Introducing Relativity: A Graphic Guide
Bruce Bassett
Language: English
Pages: 176
ISBN: 1848310579
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
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equidistant and never meet. Another interesting way we can characterize these three different types of curvature (FLAT, POSITIVE, NEGATIVE) is by generalizing the idea of a triangle. Usually (i.e. in a flat space) a triangle has three sides made from straight lines. In a negatively or positively curved space, straight lines often don’t exist! THE NATURAL WAY TO GENERALIZE THE DEFINITION OF THE TRIANGLE, AS YOU MAY HAVE GUESSED, IS TO CONSTRUCT IT USING THREE GEODESICS INSTEAD OF THREE STRAIGHT
expedition sailed from England in March 1919 to Principe Island, off west-coast Africa, to study an eclipse of the sun. The eclipse was due to occur at 2 p.m. on 29 May, but there was a storm with heavy rain that morning. Eddington wrote: “The rain stopped about noon and about 1.30 … we began to get a glimpse of the sun. We had to carry out our photographs in faith …” The Eclipse “I did not see the eclipse, being too busy changing plates, except for one glance to make sure that it had begun
FASTER THAN SHOULD BE ALLOWED Dark Matter One can see this problem by thinking of gravity as the force that keeps the stars moving in a circular orbit, like a rope holding a whirling stone in a circle. NOW, AS YOU INCREASE THE VELOCITY OF THE STARS, THE MORE MASS YOU NEED IN THE GALAXY TO HOLD THE STARS IN THAT CIRCULAR ORBIT AND KEEP THEM FROM FLYING OFF INTO SPACE However, if we estimate the mass of the galaxy from the amount of matter we can see, there isn’t enough to keep the stars in
an intuitive understanding of time dilation and length contradiction. CONVERSELY, IF THE SPEED OF LIGHT WERE INFINITE, SR WOULD BE UNNECESSARY ANALOGOUSLY, IF NEWTON’S G WERE MUCH LARGER, GRAVITATIONAL EFFECTS WOULD BE MUCH WOULD BE MUCH STRONGER But if G = 0, there would be no more gravitational force at all. No planets or stars would form and the universe would be a very strange place. Dirac’s Idea of Anti-Matter Let’s go back to Einstein’s equations which had E2 = m2c4. Is there any case
between the twins, showing that you cannot interchange their arguments. We have already made it clear that special relativity does not apply to systems which undergo acceleration. THEREFORE, FOR A COMPLETE RESOLUTION OF THIS PROBLEM I WILL NEED TO EXTEND SPECIAL RELATIVITY TO INCLUDE ACCELERATION This quest will lead Einstein to general relativity, which he completed in 1916. It is arguably one of the greatest single intellectual contributions to humanity. The Building-Blocks of General
