Classical unified field theories to isospin rather than electromagnetism; this is related to a discrete (or ""internal"") symmetry known to Einstein as "displacement field duality". Einstein became increasingly isolated in his research on a generalized theory of gravitation, and most physicists consider his attempts ultimately unsuccessful. In particular, his pursuit of a unification of the fundamental forces ignored developments in quantum physics (and vice versa), most notably the discovery of the strong nuclear force and weak nuclear force. Inspired by Einstein's approach to a unified field theory and Eddington's idea of the affine connection as the sole basis for differential geometric structure for space-time,
Unified field theory unify our notions of space and time into an entity we now call spacetime and in 1915 he expanded this theory of special relativity to a description of gravity, general relativity, using a field to describe the curving geometry of four-dimensional spacetime. In the years following the creation of the general theory, a large number of physicists and mathematicians enthusiastically participated in the attempt to unify the then-known fundamental interactions. In view of later developments in this domain, of particular interest are the theories of Hermann Weyl of 1919, who introduced the concept of an (electromagnetic) gauge field in a