 1 99 5 Physical Consequences of the Interpretation of the Skew Part of g μ ν in Einstein ’ s Nonsymmetric Unified Field Theory ∗

The electromagnetic interaction in the Einstein-Infeld-Hoffmann (EIH) equations of motion for charged particles in Einstein’s Unified Field Theory is found to be automatically precluded by the conventional identification of the skew part of the fundamental tensor with the Faraday tensor. It is shown that an alternative identification, suggested by observations of Einstein, Bergmann and Papapetrou, would lead to the expected electromagnetic interaction, were it not for the intervention of an infelicitous (radiation) gauge. Therefore, an EIH analysis of EUFT is inconclusive as a test of the physical viability of the theory, and it follows that EUFT cannot be considered necessarily unphysical on the basis of such an analysis. Thus, historically, Einstein’s Unified Field Theory was rejected for the