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----------------- 1751 - Einstein’s Theory of Gravity
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- Today is March 14, 2015. It is Pi Day, 3.14.15. Pi is 3.1415, or, the ratio of the circumference of any circle divided by its diameter. Pi s an Irrational Number, meaning that the decimal digits go on to infinity. It is also Albert Einstein’s 100 year anniversary for his Theory of Relativity. Newton’s equations didn’t us Pi, but, Einstein’s equations did.
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- Relativity tells about the speed of light being a constant, 186,282 miles per second, everywhere in the Universe, regardless of relative motion or time. Relativity also tells us that Gravity is not just a force attracting mass, but, it is a curvature of space and time. Space and Time are not constant, but , the speed of light is constant.
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- Einstein’s revelations were done on pencil and paper. Many observations and experiments over the past 100 years have tried to find exceptions to the Theory, but, so far, only confirmations have come out of the attempts.
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- The Theory has tremendous consequences in the entire Universe. Nothing with mass can travel faster than the speed of light. Anything that is massless instantly explodes traveling at the light speed, regardless of its relative motion, or direction, or frame of reference in the Universe.
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- Another consequence of this Theory is that a mass traveling at speeds approaching light speed increases, space shrinks, and time slows. Carrying this Relativity math to its extreme at the speed of light the mass in infinite, the space is nothing, and time stops. Therefore no mass can possible reach the velocity of a massless light beam. Photons and Gluons are the only massless particles known that can travel that fast.
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- We learn in school and astronauts apply Newton’s Gravitational Force equation which is perfectly accurate for our worldly applications:
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------------------------- Force of Gravity = G * M * m / r^2
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- The force of gravity between two objects is equal to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
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- Newton’s math works except for extremely massive objects, or, for objects moving extremely fast. Experiments at these extremes begin to show that Newton’s Math for a force is not complete and Einstein’s math for a curvature of space and time becomes more accurate.
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- Astronomers are trying new experiments to test the math in Relativity. One involves a pair of Pulsars orbiting each other. Pulsars are super dense, collapsed stars that rotate rapidly and shoot a beam of radiation out their poles. The precessing beam acts as a pulse, or a light house beam , sweeping by our line of sight. The timing of the pulse is as accurate as our atomic clocks.
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- Relativity predicts that these massive rotating Pulsars are generating Gravitational Waves radiating outward and depleting the binary system’s total energy. This in turn causes the stars to spiral towards each other over time. Since 1974 the separation distances have exactly matched the math calculations in Relativity. The Pulsars are getting closer together as they spin around each other because gravity waves are carrying away energy.
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- Gravity curves space and time and nowhere greater than in the grasp of a Blackhole. 26,000 lightyears away at the center of our Galaxy is Sagittarius A, Blackhole 4,400,000 Solar Mass. A proposed observation is to see the shadow of the Blackhole cast on the radio-wave background. This is as close as science can get to directly seeing a blackhole.
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- Two different blackhole theories are under study. Einstein’s theory that a blackhole has only 3 properties: mass, spin, and electric charge. Everything else is lost on the inside beyond the Event Horizon. If there is other than a perfectly circular shadow than maybe there are other properties involved. This would set a in motion a second set of theories that blackholes “have hair“, that is they are more complicated than 3 parameters.
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- The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, ( LIGO) experiment is designed to detect the gravitational waves passing through the Earth. These cosmic ripples are being created by colliding galaxies million of lightyears away. The waves reaching Earth are very small. LIGO requires the detection of push and pull oscillations that are 1/1,000th of the width of a proton. A proton diameter is 0.000,000,000,000,008,418,4 meters.
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- The detection of the effects of Relativity are very difficult. In our everyday world Isaac Newton’s theories work perfectly well. To see how small the error is consider the first observations made in 1859 that the planet Mercury was arriving at its closest orbital position to the Sun one-half second later with each 88 day rotation, (Mercury year).
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- Newton’s math came within 1/1,000,000th percent of being accurate. In 1915 Relativity’s math accounted for the space-time warping created by the mass of the Sun and precisely accounted for the yearly offset.
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- Relativity math also predicted that light beams would bend as they passed by a mass horizon. In 1919 Arthur Eddington measured the offset of Hyades background stars during a solar eclipse. Today this is called “ Gravitational Lensing”, and astronomers are using the bending light to magnify background galaxies deep into the beginning of the Universe.
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- Another experiment tried to prove the light beams moving away from a massive object become stretched, loose energy, become Redshifted. In 1959 this phenomenon was verified by Gamma Rays traveling up a 74 foot tower and loosing a couple trillionths of their energy due to widening wavelengths. This same effect was verified with the Global Positioning System. The orbiting satellites had to be adjusted 38 millionths of a second per day in order to remain accurate with the Earth’s surface, matching Einstein’s math exactly. ( See Review on Global Positioning System).
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- Light travels the same speed, but, it may take a longer path passing by a massive object. Sure enough a radar pulse bounced off Mercury is 200 millionths of a second slower if Mercury is closest to the Sun. This experiment has been repeated bouncing signals off spacecraft. Einstein’s math remains spot-on accurate.
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- All bodies accelerate in a gravitational field the same regardless of the mass or composition. Sure enough a feather in a vacuum and a canon ball fall at the same rate. In 1971 Apollo Astronauts verified this on the Moon with a feather and a hammer. The Earth and the Moon are effectively falling around the Sun. Laser reflectors left on the Moon have proven gravity’s acceleration to be equivalent for both bodies.
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- A spinning massive body pulls space-time along with it like a spoon stirring honey. Gravity Probe B is a satellite that in 2011 proved Earth’s spin drags space-time exactly as the math predicts.
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- Einstein’s “ Equivalence Principle” that all bodies under the influence of the same gravitational field experience the same acceleration regardless of mass or composition has withstood 100 years of challenge. He created it as a thought experiment. Repeated challenges and observations have not been able to improve on it. A test of time.
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