From Newton to Einstein, Benjamin Harrow [most read books in the world of all time TXT] 📗

where and are now coordinates referring to the new axes. This relation involves ten coefficients, the coefficients defining the transformation.

But of course a certain dynamical value is also attached to the g’s, because by the transfer of our axes from the Galilean type we have made a change which is equivalent to the introduction of a gravitational field; and the g’s must specify the field. That is, these g’s are the expressions of our experiences, and hence their values can not depend upon the use of any special axes; the values must be the same for all selections. In other words, whatever function of the coordinates any one g is for one set of axes, if other axes are chosen, this g must still be the same function of the new coordinates. There are ten g’s defined by differential equations; so we have ten covariant equations. Einstein showed how these g’s could be regarded as generalized potentials of the field. Our own experiments and observations upon gravitation have given us a certain knowledge concerning its potential; that is, we know a value for it which must be so near the truth that we can properly call it at least a first approximation. Or, stated differently, if Einstein succeeds in deducing the rigid value for the gravitational potential in any field, it must degenerate to the Newtonian value for the great majority of cases with which we have actual experience. Einstein’s method, then, was to investigate the functions (or equations) which would satisfy the mathematical conditions just described. A transformation from the axes used by the observer in the following box may be made so as to introduce into the equations the gravitational field recognized by an observer on the earth near the box; but this, obviously, would not be the general gravitational field, because the field changes as one moves over the surface of the earth. A solution found, therefore, as just indicated, would not be the one sought for the general field; and another must be found which is less stringent than the former but reduces to it as a special case. He found himself at liberty to make a selection from among several possibilities, and for several reasons chose the simplest solution. He then tested this decision by seeing if his formulæ would degenerate to Newton’s law for the limiting case of velocities small when compared with that of light, because this condition is satisfied in those cases to which Newton’s law applies. His formulæ satisfied this test, and he therefore was able to announce a “law of gravitation,” of which Newton’s was a special form for a simple case.

To the ordinary scholar the difficulties surmounted by Einstein in his investigations appear stupendous. It is not improbable that the statement which he is alleged to have made to his editor, that only ten men in the world could understand his treatment of the subject, is true. I am fully prepared to believe it, and wish to add that I certainly am not one of the ten. But I can also say that, after a careful and serious study of his papers, I feel confident that there is nothing in them which I can not understand, given the time to become familiar with the special mathematical processes used. The more I work over Einstein’s papers, the more impressed I am, not simply by his genius in viewing the problem, but also by his great technical skill.

Following the path outlined, Einstein, as just said, arrived at certain mathematical laws for a gravitational field, laws which reduced to Newton’s form in most cases where observations are possible, but which led to different conclusions in a few cases, knowledge concerning which we might obtain by careful observations. I shall mention a few deductions from Einstein’s formulæ.

1. If a heavy particle is put at the center of a circle, and, if the length of the circumference and the length of the diameter are measured, it will be found that their ratio is not π (3.14159). In other words the geometrical properties of space in such a gravitational field are not those discussed by Euclid; the space is, then, non-Euclidean. There is no way by which this deduction can be verified, the difference between the predicted ratio and π is too minute for us to hope to make our measurements with sufficient exactness to determine the difference.

2. All the lines in the solar spectrum should with reference to lines obtained by terrestrial sources be displaced slightly towards longer wave-lengths. The amount of displacement predicted for lines in the blue end of the spectrum is about one-hundredth of an Angstrom unit, a quantity well within experimental limits. Unfortunately, as far as the testing of this prediction is concerned, there are several physical causes which are also operating to cause displacement of the spectrum-lines; and so at present a decision can not be rendered as to the verification. St. John and other workers at the Mount Wilson Observatory have the question under investigation.

3. According to Newton’s law an isolated planet in its motion around a central sun would describe, period after period, the same elliptical orbit; whereas Einstein’s laws lead to the prediction that the successive orbits traversed would not be identically the same. Each revolution would start the planet off on an orbit very approximately elliptical, but with the major axis of the ellipse rotated slightly in the plane of the orbit. When calculations were made for the various planets in our solar system, it was found that the only one which was of interest from the standpoint of verification of Einstein’s formulæ was Mercury. It has been known for a long time that there was actually such a change as just described in the orbit of Mercury, amounting to 574″ of arc per century; and it has been shown that of this a rotation of 532″ was due to the direct action of other planets, thus leaving an unexplained rotation of 42″ per century. Einstein’s formulæ predicted a rotation of 43″, a striking agreement.

4. In accordance with Einstein’s formulæ a ray of light passing close to a heavy piece of matter, the sun, for instance, should experience a sensible deflection in towards the sun. This might be expected from “general” consideration of energy in motion; energy and mass are generally considered to be identical in the sense that an amount of energy E has the mass where c is the velocity of light; and consequently a ray of light might fall within the province of gravitation and the amount of deflection to be expected could be calculated by the ordinary formula for gravitation. Another point of view is to consider again the observer inside the compartment falling with the acceleration of the gravitational field. To him the path of a projectile and a ray of light would both appear straight; so that, if the projectile had a velocity equal to that of light, it and the light wave would travel side by side. To an observer outside the compartment, e.g., to one on the earth, both would then appear to have the same deflection owing to the sun. But how much would the path of the projectile be bent? What would be the shape of its parabola? One might apply Newton’s law; but, according to Einstein’s formulæ, Newton’s law should be used only for small velocities. In the case of a ray passing close to the sun it was decided that according to Einstein’s formula there should be a deflection of 1″.75 whereas Newton’s law of gravitation predicted half this amount. Careful plans were made by various astronomers, to investigate this question at the solar eclipse last May, and the result announced by Dyson, Eddington and Crommelin, the leaders of astronomy in England, was that there was a deflection of 1″.9. Of course the detection of such a minute deflection was an extraordinarily difficult matter, so many corrections had to be applied to the original observations; but the names of the men who record the conclusions are such as to inspire confidence. Certainly any effect of refraction seems to be excluded.

It is thus seen that the formulæ deduced by Einstein have been confirmed in a variety of ways and in a most brilliant manner. In connection with these formulæ one question must arise in the minds of everyone; by what process, where in the course of the mathematical development, does the idea of mass reveal itself? It was not in the equations at the beginning and yet here it is at the end. How does it appear? As a matter of fact it is first seen as a constant of integration in the discussion of the problem of the gravitational field due to a single particle; and the identity of this constant with mass is proved when one compares Einstein’s formulæ with Newton’s law which is simply its degenerated form. This mass, though, is the mass of which we become aware through our experiences with weight; and Einstein proceeded to prove that this quantity which entered as a constant of integration in his ideally simple problem also obeyed the laws of conservation of mass and conservation of momentum when he investigated the problems of two and more particles. Therefore Einstein deduced from his study of gravitational fields the well-known properties of matter which form the basis of theoretical mechanics. A further logical consequence of Einstein’s development is to show that energy has mass, a concept with which every one nowadays is familiar.

The description of Einstein’s method which I have given so far is simply the story of one success after another; and it is certainly fair to ask if we have at last reached finality in our investigation of nature, if we have attained to truth. Are there no outstanding difficulties? Is there no possibility of error? Certainly, not until all the predictions made from Einstein’s formulæ have been investigated can much be said; and further, it must be seen whether any other lines of argument will lead to the same conclusions. But without waiting for all this there is at least one difficulty which is apparent at this time. We have discussed the laws of nature as independent in their form of reference axes, a concept which appeals strongly to our philosophy; yet it is not at all clear, at first sight, that we can be justified in our belief. We can not imagine any way by which we can become conscious of the translation of the earth in space; but by means of gyroscopes we can learn a great deal about its rotation on its axis. We could locate the positions of its two poles, and by watching a Foucault pendulum or a gyroscope we can obtain a number which we interpret as the angular velocity of rotation of axes fixed in the earth; angular velocity with reference to what? Where is the fundamental