Abstract
The equivalence principle is the conceptual basis for our best theory of gravity, general relativity. To date there has been no definitive, experimental evidence for a problem with general relativity as the proper theory of gravity. In this essay we present a thought experiment, involving the quantum effects of Hawking and Unruh radiation, which indicates a violation of the equivalence principle. The way in which the equivalence principle is violated by this thought experiment points toward a possible way to resolve some of the short comings of general relativity - the lack of a consistent quantum theory of gravity and the existence of singularities in black hole space-times.
Douglas Alexander Singleton