Christoph Schiller

MOTION MOUNTAIN
the adventure of physics – vol.ii
relativity

www.motionmountain.net
 Christoph Schiller

Motion Mountain

The Adventure of Physics

Volume II

Relativity

Edition 26.7, available as free pdf

with films at www.motionmountain.net
Editio vicesima sexta.

Proprietas scriptoris © Chrestophori Schiller

tertio anno Olympiadis trigesimae.

Omnia proprietatis iura reservantur et vindicantur.

Imitatio prohibita sine auctoris permissione.
Non licet pecuniam expetere pro aliqua, quae
partem horum verborum continet; liber
pro omnibus semper gratuitus erat et manet.

Twenty-sixth edition.

Copyright © 1990–2014 by Christoph Schiller,

the third year of the 30th Olympiad.

This pdf file is licensed under the Creative Commons

Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Germany
Licence, whose full text can be found on the website
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To Britta, Esther and Justus Aaron

τῷ ἐμοὶ δαὶμονι
Die Menschen stärken, die Sachen klären.
PR EFAC E

“ ”
Primum movere, deinde docere.*
Antiquity

This book is written for anybody who is curious about nature and motion. Curiosity
about how people, animals, things, images and empty space move leads to many adven-
tures. This volume presents the best adventures from the domains of extremely fast, pow-
erful and distant motion: relativity and cosmology. In the study of motion – physics –

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

special and general relativity form two important building blocks, as shown in Figure 1.
Special relativity is the exploration of the energy speed limit c. General relativity is the
exploration of the force limit c 4 /4G. The text shows that in both domains, all equations
follow from these two limit values. Finally, cosmology is the exploration of motion near
the maximum distance scale 1/󵀂Λ . This simple, intuitive and way of learning relativity
should reward the curiosity of every reader – whether student or professional.
The present volume is the second of a six-volume overview of physics that arose from
a threefold aim that I have pursued since 1990: to present motion in a way that is simple,
up to date and captivating.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

In order to be simple, the text focuses on concepts, while keeping mathematics to the
necessary minimum. Understanding the concepts of physics is given precedence over
using formulae in calculations. The whole text is within the reach of an undergraduate.
In order to be up to date, the text is enriched by the many gems – both theoretical and
empirical – that are scattered throughout the scientific literature.
In order to be captivating, the text tries to startle the reader as much as possible. Read-
ing a book on general physics should be like going to a magic show. We watch, we are
astonished, we do not believe our eyes, we think, and finally we understand the trick.
When we look at nature, we often have the same experience. Indeed, every page presents
at least one surprise or provocation for the reader to think about.
The motto of the text, die Menschen stärken, die Sachen klären, a famous statement by
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Hartmut von Hentig on pedagogy, translates as: ‘To fortify people, to clarify things.’ Clar-
ifying things – and adhering only to the truth – requires courage, as changing the habits
of thought produces fear, often hidden by anger. But by overcoming our fears we grow
in strength. And we experience intense and beautiful emotions. All great adventures in
life allow this, and exploring motion is one of them. Enjoy it.

Munich, 9 June 2014.

* ‘First move, then teach.’ In modern languages, the mentioned type of moving (the heart) is called motivat-
ing; both terms go back to the same Latin root.
8 preface

PHYSICS: Final, unified description of Why does motion

Describing motion motion occur? What are
with the least action principle. Adventures: understanding space, time and
motion, intense joy with quantum particles?
thinking, calculating
couplings and
masses, catching
a glimpse
of bliss
(vol. VI).
Quantum
General relativity theory with gravity Quantum field theory
Adventures: the Adventures: bouncing Adventures: building
night sky, measu- neutrons, under- accelerators, under-
ring curved space, standing tree standing quarks, stars,
exploring black growth (vol. V). bombs and the basis of
holes and the life, matter, radiation
universe, space (vol. V).
and time (vol. II). How do small

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

things move?
What are things?
How do
Classical gravity everyday, Special relativity Quantum theory
Adventures: fast and large Adventures: light, Adventures: death,
climbing, skiing, things move? magnetism, length reproduction, biology,
space travel, contraction, time chemistry, evolution,
the wonders of dilation and enjoying colours and
astronomy and E0 = mc2 (vol. II). art, all high-tech
geology (vol. I). business, medicine
G c h, e, k (vol. IV and V).

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Galilean physics, heat and electricity
Adventures: sport, music, sailing, cooking,
describing beauty and understanding its origin
(vol. I), using electricity, light and computers,
understanding the brain and people (vol. III).

F I G U R E 1 A complete map of physics: the connections are defined by the speed of light c, the
gravitational constant G, the Planck constant h, the Boltzmann constant k and the elementary charge e.

Advice for learners

free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Learning widens knowledge, improves intelligence and allows us to discover what kind of
person we can be. Learning from a book, especially one about nature, should be efficient
and enjoyable. The most inefficient and the most tedious learning method is to use a
marker to underline text: it is a waste of time, provides false comfort and makes the text
unreadable. Nobody marking text is learning efficiently or is enjoying it.
In my experience as a student and teacher, one learning method never failed to trans-
form unsuccessful pupils into successful ones: if you read a text for study, summarize
every section you read, in your own words and images, aloud. If you are unable to do
so, read the section again. Repeat this until you can clearly summarize what you read
 preface 9

in your own words and images, aloud. You can do this alone or with friends, in a room
or while walking. If you do this with everything you read, you will reduce your learning
and reading time significantly, enjoy learning from good texts much more and hate bad
texts much less. Masters of the method can use it even while listening to a lecture, in a
low voice, thus avoiding to ever take notes.

Advice for teachers

A teacher likes pupils and likes to lead them into exploring the field he chose. His or her
enthusiasm for the job is the key to job satisfaction. If you are a teacher, before the start of
a lesson, picture, feel and tell yourself how you enjoy the topic of the lesson; then picture,
feel and tell yourself how you will lead each of your pupils into enjoying that topic as
much as you do. Do this exercise consciously, every time. You will minimize trouble in
your class and maximize your teaching success.
This book is not written with exams in mind; it is written to make teachers and stu-
dents understand and enjoy physics, the science of motion.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Using this book

Marginal notes refer to bibliographic references, to other pages or to challenge solutions.

In the colour edition, such notes and also the pointers to footnotes and to other websites
are typeset in green. In the free pdf edition, all green links are clickable. The pdf edition
also contains all films; they can be watched in Adobe Reader.
Solutions and hints for challenges are given in the appendix. Challenges are classified
as research level (r), difficult (d), standard student level (s) and easy (e). Challenges for

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

which no solution has yet been included in the book are marked (ny).
Links on the internet tend to disappear with time. Most links can be recovered via
www.archive.org, which keeps a copy of old internet pages.

Feedback and support

This text is and will remain free to download from the internet. I would be delighted to
receive an email from you at [email protected], especially on the following issues:
Challenge 1 s — What was unclear and should be improved?
— What story, topic, riddle, picture or film did you miss?
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

In order to simplify annotations, the pdf file allows adding yellow sticker notes in Adobe
Reader. Help on the specific points listed on the www.motionmountain.net/help.html
web page are particularly welcome. All feedback will be used to improve the next edition.
On behalf of all readers, thank you in advance for your input. For a particularly useful
contribution you will be mentioned – if you want – in the acknowledgements, receive a
reward, or both.
Your donation to the charitable, tax-exempt non-profit organisation that produces,
translates and publishes this book series is welcome! For details, see the web page www.
motionmountain.net/donation.html. The German tax office checks the proper use of
10 preface

your donation. If you want, your name will be included in the sponsor list. Thank you in
advance for your help, on behalf of all readers across the world.
The pdf version of this book, with embedded films, is available for free at www.
motionmountain.net. The paper edition of this book is also available. It is delivered
by mail to any address of your choice and can be ordered at www.amazon.com, www.
createspace.com or www.lulu.com. And now, enjoy the reading.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net
 Contents
16 1 Maximum speed, observers at rest and motion of light
Can one play tennis using a laser pulse as the ball and mirrors as rackets? 22 •
Albert Einstein 25 • An invariant limit speed and its consequences 25 • Special
relativity with a few lines 28 • Acceleration of light and the Doppler effect 30
• The difference between light and sound 35 • Can one shoot faster than one’s
shadow? 36 • The composition of velocities 38 • Observers and the principle of
special relativity 39 • What is space-time? 44 • Can we travel to the past? –
Time and causality 45 • Curiosities about special relativity 47 • Faster than light:
how far can we travel? 47 • Synchronization and time travel – can a mother stay
younger than her own daughter? 48 • Length contraction 51 • Relativistic films –
aberration and Doppler effect 53 • Which is the best seat in a bus? 57 • How fast
can one walk? 57 • Is the speed of shadow greater than the speed of light? 57 •
Parallel to parallel is not parallel – Thomas rotation 61 • A never-ending story –
temperature and relativity 61 • Summary 62

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

63 2 R el ativistic mechanics
Mass in relativity 63 • Why relativistic snooker is more difficult 65 • Mass and
energy are equivalent 67 • Weighing light 69 • Collisions, virtual objects and
tachyons 70 • Systems of particles – no centre of mass 72 • Why is most motion so
slow? 72 • The history of the mass–energy equivalence formula 73 • 4-vectors 74
• 4-velocity 76 • 4-acceleration and proper acceleration 77 • 4-momentum or
energy–momentum or momenergy 78 • 4-force – and the nature of mechanics 80
• Rotation in relativity 81 • Wave motion 83 • The action of a free particle – how
do things move? 84 • Conformal transformations 86 • Accelerating observers 88
• Accelerating frames of reference 90 • Constant acceleration 91 • Event hori-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

zons 93 • The importance of horizons 95 • Acceleration changes colours 96 •
Can light move faster than c? 96 • The composition of accelerations 97 • A cu-
riosity: what is the one-way speed of light? 98 • Limits on the length of solid bod-
ies 99
101 3 Special rel ativit y in four sentences
Could the speed of light vary? 101 • Where does special relativity break down? 102
104 4 Simple general rel ativit y: gravitation, maximum speed and max-
imum force
Maximum force – general relativity in one statement 105 • The meaning of the
force and power limits 106 • The experimental evidence 109 • Deducing general
relativity 110 • Gravity, space-time curvature, horizons and maximum force 114 •
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Conditions of validity of the force and power limits 116 • Gedanken experiments
and paradoxes about the force limit 116 • Gedanken experiments with the power
and the mass flow limits 121 • Why maximum force has remained undiscovered
for so long 125 • An intuitive understanding of general relativity 125 • An
intuitive understanding of cosmology 128 • Experimental challenges for the third
millennium 129 • A summary of general relativity – and minimum force 130
133 5 How maximum speed changes space, time and gravit y
Rest and free fall 133 • What clocks tell us about gravity 134 • What tides tell us
about gravity 138 • Bent space and mattresses 140 • Curved space-time 142 •
The speed of light and the gravitational constant 144 • Why does a stone thrown
12 contents

into the air fall back to Earth? – Geodesics 145 • Can light fall? 148 • Curiosities
and fun challenges about gravitation 149 • What is weight? 154 • Why do
apples fall? 154 • A summary: the implications of the invariant speed of light on
gravitation 155
156 6 Open orbits, bent light and wobbling vacuum
Weak fields 156 • Bending of light and radio waves 157 • Time delay 159 • Rela-
tivistic effects on orbits 159 • The geodesic effect 162 • The Thirring effects 164 •
Gravitomagnetism 166 • Gravitational waves 169 • Production and detection of
gravitational waves 173 • Curiosities and fun challenges about weak fields 177 • A
summary on orbits and waves 178
179 7 From curvature to motion
How to measure curvature in two dimensions 179 • Three dimensions: curvature
of space 181 • Curvature in space-time 183 • Average curvature and motion
in general relativity 185 • Universal gravity 186 • The Schwarzschild metric 187
• Curiosities and fun challenges about curvature 187 • Three-dimensional
curvature: the Ricci tensor 188 • Average curvature: the Ricci scalar 188 •
The Einstein tensor 189 • The description of momentum, mass and energy 189

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

• Einstein’s field equations 191 • Universal gravitation – again 193 • Under-
standing the field equations 194 • Hilbert’s action – how do things fall? 195 • The
symmetries of general relativity 195 • Mass in general relativity 196 • The force
limit and the cosmological constant 196 • Is gravity an interaction? 197 • How to
calculate the shape of geodesics 198 • Riemann gymnastics 199 • Curiosities and
fun challenges about general relativity 201 • A summary of the field equations 202
204 8 Why can we see the stars? – Motion in the universe
Which stars do we see? 204 • How do we watch the stars? 207 • What do we
see at night? 209 • What is the universe? 216 • The colour and the motion of

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

the stars 219 • Do stars shine every night? 221 • A short history of the uni-
verse 223 • The history of space-time 227 • Why is the sky dark at night? 231
• The colour variations of the night sky 234 • Is the universe open, closed or
marginal? 234 • Why is the universe transparent? 237 • The big bang and its
consequences 237 • Was the big bang a big bang? 238 • Was the big bang an
event? 238 • Was the big bang a beginning? 239 • Does the big bang imply cre-
ation? 240 • Why can we see the Sun? 240 • Why do the colours of the stars
differ? 241 • Are there dark stars? 243 • Are all stars different? – Gravitational
lenses 243 • What is the shape of the universe? 245 • What is behind the hori-
zon? 246 • Why are there stars all over the place? – Inflation 247 • Why are
there so few stars? – The energy and entropy content of the universe 247 • Why
is matter lumped? 248 • Why are stars so small compared with the universe? 249
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

• Are stars and galaxies moving apart or is the universe expanding? 249 • Is there
more than one universe? 249 • Why are the stars fixed? – Arms, stars and Mach’s
principle 249 • At rest in the universe 251 • Does light attract light? 251 •
Does light decay? 252 • Summary on cosmology 252
253 9 Bl ack holes – falling forever
Why explore black holes? 253 • Mass concentration and horizons 253 • Black hole
horizons as limit surfaces 257 • Orbits around black holes 258 • Black holes have
no hair 260 • Black holes as energy sources 262 • Formation of and search for
black holes 264 • Singularities 265 • Curiosities and fun challenges about black
holes 266 • Summary on black holes 269 • A quiz – is the universe a black
contents 13

hole? 270
271 10 D oes space differ from time?
Can space and time be measured? 273 • Are space and time necessary? 274 •
Do closed timelike curves exist? 274 • Is general relativity local? – The hole argu-
ment 274 • Is the Earth hollow? 276 • A summary: are space, time and mass
independent? 277
278 11 General rel ativit y in a nu tshell – a summary for the l ayman
The accuracy of the description 279 • Research in general relativity and cosmol-
ogy 281 • Could general relativity be different? 282 • The limits of general
relativity 283
285 a Units, measurements and constants
SI units 285 • The meaning of measurement 288 • Curiosities and fun challenges
about units 288 • Precision and accuracy of measurements 290 • Limits to preci-
sion 291 • Physical constants 292 • Useful numbers 299
300 Challenge hints and solu tions
310 Biblio graphy

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

338 Credits
Film credits 339 • Image credits 339
341 Name index
349 Subject index

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net
 15

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

R elativity

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

In our quest to learn how things move,
the experience of hiking and seeing leads us to discover
that there is a maximum energy speed in nature,
that two events that happen at the same time for one observer
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

may not for another,

and that acceleration limits observation distance by a horizon.
We discover that empty space can bend, wobble and move,
we experience the fascination of black holes,
we find that there is a maximum force in nature,
we understand why we can see the stars
and why the sky is dark at night.
 Chapter 1

MA XIMUM SPEED, OBSERVERS AT

R EST AND MOTION OF LIGHT

“ ”
Fama nihil est celerius.*
Antiquity

L
ight is indispensable for a precise description of motion. To check whether a
ine or a path of motion is straight, we must look along it. In other words, we use
ight to define straightness. How do we decide whether a plane is flat? We look

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

across it,** again using light. How do we observe motion? With light. How do we mea-
sure length to high precision? With light. How do we measure time to high precision?
With light: once it was light from the Sun that was used; nowadays it is light from caesium
Page 285 atoms.
Light is important because

⊳ Light is the standard for ideal, undisturbed motion.

Physics would have evolved much more rapidly if, at some earlier time, light propagation

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

had been recognized as the ideal example of motion.
But is light really a phenomenon of motion? Yes. This was already known in ancient
Greece, from a simple daily phenomenon, the shadow. Shadows prove that light is a mov-
ing entity, emanating from the light source, and moving in straight lines.*** The Greek
Ref. 1 thinker Empedocles (c. 490 to c. 430 bce) drew the logical conclusion that light takes
a certain amount of time to travel from the source to the surface showing the shadow.
Empedocles thus stated that

* ‘Nothing is faster than rumour.’ This common sentence is a simplified version of Virgil’s phrase: fama,
malum qua non aliud velocius ullum. ‘Rumour, the evil faster than all.’ From the Aeneid, book IV, verses 173
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

and 174.
** Note that looking along the plane from all sides is not sufficient for this check: a surface that a light beam
touches right along its length in all directions does not need to be flat. Can you give an example? One needs
Challenge 2 s other methods to check flatness with light. Can you specify one?
*** Whenever a source produces shadows, the emitted entities are called rays or radiation. Apart from light,
other examples of radiation discovered through shadows were infrared rays and ultraviolet rays, which em-
anate from most light sources together with visible light, and cathode rays, which were found to be to the
motion of a new particle, the electron. Shadows also led to the discovery of X-rays, which again turned out
to be a version of light, with high frequency. Channel rays were also discovered via their shadows; they turn
out to be travelling ionized atoms. The three types of radioactivity, namely α-rays (helium nuclei), β-rays
(again electrons), and γ-rays (high-energy X-rays) also produce shadows. All these discoveries were made
between 1890 and 1910: those were the ‘ray days’ of physics.
 motion of light 17

F I G U R E 2 How do you check whether the lines

are curved or straight?

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

⊳ The speed of light is finite.

We can confirm this result with a different, equally simple, but subtle argument. Speed
can be measured. And measurement is comparison with a standard. Therefore the perfect
or ideal speed, which is used as the implicit measurement standard, must have a finite
Challenge 3 s value. An infinite velocity standard would not allow measurements at all. (Why?) In na-
ture, lighter bodies tend to move with higher speed. Light, which is indeed extremely

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

light, is an obvious candidate for motion with perfect but finite speed. We will confirm
this in a minute.
A finite speed of light means that whatever we see is a message from the past. When
we see the stars,* the Sun or a person we love, we always see an image of the past. In a
sense, nature prevents us from enjoying the present – we must therefore learn to enjoy
the past.
The speed of light is high; therefore it was not measured until the years 1668 to 1676,
even though many, including Isaac Beeckman and Galileo, had tried to do so earlier.**
Ref. 3 The first measurement method was realized and published by the Danish astronomer
Ole Rømer*** when he was studying the orbits of Io and the other Galilean satellites
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

* The photograph of the night sky and the Milky Way, on page 15 is copyright Anthony Ayiomamitis and is
found on his splendid website www.perseus.gr.
** During his whole life, and still in 1638, René Descartes argued publicly that the speed of light was infi-
nite for reasons of principle. But in 1637, he had assumed a finite value in his explanation of Snell’s ‘law’.
Ref. 2 This shows how confused philosophers can be. In fact, Descartes wrote to Beeckman in 1634 that if one
could prove that the speed of light is finite, he would be ready to admit directly that he “knew nothing of
philosophy.” We should take him by his word.
*** Ole (Olaf) Rømer (b. 1644 Aarhus , d. 1710 Copenhagen), important astronomer. He was the teacher of
the Dauphin in Paris, at the time of Louis XIV. The idea of measuring the speed of light in this way was due
to the Italian astronomer Giovanni Cassini, whose assistant Rømer had been. Rømer continued his measure-
ments until 1681, when Rømer had to leave France, like all protestants (such as Christiaan Huygens), so that
 18 1 maximum speed, observers at rest and

Jupiter and Io
(second measurement)

Earth (second
measurement)

Sun Earth (first Jupiter and Io

measurement) (first measurement)

F I G U R E 3 Rømer’s method of measuring the speed of light.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Vol. I, page 194 of Jupiter. He did not obtain any specific value for the speed of light because he had no
reliable value for the satellite’s distance from Earth and because his timing measurements
Ref. 4 were imprecise. The lack of a numerical result was quickly corrected by his peers, mainly
Christiaan Huygens and Edmund Halley. (You might try to deduce Rømer’s method from
Challenge 4 s Figure 3.) Since Rømer’s time it has been known that light takes a bit more than 8 minutes
to travel from the Sun to the Earth. This result was confirmed in a beautiful way fifty
Vol. I, page 144 years later, in 1726, by the astronomer James Bradley. Being English, Bradley thought of
Ref. 5 the ‘rain method’ to measure the speed of light.
How can we measure the speed of falling rain? We walk rapidly with an umbrella,

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

measure the angle α at which the rain appears to fall, and then measure our own velocity
󰑣. (We can clearly see the angle while walking if we look at the rain to our left or right,
if possible against a dark background.) As shown in Figure 4, the speed c of the rain is
then given (approximately) by
c = 󰑣/ tan α . (1)

In the same way we can measure the speed of wind when on a surfboard or on a ship. The
same measurement can be made for light. Figure 4 shows that we just need to measure
the angle between the motion of the Earth and the light coming from a star above Earth’s
orbit. Because the Earth is moving relative to the Sun and thus to the star, the angle is
not 90°. This deviation is called the aberration of light; the aberration is determined most
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

easily by comparing measurements made six months apart. The value of the aberration
angle is 20.5 󳰀󳰀 . (Nowadays it can be measured with a precision of five decimal digits.)
Given that the speed of the Earth around the Sun* is 󰑣 = 2πR/T = 29.7 km/s, we get the

his work was interrupted. Back in Denmark, a fire destroyed all his measurement notes. As a result, he was
not able to continue improving the precision of his method. Later he became an important administrator
and reformer of the Danish state.
* Umbrellas were not common in Britain in 1726; they became fashionable later, after being introduced
from China. The umbrella part of the story is made up. In reality, Bradley had his idea while sailing on the
Thames, when he noted that on a moving ship the apparent wind has a different direction from that on land.
 motion of light 19

rain's perspective light's perspective wind’s perspective

rain light wind

c
c c
󰑣
󰑣 Earth 󰑣
Sun
windsurfer

walker’s perspective human perspective windsurfer’s perspective

α α
c c

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

c
α 󰑣 󰑣
Sun
󰑣

F I G U R E 4 The rainwalker’s or windsurfer’s method of measuring the speed of light.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

For many years, Bradley had observed 50 stars, notably Gamma Draconis, and during that time he had been
puzzled by the sign of the aberration, which was opposite to the effect he was looking for, namely that of the
star parallax. Both the parallax and the aberration for a star above the ecliptic make them describe a small
Challenge 5 s ellipse in the course of an Earth year, though with different orientations. Can you see why? After the trip
on the Thames, Bradley understood his observations.
Challenge 6 s By the way, the correct version of formula (1) is c = 󰑣/(tan α 󵀆1 − 󰑣 2 /c 2 ). Why?
To determine the speed of the Earth, we first have to determine its distance from the Sun. The simplest
method is the one by the Greek thinker Aristarchus of Samos (c. 310 to c. 230 bce). We measure the angle
between the Moon and the Sun at the moment when the Moon is precisely half full. The cosine of that angle
Vol. I, page 164 gives the ratio between the distance to the Moon (determined as explained earlier on) and the distance to
Challenge 7 s the Sun. The explanation is left as a puzzle for the reader.
The angle of Aristarchus is almost a right angle (which would yield an infinite distance), and good in-
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Ref. 6 struments are needed to measure it with precision, as Hipparchus noted in an extensive discussion of the
problem around 130 bce. Precise measurement of the angle became possible only in the late seventeenth
century, when it was found to be 89.86°, giving a Sun–Moon distance ratio of about 400. Today, thanks to
Page 298 radar measurements of planets, the distance to the Sun is known with the incredible precision of 30 me-
tres. Moon distance variations can even be measured to the nearest centimetre; can you guess how this is
Challenge 8 s achieved?
Ref. 7 Aristarchus also determined the radius of the Sun and of the Moon as multiples of those of the Earth.
Aristarchus was a remarkable thinker: he was the first to propose the heliocentric system, and perhaps the
first to propose that stars were other, faraway suns. For these ideas, several of his contemporaries proposed
that he should be condemned to death for impiety. When the monk and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus
(b. 1473 Thorn, d. 1543 Frauenburg) reproposed the heliocentric system two thousand years later, he did not
mention Aristarchus, even though he got the idea from him.
 20 1 maximum speed, observers at rest and

half-silvered
mirror
large distance

mirror light
source

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F I G U R E 5 Fizeau’s set-up to measure the speed of light (photo © AG Didaktik und Geschichte der
Physik, Universität Oldenburg).

speed of light is therefore

⊳ The speed of light (in vacuum) is c = 0.300 Gm/s, or 0.3 m/ns, or 0.3 mm/ps,
or 1080 million km/h.

This is an astonishing value, especially when compared with the highest speed ever

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

achieved by a man-made object, namely the Helios II satellite, which travelled around
the Sun at 253 Mm/h = 70.2 km/s, with the growth of children, about 3 nm/s, or with the
growth of stalagmites in caves, about 0.3 pm/s. We begin to realize why measurement of
the speed of light is a science in its own right.
The first precise measurement of the speed of light was made in 1849 by Hippolyte
Fizeau (b. 1819 Paris, d. 1896 Venteuil). His value was only 5 % greater than the modern
one. He sent a beam of light towards a distant mirror and measured the time the light
took to come back. How did Fizeau measure the time without any electric device? In fact,
Vol. I, page 59 he used the same ideas that are used to measure bullet speeds; part of the answer is given
Challenge 9 s in Figure 5. (How far away does the mirror have to be?) A modern reconstruction of his
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Ref. 8 experiment by Jan Frercks has even achieved a precision of 2 %. Today, the experiment is
much simpler; in the chapters on electrodynamics we will discover how to measure the
speed of light using two standard UNIX or Linux computers connected by a cable, using
Vol. III, page 31 the ‘ping’ command.
The speed of light is so high that in everyday life it is even difficult to prove that it is
finite. Perhaps the most beautiful way to prove this is to photograph a light pulse flying
across one’s field of view, in the same way as one can photograph a car driving by or a
Ref. 9 bullet flying through the air. Figure 6 shows the first such photograph, produced in 1971
with a standard off-the-shelf reflex camera, a very fast shutter invented by the photogra-
phers, and, most noteworthy, not a single piece of electronic equipment. (How fast does
 motion of light 21

red
shutter
switch
beam

light path of light pulse

pulse

10 mm

F I G U R E 6 A photograph of a green light pulse moving from right to left through a bottle with milky
water, marked in millimetres (photograph © Tom Mattick).

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F I G U R E 7 A consequence of the finiteness
of the speed of light. Watch out for the
tricky details – light does travel straight from
the source, it does not move along the
drawn curved line; the same occurs for

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

water emitted by a rotating water sprinkler.

Challenge 10 s such a shutter have to be? How would you build such a shutter? And how would you
make sure it opened at the right instant?)
A finite speed of light also implies that a rapidly rotating light beam bends, as shown
as in Figure 7. In everyday life, the high speed of light and the slow rotation of lighthouses
make the effect barely noticeable.
In short, light moves extremely rapidly, but with a finite speed. For example, light is
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Challenge 11 s much faster than lightning, as you might like to check yourself. A century of increasingly
precise measurements of the speed of light have culminated in the modern value

c = 299 792 458 m/s. (2)

In fact, this value has now been fixed exactly, by definition, and the metre has been de-
fined in terms of c since 1983. An approximate value for c is thus 0.3 Gm/s or 30 cm/ns.
Table 1 gives a summary of what is known today about the motion of light. Two of the
most surprising properties were discovered in the late nineteenth century. They form the
Ref. 10 basis of what is called the theory of special relativity.
 22 1 maximum speed, observers at rest and

TA B L E 1 Properties of the motion of light.

O b s e r va t i o n s a b o u t l i g h t

Light can move through vacuum.

Light transports energy.
Light has momentum: it can hit bodies.
Light has angular momentum: it can rotate bodies.
Light moves across other light undisturbed.
In vacuum, the speed of light is c = 299 792 458 m/s, or roughly 30 cm/ns – always and every-
where.
Light in vacuum always moves faster than any material body does.
The proper speed of light is infinite. Page 48
The speed of light pulses, their true signal speed, is the forerunner speed, not the group velocity.
In vacuum, the forerunner speed is always and everywhere c. Vol. III, page 126
Light beams are approximations when the wavelength is neglected.
Light beams move in a straight line when far from matter.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Shadows can move without any speed limit.
Normal and high-intensity light is a wave. Light of extremely low intensity is a stream of particles.
In matter, both the forerunner speed and the energy speed of light are at most c.
In matter, the group velocity of light pulses can be negative, zero, positive or infinite.

Can one play tennis using a laser pulse as the ball and mirrors
as rackets?

“ ”
Et nihil est celerius annis.*

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Ovid, Metamorphoses.

All experiments ever performed – with radio and light waves emitted by pulsars, with
light emitted from particles in accelerators, or with the light of gamma ray bursts – show:
the speed of electromagnetic radiation in vacuum does not depend on the frequency of
the radiation, nor on its polarization, nor on its intensity. The speed of light is indepen-
dent of frequency to at least 20 digits of precision. Even after starting and travelling to-
Ref. 11 gether for thousands of millions of years across the universe, light beams with different
properties still arrive side by side. Additional experiments show that the speed of light is
Ref. 12 the same in all directions of space, to at least 21 digits of precision. But this invariance of
the speed of light is puzzling.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

We all know that in order to throw a stone as fast and as far as possible, we run as
we throw it; we know instinctively that in that case the stone’s speed with respect to the
ground is higher than if we do not run. We also know that hitting a tennis ball more
rapidly makes it faster.
However, to the initial astonishment of everybody, experiments show that light emit-
ted from a moving lamp has the same speed as light emitted from a resting one. The
simplest way to prove this is to look at the sky. The sky shows many examples of double

* ‘Nothing is faster than the years.’ Book X, verse 520.

 motion of light 23

stars: these are two stars that rotate around each other along ellipses. In some of these
systems, we see the ellipses (almost) edge-on, so that each star periodically moves to-
wards and away from us. If the speed of light would vary with the speed of the source,
we would see bizarre effects, because the light emitted from some positions would catch
up the light emitted from other positions. In particular, we would not be able to observe
the elliptical shape of the orbits. However, such bizarre effects are not seen, and perfect
Ref. 13 ellipses are observed. Willem de Sitter gave this beautiful argument already in 1913; he
confirmed its validity with a large number of double stars.
In other words, light in vacuum is never faster than light:

⊳ All light beams in vacuum have the same speed.

Ref. 14 Many specially designed experiments have confirmed this result to high precision. The
speed of light can be measured with a precision of better than 1 m/s; but even for lamp
speeds of more than 290 000 000 m/s the speed of the emitted light does not change. (Can
Challenge 12 s you guess what lamps were used?)

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

In everyday life, we also know that a stone or a tennis ball arrives more rapidly if we
run towards it than in the case that we stand still or even run away from it. But aston-
ishingly again, for light in a vacuum, no such effect exists! All experiments clearly show
that if we run towards a lamp, we measure the same speed of light as in the case that we
stand still or even run away from it. Also these experiments have been performed to the
Ref. 15 highest precision possible. Even for the highest observer speeds, the speed of the arriving
light remains the same.
Both sets of experiments, those with moving lamps and those with moving observers,
thus show that the velocity of light has exactly the same magnitude for everybody, ev-
erywhere and always – even if observers are moving with respect to each other or with

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

respect to the light source.

⊳ The speed of light in vacuum is invariant.

The speed of light in vacuum is indeed the ideal, perfect measurement standard for speed.
By the way, an equivalent alternative term for ‘speed of light’ is ‘radar speed’ or ‘radio
Vol. III, page 105 speed’; we will see in the part on electrodynamics why this is the case.
The speed of light is also not far from the speed of neutrinos. This was shown most
spectacularly by the observation of a supernova in 1987, when the light flash and the
neutrino pulse arrived on Earth only 12 seconds apart. (The difference is probably due to
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

a tiny speed difference and to a different starting point of the two flashes.) What would
be the first digit for which the two speed values could differ, knowing that the supernova
Challenge 13 s was 1.7 ⋅ 105 light years away, and assuming the same starting point?
Ref. 16 There is also a further set of experimental evidence for the invariance of the speed of
light. Every electromagnetic device, such as an electric vacuum cleaner, shows that the
Vol. III, page 49 speed of light is invariant. We will discover that magnetic fields would not result from
electric currents, as they do every day in every electric motor and in every loudspeaker,
if the speed of light were not invariant. This was actually how the invariance was first
deduced, by several researchers. Only after these results did the German–Swiss physi-
cist Albert Einstein show that the invariance of the speed of light is also in agreement
 24 1 maximum speed, observers at rest and

F I G U R E 8 All devices based on electric motors prove that the speed of light is invariant (© Miele,
EasyGlide).

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014
F I G U R E 9 Albert Einstein (1879–1955).

with the observed motion of bodies. We will check this agreement in this chapter. The
Ref. 17 connection between relativity and electric vacuum cleaners, as well as other machines,
Vol. III, page 49 will be explored in the chapters on electrodynamics.
The motion of light and the motion of bodies are deeply connected. If the speed of
light were not invariant, observers would be able to move at the speed of light. Why?
Since light is a wave, an observer moving almost as fast as such a light wave would see a
light wave moving slowly. And an observer moving at the same speed as the wave would
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

see a frozen wave. However, experiment and the properties of electromagnetism prevent
Vol. III, page 49 both observations; observers and bodies cannot reach the speed of light.

⊳ The speed of light in vacuum is a limit speed.

Observers and bodies thus always move slower than light.

In summary, the speed of light in vacuum is an invariant limit speed. Playing tennis
Challenge 14 s with light is not possible, even if the tennis field and your budget are large enough; and
even if it would, it would not be fun.
 motion of light 25

Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein (b. 1879 Ulm, d. 1955 Princeton) was one of the greatest physicists ever.
(The ‘s’ in his name is pronounced ‘sh’.) In 1905, he published three important papers:
one about Brownian motion, one about special relativity, and one about the idea of light
quanta. The first paper showed definitely that matter is made of molecules and atoms;
the second showed the invariance of the speed of light; and the third paper was one
of the starting points of quantum theory. Each paper was worth a Nobel Prize, but he
was awarded the prize only for the last one. Also in 1905, he proved the famous formula
Page 73 E0 = c 2 m (published in early 1906), after a few others also had proposed it. Although Ein-
stein was one of the founders of quantum theory, he later turned against it. His famous
discussions with his friend Niels Bohr nevertheless helped to clarify the quantum the-
ory in its most counter-intuitive aspects. Later, he explained the Einstein–de Haas effect
which proves that magnetism is due to motion inside materials. After many other discov-
eries, in 1915 and 1916 Einstein published his highest achievement: the general theory of
Page 133 relativity, one of the most beautiful and remarkable works of science. In the remaining
forty years of his life, he searched for the unified theory of motion, without success.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Being Jewish and famous, Einstein was a favourite target of attacks and discrimination
by the National Socialist movement; therefore, in 1933 he emigrated from Germany to the
USA; since that time, he stopped contact with Germans, except for a few friends, among
them Max Planck. Until his death, Einstein kept his Swiss passport. He was not only a
Ref. 18 great physicist, but also a great thinker; his collection of thoughts about topics outside
physics are well worth reading. But his family life was disastrous, and he made each of
his family members unhappy.
Anyone interested in emulating Einstein should know first of all that he published
many papers. He was both ambitious and hard-working. Moreover, many of his papers

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

were wrong; he would then correct them in subsequent papers, and then do so again. This
happened so frequently that he made fun of himself about it. Einstein indeed realized the
well-known definition of a genius as a person who makes the largest possible number of
mistakes in the shortest possible time.

An invariant limit speed and its consequences

Experiments and theory show that observers cannot reach the speed of light. Equiva-
lently, no object can reach the speed of light. In other words, not only is the speed of
light the standard of speed; it is also the maximum speed in nature. More precisely, the
velocity 󰑣 of any physical system in nature (i.e., any localized mass or energy) is bound
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

by
󰑣⩽c. (3)

This relation is the basis of special relativity; in fact, the complete theory of special rela-
tivity is contained in it.
An invariant limit speed is not as surprising at we might think. We need such an
Page 101 invariant in order be able to measure speeds. Nevertheless, an invariant maximum speed
implies many fascinating results: it leads to observer-varying time and length intervals,
to an intimate relation between mass and energy, to the existence of event horizons and
to the existence of antimatter, as we will see.
 26 1 maximum speed, observers at rest and

TA B L E 2 How to convince yourself and others that there is a maximum

energy speed c in nature. Compare this table with the table about
maximum force, on page 106 below, and with the table about a smallest
action, on page 18 in volume IV.

Issue Test Met hod

The maximum energy speed value check all observations

c is observer-invariant
Local energy speed values > c are check all observations
not observed
Local energy speed values > c check all attempts
cannot be produced
Local energy speed values > c solve all paradoxes
cannot be imagined
A maximum local energy speed 1 – deduce the theory of
value c is consistent special relativity from it
2 – check that all

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

consequences, however
weird, are confirmed by
observation

Already in 1895, Henri Poincaré * called the discussion of viewpoint invariance the
theory of relativity, and the name was common in 1905. Einstein regretted that the the-
ory was called this way; he would have preferred the name ‘Invarianztheorie’ or ‘theory
Ref. 19 of invariance’, but was not able to change the name any more. Thus Einstein called the
Ref. 16 description of motion without gravity the theory of special relativity, and the description

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

of motion with gravity the theory of general relativity. Both fields are full of fascinating
and counter-intuitive results, as we will find out.**
Can an invariant limit speed really exist in nature? Table 2 shows that we need to
explore three points to accept the idea. We need to show that first, no higher speed is
observed, secondly, that no higher energy speed can ever be observed, and thirdly, that
all consequences of the invariance of the speed of light, however weird they may be, apply
to nature. In fact, this programme defines the theory of special relativity; thus it is all we
do in this ad the next chapter.
The invariance of the speed of light is in complete contrast with Galilean mechanics,
which describes the behaviour of stones, and proves that Galilean mechanics is wrong at
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

high velocities. At low velocities the Galilean description remains good, because the error
is small. But if we want a description valid at all velocities, we have to discard Galilean
mechanics. For example, when we play tennis, by hitting the ball in the right way, we
can increase or decrease its speed. But with light this is impossible. Even if we mount a
mirror on an aeroplane and reflect a light beam with it, the light still moves away with
* Henri Poincaré (1854 Nancy–1912 Paris), important mathematician and physicist. Poincaré was one of the
most productive scientists of his time, advancing relativity, quantum theory and many parts of mathematics.
Ref. 20 ** Among the most beautiful introductions to relativity are still those given by Albert Einstein himself. It
has taken almost a century for books almost as beautiful to appear, such as the texts by Schwinger or by
Ref. 21, Ref. 22 Taylor and Wheeler.
 motion of light 27

the same speed, both for the pilot and for an observer on Earth. All experiments confirm
this weird behaviour of light.
If we accelerate a bus that we are driving, the cars on the other side of the road pass by
with higher and higher speeds. For light, experiment shows that this is not so: light always
passes by with the same speed. Even with the current measurement precision of 2 ⋅ 10−13 ,
Ref. 12 we cannot discern any changes of the speed of light for different speeds of the observer.
Light does not behave like cars or any other matter object. Again, all experiments confirm
this weird behaviour.
Why exactly is the invariance of the speed of light almost unbelievable, even though
the measurements show it unambiguously? Take two observers O and Ω (pronounced
Vol. I, page 399 ‘omega’) moving with relative velocity 󰑣, such as two cars on opposite sides of the street.
Imagine that at the moment they pass each other, a light flash is emitted by a lamp in O.
The light flash moves through positions x(t) for observer O and through positions ξ(τ)
(pronounced ‘xi of tau’) for Ω. Since the speed of light is measured to be the same for
both, we have
x ξ
=c= . (4)

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

t τ

However, in the situation described, we obviously have x ̸= ξ. In other words, the invari-
ance of the speed of light implies that t ̸= τ, i.e., that

⊳ Time is different for observers moving relative to each other.

Challenge 15 e Time is thus not unique. This surprising result, which has been confirmed by many
Ref. 23 experiments, was first stated clearly in 1905 by Albert Einstein. Every observer has its own
time. Two observers’ times agree only if they do not move against each other. Though

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

many others knew about the invariance of c, only the young Einstein had the courage to
say that time is observer-dependent, and to explore and face the consequences. Let us do
so as well.
One remark is in order. The speed of light c is a limit speed. What is meant with this
statement is that

⊳ The speed of light in vacuum is a limit speed.

Indeed, particles can move faster than the speed of light in matter, as long as they move
slower than the speed of light in vacuum. This situation is regularly observed.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

In solid or liquid matter, the speed of light is regularly two or three times lower than
the speed of light in vacuum. For special materials, the speed of light can be even lower: in
Ref. 24 the centre of the Sun, the speed of light is estimated to be around 30 km/year = 1 mm/s,
and even in the laboratory, for some materials, the speed of light has been measured to
Ref. 25 be as low as 0.3 m/s.
Vol. I, page 300 When an aeroplane moves faster than the speed of sound in air, it creates a cone-
shaped shock wave behind it. When a charged particle moves faster that the speed of light
in matter, it emits a cone of radiation, so-called Vavilov–Čerenkov radiation. Vavilov–
Čerenkov radiation is regularly observed; for example, it is the cause of the blue glow of
the water in nuclear reactors and it appears in transparent plastic crossed by fast particles,
 28 1 maximum speed, observers at rest and

first
t observer second
or clock observer
or clock

k2T
light flash

t1 = (k 2 + 1)T/2 t2 = kT

light flash
T

O
x
F I G U R E 10 A drawing containing most of special

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

relativity, including the expressions for time dilation
and for the Lorentz transformation.

a connection used in detectors for accelerator experiments.

In this and the following chapters, when we use the term ‘speed of light’, we mean the
speed of light in vacuum. In air, the speed of light is smaller than that in vacuum only by

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

a fraction of one per cent, so that in most cases, the difference between air and vacuum
can be neglected.

Special relativity with a few lines

The speed of light is invariant and constant for all observers. We can thus deduce all
Ref. 26 relations between what two different observers measure with the help of Figure 10. It
shows two observers moving with constant speed against each other, drawn in space-
time. The first is sending a light flash to the second, from where it is reflected back to the
first. Since the speed of light is invariant, light is the only way to compare time and space
coordinates for two distant observers. Also two distant clocks (like two distant metre
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

bars) can only be compared, or synchronized, using light or radio flashes. Since light
speed is invariant, all light paths in the same direction are parallel in such diagrams.
A constant relative speed between two observers implies that a constant factor k re-
Challenge 16 s lates the time coordinates of events. (Why is the relation linear?) If a flash starts at a time
T as measured for the first observer, it arrives at the second at time kT, and then back
Challenge 17 s again at the first at time k 2 T. The drawing shows that

c+󰑣 󰑣 k2 − 1
k=󵀌 or = . (5)
c−󰑣 c k2 + 1
 motion of light 29

one moving watch

first second
time time

F I G U R E 11 Moving clocks
two fixed watches
go slow: moving clocks mark
time more slowly than do
stationary clocks.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F I G U R E 12 Moving clocks go slow: moving lithium atoms in a storage ring (left) read out with lasers
(right) confirm the prediction to highest precision (© TSR relativity team at the Max Planck Gesellschaft).

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Page 30 This factor will appear again in the Doppler effect.*
Figure 10 also shows that the first observer measures a time t1 for the event when the
light is reflected; however, the second observer measures a different time t2 for the same
event. Time is indeed different for two observers in relative motion. This effect is called
time dilation. In other terms, time is relative. Figure 11 shows a way to illustrate the result.
The time dilation factor between the two observers is found from Figure 10 by com-
paring the values t1 and t2 ; it is given by

t1 1
= = γ(󰑣) . (6)
t2 󵀆 󰑣2
1−
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

c2

Time intervals for a moving observer are shorter by this factor γ; the time dilation factor
is always larger than 1. In other words,

⊳ Moving clocks go slower.

Challenge 18 e For everyday speeds the effect is tiny. That is why we do not detect time differences in

* The explanation of relativity using the factor k is often called k-calculus.

 30 1 maximum speed, observers at rest and

first
ladder
y second
(first
ladder
observer)
(second
observer)

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F I G U R E 13 The observers on both ladders claim
that the other ladder is shorter.

everyday life. Nevertheless, Galilean physics is not correct for speeds near that of light;
Ref. 27 the correct expression (6) has been tested to a precision better than one part in 10 million,
with an experiment shown in Figure 12. The same factor γ also appears in the formula
E = c 2 γm for the equivalence of mass and energy, which we will deduce below. Expres-
sions (5) or (6) are the only pieces of mathematics needed in special relativity: all other

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

results derive from it.
If a light flash is sent forward starting from the second observer to the first and re-
flected back, the second observer will make a similar statement: for him, the first clock
is moving, and also for him, the moving clock marks time more slowly.

⊳ Each of the observers observes that the other clock marks time more slowly.

The situation is similar to that of two men comparing the number of steps between two
identical ladders that are not parallel, as shown in Figure 13. A man on either ladder will
always observe that the steps of the other ladder are shorter. There is nothing deeper than
Page 51 this observation at the basis of time dilation and length contraction.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Naturally, many people have tried to find arguments to avoid the strange conclusion
that time differs from observer to observer. But none have succeeded, and all experimen-
tal results confirm that conclusion: time is relative. Let us have a look at some of these
experiments.

Acceleration of light and the Doppler effect

Can light in vacuum be accelerated? It depends on what you mean. Most physicists are
snobbish and say that every mirror accelerates light, because it changes its direction. We
will see in the chapter on electromagnetism that matter also has the power to bend light,
 motion of light 31

Vol. III, page 147 and thus to accelerate it. However, it will turn out that all these methods only change the
direction of propagation; none has the power to change the speed of light in a vacuum. In
particular, light is an example of a motion that cannot be stopped. There are only a few
Challenge 19 s other such examples. Can you name one?
What would happen if we could accelerate light to higher speeds? For this to be pos-
sible, light would have to be made of massive particles. If light had mass, it would be
necessary to distinguish the ‘massless energy speed’ c from the speed of light cL , which
would be lower and would depend on the kinetic energy of those massive light particles.
The speed of light would not be invariant, but the massless energy speed would still be so.
Such massive light particles could be captured, stopped and stored in a box. Such boxes
would make electric illumination unnecessary; it would be sufficient to store some day-
light in them and release the light, slowly, during the following night, maybe after giving
it a push to speed it up.*
Physicists have tested the possibility of massive light in quite some detail. Observa-
Ref. 28, Ref. 15 tions now put any possible mass of light particles, or photons, at less than 1.3 ⋅ 10−52 kg
from terrestrial experiments, and at less than 4 ⋅ 10−62 kg from astrophysical arguments

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

(which are slightly less compelling). In other words, light is not heavy, light is light.
But what happens when light hits a moving mirror? The situation is akin to that of
a light source moving with respect to the receiver: the receiver will observe a different
colour from that observed by the sender. This frequency shift is called the Doppler effect.
Christian Doppler** was the first to study the frequency shift in the case of sound waves.
We all know the change in whistle tone between approaching and departing trains: that
is the Doppler effect for sound. We can determine the speed of the train in this way. Bats,
dolphins and wales use the acoustical Doppler effect to measure the speed of prey, and
the effect is used to measure blood flow and heart beat of unborn babies in ultrasound
systems (despite being extremely loud for the babies), as shown in Figure 15.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Vol. I, page 286
Doppler was also the first person to extend the concept of frequency shift to the case
Vol. III, page 103 of light waves. As we will see, light is (also) a wave, and its colour is determined by its
frequency, or equivalently, by its wavelength λ. Like the tone change for moving trains,
Doppler realized that a moving light source produces a colour at the receiver that differs
from the colour at the source. Simple geometry, and the conservation of the number of
Challenge 20 e maxima and minima, leads to the result

λr 1 󰑣 󰑣
= (1 − cos θr ) = γ (1 − cos θr ) . (7)
λs 󵀆 c c
1 − 󰑣 2 /c 2
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

The variables 󰑣 and θr in this expression are defined in Figure 16. Light from an approach-
ing source is thus blue-shifted, whereas light from a departing source is red-shifted.

* Incidentally, massive light would also have longitudinal polarization modes. This is in contrast to observa-
tions, which show that light is polarized exclusively transversally to the propagation direction.
** Christian Andreas Doppler (b. 1803 Salzburg, d. 1853 Venezia), important physicist. Doppler studied the
effect named after him for sound and light. Already in 1842 he predicted (correctly) that one day we would
be able to use the effect to measure the motion of distant stars by looking at their colours. For his discovery
Ref. 29 of the effect – and despite its experimental confirmation in 1845 and 1846 – Doppler was expelled from the
Imperial Academy of Science in 1852. His health degraded and he died shortly afterwards.
32 1 maximum speed, observers at rest and

Redshifts of quasar spectra

Lyman α Hγ Hβ Hα
almost static reference:
Vega
v = 13.6 km/s at 27 al

redshift redshift

quasar 3C273 in Virgo

v = 44 Mm/s at 2 Gal

quasar APM 08279-5255

redshift in Lynx
v = 276 Mm/s at 12 Gal

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Leo

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Aquarius

F I G U R E 14 Top: the Doppler effect for light from two quasars. Below: the – magnified, false colour –
Doppler effect for the almost black colour of the night sky – the cosmic background radiation – due to
the Earth travelling through space. In the latter case, the Doppler shift implies a tiny change of the
effective temperature of the night sky (© Maurice Gavin, NASA).
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

The first observation of the Doppler effect for light, also called the colour shift, was
made by Johannes Stark* in 1905, who studied the light emitted by moving atoms. All

* Johannes Stark (b. 1874 Schickenhof, d. 1957 Eppenstatt), discovered in 1905 the optical Doppler effect in
channel rays, and in 1913 the splitting of spectral lines in electrical fields, nowadays called the Stark effect.
For these two discoveries he received the 1919 Nobel Prize for physics. He left his professorship in 1922 and
later turned into a full-blown National Socialist. A member of the NSDAP from 1930 onwards, he became
known for aggressively criticizing other people’s statements about nature purely for ideological reasons; he
became rightly despised by the academic community all over the world already during his lifetime.
 motion of light 33

If this red text appears blue,

you are too fast.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F I G U R E 15 The Doppler sonar system of dolphins, the Doppler effect system in a sliding door opener,
the Doppler effect as a speed warning and Doppler sonography to detect blood flow (coloured) in the
umbilical cord of a foetus (© Wikimedia, Hörmann AG, Medison).

subsequent experiments confirmed the calculated colour shift within measurement er-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Ref. 30 rors; the latest checks have found agreement to within two parts per million.
In contrast to sound waves, a colour change is also found when the motion is trans-
verse to the light signal. Thus, a yellow rod in rapid motion across the field of view will
have a blue leading edge and a red trailing edge prior to the closest approach to the ob-
server. The colours result from a combination of the longitudinal (first-order) Doppler
shift and the transverse (second-order) Doppler shift. At a particular angle θunshifted the
colour will stay the same. (How does the wavelength change in the purely transverse
Challenge 21 s case? What is the expression for θunshifted in terms of the speed 󰑣?)
The colour or frequency shift explored by Doppler is used in many applications. Al-
most all solid bodies are mirrors for radio waves. Many buildings have doors that open
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

automatically when one approaches. A little sensor above the door detects the approach-
ing person. It usually does this by measuring the Doppler effect of radio waves emitted by
the sensor and reflected by the approaching person. (We will see later that radio waves
Vol. III, page 105 and light are manifestations of the same phenomenon.) So the doors open whenever
something moves towards them. Police radar also uses the Doppler effect, this time to
measure the speed of cars.*
As predicted by Doppler himself, the Doppler effect is regularly used to measure the
speed of distant stars, as shown in Figure 14. In these cases, the Doppler shift is often char-

Challenge 22 s * At what speed does a red traffic light appear green?

 34 1 maximum speed, observers at rest and

sender
at rest

receiver

moving
red-shifted signal sender blue-shifted signal

󰑣 receiver

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

y

y
θr
light x
signal receiver

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

any
sender θs
z

󰑣 x

F I G U R E 16 The set-up for the observation of the Doppler effect in one and three dimensions: waves
emitted by an approaching source arrive with higher frequency and shorter wavelength, in contrast to
waves emitted by a departing source (wave graph © Pbroks13).
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

acterized by the red-shift number z, defined with the help of wavelength λ or frequency
f by
Δλ f c+󰑣
z= = S −1=󵀌 −1. (8)
λ fR c−󰑣

Challenge 23 s Can you imagine how the number z is determined? Typical values for z for light sources
in the sky range from −0.1 to 3.5, but higher values, up to more than 10, have also been
Challenge 24 s found. Can you determine the corresponding speeds? How can they be so high?
 motion of light 35

Because of the rotation of the Sun and the Doppler effect, one edge of the Sun is blue-
Ref. 31 shifted, and the other is red-shifted. It is possible to determine the rotation speed of the
Sun in this way. The time of a rotation lies between 27 and 33 days, depending of the
latitude. The Doppler effect also showed that the surface of the Sun oscillates with periods
of the order of 5 minutes.
Even the rotation of our galaxy was discovered using the Doppler effect of its stars.
Astronomers thus discovered that the Sun takes about 220 million years for a rotation
around the centre of the Milky Way.
What happens if one really tries to play tennis with light, using a racket that moves
at really high, thus relativistic speed? Such passionate tennis players actually exist; the
fastest rackets built so far had a speed over 80 % per cent of the speed of light. They
Ref. 32 were produced in 2013 by shooting extremely powerful and short laser pulses, with a
power of 0.6 ZW and a duration of 50 fs, onto a 10 nm thin diamond-like carbon foil.
Such pulses eject a flat and rapid electron cloud into the vacuum; for a short time, this
cloud acted as a relativistic mirror. When a second laser beam was reflected from this
relativistic racket, the light speed remained unchanged, but its frequency was increased

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

by a factor of about 14, changing the beam colour from the near infrared to the extreme
ultraviolet. This relativistic electron mirror had a reflectivity far less than 1 %, though, its
lifetime was only a few picoseconds, and its size only about 2 μm; therefore calling it a
racket is a slight exaggeration.
In summary, whenever we try to change the vacuum speed of light, we only manage
to change its colour. That is the Doppler effect. In other terms, acceleration of light can
lead to colour change. This connection leads to a puzzle: we know from classical physics
Vol. I, page 188 that when light passes a large mass, such as a star, it is deflected. Does this deflection lead
Challenge 25 s to a Doppler shift?

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

The difference between light and sound
The Doppler effect for light is much more fundamental than the Doppler effect for sound.
Even if the speed of light were not yet known to be invariant, the Doppler effect alone
would prove that time is different for observers moving relative to each other. Why?
Time is what we read from our watch. In order to determine whether another watch
is synchronized with our own one, we look at both watches. In short, we need to use light
Ref. 33 signals to synchronize clocks. Now, any change in the colour of light moving from one
observer to another necessarily implies that their watches run differently, and thus that
time is different for the two of them. To see this, note that also a light source is a clock
– ‘ticking’ very rapidly. So if two observers see different colours from the same source,
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

they measure different numbers of oscillations for the same clock. In other words, time
Page 28 is different for observers moving against each other. Indeed, equation (5) for the Doppler
effect implies the whole of special relativity, including the invariance of the speed of
light. (Can you confirm that the connection between observer-dependent frequencies
Challenge 26 s and observer-dependent time breaks down in the case of the Doppler effect for sound?)
Why does the behaviour of light imply special relativity, while that of sound in air does
not? The answer is that light is a limit for the motion of energy. Experience shows that
there are supersonic aeroplanes, but there are no superluminal rockets. In other words,
the limit 󰑣 ⩽ c is valid only if c is the speed of light, not if c is the speed of sound in air.
 36 1 maximum speed, observers at rest and

F I G U R E 17 Lucky Luke.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

However, there is at least one system in nature where the speed of sound is indeed
a limit speed for energy: the speed of sound is the limit speed for the motion of dislo-
Vol. V, page 286 cations in crystalline solids. (We discuss this motion in detail later on.) As a result, the
theory of special relativity is also valid for dislocations, provided that the speed of light is
replaced everywhere by the speed of sound! Indeed, dislocations obey the Lorentz trans-
Ref. 34 formations, show length contraction, and obey the famous energy formula E = c 2 γm. In
all these effects the speed of sound c plays the same role for dislocations as the speed of
light plays for general physical systems.
Given special relativity is based on the statement that nothing can move faster than

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

light, we need to check this statement carefully.

Can one shoot faster than one’s shadow?

“ ”
Quid celerius umbra?*
Antiquity

For Lucky Luke to achieve the feat shown in Figure 17, his bullet has to move faster than
Challenge 27 e the speed of light. (What about his hand?) In order to emulate Lucky Luke, we could
take the largest practical amount of energy available, taking it directly from an electrical
power station, and accelerate the lightest ‘bullets’ that can be handled, namely electrons.
This experiment is carried out daily in particle accelerators; an example was the Large
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Electron Positron ring, the LEP, of 27 km circumference, located partly in France and
partly in Switzerland, near Geneva. There, 40 MW of electrical power (the same amount
used by a small city) were used to accelerate electrons and positrons to record energies
Ref. 35 of over 16 nJ (104.5 GeV) each, and their speed was measured. The result is shown in
Figure 18: even with these impressive means it is impossible to make electrons move
more rapidly than light. (Can you imagine a way to measure kinetic energy and speed
Challenge 28 e separately?)

* ‘What is faster than the shadow?’ A motto often found on sundials.

 motion of light 37

󰑣 p = m󰑣

c
m󰑣
p=
󵀂1−󰑣2 /c2

󰑣2 T = 12 m󰑣 2

c2 F I G U R E 18 Experimental values (black

dots) for the electron velocity 󰑣 as
T = c m(2 1
− 1)
󵀂1−󰑣2 /c2 function of their momentum p and as
function of their kinetic energy T. The
predictions of Galilean physics (blue)
T

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

and the predictions of special relativity
(red) are also shown.

The speed–energy relation of Figure 18 is a consequence of the maximum speed, and

Page 67 its precise details are deduced below. These and many similar observations thus show
that there is a limit to the velocity of objects and radiation. Bodies and radiation cannot
move at velocities higher that the speed of light.* The accuracy of Galilean mechanics was
taken for granted for more than two centuries, so that nobody ever thought of checking
Ref. 38 it; but when this was finally done, as in Figure 18, it was found to be wrong.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

The same result appears when we consider momentum instead of energy. Particle ac-
celerators show that momentum is not proportional to speed: at high speeds, doubling
the momentum does not lead to a doubling of speed. In short, experiments show that nei-
ther increasing the energy nor increasing the momentum of even the lightest particles
allows reaching the speed of light.
The people most unhappy with this speed limit are computer engineers: if the speed
limit were higher, it would be possible to build faster microprocessors and thus faster
computers; this would allow, for example, more rapid progress towards the construction
of computers that understand and use language.
The existence of a limit speed runs counter to Galilean mechanics. In fact, it means
that for velocities near that of light, say about 15 000 km/s or more, the expression m󰑣 2 /2
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

is not equal to the kinetic energy T of the particle. In fact, such high speeds are rather
common: many families have an example in their home. Just calculate the speed of elec-

* There are still people who refuse to accept this result, as well as the ensuing theory of relativity. Every reader
should enjoy the experience, at least once in his life, of conversing with one of these men. (Strangely, no
woman has yet been reported as belonging to this group of people. Despite this conspicuous effect, studying
Ref. 36 the influences of sex on physics is almost a complete waste of time.)
Ref. 37 Crackpots can be found, for example, via the internet, in the sci.physics.relativity newsgroup. See also the
www.crank.net website. Crackpots are a mildly fascinating lot, especially since they teach the importance
of precision in language and in reasoning, which they all, without exception, neglect.
 38 1 maximum speed, observers at rest and

time t

first second
observer observer third
(e.g. Earth) (e.g. train) observer
(e.g. stone)
kse T
kte T

space x

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F I G U R E 19 How to deduce the composition of
velocities.

trons inside a cathode ray tube inside an old colour television, given that the transformer
Challenge 29 s inside produces 30 kV.
The speed of light is a limit speed for objects. This property is easily seen to be a con-
sequence of its invariance. Bodies that can be at rest in one frame of reference obviously
move more slowly than light in that frame. Now, if something moves more slowly than

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

something else for one observer, it does so for all other observers as well. (Trying to imag-
Challenge 30 d ine a world in which this would not be so is interesting: bizarre phenomena would occur,
such as things interpenetrating each other.) Since the speed of light is the same for all
observers, no object can move faster than light, for every observer.
We conclude that

⊳ The maximum speed is the speed of massless entities.

Electromagnetic waves, including light, are the only known entities that can travel at the
maximum speed. Gravitational waves are also predicted to achieve maximum speed, but
this has not yet been observed. Though the speed of neutrinos cannot be distinguished
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

experimentally from the maximum speed, recent experiments showed that they do have
Ref. 39 a tiny mass.
Conversely, if a phenomenon exists whose speed is the limit speed for one observer,
Challenge 31 e then this limit speed must necessarily be the same for all observers. Is the connection
Challenge 32 r between limit property and observer invariance generally valid in nature?

The composition of velocities

If the speed of light is a limit, no attempt to exceed it can succeed. This implies that when
two velocities are composed, as when one throws a stone while running or travelling, the
 motion of light 39

values cannot simply be added. Imagine a train that is travelling at velocity 󰑣te relative to
the Earth, and a passenger throws a stone inside it, in the same direction, with velocity 󰑣st
relative to the train. It is usually assumed as evident that the velocity of the stone relative
to the Earth is given by 󰑣se = 󰑣st + 󰑣te . In fact, both reasoning and measurement show a
different result.
Page 26 The existence of a maximum speed, together with Figure 19, implies that the k-factors
must satisfy kse = kst kte .* Then we only need to insert the relation (5) between each
Challenge 33 e k-factor and the respective speed to get

󰑣st + 󰑣te
󰑣se = . (9)
1 + 󰑣st 󰑣te /c 2

Challenge 34 e This is called the velocity composition formula. The result is never larger than c and is
always smaller than the naive sum of the velocities.** Expression (9) has been confirmed
Page 65 by each of the millions of cases for which it has been checked. You may check that it
Ref. 15 simplifies with high precision to the naive sum for everyday life speed values.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Observers and the principle of special relativity
Special relativity is built on a simple principle:
⊳ The local maximum speed of energy transport is the same for all observers.
Ref. 41 Or, as Hendrik Lorentz*** liked to say, the equivalent:

⊳ The speed 󰑣 of a physical system is bound by

󰑣⩽c (10)

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

for all observers, where c is the speed of light.

This invariance of the speed of light was known since the 1850s, because the expression
Vol. III, page 103 c = 1/󵀆ε0 μ0 , known to people in the field of electricity, does not depend on the speed of
the observer or of the light source, nor on their orientation or position. The invariance,
including the speed independence, was found by optical experiments that used mov-
ing prisms, moving water, moving bodies with double refraction, interfering light beams
* By taking the (natural) logarithm of this equation, one can define a quantity, the rapidity, that quantifies
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

the speed and is additive.

Ref. 40 ** One can also deduce the Lorentz transformation directly from this expression.
*** Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (b. 1853 Arnhem, d. 1928 Haarlem) was, together with Boltzmann and Kelvin,
one of the most important physicists of his time. He deduced the so-called Lorentz transformation and the
Lorentz contraction from Maxwell’s equations for the electromagnetic field. He was the first to understand,
long before quantum theory confirmed the idea, that Maxwell’s equations for the vacuum also describe
matter and all its properties, as long as moving charged point particles – the electrons – are included. He
showed this in particular for the dispersion of light, for the Zeeman effect, for the Hall effect and for the
Faraday effect. He also gave the correct description of the Lorentz force. In 1902, he received the physics
Nobel Prize together with Pieter Zeeman. Outside physics, he was active in the internationalization of sci-
entific collaborations. He was also instrumental in the creation of the largest human-made structures on
Earth: the polders of the Zuiderzee.
 40 1 maximum speed, observers at rest and

half-
transparent

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

mirror mirror mirror

light intereference
source detector

F I G U R E 20 Testing the invariance of the speed of light on the motion of the observer: the
reconstructed set-up of the first experiment by Albert Michelson in Potsdam, performed in 1881, and a
modern high-precision, laser-based set-up that keeps the mirror distances constant to less than a

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

proton radius and constantly rotates the whole experiment around a vertical axis (© Astrophysikalisches
Institut Potsdam, Stephan Schiller).

travelling in different directions, interfering circulating light beams or light from moving
stars. The invariance was also found by electromagnetic experiments that used moving
insulators in electric and magnetic fields.* All experiments show without exception that
the speed of light in vacuum is invariant, whether they were performed before or after
special relativity was formulated. The experiment performed by Albert Michelson, and
the high-precision version to date, by Stephan Schiller and his team, are illustrated in
Figure 20. All such experiments found no change of the speed of light with the motion
of the Earth within measurement precision, which is around 2 parts in 10−17 at present.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Ref. 44
You can also confirm the invariance of the speed of light yourself at home; the way to do
Vol. III, page 49 this is explained in the section on electrodynamics.
The existence of an invariant limit speed has several interesting consequences. To ex-

* All these experiments, which Einstein did not bother to cite in his 1905 paper, were performed by the
Ref. 42 complete who’s who of 19th century physics, such as Wilhelm Röntgen, Alexander Eichenwald, François
Ref. 43 Arago, Augustin Fresnel, Hippolyte Fizeau, Martin Hoek, Harold Wilson, Albert Michelson, (the first US-
American to receive, in 1907, the Nobel Prize in Physics) Edward Morley, Oliver Lodge, John Strutt Rayleigh,
Dewitt Brace, Georges Sagnac and Willem de Sitter among others.
 motion of light 41

plore them, let us keep the rest of Galilean physics intact.* The limit property and the
invariance of the speed of light imply:
⊳ In a closed free-floating (‘inertial’) room, there is no way to tell the speed of the room.
Or, as Galileo writes in his Dialogo: il moto [ ...] niente opera ed è come s’ e’ non fusse.
‘Motion [ ...] has no effect and behaves as if it did not exist’. Sometimes this statement
is shortened to: motion is like nothing.
⊳ There is no notion of absolute rest: rest is an observer-dependent, or relative con-
cept.**
⊳ Length and space depend on the observer; length and space are not absolute, but
relative.
⊳ Time depends on the observer; time is not absolute, but relative.
⊳ Mass and energy are equivalent.
We can draw more specific conclusions when two additional conditions are realised. First,
we study situations where gravitation can be neglected. (If this not the case, we need
general relativity to describe the system.) Secondly, we also assume that the data about the

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

bodies under study – their speed, their position, etc. – can be gathered without disturbing
them. (If this not the case, we need quantum theory to describe the system.)
How exactly differ the time intervals and lengths measured by two observers? To an-
swer, we only need a pencil and a ruler. To start, we explore situations where no inter-
action plays a role. In other words, we start with relativistic kinematics: all bodies move
without disturbance.
If an undisturbed body is observed to travel along a straight line with a constant ve-
locity (or to stay at rest), one calls the observer inertial, and the coordinates used by the
observer an inertial frame of reference. Every inertial observer is itself in undisturbed
motion. Examples of inertial observers (or frames) thus include – in two dimensions –

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

those moving on a frictionless ice surface or on the floor inside a smoothly running train
or ship. For a full example – in all three spatial dimensions – we can take a cosmonaut
travelling in a space-ship as long as the engine is switched off or a person falling in vac-
uum. Inertial observers in three dimensions can also be called free-floating observers,
where ‘free’ stands again for ‘undisturbed’. Inertial observers are thus much rarer than
Challenge 36 e non-inertial observers. Can you confirm this? Nevertheless, inertial observers are the
most simple ones, and they form a special set:
⊳ Any two inertial observers move with constant velocity relative to each other (as long
as gravity and interactions play no role, as assumed above).
⊳ All inertial observers are equivalent: they describe the world with the same equations.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

This statement, due to Galileo, was called the principle of relativity by Henri Poincaré.

Vol. I, page 148 * This point is essential. For example, Galilean physics states that only relative motion is observable. Galilean
physics also excludes various mathematically possible ways to realize an invariant light speed that would
contradict everyday life.
Einstein’s original 1905 paper starts from two principles: the invariance of the speed of light and the
equivalence, or relativity, of all inertial observers. The latter principle had already been stated in 1632 by
Galileo; only the invariance of the speed of light was new. Despite this fact, the new theory was named – by
Ref. 19 Poincaré – after the old principle, instead of calling it ‘invariance theory’, as Einstein would have preferred.
Challenge 35 s ** Can you give the precise argument leading to this deduction?
 42 1 maximum speed, observers at rest and

󰑣 = const
observer (greek)

light c

observer (roman) F I G U R E 21 Two inertial

󰑣=0 observers and a beam of light.
Both measure the same speed
of light c.

Galilean physics special relativity

t τ

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

L
no consistent
graph possible

F I G U R E 22 The
ξ space-time diagram
for light seen from
O, Ω O, Ω x two inertial observers,
using coordinates
(t, x) and (τ, ξ).

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

To see how exactly the measured length and space intervals change from one inertial
observer to the other, we assume a Roman one, using space and time coordinates x, y,
z and t, and a Greek one, using coordinates ξ, υ, ζ and τ,* that move with constant
velocity 󰑣 relative to each other, as shown in Figure 21. The invariance of the speed of
light in any direction for any two observers means that the coordinate differences found
Challenge 37 e by two observers are related by

(cdt)2 − (dx)2 − (dy)2 − (dz)2 = (cdτ)2 − (dξ)2 − (dυ)2 − (dζ )2 . (11)

We now chose the axes in such a way that the velocity points in the x and ξ-direction.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Then we have
(cdt)2 − (dx)2 = (cdτ)2 − (dξ)2 . (12)

Assume that a flash lamp is at rest at the origin for the Greek observer, thus with ξ =
0, and produces two flashes separated by a time interval dτ. For the Roman observer,
the flash lamp moves with speed 󰑣, so that dx = 󰑣dt. Inserting this into the previous

* They are read as ‘xi’, ‘upsilon’, ‘zeta’ and ‘tau’. The names, correspondences and pronunciations of all Greek
letters are explained in Appendix A.
 motion of light 43

Challenge 38 e expression, we deduce

dτ
dt = = γdτ . (13)
󵀆1 − 󰑣 2 /c 2

This expression thus relates clock intervals measured by one observer to the clock inter-
vals measured by another. At relative speeds 󰑣 that are small compared to the velocity
of light c, such as occur in everyday life, the stretch factor, relativistic correction, Lorentz
factor or relativistic contraction γ is equal to 1 for all practical purposes. In these cases,
the time intervals found by the two observers are essentially equal: time is then the same
for all. However, for velocities near that of light the value of γ increases. The largest value
humans have ever achieved is about 2 ⋅ 105 ; the largest observed value in nature is about
Challenge 39 s 1012 . Can you imagine where they occur?
For a relativistic correction γ larger than 1 – thus in principle for any relative speed
different from zero – the time measurements of the two observers give different values.
Because time differs from one observer to another, moving observers observe time dila-
tion.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

But that is not all. Once we know how clocks behave, we can easily deduce how coor-
dinates change. Figures 21 and 22 show that the x coordinate of an event L is the sum of
two intervals: the ξ coordinate plus any distance between the two origins. In other words,
we have
ξ = γ(x − 󰑣t) . (14)

Using the invariance of the space-time interval, we get

τ = γ(t − x󰑣/c 2 ) . (15)

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Henri Poincaré called these two relations the Lorentz transformations of space and time
after their discoverer, the Dutch physicist Hendrik Antoon Lorentz.* In one of the most
Ref. 45 beautiful discoveries of physics, in 1892 and 1904, Lorentz deduced these relations from
Vol. III, page 74 the equations of electrodynamics, where they had been lying, waiting to be discovered,
since 1865.** In that year James Clerk Maxwell had published the equations that describe
everything electric, magnetic and optical. However, it was Einstein who first understood
that t and τ, as well as x and ξ, are equally valid descriptions of space and time.
The Lorentz transformation describes the change of viewpoint from one inertial frame
to a second, moving one. This change of viewpoint is called a (Lorentz) boost. The for-
mulae (14) and (15) for the boost are central to the theories of relativity, both special and
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

general. In fact, the mathematics of special relativity will not get more difficult than that:
if you know what a square root is, you can study special relativity in all its beauty.
The Lorentz transformations (14) and (15) contain many curious results. Again they
Challenge 40 e show that time depends on the observer. They also show that length depends on the

* For information about Hendrik Antoon Lorentz, see page 39.

** The same discovery had been published first in 1887 by Woldemar Voigt (b. 1850 Leipzig,
d. 1919 Göttingen); Voigt – pronounced ‘Fohgt’ – was also the discoverer of the Voigt effect and the Voigt
tensor. Later, in 1889, George Fitzgerald (b. 1851 Dublin, d. 1901 Dublin) also found the result.
 44 1 maximum speed, observers at rest and

Page 51 observer: in fact, moving observers observe length contraction. Space and time are thus
indeed relative.
The Lorentz transformations (14) and (15) are also strange in another respect. When
two observers look at each other, each of them claims to measure shorter intervals than
Challenge 41 s the other. In other words, special relativity shows that the grass on the other side of the
fence is always shorter – if we ride along beside the fence on a bicycle and if the grass is
Page 51 inclined. We explore this bizarre result in more detail shortly.
Many alternative formulae for Lorentz boosts have been explored, such as expressions
in which the relative acceleration of the two observers is included, as well as the relative
Ref. 46 velocity. However, all alternatives had to be discarded after comparing their predictions
with experimental results. Before we have a look at such experiments, we continue with
a few logical deductions from the boost relations.

What is space-time?

“
Von Stund’ an sollen Raum für sich und Zeit für
sich völlig zu Schatten herabsinken und nur

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

noch eine Art Union der beiden soll

”
Selbstständigkeit bewahren.*
Hermann Minkowski.

The Lorentz transformations tell us something important: space and time are two aspects
of the same basic entity. They ‘mix’ in different ways for different observers. The mixing
is commonly expressed by stating that time is the fourth dimension. This makes sense
because the common basic entity – called space-time – can be defined as the set of all
events, events being described by four coordinates in time and space, and because the
Challenge 42 s set of all events has the properties of a manifold.** (Can you confirm this?) Complete

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

space-time is observer-invariant and absolute; space-time remains unchanged by boosts.
Only its split into time and space depends on the viewpoint.
In other words, the existence of a maximum speed in nature forces us to introduce
the invariant space-time manifold, made of all possible events, for the description of
nature. In the absence of gravitation, i.e., in the theory of special relativity, the space-
time manifold is characterized by a simple property: the space-time interval di between
Ref. 47 two events, defined as

󰑣2
di 2 = c 2 dt 2 − dx 2 − dy 2 − dz 2 = c 2 dt 2 󶀦1 − 󶀶 , (16)
c2
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

is independent of the (inertial) observer: it is an invariant. Space-time is also called

Minkowski space-time, after Hermann Minkowski,*** the teacher of Albert Einstein; he

* ‘Henceforth space by itself and time by itself shall completely fade into shadows and only a kind of union
of the two shall preserve autonomy.’ This famous statement was the starting sentence of Minkowski’s 1908
talk at the meeting of the Gesellschaft für Naturforscher und Ärzte.
Vol. V, page 354 ** The term ‘manifold’ is defined in all mathematical details later in our walk.
*** Hermann Minkowski (b. 1864 Aleksotas, d. 1909 Göttingen) was mainly a mathematician. He had de-
veloped, independently, similar ideas to Einstein, but the latter was faster. Minkowski then developed the
concept of space-time. Unfortunately, Minkowski died suddenly at the age of 44.
 motion of light 45

was the first, in 1904, to define the concept of space-time and to understand its usefulness
and importance. We will discover that later that when gravitation is present, the whole of
space-time bends; such bent space-times, called Riemannian space-times, will be essential
in general relativity.
The space-time interval di of equation (16) has a simple physical meaning. It is the
time measured by an observer moving from event (t, x) to event (t + dt, x + dx), the so-
called proper time, multiplied by c. If we neglect the factor c, we can also call the interval
the wristwatch time.
In short, we can say that we live in space-time. Space-time exists independently of
all things; it is a container, a background for everything that happens. And even though
coordinate systems differ from observer to observer, the underlying entity, space-time, is
the same and unique, even though space and time by themselves are not. (All this applies
also in the presence of gravitation, in general relativity.)
How does Minkowski space-time differ from Galilean space-time, the combination of
everyday space and time? Both space-times are manifolds, i.e., continuum sets of points,
both have one temporal and three spatial dimensions, and both manifolds have the topol-

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Challenge 43 s ogy of the punctured sphere. (Can you confirm this?) Both manifolds are flat, i.e., free of
curvature. In both cases, space is what is measured with a metre rule or with a light ray,
and time is what is read from a clock. In both cases, space-time is fundamental, unique
and absolute; it is and remains the background and the container of things and events.
The central difference, in fact the only one, is that Minkowski space-time, in contrast
to the Galilean case, mixes space and time. The mixing is different for observers with
different speeds, as shown in Figure 22. The mixing is the reason that time and space are
observer-dependent, or relative, concepts.
Mathematically, time is a fourth dimension; it expands space to space-time. Calling
time the fourth dimension is thus only a statement on how relativity calculates – we will

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

do that below – and has no deeper meaning.
The maximum speed in nature thus forces us to describe motion with space-time.
That is interesting, because in space-time, speaking in simple terms, motion does not exist.
Motion exists only in space. In space-time, nothing moves. For each point particle, space-
time contains a world-line. (See Figure 23.) In other words, instead of asking why motion
exists, we can equivalently ask why space-time is criss-crossed by world-lines. But at this
point of our adventure we are still far from answering either question. What we can do
is to explore how motion takes place.

Can we travel to the past? – Time and causality

free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

We know that time is different for different observers. Does time nevertheless order
events in sequences? The answer given by relativity is a clear ‘yes and no’. Certain sets
of events are not naturally ordered by time; others sets are. This is best seen in a space-
time diagram, such as Figure 23.
Clearly, two events can be placed in a time sequence only if one event is or could be the
cause of the other. But this connection can only apply if the first event could send energy,
e.g. through a signal, to the second. In other words, a temporal sequence between two
events implies that the signal speed connecting the two events must not be larger than the
speed of light. Figure 23 shows that event E at the origin of the coordinate system can only
 46 1 maximum speed, observers at rest and

time t
time

th

ne
II future T

lig
lig
T

pa

co
ht
ht future

ht

ht
co
pa

lig

lig
ne
th
III I
elsewhere E elsewhere space E elsewhere y

IV x
past past

F I G U R E 23 A space-time diagram for a moving object T seen from an inertial observer O in the case of

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

one and two spatial dimensions; the slope of the world-line at a point is the speed at that point, and
thus is never steeper than that of light.

be influenced by events in quadrant IV (the past light cone, when all space dimensions
are included), and can itself influence only events in quadrant II, the future light cone.
Events in quadrants I and III neither influence nor are influenced by event E: signal speed
above that of light would be necessary to achieve that. Thus the full light cone defines
the boundary between events that can be ordered with respect to event E – namely those
inside the cone – and those that cannot – those outside the cone, which happen elsewhere

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

for all observers. (Some people call all the events happening elsewhere the present.)
The past light cone gives the complete set of events that can influence what happens at
E, the coordinate origin. One says that E is causally connected to events in the past light
cone. Note that causal connection is an invariant concept: all observers agree on whether
Challenge 44 s or not it applies to two given events. Can you confirm this?
In short, time orders events only partially. In particular, for two events that are not
Challenge 45 e causally connected, their temporal order (or their simultaneity) depends on the observer!
A vector inside the light cone is called timelike; one on the light cone is called lightlike
or null; and one outside the cone is called spacelike. For example, the world-line of an
observer, i.e., the set of all events that make up its past and future history, consists of
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

timelike events only.

Special relativity thus teaches us that causality and time can be defined only because
light cones exist. If transport of energy at speeds faster than that of light did exist, time
could not be defined. Causality, i.e., the possibility of (partially) ordering events for all
observers, is due to the existence of a maximal speed.
If the speed of light could be surpassed, we could always win the lottery. Can you see
Challenge 46 e why? In other words, if the speed of light could be surpassed in some way, the future
Challenge 47 s could influence the past. Can you confirm this? In such situations, one would observe
acausal effects. However, there is an everyday phenomenon which tells that the speed of
light is indeed maximal: our memory. If the future could influence the past, we would
 motion of light 47

also be able to remember the future. To put it in another way, if the future could influ-
ence the past, the second principle of thermodynamics would not be valid.* No known
data from everyday life or from experiments provide any evidence that the future can
influence the past. In other words,

⊳ Time travel to the past is impossible.

How the situation changes in quantum theory will be revealed later on. Interestingly,
time travel to the future is possible, as we will see shortly.

Curiosities about special relativity

Special relativity is full of curious effects. Let us start with a puzzle that helps to sharpen
our thinking. Seen by an observer on an island, two lightning strokes hit simultaneously:
one hits the island, and another, many kilometres away, the open sea. A second observer
is a pilot in a relativistic aeroplane and happens to be just above the island when the
Challenge 48 e lightning hits the island. Which lightning hits first for the pilot?

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

For the pilot, the distant lightning, hitting the sea, hits first. But this is a trick question:
despite being the one that hits first, the distant lightning is observed by the pilot to hit
after the one on the island, because light from the distant hit needs time to reach him.
However, the pilot can compensate for the propagation time and can deduce that the
Challenge 49 e distant lightning hit first.
When you wave your hand in front of a mirror, your image waves with the same fre-
Challenge 50 e quency. What happens if the mirror moves away with relativistic speed?
We will discover in the section on quantum theory that the yellow colour of gold is a
Vol. IV, page 186 relativistic effect; also the liquid state of mercury at room temperature is a consequence

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

of relativity. Both effects are due to the high speed of the outer electrons of these atoms.
Let us explore a few additional consequences of special relativity.

Faster than light: how far can we travel?

How far away from Earth can we travel, given that the trip should not last more than
a lifetime, say 80 years, and given that we are allowed to use a rocket whose speed can
approach the speed of light as closely as desired? Given the time t we are prepared to
spend in a rocket, given the speed 󰑣 of the rocket, and assuming optimistically that it
can accelerate and decelerate in a negligible amount of time, the distance d we can move
Challenge 51 e away is given by
󰑣t
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

d= . (17)
󵀆1 − 󰑣 2 /c 2

The distance d is larger than ct already for 󰑣 > 0.72c, and, if 󰑣 is chosen large enough,
it increases beyond all bounds! In other words, light speed does not limit the distance

* Another related result is slowly becoming common knowledge. Even if space-time had a non-trivial shape,
such as a cylindrical topology with closed time-like curves, one still would not be able to travel into the
Ref. 48 past, in contrast to what many science fiction novels suggest. This is made clear by Steven Blau in a recent
pedagogical paper.
 48 1 maximum speed, observers at rest and

we can travel in a lifetime or in any other time interval. We could, in principle, roam the
Page 50 entire universe in less than a second. (The fuel issue is discussed below.)
For rocket trips it makes sense to introduce the concept of proper velocity 󰑤, defined
as
d 󰑣
󰑤= = =γ󰑣. (18)
t 󵀆1 − 󰑣 2 /c 2

As we have just seen, proper velocity is not limited by the speed of light; in fact the proper
velocity of light itself is infinite.*

Synchronization and time travel – can a mother stay younger

than her own daughter?
The maximum speed in nature implies that time is different for different observers mov-
ing relative to each other. So we have to be careful about how we synchronize clocks that
are far apart, even if they are at rest with respect to each other in an inertial reference
frame. For example, if we have two similar watches showing the same time, and if we

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

carry one of them for a walk and back, they will show different times afterwards. This
Ref. 50, Ref. 51 experiment has actually been performed several times and has fully confirmed the pre-
diction of special relativity. The time difference for a person or a watch in an aeroplane
travelling around the Earth once, at about 900 km/h, is of the order of 100 ns – not very
noticeable in everyday life. This is sometimes called the clock paradox. In fact, the delay
is easily calculated from the expression

t
=γ. (20)
t󳰀

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Also human bodies are clocks; they show the elapsed time, usually called age, by various
changes in their shape, weight, hair colour, etc. If a person goes on a long and fast trip,
on her return she will have aged less and thus stayed younger than a second person who
stayed at her (inertial) home. Travellers stay younger.
The most extreme illustration of this is the famous twin paradox. An adventurous
twin jumps on a relativistic rocket that leaves Earth and travels for many years. Far from
Earth, he jumps on another relativistic rocket going the other way and returns to Earth.
The trip is illustrated in Figure 24. At his arrival, he notes that his twin brother on Earth
is much older than himself. This result has also been confirmed in many experiments
Ref. 52 - though not with real twins yet. Can you explain the result, especially the asymmetry
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Challenge 53 s between the two twins?

Special relativity thus confirms, in a surprising fashion, the well-known observation
that those who travel a lot remain younger. On the other hand, the human traveller with
the largest measured youth effect so far was the cosmonaut Sergei Krikalyov, who has

* Using proper velocity, the relation given in equation (9) for the composition of two velocities wa = γa va
Challenge 52 e and wb = γb vb simplifies to
󰑤s‖ = γa γb (󰑣a + 󰑣b‖ ) and 󰑤s⊥ = 󰑤b⊥ , (19)
where the signs ‖ and ⊥ designate the component in the direction of and the component perpendicular to
Ref. 49 va , respectively. One can in fact express all of special relativity in terms of ‘proper’ quantities.
 motion of light 49

first
twin

trip of
Earth second twin
time time
comparison
and
first change of
twin rocket

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F I G U R E 24 The twin paradox.

spent 803 days in orbit, and nevertheless aged only a few milliseconds less than people
on Earth.
The twin paradox is also the confirmation of the possibility of time travel to the future.
With the help of a fast rocket that comes back to its starting point, we can arrive at local
times that we would never have reached within our lifetime by staying home. Alas, we
can never return to the past to talk about it.*

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

One of the simplest experiments confirming the prolonged youth of really fast trav-
ellers involves the counting of muons. Muons are particles that are continuously formed
Vol. V, page 155 in the upper atmosphere by cosmic radiation and then fly to the ground. Muons at rest
(with respect to the measuring clock) have a finite half-life of 2.2 μs (or, at the speed of
light, 660 m). After this amount of time, half of the muons have decayed. This half-life
can be measured using simple muon counters. In addition, there exist more special coun-
ters that only count muons travelling within a certain speed range, say from 0.9950c to
0.9954c. One can put one of these special counters on top of a mountain and put another
in the valley below, as shown in Figure 25. The first time this experiment was performed,
Ref. 54 the height difference was 1.9 km. Flying 1.9 km through the atmosphere at the mentioned
speed takes about 6.4 μs. With the half-life just given, a naive calculation finds that only
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

about 13 % of the muons observed at the top should arrive at the lower site in the val-
Challenge 54 s ley. However, it is observed that about 82 % of the muons arrive below. The reason for
this result is the relativistic time dilation. Indeed, at the mentioned speed, muons expe-
rience a proper time difference of only 0.62 μs during the travel from the mountain top
to the valley. This time is much shorter than that observed by the human observers. The
shortened muon time yields a much lower number of lost muons than would be the case

Ref. 53 * There are even special books on time travel, such as the well-researched text by Nahin. Note that the
concept of time travel has to be clearly defined; otherwise one has no answer to the clerk who calls his office
chair a time machine, as sitting on it allows him to get to the future.
 50 1 maximum speed, observers at rest and

higher atmosphere

high
counter

decays

low
counter
F I G U R E 25 More muons than expected arrive at

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

the ground because fast travel keeps them young.

without time dilation; moreover, the measured percentage confirms the value of the pre-
Challenge 55 s dicted time dilation factor γ within experimental errors, as you may want to check. The
same effect is observed when relativistic muons are made to run in circles at high speed
Ref. 55 inside a so-called storage ring. The faster the muons turn, the longer they live.
Half-life dilation has also been found for many other decaying systems, such as pions,
hydrogen atoms, neon atoms and various nuclei, always confirming the predictions of

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

special relativity. The effect is so common that for fast particles one speaks of the appar-
ent lifetime τapp through the relation τapp = γτ. Since all bodies in nature are made of
particles, the ‘youth effect’ of high speeds – usually called time dilation – applies to bodies
of all sizes; indeed, it has not only been observed for particles, but also for lasers, radio
Ref. 15 transmitters and clocks.
If motion leads to time dilation, a clock on the Equator, constantly running around
the Earth, should go slower than one at the poles. However, this prediction, which was
Ref. 57 made by Einstein himself, is incorrect. The centrifugal acceleration leads to a reduction
in gravitational acceleration whose time dilation exactly cancels that due to the rotation
velocity. This story serves as a reminder to be careful when applying special relativity in
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

situations involving gravity: pure special relativity is only applicable when space-time is
flat, i.e., when gravity is not present.
In summary, a mother can stay younger than her daughter. The mother’s wish to re-
main younger than her daughter is not easy to fulfil, however. Let us imagine that a
mother is accelerated in a spaceship away from Earth at 10 m/s2 for ten years, then decel-
erates at 10 m/s2 for another ten years, then accelerates for ten additional years towards
the Earth, and finally decelerates for ten final years in order to land safely back on our
planet. The mother has taken 40 years for the trip. She got as far as 22 000 light years from
Earth. At her return on Earth, 44 000 years have passed. All this seems fine, until we re-
alize that the necessary amount of fuel, even for the most efficient engine imaginable, is
 motion of light 51

observations
observations
by the pilot
by the farmer

pilot
time
farmer
time

plane ends
barn ends

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F I G U R E 26 The observations of the pilot and the barn owner.

so large that the mass returning from the trip is only one part in 2 ⋅ 1019 of the mass that
Challenge 56 e started. The necessary amount of fuel does not exist on Earth. The same problem appears
Ref. 56 for shorter trips.
We also found that we cannot (simply) synchronize clocks at rest with respect to each
other simply by walking, clock in hand, from one place to another. The correct way to
Challenge 57 s do so is to exchange light signals. Can you describe how? The precise definition of syn-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

chronization is necessary, because we often need to call two distant events simultaneous,
for example when we define coordinates. Obviously, a maximum speed implies that si-
multaneity depends on the observer. Indeed, this dependence has been confirmed by all
experiments.

Length contraction
The length of an object measured by an observer attached to the object is called its proper
length. The length measured by an inertial observer passing by is always smaller than the
Challenge 58 e proper length. This result follows directly from the Lorentz transformations.
For a Ferrari driving at 300 km/h or 83 m/s, the length is contracted by 0.15 pm: less
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

than the diameter of a proton. Seen from the Sun, the Earth moves at 30 km/s; this gives
a length contraction of 6 cm. Neither of these effects has ever been measured.* But larger
effects could be. Let us explore the consequences.
Imagine a pilot flying with his plane through a barn with two doors, one at each end.
The plane is slightly longer than the barn, but moves so rapidly that its relativistically
contracted length is shorter than the length of the barn. Can the farmer close the barn
(at least for a short time) with the plane completely inside? The answer is positive. But
why can the pilot not say the following: relative to him, the barn is contracted; therefore

Challenge 59 s * Is the Earth contraction value measurable at all?

 52 1 maximum speed, observers at rest and

ski or snowboard ski or snowboard

height
h
trap trap

F I G U R E 27 The observations of the trap digger (left) and of the snowboarder (right), as often
(misleadingly) published in the literature.

the plane does not fit inside the barn? The answer is shown in Figure 26. For the farmer,
the doors close (and reopen) at the same time. For the pilot, they do not. For the farmer,
the pilot is in the dark for a short time; for the pilot, the barn is never dark. (That is not
Challenge 60 s completely true: can you work out the details?)
We now explore some variations of the general case. Can a rapid snowboarder fall into
a hole that is a bit shorter than his board? Imagine him boarding so (unrealistically) fast

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

that the length contraction factor γ is 4. For an observer on the ground, the snowboard
is four times shorter, and when it passes over the hole, it will fall into it. However, for the
boarder, it is the hole which is four times shorter; it seems that the snowboard cannot
fall into it.
Ref. 58 A first careful analysis shows that, in contrast to the observation of the hole digger, the
snowboarder does not experience the board’s shape as fixed: while passing over the hole,
the boarder observes that the board takes on a parabolic shape and falls into the hole,
Challenge 61 e as shown in Figure 27. Can you confirm this? In other words, shape is not an observer-
invariant concept. (However, rigidity is observer-invariant, if defined properly; can you
confirm this?)

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Challenge 62 s
This explanation and figure however, though published, are not correct, as Harald van
Ref. 59 Lintel and Christian Gruber have pointed out. One should not forget to estimate the size
of the effect. At relativistic speeds the time required for the hole to affect the full thick-
ness of the board cannot be neglected. The snowboarder only sees his board take on a
parabolic shape if it is extremely thin and flexible. For usual boards moving at relativistic
speeds, the snowboard has no time to fall any appreciable height h or to bend into the
Challenge 63 e hole before passing it. Figure 27 is so exaggerated that it is incorrect. The snowboarder
would simply speed over the hole.
In fact, we can simplify the discussion by exploring what happens when a rod moves
Ref. 60 on an inclined path towards a slot, without any gravity. A discussion of the various cases
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

shows that if the slot and the rod are parallel for the rod observer, they are not parallel
for the slot observer, and vice versa. The concept of parallel is relative.
The paradoxes around length contraction become even more interesting in the case of
Ref. 61 a conductive glider that makes electrical contact between two rails, as shown in Figure 28.
The two rails are parallel, but one rail has a gap that is longer than the glider. Can you
work out whether a lamp connected in series stays lit when the glider moves along the
Challenge 64 s rails with relativistic speed? (Make the simplifying and not fully realistic assumption that
electrical current flows as long and as soon as the glider touches the rails.) Do you get
the same result for all observers? And what happens when the glider is longer than the
detour? Or when it approaches the lamp from the other side of the detour? (Warning:
 motion of light 53

rails
B rope F
glider
󰑣
󰑣(t) 󰑣(t)

l<d
F I G U R E 28 Does the conducting glider keep the lamp F I G U R E 29 What happens to the
lit at large speeds? rope?

this problem gives rise to heated debates!) What is unrealistic in this experiment?
Ref. 62 Another example of length contraction appears when two objects, say two cars, are
connected over a distance d by a straight rope, as shown in Figure 29. Imagine that both
are at rest at time t = 0 and are accelerated together in exactly the same way. The observer
at rest will maintain that the two cars always remain the same distance apart. On the

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

other hand, the rope needs to span a distance d 󳰀 = d/󵀆1 − 󰑣 2 /c 2 , and thus has to expand
when the two cars are accelerating. In other words, the rope will break. You can check by
Challenge 65 s yourself that this prediction is confirmed by all observers, in the cars and on Earth.
A funny – but quite unrealistic – example of length contraction is that of a submarine
Ref. 63 moving horizontally. Imagine that before moving, the resting submarine has tuned its
weight to float in water without any tendency to sink or to rise. Now the submarine
moves (possibly with relativistic speed) in horizontal direction. The captain observes the
water outside to be Lorentz contracted; thus the water is denser and he concludes that
the submarine will rise. A nearby fish sees the submarine to be contracted, thus denser

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

than water, and concludes that the submarine will sink. Who is wrong, and what is the
Challenge 66 s buoyancy force? Alternatively, answer the following question: why is it impossible for a
Challenge 67 s submarine to move at relativistic speed?
In summary, for macroscopic bodies, length contraction will probably never be ob-
served. However, it does play an important role for images.

Relativistic films – aberration and Doppler effect

In our adventure so far, we have encountered several ways in which the observed sur-
roundings change when we move at relativistic speed. We now put them all together.
First of all, Lorentz contraction and aberration lead to distorted images. Secondly, aber-
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

ration increases the viewing angle beyond the roughly 180 degrees that we are used to
in everyday life. At relativistic speeds, when we look in the direction of motion, we see
light that is invisible for an observer at rest, because for the latter, it comes from behind.
Thirdly, the Doppler effect produces colour-shifted images. Fourthly, our rapid motion
changes the brightness and contrast of the image: the so-called searchlight effect. Each of
these changes depends on the direction of sight; they are shown in Figure 30.
Modern computers enable us to simulate the observations made by rapid observers
with photographic quality, and even to produce simulated films and computer games.*

* See for example the many excellent images and films at www.anu.edu.au/Physics/Searle by Anthony
 54 1 maximum speed, observers at rest and

F I G U R E 30 Flying through three straight and vertical columns with 0.9 times the speed of light as
visualized by Daniel Weiskopf: on the left with the original colours; in the middle including the Doppler
effect; and on the right including brightness effects, thus showing what an observer would actually see
(© Daniel Weiskopf ).

The images of Figure 31 are particularly helpful in allowing us to understand image dis-
tortion. They show the viewing angle, the circle which distinguish objects in front of
the observer from those behind the observer, the coordinates of the observer’s feet and

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

the point on the horizon toward which the observer is moving. Adding these markers
in your head when watching other pictures or films may help you to understand more
clearly what they show.
We note that the image seen by a moving observer is a distorted version of that seen
by one at rest at the same point. Figure 32 shows this clearly. But a moving observer
never sees different things than a resting one at the same point. Indeed, light cones are
independent of observer motion.
Studying the images with care shows another effect. Even though the Lorentz con-
traction is measurable, it cannot be photographed. This surprising result was discovered

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Ref. 64 only in 1959. Measuring implies simultaneity at the object’s position; in contrast, pho-
tographing implies simultaneity at the observer’s position. On a photograph or in a film,
the Lorentz contraction is modified by the effects due to different light travel times from
the different parts of an object; the result is a change in shape that is reminiscent of, but
not exactly the same as, a rotation. This is shown in Figure 33. The total deformation is
the result of the angle-dependent aberration. We discussed the aberration of star pos-
Page 18 itions at the beginning of this chapter. In complete images, aberration transforms circles
into circles: such transformations are called conformal. As a result, a sphere is seen as
a sphere even at relativistic speeds; in a sense, the aberration compensates the Lorentz
contraction.
Aberration leads to the pearl necklace paradox. If the relativistic motion transforms
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

spheres into spheres, and rods into shorter rods, what happens to a pearl necklace moving
Challenge 68 s along its own long axis? Does it get shorter or not?
A further puzzle: imagine that a sphere that moves and rotates at high speed. Can all
Challenge 69 r the mentioned effects lead to an apparent, observer-dependent sense of rotation?

Searle and www.anu.edu.au/Physics/vrproject by Craig Savage and his team; you can even do interactive
motion steering with the free program downloadable at realtimerelativity.org. There is also beautiful ma-
terial at www.tat.physik.uni-tuebingen.de/~weiskopf/gallery/index.html by Daniel Weiskopf, at www.itp.
uni-hannover.de/~dragon/stonehenge/stone1.htm by Norbert Dragon and Nicolai Mokros, and at www.
tempolimit-lichtgeschwindigkeit.de by Ute Kraus, once at Hanns Ruder’s group.
motion of light 55

Views for an observer at rest

Views for an observer at relativistic speed

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

F I G U R E 31 Flying through twelve vertical columns (shown in the two uppermost images) with 0.9
times the speed of light as visualized by Nicolai Mokros and Norbert Dragon, showing the effect of
speed and position on distortions (© Nicolai Mokros).
56 1 maximum speed, observers at rest and

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F I G U R E 32 What a researcher standing and one running rapidly through a corridor observe (ignoring
colour and brightness effects) (© Daniel Weiskopf ).

F I G U R E 33 A stationary row copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

of dice (below), and the same

row, flying above it at
relativistic speed towards the
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

observer, though with

Doppler and brightness
effects switched off.
(Mpg film © Ute Kraus at www.
tempolimit-lichtgeschwindigkeit.
de).
 motion of light 57

Which is the best seat in a bus?

Ref. 62 Let us explore another surprise of special relativity. Imagine two twins inside two identi-
cally accelerated cars, one in front of the other, starting from standstill at time t = 0, as
described by an observer at rest with respect to both of them. (There is no connecting
rope now.) Both cars contain the same amount of fuel. We easily deduce that the accele-
ration of the two twins stops, when the fuel runs out, at the same time in the frame of the
Challenge 70 e outside observer. In addition, the distance between the cars has remained the same all
along for the outside observer, and the two cars continue rolling with an identical con-
stant velocity 󰑣, as long as friction is negligible. If we call the events at which the front
car and back car engines switch off f and b, their time coordinates in the outside frame at
rest are related simply by tf = tb . By using the Lorentz transformations you can deduce
Challenge 71 e for the frame of the freely rolling twins the relation

tb󳰀 = γΔx 󰑣/c 2 + tf󳰀 , (21)

which means that the front twin has aged more than the back twin! Thus, in accelerated

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

systems, ageing is position-dependent.
For choosing a seat in a bus, though, this result does not help. It is true that the best
seat in an accelerating bus is the back one, but in a decelerating bus it is the front one. At
the end of a trip, the choice of seat does not matter.
Is it correct to deduce from the above that people on high mountains age faster than
Challenge 72 s people in valleys, so that living in a valley helps postponing grey hair?

How fast can one walk?

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

In contrast to running, walking means to move the feet in such a way that at least one
of them is on the ground at any time. This is one of the rules athletes have to follow in
Olympic walking competitions; they are disqualified if they break it. A student athlete
was thinking about the theoretical maximum speed he could achieve in the Olympic
Games. The ideal would be that each foot accelerates instantly to (almost) the speed of
light. The highest walking speed is then achieved by taking the second foot off the ground
at exactly the same instant at which the first is put down. By ‘same instant’, the student
originally meant ‘as seen by a competition judge at rest with respect to Earth’. The motion
of the feet is shown in the left diagram of Figure 34; it gives a limit speed for walking of
half the speed of light.
But then the student noticed that a moving judge will regularly see both feet off the
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Ref. 65 ground and thus disqualify the athlete for running. To avoid disqualification by any
judge, the rising foot has to wait for a light signal from the lowered one. The limit speed
for Olympic walking then turns out to be only one third of the speed of light.

Is the speed of shadow greater than the speed of light?

Actually, motion faster than light does exist and is even rather common. Nature only
constrains the motion of mass and energy. However, non-material points or non-energy-
transporting features and images can move faster than light. There are several simple
Page 48 examples. To be clear, we are not talking about proper velocity, which in these cases can-
 58 1 maximum speed, observers at rest and

average athlete average athlete

speed: c/2 speed: c/3
feet of
fee t athlete
time t time t
󳰀 of
t athlete

t󳰀
moving F I G U R E 34 For
judge the athlete on
the left, the
J light signal competition
󳰀
x judge moving in
the opposite
J direction sees
light signal
moving x󳰀 both feet off the
judge ground at
certain times,

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

but not for the
space x space x athlete on the
right.

J.S. Bach

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

󰑣
X J.S. Bach

J.S. Bach free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

F I G U R E 35 A simple example of motion that can F I G U R E 36 Another example of

be faster than light. faster-than-light motion.

Challenge 73 s not be defined anyway. (Why?) The following examples show speeds that are genuinely
higher than the speed of light in vacuum.
As first example, consider the point at which scissors cut paper, marked X in Figure 35.
If the scissors are closed rapidly enough, the point moves faster than light. Similar exam-
ples can also be found in every window frame, and in fact in any device that has twisting
parts.
 motion of light 59

Another example of superluminal motion is a music record – an old-fashioned LP –

disappearing into its sleeve, as shown in Figure 36. The point where the border of the
record meets the border of the sleeve can travel faster than light.
Another example suggests itself when we remember that we live on a spherical planet.
Imagine you lie on the floor and stand up. Can you show that the initial speed with which
Challenge 74 s the horizon moves away from you can be larger than that of light?
Finally, a standard example is the motion of a spot of light produced by shining a laser
beam onto the Moon. If the laser is moved, the spot can easily move faster than light. The
same applies to the light spot on the screen of an oscilloscope when a signal of sufficiently
high frequency is fed to the input.
All these are typical examples of the speed of shadows, sometimes also called the speed
of darkness. Both shadows and darkness can indeed move faster than light. In fact, there
Challenge 75 s is no limit to their speed. Can you find another example?
In addition, there is an ever-increasing number of experimental set-ups in which the
phase velocity or even the group velocity of light is higher than c. They regularly make
headlines in the newspapers, usually along the lines of ‘light moves faster than light’. We

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Vol. III, page 124 will discuss this surprising phenomenon in more detail later on. In fact, these cases can
also be seen – with some abstraction – as special cases of the ‘speed of shadow’ phe-
nomenon.
For a different example, imagine that we are standing at the exit of a straight tunnel of
length l. We see a car, whose speed we know to be 󰑣, entering the other end of the tunnel
and driving towards us. We know that it entered the tunnel because the car is no longer
in the Sun or because its headlights were switched on at that moment. At what time t,
after we see it entering the tunnel, does it drive past us? Simple reasoning shows that t is
given by
t = l/󰑣 − l/c . (22)

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

In other words, the approaching car seems to have a velocity 󰑣appr of

l 󰑣c
󰑣appr = = , (23)
t c−󰑣
which is higher than c for any car velocity 󰑣 higher than c/2. For cars this does not hap-
pen too often, but astronomers know a type of bright object in the sky called a quasar (a
contraction of ‘quasi-stellar object’), which sometimes emits high-speed gas jets. If the
emission is in or near the direction of the Earth, its apparent speed – even the purely
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

transverse component – is higher than c. Such situations are now regularly observed
Ref. 66 with telescopes.
Note that to a second observer at the entrance of the tunnel, the apparent speed of the
car moving away is given by
󰑣c
󰑣leav = , (24)
c+󰑣
which is never higher than c/2. In other words, objects are never seen departing with
more than half the speed of light.
The story has a final twist. We have just seen that motion faster than light can be
 60 1 maximum speed, observers at rest and

time
observer
emitted or reflected light

tachyon

light cone

space

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F I G U R E 37 Hypothetical space-time
diagram for tachyon observation.

observed in several ways. But could an object moving faster than light be observed at
all? Surprisingly, it could be observed only in rather unusual ways. First of all, since such
an imaginary object, usually called a tachyon, moves faster than light, we can never see
it approaching. If it can be seen at all, a tachyon can only be seen departing. Seeing a
tachyon would be similar to hearing a supersonic jet. Only after a tachyon has passed

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

nearby, assuming that it is visible in daylight, could we notice it. We would first see a
flash of light, corresponding to the bang of a plane passing with supersonic speed. Then
we would see two images of the tachyon, appearing somewhere in space and departing in
opposite directions, as can be deduced from Figure 37. Even if one of the two images were
approaching us, it would be getting fainter and smaller. This is, to say the least, rather
unusual behaviour. Moreover, if you wanted to look at a tachyon at night, illuminating it
with a torch, you would have to turn your head in the direction opposite to the arm with
the torch! This requirement also follows from the space-time diagram: can you see why?
Challenge 76 e Nobody has ever seen such phenomena.
Ref. 67 Tachyons, if they existed, would be strange objects: they would accelerate when they
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Page 71 lose energy, a zero-energy tachyon would be the fastest of all, with infinite speed, and the
direction of motion of a tachyon depends on the motion of the observer. No object with
these properties has ever been observed. Worse, as we just saw, tachyons would seem to
appear from nothing, defying laws of conservation; and note that, just as tachyons cannot
be seen in the usual sense, they cannot be touched either, since both processes are due
to electromagnetic interactions, as we will see later in our ascent of Motion Mountain.
Tachyons therefore cannot be objects in the usual sense. In the quantum part of our
adventure we will show that quantum theory actually rules out the existence of (real)
tachyons. However, quantum theory also requires the existence of ‘virtual’ tachyons, as
we will discover.
 motion of light 61

R 󰑣 G

u
󰑤
O

F I G U R E 38 If O’s stick is parallel to

R’s and R’s is parallel to G’s, then O’s
stick and G’s stick are not.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Parallel to parallel is not parallel – Thomas rotation
The limit speed has many strange consequences. Any two observers can keep a stick
parallel to the other’s, even if they are in motion with respect to each other. But strangely,
given a chain of three or more sticks for which any two adjacent ones are parallel, the
first and the last sticks will not generally be parallel. In particular, they never will be if
the motions of the various observers are in different directions, as is the case when the
velocity vectors form a loop.
The simplest set-up is shown in Figure 38. In special relativity, a general concatenation

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Ref. 68 of pure boosts does not give a pure boost, but a boost plus a rotation. As a result, the first
and last stick in a chain of parallel sticks are usually not parallel.
An example of this effect appears in rotating motion. Imagine that we walk in a circle
with relativistic speed holding a stick. We always keep the stick parallel to the direction
it had just before. At the end of the turn, the stick will have an angle with respect to the
direction at the start. Similarly, the axis of a rotating body circling a second body will not
be pointing in the same direction after one turn. This effect is called Thomas precession,
after Llewellyn Thomas, who discovered it in 1925, a full 20 years after the birth of spe-
cial relativity. It had escaped the attention of dozens of other famous physicists. Thomas
precession is important for the orbit of electrons inside atoms, where the stick is the spin
axis of the rapidly orbiting electron. All these surprising phenomena are purely relativis-
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

tic, and are thus measurable only in the case of speeds comparable to that of light.

A never-ending story – temperature and relativity

What temperature is measured by an observer who moves with respect to a heat bath?
The literature on the topic is confusing. Max Planck, Albert Einstein and Wolfgang Pauli
agreed on the following result: the temperature T seen by an observer moving with speed
󰑣 is related to the temperature T0 measured by the observer at rest with respect to the heat
bath via
T = T0 󵀆1 − 󰑣 2 /c 2 . (25)
 62 1 maximum speed, observers at rest and

A moving observer thus always measures lower temperature values than a resting one.
In 1908, Max Planck used this expression, together with the corresponding transfor-
mation for thermal energy, to deduce that the entropy is invariant under Lorentz trans-
formations. Being the discoverer of the Boltzmann constant k, Planck proved in this way
Ref. 69 that the Boltzmann constant is a relativistic invariant.
Not all researchers agree on the expression for the transformation of energy, however.
(They do agree on the invariance of k, though.) Others maintain that T and T0 should be
interchanged in the formula. Also, powers other than the simple square root have been
Ref. 70 proposed. The origin of these discrepancies is simple: temperature is only defined for
equilibrium situations, i.e., for baths. But a bath for one observer is not a bath for the
other. For low speeds, a moving observer sees a situation that is almost a heat bath; but at
higher speeds the issue becomes tricky. Temperature is deduced from the speed of matter
particles, such as atoms or molecules. For rapidly moving observers, there is no good way
to measure temperature, because the distribution is not in equilibrium. Any naively mea-
sured temperature value for a moving observer depends on the energy range of matter
particles that is used! In short, thermal equilibrium is not an observer-invariant concept.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Therefore, no temperature transformation formula is correct for high speeds. (Only with
certain additional assumptions, Planck’s expression holds. And similar issues appear for
the relativistic transformation of entropy.) In fact, there are not even any experimental
observations that would allow such a formula to be checked. Realizing such a measure-
ment is a challenge for future experimenters – but not for relativity itself.

Summary
For all physical systems, the locally measured energy speed, the forerunner speed and the
measured signal speed are limited by c = 299 782 458 m/s, the speed of light in vacuum.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

As a result, time, age, distance, length, colour, spatial orientation, angles and temperature
– as long as it can be defined – depend on the observer. In contrast, the speed of light in
vacuum c, is invariant.

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 Chapter 2

REL ATIVISTIC MECHANIC S

T
he speed of light is an invariant quantity and a limit value. Therefore, we need
o rethink all observables that we defined with the help of velocity – thus all of
hem! The most basic observables are mass, momentum and energy. In other
words, we need to recreate mechanics based on the invariant limit speed: we need to
build relativistic mechanics.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Mass in relativity
Vol. I, page 96 In Galilean physics, the mass ratio between two bodies was defined using collisions; it
was given by the negative inverse of the velocity change ratio

m2 Δ󰑣
=− 1 . (26)
m1 Δ󰑣2

However, experiments show that this expression is wrong for speeds near that of light

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

and must be changed. In fact, experiments are not needed: thinking alone can show this.
Challenge 77 s Can you do so?
There is only one solution to this problem. Indeed, experiments confirm that the two
Ref. 71 Galilean conservation theorems for momentum and for mass have to be changed into

󵠈 γi mi 󰑣i = const (27)
i

and
󵠈 γi mi = const . (28)
i
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These expressions are the (relativistic) conservation of momentum and the (relativistic)
conservation of mass–energy. They will remain valid throughout the rest of our ascent of
Motion Mountain.
The conservation of momentum and energy implies, among other things, that tele-
portation is not possible in nature, in contrast to science fiction. Can you confirm this?
Challenge 78 s
Obviously, in order to recover Galilean physics, the relativistic correction (factors) γi
have to be almost equal to 1 for everyday velocities, that is, for velocities nowhere near the
speed of light. That is indeed the case. In fact, even if we did not know the expression of
 64 2 rel ativistic

Observer A
m m
before: 󰑣
after:
M V

Observer B

before:
m V V m
after: F I G U R E 39 An inelastic collision of two identical
M particles seen from two different inertial frames of
reference.

the relativistic correction factor, we can deduce it from the collision shown in Figure 39.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

In the first frame of reference (A) we have γ󰑣 m󰑣 = γV MV and γ󰑣 m + m = γV M. From
the observations of the second frame of reference (B) we deduce that V composed with
Challenge 79 e V gives 󰑣, in other words, that
2V
󰑣= . (29)
1 + V 2 /c 2

When these equations are combined, the relativistic correction γ is found to depend on
the magnitude of the velocity 󰑣 through

1
γ󰑣 =

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

. (30)
󵀆1 − 󰑣 2 /c 2

With this expression the mass ratio between two colliding particles is defined as the ratio

m1 Δ(γ2 󰑣2 )
=− . (31)
m2 Δ(γ1 󰑣1 )

This is the generalization of the definition of mass ratio from Galilean physics. (In the
Vol. I, page 100 chapter on Galilean mechanics we also used a generalized mass definition based on acce-
leration ratios. We do not explore its relativistic generalization because it contains some
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subtleties which we will encounter shortly.) The correction factors γi ensure that the mass
defined by this equation is the same as the one defined in Galilean mechanics, and that
it is the same for all types of collision a body may have.* In this way, mass remains a
quantity characterizing the difficulty of accelerating a body, and it can still be used for
systems of bodies as well.
Following the example of Galilean physics, we call the quantity

p = γm󰑣 (32)
Challenge 80 e * The results below also show that γ = 1 + T/c 2 m, where T is the kinetic energy of a particle.
 mechanics 65

before

A pA B

non-relativistic pool
rule: φ + θ = 90° A

after
θ
pA φ

B F I G U R E 40 A useful rule for playing non-relativistic

snooker.

the (linear) relativistic (three-) momentum of a particle. Total momentum is a conserved

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

quantity for any system not subjected to external influences, and this conservation is a
direct consequence of the way mass is defined.
For low speeds, or γ ≈ 1, relativistic momentum is the same as Galilean momentum,
and is then proportional to velocity. But for high speeds, momentum increases faster
than velocity, tending to infinity when approaching light speed. The result is confirmed
Page 37 by experimental data, as was shown in Figure 18.

Why relativistic snooker is more difficult

There is a well-known property of collisions between a moving sphere or particle and a

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

resting one of the same mass that is important when playing snooker, pool or billiards.
After such a collision, the two spheres will depart at a right angle from each other, as
shown in Figure 40.
However, experiments show that the right angle rule does not apply to relativistic
collisions. Indeed, using the conservation of momentum and a bit of dexterity you can
Challenge 81 e calculate that
2
tan θ tan φ = , (33)
γ+1

where the angles are defined in Figure 41. It follows that the sum φ + θ is smaller than a
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right angle in the relativistic case. Relativistic speeds thus completely change the game of
snooker. Indeed, every accelerator physicist knows this: for electrons or protons, these an-
gles can easily be deduced from photographs taken in cloud or bubble chambers, which
show the tracks left by particles when they move through them, as shown in Figure 42.
Ref. 15 All such photographs confirm the above expression. In fact, the shapes of detectors are
chosen according to expression (33), as sketched in Figure 41. If the formula – and rela-
tivity – were wrong, most of these detectors would not work, as they would miss most
of the particles after the collision. If relativity were wrong, such detectors would have to
be much larger. In fact, these experiments also prove the formula for the composition of
Challenge 82 e velocities. Can you show this?
66 2 rel ativistic

accelerator beam target detectors

relativistic pool rule: φ + θ < 90°

θ
φ

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F I G U R E 41 The dimensions of detectors for particle accelerators with single beams are based on the
relativistic snooker angle rule – as an example, the HARP experiment at CERN (© CERN).

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

F I G U R E 42 The ‘Big European Bubble Chamber’ and an example of tracks of relativistic particles it
produced, with the momentum values deduced from the photograph (© CERN).
 mechanics 67

Mass and energy are equivalent

Let us go back to the collinear and inelastic collision of Figure 39. What is the mass M
Challenge 83 s of the final system? Calculation shows that

M/m = 󵀆2(1 + γ󰑣 ) > 2 . (34)

In other words, the mass of the final system is larger than the sum 2m of the two original
masses. In contrast to Galilean mechanics, the sum of all masses in a system is not a
conserved quantity. Only the sum ∑i γi mi of the corrected masses is conserved.
Relativity provides the solution to this puzzle. Everything falls into place if, for the
energy E of an object of mass m and velocity 󰑣, we use the expression

c2m
E = c 2 γm = , (35)
󵀆1 − 󰑣 2 /c 2

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

applying it both to the total system and to each component. The conservation of the
corrected mass can then be read as the conservation of energy, simply without the factor
c 2 . In the example of the two identical masses sticking to each other, the two parts are
thus each described by mass and energy, and the resulting system has an energy E given
by the sum of the energies of the two parts. (We recall that the uncorrected masses do
not add up.) In particular, it follows that the energy E0 of a body at rest and its mass m
are related by
E0 = c 2 m . (36)

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Why do we write c 2 m instead of mc 2 ? Because in formulae, constant factors come always
first. The factor c 2 is not central; the essence of the expression is the relation between
energy E and mass m. c 2 is simply the conversion factor between the two quantities.
Indeed, the general relation E = c 2 γm is one of the most beautiful and famous discoveries
of modern physics. In simple words, the existence of a maximum speed implies that every
mass has energy, and that energy has mass. Mass and energy are two terms for the same
basic concept:

⊳ Mass and energy are equivalent.

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Since mass and energy are equivalent, energy has all properties of mass. In particular,
energy has inertia and weight. For example, a full battery is more massive and heavier
than an empty one, and a warm glass of water is heavier than a cold one. Radio waves
and light have weight. They can fall.
Conversely, mass has all properties of energy. For example, we can use mass to make
engines run. But this is no news, as the process is realized in every engine we know of!
Muscles, car engines, and nuclear ships work by losing a tiny bit of mass and use the
corresponding energy to overcome friction and move the person, car or ship.
The conversion factor c 2 is large: 1 kg of rock, if converted to electric energy, would be
worth around 8 000 million Euro. In this unit, even the largest financial sums correspond
 68 2 rel ativistic

to modest volumes of rock. Since c 2 is so large, we can also say:

⊳ Mass is concentrated energy.

Increasing the energy of a system increases its mass a little bit, and decreasing the energy
content decreases the mass a little bit. If a bomb explodes inside a closed box, the mass,
weight and momentum of the box are the same before and after the explosion, but the
combined mass of the debris inside the box will be a little bit smaller than before. All
bombs – not only nuclear ones – thus take their power of destruction from a reduction
in mass. In fact, every activity of a system – such as a caress, a smile or a look – takes its
energy from a reduction in mass.
The kinetic energy T is thus given by the difference between total energy and rest en-
ergy. This gives

1 1 ⋅ 3 󰑣4 1 ⋅ 3 ⋅ 5 󰑣6
T = c 2 γm − c 2 m = m󰑣 2 + m + m + ... (37)
2 ⋅ 4 c2 2 ⋅ 4 ⋅ 6 c4

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

2

Challenge 84 e (using the binomial theorem). The expression reduces to the well-known Galilean value
TGalilean = 12 m󰑣 2 only for low, everyday speeds.
The mass–energy equivalence E = c 2 γm implies that extracting any energy from a
material system results in a mass decrease. When a person plays the piano, thinks or
runs, her mass decreases. When a cup of tea cools down or when a star shines, its mass
decreases. When somebody uses somebody else’s electric power, he is taking away some
mass: electric power theft is thus mass theft! The mass–energy equivalence pervades all
of nature.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

There is just one known way to transform the full mass of a body into kinetic, in
this case electromagnetic, energy: we annihilate it with the same amount of antimatter.
Fortunately, there is almost no antimatter in the universe, so that the process does not
occur in everyday life. Indeed, the energy content of even a speck of dust is already so
substantial that the annihilation with the same amount of antimatter would already be a
Challenge 85 e dangerous event.
The equivalence of mass and energy suggests that it is possible to ‘create’ massive par-
ticles by manipulating light or by extracting kinetic energy in collisions. This is indeed
correct; the transformation of other energy forms into matter particles is occurring, as
we speak, in the centre of galaxies, in particle accelerators, and whenever a cosmic ray
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hits the Earth’s atmosphere. The details of these processes will become clear when we
explore quantum physics.
The mass–energy equivalence E = c 2 γm means the death of many science fiction
fantasies. It implies that there are no undiscovered sources of energy on or near Earth. If
such sources existed, they would be measurable through their mass. Many experiments
have looked for, and are still looking for, such effects with a negative result. There is no
freely available energy in nature.
Many scientists cannot live long without inventing mysteries. Two extremely diluted
forms of energy, called dark matter and (confusingly) dark energy, were found to be dis-
tributed throughout the universe in the 1990s, with a density of about 1 nJ/m3 . Their
 mechanics 69

Page 213 existence is deduced from quite delicate measurements that detected their mass. So far,
their origin has not yet been fully resolved.

Weighing light
The mass–energy equivalence E = c 2 γm also implies that one needs about 90 thousand
Challenge 86 e million kJ (or 21 thousand million kcal) to increase one’s weight by one single gram. Of
course, dieticians have slightly different opinions on this matter! As mentioned, humans
do get their everyday energy from the material they eat, drink and breathe by reducing
its combined mass before expelling it again; however, this chemical mass defect cannot yet
be measured by weighing the materials before and after the reaction: the difference is too
small, because of the large conversion factor c 2 . Indeed, for any chemical reaction, bond
energies are about 1 aJ (6 eV) per bond; this gives a weight change of the order of one part
in 1010 , too small to be measured by weighing people or determining mass differences
between food and excrement. Therefore, for everyday chemical reactions mass can be
taken to be constant, in accordance with Galilean physics.
The mass–energy equivalence E = c 2 γm has been confirmed by all experiments per-

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

formed so far. The measurement is simplest for the nuclear mass defect. The most precise
Ref. 72 experiment, from 2005, compared the masses difference of nuclei before and after neu-
tron capture on the one hand, and emitted gamma ray energy on the other hand. The
mass–energy relation was confirmed to a precision of more than 6 digits.
Modern methods of mass measurement of single molecules have even made it pos-
sible to measure the chemical mass defect: it is now possible to compare the mass of a
single molecule with that of its constituent atoms. David Pritchard’s group has developed
so-called Penning traps, which allow masses to be determined from the measurement of
frequencies; the attainable precision of these cyclotron resonance experiments is suffi-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Ref. 73 cient to confirm ΔE0 = c 2 Δm for chemical bonds. In the future, bond energies will be
determined in this way with high precision. Since binding energy is often radiated as
light, we can also say that these modern techniques make it possible to weigh light.
Thinking about light and its mass was the basis for Einstein’s derivation of the mass–
energy relation. When an object of mass m emits two equal light beams of total energy
E in opposite directions, its own energy decreases by the emitted amount. Let us look at
what happens to its mass. Since the two light beams are equal in energy and momentum,
the body does not move, and we cannot deduce anything about its mass change. But
we can deduce something if we describe the same situation when moving with the non-
relativistic velocity 󰑣 along the beams. We know that due to the Doppler effect one beam
is red-shifted and the other blue-shifted, by the factors 1 + 󰑣/c and 1 − 󰑣/c. The blue-
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Challenge 87 e shifted beam therefore acquires an extra momentum 󰑣E/2c 2 and the red-shifted beam
loses momentum by the same amount. In nature, momentum is conserved. Therefore,
after emission, we find that the body has a momentum p = m󰑣 − 󰑣E/c 2 = 󰑣(m − E/c 2 ).
We thus conclude that a body that loses an energy E reduces its mass by E/c 2 . This is the
equivalence of mass and energy.
In short, we find that the rest energy E0 of an object, the maximum energy that can be
extracted from a mass m, is
E0 = c 2 m . (38)
 70 2 rel ativistic

time t t

E2󳰀 , p2󳰀
E1󳰀 , p1󳰀
E
p
E2 , p 2
E1 , p 1
F I G U R E 43
object 1 Space-time
object 2 object 1 object 2 diagrams of
the same
x collision for
space x two different
observers.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

We saw above that the Doppler effect is a consequence of the invariance of the speed of
light. Whenever the invariance of the speed of light is combined with momentum and
energy conservation we find the equivalence of mass and energy.
How are momentum and energy related? The definitions of momentum (32) and en-
Challenge 88 e ergy (35) lead to two basic relations. First of all, their magnitudes are related by

m2 c 4 = E 2 − p2 c 2 (39)

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

for all relativistic systems, be they objects or, as we will see below, radiation. For the
momentum vector we get the other important relation

E
p= 󰑣, (40)
c2
which is equally valid for any type of moving energy, be it an object or a beam or pulse of
Challenge 89 e radiation.* We will use both relations often in the rest of our ascent of Motion Mountain,
including the following discussion.

Collisions, virtual objects and tachyons

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We have just seen that in relativistic collisions the conservation of total energy and mo-
mentum are intrinsic consequences of the definition of mass. Let us now have a look at
collisions in more detail. A collision is a process, i.e., a series of events, for which
— the total momentum before the interaction and after the interaction is the same;
— the momentum is exchanged in a small region of space-time;
— for small velocities, the Galilean description is valid.

* Using 4-vector notation, we can write 󰑣/c = p/P0 , where P0 = E/c.

 mechanics 71

In everyday life an impact is the event at which both objects change momentum. But
the two colliding objects are located at different points when this happens. A collision is
Ref. 74 therefore described by a space-time diagram such as the left-hand one in Figure 43; it is
reminiscent of the Orion constellation. It is easy to check that the process described by
Challenge 90 e such a diagram is a collision according to the above definition.
The right-hand side of Figure 43 shows the same process seen from another, Greek,
frame of reference. The Greek observer says that the first object has changed its momen-
tum before the second one. That would mean that there is a short interval when momen-
tum and energy are not conserved!
The only way to make sense of the situation is to assume that there is an exchange of
a third object, drawn with a dotted line. Let us find out what the properties of this object
are. We give numerical subscripts to the masses, energies and momenta of the two bodies,
Challenge 91 e and give them a prime after the collision. Then the unknown mass m obeys

1 − 󰑣1 󰑣1󳰀
m2 c 4 = (E1 − E1󳰀 )2 − (p1 − p1󳰀 )2 c 2 = 2m12 c 4 − 2E1 E1󳰀 󶀦 󶀶<0. (41)
c2

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

This is a strange result, because it means that the unknown mass is an imaginary num-
ber!* On top of that, we also see directly from the second graph that the exchanged ob-
ject moves faster than light. It is a tachyon, from the Greek ταχύς ‘rapid’. In other words,
collisions involve motion that is faster than light! We will see later that collisions are in-
deed the only processes where tachyons play a role in nature. Since the exchanged objects
appear only during collisions, never on their own, they are called virtual objects, to dis-
tinguish them from the usual, real objects, which we observe everyday.** We will study
Vol. IV, page 61 the properties of virtual particle later on, when we come to discuss quantum theory.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

In nature, a tachyon is always a virtual object. Real objects are always bradyons – from
the Greek βραδύς ‘slow’ – or objects moving slower than light. Note that tachyons, despite
their high velocity, do not allow the transport of energy faster than light; and that they
do not violate causality if and only if they are emitted or absorbed with equal probability.
Challenge 92 e Can you confirm all this?
When we will study quantum theory, we will also discover that a general contact in-
teraction between objects is described not by the exchange of a single virtual object, but
by a continuous stream of virtual particles. For standard collisions of everyday objects,
the interaction turns out to be electromagnetic. In this case, the exchanged particles are
virtual photons. In other words, when one hand touches another, when it pushes a stone,
or when a mountain supports the trees on it, streams of virtual photons are continuously
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Vol. IV, page 60 exchanged.

* It is usual to change the mass–energy and mass–momentum relation of tachyons to E = ±c 2 m/󵀆󰑣 2 /c 2 − 1

and p = ±m󰑣/󵀆󰑣 2 /c 2 − 1 ; this amounts to a redefinition of m. After the redefinition, tachyons have real
mass. The energy and momentum relations show that tachyons lose energy and momentum when they get
faster. (Provocatively, a single tachyon in a box could provide humanity with all the energy we need.) Both
signs for the energy and momentum relations must be retained, because otherwise the equivalence of all
inertial observers would not be generated. Tachyons thus do not have a minimum energy or a minimum
momentum.
** More precisely, a virtual particle does not obey the relation m2 c 4 = E 2 − p2 c 2 , valid for real particles.
 72 2 rel ativistic

A CM-0 B
󰑣 󰑣

transformed CM
A CM-1 B

󰑣=0 󰑣 2󰑣/(1 + 󰑣 2 /c 2 )

geometrical CM
A CM-2 B

󰑣=0 󰑣/(1 + 󰑣 2 /c 2 ) 2󰑣/(1 + 󰑣 2 /c 2 )

momentum CM

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

A CM-3 B
F I G U R E 44 There is no consistent
󰑣=0 2󰑣/󵀆1 − 󰑣 2 /c 2 2󰑣/(1 + 󰑣 2 /c 2 ) way to define a relativistic centre
of mass.

There is an additional secret hidden in collisions. In the right-hand side of Figure 43,
the tachyon is emitted by the first object and absorbed by the second one. However, it is
easy to imagine an observer for which the opposite happens. In short, the direction of

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Challenge 93 s
travel of a tachyon depends on the observer! In fact, this is a hint about antimatter. In
space-time diagrams, matter and antimatter travel in opposite directions. The connection
Vol. IV, page 182 between relativity and antimatter will become more apparent in quantum theory.

Systems of particles – no centre of mass

Relativity also forces us to eliminate the cherished concept of centre of mass. We can see
this already in the simplest example possible: that of two equal objects colliding.
Figure 44 shows that from the viewpoint in which one of two colliding particles is at
rest, there are at least three different ways to define the centre of mass. In other words, the
Ref. 75 centre of mass is not an observer-invariant concept. We can deduce from the figure that
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the concept only makes sense for systems whose components move with small velocities
relative to each other. An atom is an example. For more general systems, centre of mass
is not uniquely definable. Will this hinder us in our ascent? No. We are more interested
in the motion of single particles than that of composite objects or systems.

Why is most motion so slow?

For most everyday systems, dilation factors γ are very near to 1; noticeable departures
from 1, thus speeds of more than a few per cent of the speed of light, are uncommon.
Most such situations are microscopic. We have already mentioned the electrons inside
 mechanics 73

a cathode ray tube found in the first colour televisions or inside a particle accelerator.
The particles making up cosmic radiation are another example; it is important, because
their high energy has produced many of the mutations that are the basis of evolution of
animals and plants on this planet. Later we will discover that the particles involved in
radioactivity are also relativistic.
But why don’t we observe any relativistic macroscopic bodies? Because the universe
exists since as long time. Bodies that collide with relativistic velocities undergo processes
not found in everyday life: when they collide, part of their kinetic energy is converted
into new matter via E = c 2 γm. In the history of the universe this has happened so many
times that practically all macroscopic bodies move with low speed with respect to their
environment, and practically all of the bodies still in relativistic motion are microscopic
particles.
A second reason for the disappearance of rapid relative motion is radiation damping.
Can you imagine what happens to relativistic charges during collisions, or in a bath of
Challenge 94 s light? Radiation damping also slows down microscopic particles.
In short, almost all matter in the universe moves with small velocity relative to other

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

matter. The few known counter-examples are either very old, such as the quasar jets men-
tioned above, or stop after a short time. For example, the huge energies necessary for
macroscopic relativistic motion are available in supernova explosions, but the relativis-
tic motion ceases to exist after a few weeks. In summary, the universe is mainly filled
Page 224 with slow motion because it is old. We will determine its age shortly.

The history of the mass–energy equivalence formula

Albert Einstein took several months after his first paper on special relativity to deduce
the expression

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

E = c 2 γm (42)

which is often called the most famous formula of physics. We write it in this slightly
unusual, but clear way to stress that c 2 is a unit-dependent and thus unimportant factor.
Ref. 16 Einstein published this formula in a second, separate paper towards the end of 1905.
Arguably, the formula could have been discovered thirty years earlier, from the theory of
electromagnetism.
In fact, several persons deduced similar results before Einstein. In 1903 and 1904, be-
Ref. 77 fore Einstein’s first relativity paper, Olinto De Pretto, a little-known Italian engineer, cal-
culated, discussed and published the formula E = c 2 m. It might well be that Einstein got
the idea for the formula from De Pretto,*possibly through Einstein’s friend Michele Besso
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or other Italian-speaking friends he met when he visited his parents, who were living in
Italy at the time. Of course, the value of Einstein’s efforts is not diminished by this.
Ref. 77 In fact, a similar formula had also been deduced in 1904 by Friedrich Hasenöhrl and
published again in Annalen der Physik in 1905, before Einstein, though with an incorrect
numerical factor, due to a calculation mistake. The formula E = c 2 m is also part of sev-
eral expressions in two publications in 1900 by Henri Poincaré. Also Paul Langevin knew
the formula, and Einstein said of him that he would surely have discovered the theory of
* Umberto Bartocci, mathematics professor of the University of Perugia in Italy, published the details of
Ref. 76 this surprising story in several papers and in a book.
 74 2 rel ativistic

special relativity had it not been done before. Also Tolver Preston discussed the equiva-
lence of mass and energy, already in 1875, in his book Physics of the Ether. The real hero
of the story might be the Swiss chemist Jean Charles Gallisard de Marignac;Gallisard de
Marignac, Jean Charles already in 1861 he published the now accepted idea about the
formation of the elements: whenever protons form elements, the condensation leads to a
lower total mass, and the energy difference is emitted as energy. The mass–energy equiv-
alence was thus indeed floating in the air, waiting to be understood and put into the
correct context.
Vol. V, page 139 In the 1970s, a similar story occurred: a simple relation between the acceleration and
the temperature of the vacuum was discovered. The result had been waiting to be dis-
covered for over 50 years. Indeed, a number of similar, anterior results were found in the
libraries. Could other simple relations be hidden in modern physics waiting to be found?
Challenge 95 s

4-vectors
How can we describe motion consistently for all observers? We have to introduce a sim-

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

ple idea: 4-vectors. We already know that the motion of a particle can be seen as a se-
quence of events. Events are points in space-time. To describe events with precision, we
introduce event coordinates, also called 4-coordinates. These are written as

X = (ct, x) = (ct, x, y, z) = X i . (43)

In this way, an event is a point in four-dimensional space-time, and is described by four

coordinates. The four coordinates are called the zeroth, namely time X 0 = ct, the first,
usually called X 1 = x, the second, X 2 = y, and the third, X 3 = z. In fact, X is the simplest

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

example of a 4-vector. The old vectors x of Galilean physics are also called 3-vectors. We
see that time is treated like the zeroth of four dimensions.
We can now define a space-time distance or space-time interval between two events as
the length of the difference vector X. In fact, we usually use the square of the length, the
magnitude, to avoid those unwieldy square roots. In special relativity, the magnitude X 2
of any 4-vector X is defined as

X 2 = X0 2 − X1 2 − X2 2 − X3 2 = ct 2 − x 2 − y 2 − z 2 = Xa X a = ηab X a X b = η ab Xa Xb .(44)

The squared space-time interval is thus the squared time interval minus the squared
Page 42 length interval. We have seen above that this minus sign results from the invariance of
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the speed of light. In contrast to a squared space interval, a squared space-time interval
can be positive, negative or even zero.
How can we imagine the space-time interval? The magnitude of the space-time inter-
val is the square of c times the proper time. The proper time is the time shown by a clock
moving in a straight line and with constant velocity between two events in space-time.
For example, if the start and end events in space-time require motion with the speed of
light, the proper time and the space-time interval vanish. This situation defines the so-
called null vectors or lightlike intervals. We call the set of all null vector end points the
Page 46 light cone; it is shown in Figure 45. If the motion between two events is slower than the
 mechanics 75

Inside the lightcone, or

future and past:
events with timelike
interval from event E Lightcone:
events with
t
time null interval
from event E
fu
tu

T
re
lig

future
ht

Outside the lightcone,

co
ne

or elsewhere: events with

spacelike interval from E
E space
y
ne
co
ht

space
lig
st

x
pa

past
F I G U R E 45 The space-time

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

diagram of a moving object T,
with one spatial dimension
missing.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

speed of light, the squared proper time is positive and the space-time interval is called
timelike. For negative space-time intervals the interval is called spacelike. In this last case,
the negative of the magnitude, which then is a positive number, is called the squared
proper distance. The proper distance is the length measured by an odometer as the object
moves along.
We note that the definition of the light cone, its interior and its exterior, are observer-
Challenge 96 e invariant. We therefore use these concepts regularly.
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In the definition for the space-time interval we have introduced for the first time two
notations that are useful in relativity. First of all, we automatically sum over repeated
indices. Thus, Xa X a means the sum of all products Xa X a as a ranges over all indices.
Secondly, for every 4-vector X we distinguish two ways to write the coordinates, namely
coordinates with superscripts and coordinates with subscripts. (For 3-vectors, we only
use subscripts.) They are related by the following general relation

X b = (ct, x, y, z)
Xa = (ct, −x, −y, −z) = ηab X b , (45)
 76 2 rel ativistic

where we have introduced the so-called metric η ab , an abbreviation of the matrix*

1 0 0 0
ab 0 −1 0 0
η = ηab =󶀫 󶀻 . (46)
0 0 −1 0
0 0 0 −1

Don’t panic: this is all, and it won’t get more difficult! (A generalization of this matrix is
used later on, in general relativity.) We now go back to physics; in particular, we are now
ready to describe motion in space-time.

4-velocity
We now define velocity of an body in a way that is useful for all observers. We cannot
define the velocity as the derivative of its coordinates with respect to time, since time
and temporal sequences depend on the observer. The solution is to define all observables
with respect to the just-mentioned proper time τ, which is defined as the time shown by

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

a clock attached to the body. In relativity, motion and change are always measured with
respect to clocks attached to the moving system.
Therefore the relativistic velocity or 4-velocity U of an body is defined as the rate of
change of its 4-coordinates X = (ct, x) with respect to proper time, i.e., as

dX
U= . (47)
dτ
The coordinates X are measured in the coordinate system defined by the chosen inertial

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

observer. The value of the 4-velocity U depends on the observer or coordinate system
used, as does usual velocity in everyday life. Using dt = γ dτ and thus

dx dx dt dx 1
= =γ , where as usual γ= , (48)
dτ dt dτ dt 󵀆1 − 󰑣 2 /c 2

we get the relation of 4-velocity with the 3-velocity 󰑣 = dx/dt:

U 0 = γc , U i = γ󰑣i or U = (γc, γ󰑣) . (49)

For small velocities we have γ ≈ 1, and then the last three components of the 4-velocity
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are those of the usual, Galilean 3-velocity. For the magnitude of the 4-velocity U we find
UU = UaU a = ηabU aU b = c 2 , which is therefore independent of the magnitude of the
3-velocity 󰑣 and makes it a timelike vector, i.e., a vector inside the light cone.
In general, a 4-vector is defined as a quantity (H 0 , H 1 , H 2 , H 3 ) that transforms under

Ref. 78 * This is the so-called timelike convention, used in about 70 % of all physics texts worldwide. Note that 30 %
of all physics textbooks use the negative of η as the metric, the so-called spacelike convention, and thus have
opposite signs in this definition.
 mechanics 77

boosts as

HV0 = γV (H 0 − H 1V /c)
HV1 = γV (H 1 − H 0V /c)
HV2 = H 2
HV3 = H 3 (50)

when changing from one inertial observer to another moving with a relative velocity
V in the x direction; the corresponding generalizations for the other coordinates are
understood. This relation allows us to deduce the relativistic transformation laws for any
Challenge 97 s 3-vector. Can you deduce the 3-velocity composition formula (9) from this definition?
We know that the magnitude of a 4-vector can be zero even though all its components
are different from zero. Such a vector is called null. Which motions have a null velocity
Challenge 98 s vector?

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

4-acceleration and proper acceleration
Similarly, the 4-acceleration B of a body is defined as

dU d2 X
B= = . (51)
dτ dτ 2

Using dγ/dτ = γdγ/dt = γ4 󰑣a/c 2 , we get the following relations between the four com-
Ref. 79 ponents of B and the 3-acceleration a = d󰑣/dt:

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

󰑣a (󰑣a)󰑣i
B 0 = γ4 , B i = γ 2 ai + γ 4 . (52)
c c2

Challenge 99 e The magnitude B of the 4-acceleration is easily found via BB = η cd B c B d = −γ4 (a2 +
γ2 (󰑣a)2 /c 2 ) = −γ6 (a2 − (󰑣 × a)2 /c 2 ). Note that the magnitude does depend on the value
of the 3-acceleration a. We see that a body that is accelerated for one inertial observer is
also accelerated for all other inertial observers. We also see directly that 3-accelerations
are not Lorentz invariant, unless the velocities are small compared to the speed of light.

⊳ Different inertial observers measure different 3-accelerations.

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This is in contrast to our everyday experience and to Galilean physics, where accelera-
tions are independent of the speed of the observer.
We note that 4-acceleration lies outside the light cone, i.e., that it is a spacelike vector.
We also note that BU = η cd B c U d = 0, which means that the 4-acceleration is always
perpendicular to the 4-velocity.*

* Similarly, the 4-jerk J of a body is defined as

J = dB/dτ = d2U /dτ 2 . (53)

 78 2 rel ativistic

When the 3-acceleration a is parallel to the 3-velocity 󰑣, we get B = γ3 a; when a is

perpendicular to 󰑣, as in circular motion, we get B = γ2 a. We will use this result shortly.
How does the 3-acceleration change from one inertial observer to another? To sim-
plify the discussion, we introduce the so-called comoving observer, the observer for which
a particle is at rest. We call the magnitude of the 3-acceleration for the comoving observer
the comoving or proper acceleration; in this case B = (0, a) and B 2 = −a2 . Proper acce-
leration describes what the comoving observer feels: proper acceleration describes the
experience of being pushed into the back of the accelerating seat. Proper acceleration is
the most important and useful concept when studying accelerated motion in relativity.
Proper acceleration is an important quantity, because no observer, whatever his speed
relative to the moving body, ever measures a 3-acceleration that is higher than the proper
acceleration, as we will see now.
We can calculate how the value of 3-acceleration a measured by a general inertial ob-
Ref. 80 server is related to the proper acceleration ac measured by the comoving observer using
expressions (52) and (50). In this case 󰑣 is both the relative speed of the two observers
and the speed of the accelerated particle. We get

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

1 (ac 󰑣)2
a2 = 󶀦a 2
− 󶀶 , (55)
γ󰑣4 c c2

Page 77 which we know already in a slightly different form. It shows (again):

⊳ The comoving or proper 3-acceleration is always larger than the 3-acceleration

measured by any other inertial observer.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

that the comoving or proper 3-acceleration is always larger than the 3-acceleration mea-
sured by any other inertial observer. The faster an inertial observer is moving relative to
Challenge 101 e the accelerated system, the smaller the 3-acceleration he observes. The expression also
confirms that whenever the speed is perpendicular to the acceleration, a boost yields a
factor 1/γ󰑣2 , whereas a speed parallel to the acceleration yields a factor 1/γ󰑣3 .
The maximum property of proper acceleration implies that accelerations, in contrast
to velocities, cannot be called relativistic. In other words, accelerations require relativistic
treatment only when the involved velocities are relativistic. If the velocities involved are
low, even the highest accelerations can be treated with Galilean physics.

4-momentum or energy–momentum or momenergy

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To describe motion, we need the concept of momentum. The 4-momentum is defined as

P = mU (56)

Challenge 100 e For the relation with the 3-jerk j = da/dt we then get

γ5 (󰑣a)2 γ5 (󰑣a)2 󰑣i
J = (J 0 , J i ) = 󶀦 ( j󰑣 + a2 + 4γ2 2 ) , γ3 ji + 2 (( j󰑣)󰑣i + a2 󰑣i + 4γ2 + 3(󰑣a)ai ) 󶀶 (54)
c c c c2

Page 92 which we will use later on. Surprisingly, J does not vanish when j vanishes. Why not?
 mechanics 79

time
(E/c, p)

space

F I G U R E 46 Energy–momentum is tangent
to the world line.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

and is therefore related to the 3-momentum p by

P = (γmc, γm󰑣) = (E/c, p) . (57)

For this reason 4-momentum is also called the energy–momentum 4-vector. In short, the
4-momentum of a body is given by the mass times 4-displacement per proper time. This is
the simplest possible definition of momentum and energy. The concept was introduced
by Max Planck in 1906.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

The energy–momentum 4-vector, sometimes also called momenergy, is, like the 4-
velocity, tangent to the world line of a particle. This connection, shown in Figure 46,
follows directly from the definition, since

(E/c, p) = (γmc, γm󰑣) = m(γc, γ󰑣) = m(cdt/dτ, dx/dτ) . (58)

The (square of the) length of momenergy, namely PP = ηab P a P b , is, like any squared
length of a 4-vector, the same for all inertial observers; it is found to be

E 2 /c 2 − p2 = c 2 m2 , (59)
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thus confirming a result given above. We have already mentioned that energies or sit-
uations are called relativistic if the kinetic energy T = E − E0 is not negligible when
compared to the rest energy E0 = c 2 m. A particle whose kinetic energy is much higher
than its rest mass is called ultrarelativistic. Particles in accelerators or in cosmic rays fall
Challenge 102 s into this category. What is their energy–momentum relation?
The conservation of energy, momentum and mass of Galilean mechanics thus merge,
in special relativity, into the conservation of momenergy:

⊳ In nature, energy–momentum, or momenergy, is conserved.

 80 2 rel ativistic

In particular, mass is not a conserved quantity any more.

In contrast to Galilean mechanics, relativity implies an absolute zero for the energy.
We cannot extract more energy than c 2 m from a system of mass m at rest. In particular,
an absolute zero value for potential energy is fixed in this way. In short, relativity shows
that energy is bounded from below. There is no infinite amount of energy available in
nature.
Not all Galilean energy contributes to mass: potential energy in an outside field does
not. Relativity forces us into precise energy bookkeeping. We keep in mind for later that
‘potential energy’ in relativity is an abbreviation for ‘energy reduction of the outside field’.
Can you show that for two particles with 4-momenta P1 and P2 , one has P1 P2 =
m1 E2 = m2 E1 = c 2 γ12 m1 m2 , where γ12 is the Lorentz factor due to their relative velocity
Challenge 103 s 󰑣12 ?
Note that by the term ‘mass’ m we always mean what is sometimes called the rest
mass. This name derives from the bad habit of many science fiction and secondary-school
books of calling the product γm the relativistic mass. Workers in the field usually (but not
Ref. 81 unanimously) reject this concept, as did Einstein himself, and they also reject the often-

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

heard expression that ‘(relativistic) mass increases with velocity’. Relativistic mass and
energy would then be two words for the same concept: this way to talk is at the level of
the tabloid press.

4-force – and the nature of mechanics

The 4-force K is defined with 4-momentum P as

K = dP/dτ = mB , (60)

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

where B is 4-acceleration. Therefore force remains equal to mass times acceleration in
Ref. 79, Ref. 82 relativity. From the definition of K we deduce the relation with 3-force F = dp/dt =
md(γ󰑣)/dt, namely*

m󰑣a 2 m󰑣a γ dE dp F󰑣
K = (K 0 , K i ) = 󶀤γ4 , γ mai + γ4 󰑣i 2 󶀴 = 󶀥 , γ 󶀵 = 󶀤γ , γF󶀴 . (61)
c c c dt dt c

Challenge 104 e The 4-force, like the 4-acceleration, is orthogonal to the 4-velocity. The meaning of the
zeroth component of the 4-force can easily be discerned: it is the power required to ac-
celerate the object. Indeed, we have KU = c 2 dm/dτ = γ2 (dE/dt − F󰑣): this is the proper
rate at which the internal energy of a system increases. The product KU vanishes only
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for rest-mass-conserving forces. Many particle collisions lead to reactions and thus do
not belong to this class of forces; such collisions and forces do not conserve rest mass. In
everyday life however, the rest mass is preserved, and then we get the Galilean expression
for power given by F󰑣 = dE/dt.
Challenge 105 s For rest-mass-preserving forces we get F = γma+(F󰑣)󰑣/c 2 . In other words, in the gen-
eral case, 3-force and 3-acceleration are neither parallel nor proportional to each other.
In contrast, 3-momentum is parallel, but not proportional to 3-velocity.

* Some authors define 3-force as dp/dτ; then K looks slightly different.

 mechanics 81

We note that 3-force has the largest possible value, the proper force, in the comoving
frame. A boost keeps the component of the force in the direction of the boost unchanged,
Challenge 106 e and reduces the components in the perpendicular directions. In particular, boost cannot
be used to increase 3-force values beyond all bounds. (Though they appear to allow to
increase the value of 4-force beyond all bounds.) The situation somewhat resembles the
Page 78 situation for 3-acceleration, though the transformation behaviour differs.
The 4-force can thus also be called the power–force 4-vector. In Galilean mechanics,
when we defined force, we also explored potentials. However, we cannot do this easily
in special relativity. In contrast to Galilean mechanics, where interactions and poten-
tials can have almost any desired behaviour, special relativity has strict requirements for
them. There is no way to define potentials and interactions in a way that makes sense
Ref. 83 for all observers – except if the potentials are related to fields that can carry energy and
momentum. In other terms,

⊳ Relativity only allows potentials related to radiation.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

In fact, only two type of potentials are allowed by relativity in everyday life: those due to
electromagnetism and those due to gravity. (In the microscopic domain, also the two nu-
clear interactions are possible.) In particular, this result implies that when two everyday
objects collide, the collision is either due to gravitational or to electric effects. To put it
even more bluntly: relativity forbids ‘purely mechanical’ interactions. Mechanics is not a
fundamental part of nature. Indeed, in the volume on quantum theory we will confirm
that everything that we call mechanical in everyday life is, without exception, electromag-
netic. Every caress and every kiss is an electromagnetic process. To put it in another way,
and using the fact that light is an electromagnetic process, we can say: if we bang two

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

objects hard enough onto each other, we will inevitably produce light.
The inclusion of gravity into relativity yields the theory of general relativity. In general
relativity, the just defined power–force vector will play an important role. It will turn out
that in nature, the 3-force F and the 3-power F󰑣 are limited in magnitude. Can you guess
Challenge 107 d how?

Rotation in relativity
If at night we turn around our own axis while looking at the sky, the stars move with a
velocity much higher than that of light. Most stars are masses, not images. Their speed
should be limited by that of light. How does this fit with special relativity?
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This example helps to clarify in another way what the limit velocity actually is. Phys-
ically speaking, a rotating sky does not allow superluminal energy transport, and thus
does not contradict the concept of a limit speed. Mathematically speaking, the speed of
light limits relative velocities only between objects that come near to each other, as shown
on the left of Figure 47. To compare velocities of distant objects, like between ourselves
and the stars, is only possible if all velocities involved are constant in time; this is not the
case if we turn. The differential version of the Lorentz transformations make this point
particularly clear. Indeed, the relative velocities of distant objects are frequently higher
Page 59 than the speed of light. We encountered one example earlier, when discussing the car in
Page 96 the tunnel, and we will encounter a more examples shortly.
 82 2 rel ativistic

A 󰑣

󰑣
󰑣󳰀
B 󰑣󳰀
D
F I G U R E 47 On the definition of
relative velocity (see text).

O3 O2 O
1
On
On–1

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F I G U R E 48 Observers on a rotating object.

With this clarification, we can now briefly consider rotation in relativity. The first ques-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

tion is how lengths and times change in a rotating frame of reference. You may want to
check that an observer in a rotating frame agrees with a non-rotating colleague on the
radius of a rotating body; however, both find that the rotating body, even if it is rigid, has
Challenge 108 e a circumference different from the one it had before it started rotating. Sloppily speaking,
the value of π changes for rotating observers! For the rotating observer, the ratio between
the circumference c and the radius r turns out to be c/r = 2πγ: the ratio increases with
Challenge 109 e rotation speed. This counter-intuitive result is often called Ehrenfest’s paradox. It shows
Ref. 84 that space-time for a rotating observer is not the flat Minkowski space-time of special
relativity. The paradox also shows that rigid bodies do not exist.
Rotating bodies behave strangely in many ways. For example, we get into trouble when
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

we try to synchronize clocks mounted on a rotating circle, as shown in Figure 48. If we

start synchronizing the clock at position O2 with that at O1 , and so on, continuing up
to last clock On , we find that the last clock is not synchronized with the first. This result
reflects the change in circumference just mentioned. In fact, a careful study shows that
the measurements of length and time intervals lead all observers Ok to conclude that
they live in a rotating space-time, one that is not flat. Rotating discs can thus be used
as an introduction to general relativity, where spatial curvature and its effects form the
central topic. More about this in the next chapter.
Ref. 22 In relativity, rotation and translation combine in strange ways. Imagine a cylinder in
uniform rotation along its axis, as seen by an observer at rest. As Max von Laue has
 mechanics 83

discussed, the cylinder will appear twisted to an observer moving along the rotation axis.
Challenge 110 e Can you confirm this?
For train lovers, here is a well-known puzzle. A train travels on a circular train track.
The train is as long as the track, so that is forms a circle. What happens if the same train
runs at relativistic speeds: does the train fall out of the track, remain on the track or fall
Challenge 111 s inside the track?
Is angular velocity limited? Yes: the tangential speed in an inertial frame of reference
cannot reach that of light. The limit on angular velocity thus depends on the size of
the body in question. That leads to a neat puzzle: can we see an object that rotates very
Challenge 112 s rapidly?
We mention that 4-angular momentum is defined naturally as

l ab = x a pb − x b pa . (62)

The two indices imply that the 4-angular momentum is a tensor, not a vector. Angular
Challenge 113 e momentum is conserved, also in special relativity. The moment of inertia is naturally

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

defined as the proportionality factor between angular velocity and angular momentum.
By the way, how would you determine whether a microscopic particle, too small to be
Challenge 114 s seen, is rotating?
For a rotating particle, the rotational energy is part of the rest mass. You may want to
Challenge 115 e calculate the fraction for the Earth and the Sun. It is not large.
Here are some puzzles about relativistic rotation. We know that velocity is relative:
its measured value depends on the observer. Is this the case also for angular velocity?
Challenge 116 s What is the expression for relativistic rotational energy, and for its relation to 4-angular
Challenge 117 s momentum?
Rotation also yields the rotational Doppler effect. To observe it is tricky but nowadays

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

a regular feat in precision laser laboratories. To see it, one needs a circularly polarized
light beam; such beams are available in many laboratories. When such a light beam is re-
flected from a polarizable rotating surface, the frequency of the reflected beam is shifted
in a certain percentage of the light. This rotational Doppler shift is given by the rotation
frequency of the surface. The effect is important in the theory of the Faraday effect; it
has already been used to measure the rotation various optical elements and even the ro-
tation of molecules. One day, the effect might be useful in engineering or astronomy, to
measure the rotation velocity of distant or delicate spinning objects.

Wave motion
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Vol. I, page 271 We saw in Galilean physics that a harmonic or sine wave is described, among others, by
an angular frequency ω = 2π󰜈 and by a wave vector k, with k = 2π/λ. In special relativity,
the two quantities are combined in the wave 4-vector L that is given by

ω
L a = 󶀤 , k󶀴 . (63)
c

As usual, the phase velocity of a harmonic wave is ω/k = λ󰜈. The wave 4-vector for light
has magnitude 0, it is a null vector. For slower waves, such as sound waves, the wave
 84 2 rel ativistic

Challenge 118 e 4-vector is timelike.

The phase φ of a wave can now be defined as

φ = L a x a = L a xa . (64)

Being a scalar, as expected, the phase of any wave, be it light, sound or any other type, is
Challenge 119 e the same for all observers; the phase is a relativistic invariant.*
Suppose an observer with 4-velocity U finds that a wave with wave 4-vector L has
frequency 󰜈. Show that
󰜈 = LU (65)

Challenge 120 s must be obeyed.

Interestingly, the wave phase 4-velocity ω/k transforms in a different way than particle
Ref. 21 velocity, except in the case ω/k = c. Also the aberration formula for wave motion differs
from that for particle motion, except in the case ω/k = c. Can you find the two relations?
Challenge 121 ny

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

The action of a free particle – how do things move?
If we want to describe relativistic motion of a free particle in terms of the least action
Vol. I, page 229 principle, we need a definition of the action. We already know that physical action is a
measure of the change occurring in a system. For an inertially moving or free particle, the
only change is the ticking of its proper clock. As a result, the action of a free particle will
be proportional to the elapsed proper time. In order to get the standard unit of energy
times time, or Js, for the action, the obvious guess for the action of a free particle is

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

τ2
S = −c 2 m 󵐐 dτ , (66)
τ1

where τ is the proper time along its path. This is indeed the correct expression.
Indeed, in nature, all particles move in such a way that the elapsed proper time – or
wristwatch time – is maximal. In other words, we again find that in nature things change
as little as possible. Nature is like a wise old man: its motions are as slow as possible – it
does as little as possible. If you prefer, every change in nature is maximally effective. As
Vol. I, page 234 we mentioned before, Bertrand Russell called this the ‘law’ of cosmic laziness.
Using the invariance of the speed of light, the principle of least action can thus be
rephrased:
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⊳ Bodies idle as much as they can.

Figure 49 shows some examples of values of proper times for a body moving from one
point to another in free space. The straight motion, the one that nature chooses, is the
motion with the longest proper time. (Recall the result given above: travelling more keeps
Page 48 younger.) However, this difference in proper time is noticeable only for relativistic speeds

* In component notation, the important relations are (ω/c, k)(ct, x) = φ, then (ω/c, k)(c, vphase ) = 0 and
finally (dω/c, dk)(c, vgroup ) = 0.
 mechanics 85

time

1h30min
B
1h29min 1h29min
1h28min 1h28min

space

0 150 Gm

A
F I G U R E 49 The straight motion between
two points A and B is the motion that

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

requires the longest proper time.

and large distances – such as those shown in the figure – and therefore we do not expe-
rience any such effect in everyday, non-relativistic life.
For a free body, the change in proper time is maximal, and the action minimal, for
straight-line motion with constant velocity. The principle of least action thus implies con-
Challenge 122 e servation of (relativistic) energy and momentum. Can you confirm this?
The expression (66) for the action is due to Max Planck. In 1906, by exploring it in

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

detail, he found that the quantum of action ħ, which he had discovered together with the
Boltzmann constant k, is a relativistic invariant (like the Boltzmann constant). Can you
Challenge 123 s imagine how he did this?
The action can also be written in more complex, seemingly more frightening ways.
These equivalent ways to write it are particularly appropriate to prepare us for general
relativity:

t2 τ2 s2
1 dx dx
S = 󵐐 L dt = −c 2 m 󵐐 dt = −mc 󵐐 󵀆ua ua dτ = −mc 󵐐 󵀊η ab a b ds ,(67)
t1 γ τ1 s1 ds ds
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where s is some arbitrary, but monotonically increasing, function of τ, such as τ itself.

As usual, the metric η αβ of special relativity is

1 0 0 0
0 −1 0 0
η ab = ηab =󶀫 󶀻 . (68)
0 0 −1 0
0 0 0 −1

You can easily confirm the form of the action (67) by deducing the equation of motion
Challenge 124 e in the usual way.
 86 2 rel ativistic

In short, nature is not in a hurry: every object moves in a such way that its own clock
shows the longest delay possible, compared with any alternative motion nearby. This gen-
eral principle is also valid for particles under the influence of gravity, as we will see in
the section on general relativity, and for particles under the influence of electric or mag-
netic interactions. In fact, the principle of maximum proper time, i.e., the least action
principle, is valid in all cases of motion found in nature, as we will discover step by step.
For the moment, we just note that the longest proper time is realized when the average
Challenge 125 e difference between kinetic and potential energy is minimal. (Can you confirm this?) We
thus recover the principle of least action in its everyday formulation.
Vol. I, page 229 Earlier on, we saw that the action measures the change going on in a system. Special
relativity shows that nature minimizes change by maximizing proper time. In nature,
proper time is always maximal. In other words, things move along paths defined by the
principle of maximal ageing. Can you explain why ‘maximal ageing’ and ‘cosmic laziness’
Challenge 126 e are equivalent?
When you throw a stone, the stone follows more or less a parabolic path. Had it flown
higher, it would have to move faster, which slows down its aging. Had it flown lower, it

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Page 145 would also age more slowly, because at lower height you stay younger, as we will see. The
actual path is thus indeed the path of maximum aging.
We thus again find that nature is the opposite of a Hollywood film: nature changes in
the most economical way possible – all motion realizes the smallest possible amount of
action. Exploring the deeper meaning of this result is left to you: enjoy it!

Conformal transformations
The distinction between space and time in special relativity depends on the inertial ob-
server. On the other hand, all inertial observers agree on the position, shape and orien-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

tation of the light cone at a point. Thus, in the theory of relativity, the light cones are
the basic physical ‘objects’. For any expert of relativity, space-time is a large collection of
light cones. Given the importance of light cones, we might ask if inertial observers are
the only ones that observe the same light cones. Interestingly, it turns out that additional
observers do as well.
The first category of additional observers that keep light cones invariant are those
using units of measurement in which all time and length intervals are multiplied by a
scale factor λ. The transformations among these observers or points of view are given by

xa 󳨃→ λxa (69)
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and are called dilations or scaling transformations.

A second category of additional observers are found by applying the so-called special
conformal transformations. These are compositions of an inversion

xa
xa 󳨃→ (70)
x2
 mechanics 87

with a translation by a 4-vector ba , namely

xa 󳨃→ xa + ba , (71)

Challenge 127 e and a second inversion. Therefore the special conformal transformations are

xa + b a x 2
xa 󳨃→ . (72)
1 + 2ba x a + b2 x 2

These transformations are called conformal because they do not change angles of (in-
Challenge 128 e finitesimally) small shapes, as you may want to check. The transformations therefore
leave the form (of infinitesimally small objects) unchanged. For example, they transform
infinitesimal circles into infinitesimal circles, and infinitesimal (hyper-)spheres into in-
finitesimal (hyper-)spheres. The transformations are called special because the full con-
formal group includes the dilations and the inhomogeneous Lorentz transformations as
well.*

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Note that the way in which special conformal transformations leave light cones invari-
Challenge 130 e ant is rather subtle. Explore the issue!
Since dilations do not commute with time translations, there is no conserved quantity
associated with this symmetry. (The same is true of Lorentz boosts.) In contrast, rotations
and spatial translations do commute with time translations and thus do lead to conserved
quantities.
In summary, vacuum is conformally invariant – in the special sense just mentioned
– and thus also dilation invariant. This is another way to say that vacuum alone is not
sufficient to define lengths, as it does not fix a scale factor. As we would expect, matter

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

is necessary to do so. Indeed, (special) conformal transformations are not symmetries
of situations containing matter. Vacuum is conformally invariant; nature as a whole is
not.**

Challenge 129 e * The set of all special conformal transformations forms a group with four parameters; adding dilations
and the inhomogeneous Lorentz transformations one gets fifteen parameters for the full conformal group.
Mathematically speaking, the conformal group is locally isomorphic to SU(2,2) and to the simple group
Vol. V, page 345 SO(4,2). These concepts are explained later on. Note that all this is true only for four space-time dimensions.
In two dimensions – the other important case – the conformal group is isomorphic to the group of arbitrary
analytic coordinate transformations, and is thus infinite-dimensional.
** A field that has mass cannot be conformally invariant; therefore conformal invariance is not an exact
symmetry of all of nature. Can you confirm that a mass term mφ2 in a Lagrangian density is not conformally
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Challenge 131 e invariant?

We note that the conformal group does not appear only in the kinematics of special relativity and thus
is not only a symmetry of the vacuum: the conformal group is also the symmetry group of physical inter-
actions, such as electromagnetism, as long as the involved radiation bosons have zero mass, as is the case
for the photon. In simple words, both the vacuum and all those radiation fields that are made of massless
particles are conformally invariant. Fields due to massive particles are not.
We can go even further. All elementary particles observed up to now have masses that are many orders
of magnitude smaller than the Planck mass 󵀄 ħc/G . Thus it can be said that they have almost vanishing
mass; conformal symmetry can then be seen as an approximate symmetry of nature. In this view, all mas-
sive particles can be seen as small corrections, or perturbations, of massless, i.e., conformally invariant,
fields. Therefore, for the construction of a fundamental theory, conformally invariant Lagrangians are often
assumed to provide a good starting approximation.
 88 2 rel ativistic

F I G U R E 50 The animation shows an

observer accelerating down the road in a
desert, until he reaches relativistic speeds.
The inset shows the position along the
road. Note how things seem to recede,
despite the advancing motion. (QuickTime
film © Anthony Searle and Australian
National University, from www.anu.edu.au/
Physics/Savage/TEE.)

However, conformal invariance, or the invariance of light cones, is sufficient to al-

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

low velocity measurements. Conformal invariance is also necessary for velocity measure-
Challenge 132 e ments, as you might want to check.
We have seen that conformal invariance implies inversion symmetry: that is, that the
large and small scales of a vacuum are related. This suggests that the invariance of the
speed of light is related to the existence of inversion symmetry. This mysterious connec-
tion gives us a first glimpse of the adventures that we will encounter in the final part of
our ascent of Motion Mountain.

Accelerating observers

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

So far, we have only studied what inertial, or free-flying, observers say to each other
when they talk about the same observation. For example, we saw that moving clocks
always run slow. The story gets even more interesting when one or both of the observers
are accelerating.
One sometimes hears that special relativity cannot be used to describe accelerating
observers. That is wrong, just as it is wrong to say that Galilean physics cannot be used
for accelerating observers. Special relativity’s only limitation is that it cannot be used
in non-flat, i.e., curved, space-time. Accelerating bodies do exist in flat space-time, and
therefore they can be discussed in special relativity.
As an appetizer, let us see what an accelerating, Greek, observer says about the clock
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Ref. 85 of an inertial, Roman, one, and vice versa. We assume that the Greek observer, shown in
Figure 51, moves along the path x(t), as observed by the inertial Roman one. In general,
the Greek–Roman clock rate ratio is given by Δτ/Δt = (τ2 − τ1 )/(t2 − t1 ). Here the Greek
coordinates are constructed with a simple procedure: take the two sets of events defined
by t = t1 and t = t2 , and let τ1 and τ2 be the points where these sets intersect the time
axis of the Greek observer.*
We first briefly assume that the Greek observer is also inertial and moving with veloc-
ity 󰑣 as observed by the Roman one. The clock ratio of a Greek observer is then given

* These sets form what mathematicians call hypersurfaces.

 mechanics 89

observer (Greek)
󰑣
light
c
observer (Roman)
F I G U R E 51 The simplest situation for
an inertial and an accelerated observer.

by
Δτ dτ 󵀆 1
= = 1 − 󰑣 2 /c 2 = , (73)

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Δt dt γ󰑣

Challenge 133 e a formula we are now used to. We find again that inertially moving clocks run slow.
For accelerated motions of the Greek observer, the differential version of the above
Ref. 85 reasoning is necessary. The Greek/Roman clock rate ratio is dτ/dt, and τ and τ + dτ are
calculated in the same way from the times t and t + dt. To do this, we assume again that
the Greek observer moves along the path x(t), as measured by the Roman one. We find
directly that
τ
= t − x(t)󰑣(t)/c 2 (74)
γ󰑣

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

and thus
τ + dτ
= (t + dt) − [x(t) + dt󰑣(t)][󰑣(t) + dta(t)]/c 2 . (75)
γ󰑣

Together, and to first order, these equations yield

‘dτ/dt’ = γ󰑣 (1 − 󰑣󰑣/c 2 − xa/c 2 ) . (76)

This result shows that accelerated clocks can run fast or slow, depending on their position
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x and the sign of their acceleration a. There are quotes in the above equation because we
can see directly that the Greek observer notes

‘dt/dτ’ = γ󰑣 , (77)

which is not the inverse of equation (76). This difference becomes most apparent in the
simple case of two clocks with the same velocity, one of which has a constant acceleration
Ref. 85 д towards the origin, whereas the other moves inertially. We then have

‘dτ/dt’ = 1 + дx/c 2 (78)

 90 2 rel ativistic

F I G U R E 52 An observer
accelerating down a road
in a city. The film shows
the 360° view around the
observer; the borders thus
show the situation behind
his back, where the
houses, located near the
event horizon, remain at
constant size and distance.
(Mpg film © Anthony
Searle and Australian
National University.)

and
‘dt/dτ’ = 1 . (79)

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Page 96 We will discuss this situation in more detail shortly. But first we must clarify the concept
of acceleration.

Accelerating frames of reference

How do we check whether we live in an inertial frame of reference? Let us first define
the term. An inertial frame (of reference) has two defining properties. First, lengths and
distances measured with a ruler are described by Euclidean geometry. In other words,
rulers behave as they do in daily life. In particular, distances found by counting how

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

many rulers (rods) have to be laid down end to end to reach from one point to another –
the so-called rod distances – behave as in everyday life. For example, rod distances obey
Pythagoras’ theorem in the case of right-angled triangles. Secondly, in inertial frames, the
speed of light is invariant. In other words, any two observers in that frame, independent
of their time and of the position, make the following observation: the ratio c between
twice the rod distance between two points and the time taken by light to travel from one
point to the other and back is always the same.
Equivalently, an inertial frame is one for which all clocks always remain synchronized
and whose geometry is Euclidean. In particular, in an inertial frame all observers at fixed
coordinates always remain at rest with respect to each other. This last condition is, how-
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

ever, a more general one. There are other, non-inertial, situations where this is still the
case.
Non-inertial frames, or accelerating frames, are a useful concept in special relativity.
In fact, we all live in such a frame. And we can use special relativity to describe motion
in such a accelerating frame, in the same way that we used Galilean physics to describe
it at the beginning of our journey.
A general frame of reference is a continuous set of observers remaining at rest with
Ref. 86 respect to each other. Here, ‘at rest with respect to each other’ means that the time for a
light signal to go from one observer to another and back again is constant over time, or
equivalently, that the rod distance between the two observers is constant. Any frame of
 mechanics 91

t τ

on
II

riz
ξ

ho
re
tu
fu
Ω
O c 2 /д
III x
I

pa
st
ho
IV

riz
on
F I G U R E 53 The hyperbolic motion of an
observer Ω that accelerates rectilinearly
and uniformly with acceleration д.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

reference can therefore also be called a rigid collection of observers. We therefore note
that a general frame of reference is not the same as a general set of coordinates; the latter
is usually not rigid. But if all the rigidly connected observers have constant coordinate
values, we speak of a rigid coordinate system. Obviously, these are the most useful when
it comes to describing accelerating frames of reference.*
Ref. 86 Note that if two observers both move with a velocity 󰑣, as measured in some inertial
frame, they observe that they are at rest with respect to each other only if this velocity
Challenge 134 e is constant. Again we find, as above, that two people tied to each other by a rope, and at
Page 53 a distance such that the rope is under tension, will see the rope break (or hang loose) if

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

they accelerate together to (or decelerate from) relativistic speeds in precisely the same
way. Acceleration in relativity requires careful thinking.
Page 64 Can you state how the acceleration ratio enters into the definition of mass in special
Challenge 135 ny relativity?

Constant acceleration
Acceleration is a tricky topic. An observer who always feels the same force on his body is
called uniformly accelerating. His proper acceleration is constant. More precisely, a uni-
formly accelerating observer is an observer whose acceleration at every moment, mea-
sured by the inertial frame with respect to which the observer is at rest at that moment,
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always has the same value B. It is important to note that uniform acceleration is not
uniformly accelerating when always observed from the same inertial frame. This is an
important difference from the Galilean case.

Ref. 87 * There are essentially only two other types of rigid coordinate frames, apart from the inertial frames:

— The frame ds 2 = dx 2 + dy 2 + dz 2 − c 2 dt 2 (1 + дk xk /c 2 )2 with arbitrary, but constant, acceleration of the

origin. The acceleration is a = −д(1 + дx/c 2 ).
— The uniformly rotating frame ds 2 = dx 2 + dy 2 + dz 2 + 2ω(−y dx + x dy)dt − (1 − r 2 ω2 /c 2 )dt. Here the
z-axis is the rotation axis, and r 2 = x 2 + y 2 .
 92 2 rel ativistic

For uniformly accelerated motion in the sense just defined, 4-jerk is zero, and we need

B ⋅ B = −д 2 , (80)

Ref. 88 where д is a constant independent of t. The simplest case is uniformly accelerating mo-
tion that is also rectilinear, i.e., for which the acceleration a is parallel to 󰑣 at one instant of
time and (therefore) for all other times as well. In this case we can write, using 3-vectors,
Challenge 136 e
dγ󰑣
γ3 a = д or =д. (81)
dt

Challenge 137 e Taking the direction we are talking about to be the x-axis, and solving for 󰑣(t), we get

дt
󰑣= , (82)
󵀆1 + д2 t 2
c2

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

where it was assumed that 󰑣(0) = 0. We note that for small times we get 󰑣 = дt and for
large times 󰑣 = c, both as expected. The momentum of the accelerated observer increases
Challenge 138 e linearly with time, again as expected. Integrating, we find that the accelerated observer
moves along the path
c2 󵀌 д2 t 2
x(t) = 1+ 2 , (83)
д c

where we assumed that x(0) = c 2 /д, in order to keep the expression simple. Because of
this result, visualized in Figure 53, a rectilinearly and uniformly accelerating observer is

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

said to undergo hyperbolic motion. For small times, the world-line reduces to the usual
x = дt 2 /2 + x0 , whereas for large times it is x = ct, as expected. The motion is thus
uniformly accelerated only for the moving body itself, but not for an outside observer,
again as expected.
The proper time τ of the accelerated observer is related to the time t of the inertial
frame in the usual way by dt = γdτ. Using the expression for the velocity 󰑣(t) of equation
Ref. 88, Ref. 89 (82) we get*
c дτ c2 дτ
t = sinh and x = cosh (84)
д c д c
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for the relationship between proper time τ and the time t and position x measured by
the external, inertial Roman observer. We will encounter this relation again during our
study of black holes.
Does the last formula sound boring? Just imagine accelerating on your motorbike at
д = 10 m/s2 for the proper time τ of 25 years. That would bring you beyond the end of the
known universe! Isn’t that worth a try? Unfortunately, neither motorbikes nor missiles

Ref. 90 * Use your favourite mathematical formula collection – every person should have one – to deduce this. The
hyperbolic sine and the hyperbolic cosine are defined by sinh y = (e y − e−y )/2 and cosh y = (e y + e−y )/2.
They imply that ∫ dy/󵀆 y 2 + a2 = arsinh y/a = Arsh y/a = ln(y + 󵀆 y 2 + a2 ).
 mechanics 93

Challenge 139 s that accelerate like this exist, as their fuel tanks would have to be enormous. Can you
confirm this?
For uniform rectilinear acceleration, the coordinates transform as

c ξ дτ
t=󶀥 + 󶀵 sinh
д c c
2
c дτ
x = 󶀦 + ξ󶀶 cosh
д c
y=υ
z=ζ , (85)

where τ now is the time coordinate in the Greek, accelerated frame. We note also that
the space-time interval dσ satisfies

dσ 2 = (1 + дξ/c 2 )2 c 2 dτ 2 − dξ 2 − dυ2 − dζ 2 = c 2 dt 2 − dx 2 − dy 2 − dz 2 , (86)

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

and since for dτ = 0 distances are given by Pythagoras’ theorem, the Greek, accelerated
Ref. 91 reference frame is indeed rigid.
After this forest of formulae, let’s tackle a simple question, shown in Figure 53. The
inertial, Roman observer O sees the Greek observer Ω departing under continuous acce-
leration, moving further and further away, following equation (83). What does the Greek
observer say about his Roman colleague? With all the knowledge we have now, that is
easy to answer. At each point of his trajectory Ω sees that O has the coordinate τ = 0
Challenge 140 e (can you confirm this?), which means that the distance to the Roman observer, as seen
by the Greek one, is the same as the space-time interval OΩ. Using expression (83), we

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Ref. 92 see that this is
dOΩ = 󵀆ξ 2 = 󵀄x 2 − c 2 t 2 = c 2 /д , (87)

which, surprisingly enough, is constant in time! In other words, the Greek observer will
observe that he stays at a constant distance from the Roman one, in complete contrast to
what the Roman observer says. Take your time to check this strange result in some other
way. We will need it again later on, to explain why the Earth does not explode. (Can you
Challenge 141 s guess how that is related to this result?)

Event horizons
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We now explore one of the most surprising consequences of accelerated motion, one that
is intimately connected with the result just deduced. We explore the trajectory, in the
coordinates ξ and τ of the rigidly accelerated frame, of an object located at the departure
 94 2 rel ativistic

t τ

on
quadrant II

riz
ξ

ho
re
tu
fu
Ω
quadrant III
O c 2 /д x
quadrant I

pa
st
ho
riz
on
quadrant IV
F I G U R E 54 Hyperbolic motion and event
horizons.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Challenge 142 ny point x = x0 = c 2 /д at all times t. We get the two relations*

c2 дτ
ξ=− 󶀤1 − sech 󶀴
д c
дτ дτ
dξ/dτ = −c sech tanh . (89)
c c

These equations are strange. For large times τ the coordinate ξ approaches the limit value
−c 2 /д and dξ/dτ approaches zero. The situation is similar to that of riding a car acceler-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

ating away from a woman standing on a long road. For the car driver, the woman moves
away; however, after a while, the only thing the driver notices is that she is slowly ap-
proaching the horizon. In everyday life, both the car driver and the woman on the road
see the other person approaching their respective horizon; in special relativity, only the
accelerated observer makes a observation of this type.
A graph of the situation helps to clarify the result. In Figure 54 we can see that light
emitted from any event in regions II and III cannot reach the Greek observer. Those
events are hidden from him and cannot be observed. The boundary between the part
of space-time that can be observed and the part that cannot is called the event horizon.
Strangely enough, however, light from the Greek observer can reach region II. Event
horizons thus act like one-way gates for light and other signals. For completeness, the
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graph also shows the past event horizon. We note that an event horizon is a surface. It is
thus a different phenomenon than the everyday horizon, which is a line. Can you confirm
Challenge 143 e that event horizons are black, as illustrated in Figure 55?

* The functions appearing above, the hyperbolic secant and the hyperbolic tangent, are defined using the
expressions from the footnote on page 92:

1 sinh y
sech y = and tanh y = . (88)
cosh y cosh y
 mechanics 95

F I G U R E 55 How an event horizon looks like

following special relativity.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

So, not all events observed in an inertial frame of reference can be observed in a uni-
formly accelerating frame of reference. Accelerated observers are limited. In particular,
uniformly accelerating frames of reference produce event horizons at a distance −c 2 /д.
For example, a person who is standing can never see further than this distance below his
feet.
By the way, is it true that a light beam cannot catch up with a massive observer in
Challenge 144 s hyperbolic motion, if the observer has a sufficient head start?
Here is a more advanced challenge, which prepares us for general relativity. What is
Challenge 145 s the two-dimensional shape of the horizon seen by a uniformly accelerated observer?

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Challenge 146 s Another challenge: what horizon is seen by an observer on a carousel?

The importance of horizons

In special relativity, horizons might seem to play a secondary role. But this impression
is wrong, for two reasons. First, in general relativity, horizons become frequent: the dark
night sky is an example of a horizon, and so is the surface of a black hole. And there are
billions of black holes in the universe. But the second reason for the interest of horizons
is even more important.
Two and a half thousand years ago, Leucippus of Elea (c. 490 to c. 430 bce) and Dem-
ocritus of Abdera (c. 460 to c. 356 or 370 bce) founded atomic theory. In particular, they
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

made the statement that everything found in nature is – in modern words – particles
and empty space. For many centuries, modern physics corroborated this statement. For
example, all matter turned out to be made of particles. Also light and all other types of
radiation are made of particles. But then came relativity and the discovery of horizons.
Horizons show that atomism is wrong: we will discover soon that horizons have a
slight colour, and that they can have mass, spin and charge. But horizons are extended,
not localized. In short, we will discover that horizons are neither space nor particles.
Horizons are something new.
Only in the last two volumes of our adventure will we discover that horizons are effec-
tively a mixture of space and particles. But we will need some time to find out what this
 96 2 rel ativistic

means exactly. So far, special relativity only tells us that horizons are a new phenomenon
in nature, an unexpected addition to particles and vacuum.

Acceleration changes colours

Page 30 We saw above that a moving receiver sees different colours than the sender. So far, we
discussed this colour shift, or Doppler effect, for inertial motion only. For accelerating
frames the situation is even stranger: sender and receiver do not agree on colours even
Ref. 88, Ref. 93 if they are at rest with respect to each other. Indeed, if light is emitted in the direction of
the acceleration, the formula for the space-time interval gives

д0 x 2 2 2
dσ 2 = 󶀤1 + 󶀴 c dt (90)
c2

in which д0 is the proper acceleration of an observer located at x = 0. We can deduce in

Challenge 147 e a straightforward way that
fr дh 1
= 1 − r2 =

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

дh
(91)
fs c 1 + s2 c

where h is the rod distance between the source and the receiver, and where
дs = д0 /(1 + д0 xs /c 2 ) and дr = д0 /(1 + дo xr /c 2 ) are the proper accelerations measured
at the source and at the detector. In short, the frequency of light decreases when light
moves in the direction of acceleration. By the way, does this have an effect on the colour
Challenge 148 s of trees along their vertical extension?
The formula usually given, namely

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

fr дh
=1− 2 , (92)
fs c

is only correct to a first approximation. In accelerated frames of reference, we have to

be careful about the meaning of every quantity. For everyday accelerations, however, the
Challenge 149 e differences between the two formulae are negligible. Can you confirm this?

Can light move faster than c?

What speed of light does an accelerating observer measure? Using expression (92) above,
an accelerated observer deduces that
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дh
󰑣light = c 󶀥1 + 󶀵 (93)
c2

which is higher than c for light moving in front of or ‘above’ him, and lower than c for
light moving behind or ‘below’ him. This strange result follows from a basic property of
any accelerating frame of reference: in such a frame, even though all observers are at rest
with respect to each other, clocks do not remain synchronized. This predicted change of
the speed of light has also been confirmed by experiment: the propagation delays to be
Page 159 discussed in general relativity can be seen as confirmations of this effect.
 mechanics 97

󰑣0n velocity of objekt 0 seen by observer n

a0n acceleration of objekt k

Object 0 seen by observer n
y

y
󰑣22 = 0
a22 proper acceleration 󰑣11 = 0
a11 proper acceleration
Observer 2
x
Observer 1
x

F I G U R E 56 The definitions necessary to deduce the composition behaviour of accelerations.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

In short, the speed of light is only invariant when it is defined as c = dx/dt, and if dx
is measured with a ruler located at a point inside the interval dx, and if dt is measured
with a clock read off during the interval dt. In other words, the speed of light is only
invariant if measured locally.
If, however, the speed of light is defined as Δx/Δt, or if the ruler measuring distances
or the clock measuring times is located away from the propagating light, the speed of
light is different from c for accelerating observers! This is the same effect you can expe-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

rience when you turn around your vertical axis at night: the star velocities you observe
are much higher than the speed of light. In short,

⊳ c is the speed of light only relative to nearby matter.

Note that this result does not imply that signals or energy can be moved faster than c.
Challenge 150 s You may want to check this for yourself.
In fact, all these effects are negligible for distances l that are much less than c 2 /a. For
an acceleration of 9.5 m/s2 (about that of free fall), distances would have to be of the
order of one light year, or 9.5 ⋅ 1012 km, in order for any sizeable effects to be observed.
By the way, everyday gravity is equivalent to a constant acceleration. So, why then do
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Challenge 151 s distant objects, such as stars, not move faster than light, following expression (93)?

The composition of accelerations

To get a better feeling for acceleration, we explore another topic: the composition the-
orem for accelerations. This situation is more complex than for velocities, and is often
Ref. 94 avoided. However, a good explanation of this was published by Mishra.
If we call anm the acceleration of system n by observer m, we are seeking to express
the object acceleration a01 as function of the value a02 measured by the other observer,
the relative acceleration a12 , and the proper acceleration a22 of the other observer: see
 98 2 rel ativistic

time
clock 1 clock 2

t3

t2

t1

space
F I G U R E 57 Clocks and the measurement of the speed

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

of light as two-way velocity.

Figure 56. Here we will only study one-dimensional situations, where all observers and
all objects move along one axis. (For clarity, we also write 󰑣12 = 󰑣 and 󰑣02 = u.)
Challenge 152 e In Galilean physics we have the general connection

a01 = a02 − a12 + a22 (94)

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

because accelerations behave simply. In special relativity, we get

(1 − 󰑣 2 /c 2 )3/2 (1 − u2 /c 2 )(1 − 󰑣 2 /c 2 )−1/2 (1 − u2 /c 2 )(1 − 󰑣 2 /c 2 )3/2

a01 = a02 − a12 + a22
(1 − u󰑣/c 2 )3 (1 − u󰑣/c 2 )2 (1 − u󰑣/c 2 )3
(95)
Challenge 153 e and you might enjoy checking the expression.

A curiosity: what is the one-way speed of light?

We have seen that the speed of light, as usually defined, is given by c only if either the
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observer is inertial or the observer measures the speed of light passing nearby (rather
than light passing at a distance). In short, the speed of light has to be measured locally.
But this condition does not eliminate one last subtlety.
Usually, length is measured by the time it takes light to travel. In this case the speed
of light will obviously be invariant. So how can we check the invariance? We need to
eliminate length measurements. The simplest way to do this is to reflect light from a
mirror, as shown in Figure 57. The invariance of the speed of light implies that if light
goes up and down a short straight line, then the clocks at the two ends measure times
given by
t3 − t1 = 2 (t2 − t1 ) . (96)
 mechanics 99

Here it is assumed that the clocks have been synchronised according to the prescription
on page 50. If the factor were not exactly two, the speed of light would not be invariant.
In fact, all experiments so far have yielded a factor of two, within measurement errors.
Ref. 95, Ref. 96 But these experiments instil us with a doubt: it seems that the one-way velocity of light
Challenge 154 s cannot be measured. Do you agree? Is the issue important?

Limits on the length of solid bodies

An everyday solid object breaks when some part of it moves with respect to some nearby
part with more than the speed of sound c of the material.* For example, when an object
hits the floor and its front end is stopped within a distance d, the object breaks at the
latest when
󰑣 2 2d
⩾ . (97)
c2 l
In this way, we see that we can avoid the breaking of fragile objects by packing them
into foam rubber – which increases the stopping distance. This may explain why boxes

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

containing presents are usually so much larger than their contents.
The fracture limit can also be written in a different way. To avoid breaking, the acce-
leration a of a solid body with length l must obey

la < c 2 , (98)

where c is the speed of sound, which is the speed limit for the material parts of solids. Let
Ref. 97 us now repeat the argument in relativity, using the speed of light instead of that of sound.
Imagine accelerating the front of a solid body with some proper acceleration a. The back

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

end cannot move with an acceleration α equal or larger than infinity, or if one prefers, it
Challenge 155 s cannot move with more than the speed of light. A quick check shows that therefore the
length l of a solid body must obey
la < c 2 , (99)

where c is now the speed of light. The speed of light thus limits the size of solid bodies. For
example, for 9.8 m/s2 , the acceleration of good motorbike, this expression gives a length
limit of 9.2 Pm, about a light year. Not a big restriction: most motorbikes are shorter.
However, there are other, more interesting situations. Today, high accelerations are
produced in particle accelerators. Atomic nuclei have a size of a few femtometres.
Challenge 156 ny Can you deduce at which energies they break when smashed together in an acceler-
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ator? In fact, inside a nucleus, the nucleons move with accelerations of the order of
󰑣 2 /r ≈ ħ2 /m2 r 3 ≈ 1031 m/s2 ; this is one of the highest values found in nature. Is the
Challenge 157 s length limit also obeyed by nuclei?
We find that Galilean physics and relativity produce similar conclusions: a limiting
speed, be it that of sound or that of light, makes it impossible for solid bodies to be rigid.
When we push one end of a body, the other end always can move only a little bit later.

* The (longitudinal) speed of sound is about 5.9 km/s for glass, iron or steel; about 4.5 km/s for gold; and
Vol. I, page 271 about 2 km/s for lead. More sound speed values were given earlier on.
 100 2 rel ativistic

A puzzle: does the speed limit imply a relativistic ‘indeterminacy relation’

Δl Δa ⩽ c 2 (100)

Challenge 158 s for the length and acceleration indeterminacies?

What does all this mean for the size of elementary particles? Take two electrons a
distance d apart, and call their size l. The acceleration due to electrostatic repulsion then
Challenge 159 ny leads to an upper limit for their size given by

4πε0 c 2 d 2 m
l< . (101)
e2
The nearer electrons can get, the smaller they must be. The present experimental limit
gives a size smaller than 10−19 m. Can electrons be exactly point-like? We will come back
to this question several times in the rest of our adventure.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net
 Chapter 3

SPE C IAL R E L ATI V I T Y I N FOUR

SENTENC ES

The results that we encountered so far can be summarized in four statements:

— All nearby observers observe that there is a unique, maximal and invariant energy
speed in nature, the ‘perfect’ speed 󰑣max = c = 299 792 458 m/s ≈ 0.3 Gm/s.
The maximum speed is realized by massless radiation such as light or radio signals,
but cannot be achieved by material systems. This observation defines special relativity.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

— Therefore, even though space-time is the same for every observer, measured times
and length values – thus also angles and colours – vary from one observer to another,
Page 43 as described by the Lorentz transformations (14) and (15), and as confirmed by exper-
iment.
— Collisions show that the maximum energy speed implies that mass is equivalent to
energy, that the total energy of a moving massive body is given by E = c 2 γm, and that
mass is not conserved.
— Applied to accelerated objects, these results lead to numerous counter-intuitive con-
sequences, such as the twin paradox, the appearance of event horizons and the appear-
ance of short-lived, i.e., virtual, tachyons in collisions.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Experiments show that all motion of radiation and matter is limited in speed. Further-
more, all speeds are defined and measured using the propagation of light. The other
properties of everyday motion remain. In particular, the six basic properties of everyday
Vol. I, page 29 motion that follow from its predictability are still valid: also relativistic motion is contin-
uous, conserves energy–momentum and angular momentum, is relative, is reversible,
is mirror-invariant (except for the weak interaction, where a different way to predict
Vol. V, page 235 mirror-inverse motion holds) and is lazy, i.e., it minimizes action.

Could the speed of light vary?

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The speed of massless light and radiation is the limit speed of energy in nature. Could the
limit speed change from place to place, or change as time goes by? This tricky question
still makes a fool out of many physicists. The first answer is often a loud: ‘Yes, of course!
Ref. 98 Just look at what happens when the value of c is changed in formulae.’ Several such ‘vari-
able speed of light’ conjectures have even been explored by researchers. However, this
often-heard answer is wrong.
Since the speed of light enters into our definition of time and space, it thus enters, even
if we do not notice it, into the construction of all rulers, all measurement standards and
all measuring instruments. Therefore there is no way to detect whether the value actually
 102 3 special rel ativit y

varies. No imaginable experiment could detect a variation of the limit speed, as the limit
Challenge 160 s speed is the basis for all measurements. ‘That is intellectual cruelty!’, you might say. ‘All
experiments show that the speed of light is invariant; we had to swallow one counter-
intuitive result after another to accept the invariance of the speed of light, and now we
are even supposed to admit that there is no other choice?’ Yes, we are. That is the irony of
progress in physics. The observer-invariance of the speed of light is counter-intuitive and
astonishing when compared to the observer-dependence of everyday, Galilean speeds.
But had we taken into account that every speed measurement is – whether we like it
or not – a comparison with the speed of light, we would not have been astonished by
the invariance of the speed of light at all; rather, we would have been astonished by the
strange properties of small speeds.
There is, in principle, no way to check the invariance of a measurement standard. To
put it another way, the truly surprising aspect of relativity is not the invariance of c; it is
the disappearance of c from the formulae of everyday motion.

Where does special relativity break down?

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

The maximum local energy speed is confirmed by all experiments. The speed limit is
thus correct; it is a fundamental truth about nature. It will be valid throughout the rest
of our adventure.
As we approach the speed of light, the Lorentz factor and the quantities in the Lorentz
transformation exceed all bounds. However, in nature, no observable actually reaches ar-
bitrary large values. For example, no elementary particle with an energy or a momentum
close or above the (corrected) Planck limits

ħc 5
EPlanck = 󵀌

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

= 9.8 ⋅ 108 J = 0.60 ⋅ 1019 GeV
4G
ħc 3
pPlanck = 󵀌 = 3.2 kg m/s = 0.60 ⋅ 1019 GeV/c (102)
4G

has ever been observed. In fact, the record values observed so far are one million times
smaller than the Planck limits. The reason is simple: when the speed of light is ap-
proached as closely as possible, special relativity breaks down as a description of nature.
How can the maximum speed limit be valid, and special relativity break down nev-
ertheless? At highest energies, special relativity is not sufficient to describe nature. There
are two reasons.
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In the case of extreme Lorentz contractions, we must take into account the curvature
of space-time that the moving energy itself generates: gravitation needs to be included.
Equivalently, we recall that so far, we assumed that point masses are possible in nature.
However, point masses would have infinite masse density, which is impossible: gravity,
characterized by the gravitational constant G, prevents infinite mass densities through
the curvature of space, as we will find out.
In addition, in the case of extreme Lorentz contractions, we must take into account
the fluctuations in speed and position of the moving particles: quantum theory needs to
be included. Equivalently, we recall that so far, we assumed that measurements can have
in four sentences 103

infinite precision in nature. However, this is not the case: quantum theory, characterized
by the smallest action value ħ, prevents infinite measurement precision, as we will find
out.
Indeed the corresponding fundamental constants G, the gravitational constant, and
ħ, the quantum of action, both appear in the Planck limits. The exploration of these two
extensions define the next two stages of our ascent of Motion Mountain. We start with
gravitation.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net
 Chapter 4

SI MPLE GENER AL R EL ATIVIT Y:

GR AV ITATION, MA XIMUM SPEED
AND MA XIMUM FORCE

G
eneral relativity is easy! Nowadays, it can be made as intuitive as universal
ravity and its inverse square law, so that the main ideas of
eneral relativity, like those of special relativity, are accessible to secondary-
school students. In particular, black holes, gravitational waves, space-time curvature and
the limits of the universe can then be understood as easily as the Doppler effect or the

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

twins paradox.
In the following pages we will discover that, just as special relativity is based on and
derives from a maximum speed c,

⊳ General relativity is based on and derives from a maximum momentum

change, or maximum force c 4 /4G – or, equivalently, on a maximum power
c 5 /4G.

We first show that all known experimental data are consistent with these limits. Then we
find that the maximum force and the maximum power are achieved only on insurmount-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

able limit surfaces.

⊳ The surfaces that realize maximum force – or maximum momentum flow –

and maximum power – or maximum energy flow – are called horizons.

Horizons are simple generalizations of those horizons that we encountered in special

Page 93 relativity. We will find out shortly why the maximum values are related to them. Horizons
play the role in general relativity that is played by light beams in special relativity: they
are the systems that realize the limit. A horizon is the reason that the sky is dark at night
and that the universe is of finite size. Horizons tell us that in general, space-time is curved.
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And horizons will allow us to deduce the field equations of general relativity.
We also discuss the main counter-arguments and paradoxes arising from the force
and power limits. The resolutions of the paradoxes clarify why the limits have remained
dormant for so long, both in experiments and in teaching.
After this introduction, we will study the effects of relativistic gravity in detail. We
will explore the consequences of space-time curvature for the motions of bodies and of
light in our everyday environment. For example, the inverse square law will be modified.
Challenge 161 s (Can you explain why this is necessary in view of what we have learned so far?) Most
fascinating of all, we will discover how to move and bend the vacuum. Then we will
study the universe at large. Finally, we will explore the most extreme form of gravity:
 gravitation, maximum speed and maximum force 105

F I G U R E 58 Effects of gravity: a dripping stalactite (© Richard Cindric) and the rings of Saturn,
photographed when the Sun is hidden behind the planet (courtesy CICLOPS, JPL, ESA, NASA).

black holes.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Maximum force – general relativity in one statement

“
One of the principal objects of theoretical
research in any department of knowledge is to
find the point of view from which the subject

”
Ref. 99 appears in its greatest simplicity.
Willard Gibbs

We just saw that the theory of special relativity appears when we recognize the speed limit
c in nature and take this limit as a basic principle. At the turn of the twenty-first century
Ref. 100, Ref. 101 it was shown that general relativity can be approached by using a similar basic principle:

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

⊳ There is in nature a maximum force, or momentum change per time:

c4
F⩽ = 3.0258(4) ⋅ 1043 N . (103)
4G
In nature, no force in any muscle, machine or system can exceed this value. For the curi-
ous, the value of the force limit is the energy of a (Schwarzschild) black hole divided by
twice its radius. The force limit can be understood intuitively by noting that (Schwarz-
schild) black holes are the densest bodies possible for a given mass. Since there is a limit
to how much a body can be compressed, forces – whether gravitational, electric, cen-
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tripetal or of any other type – cannot be arbitrary large.

Alternatively, it is possible to use another, equivalent statement as a basic principle:
⊳ There is a maximum power in nature, or energy change per time:

c5
P⩽ = 9.071(1) ⋅ 1051 W . (104)
4G
No power of any lamp, engine or explosion can exceed this value. The maximum power
is realized when a (Schwarzschild) black hole is radiated away in the time that light takes
to travel along a length corresponding to its diameter. We will see below precisely what
 106 4 simple general rel ativit y

TA B L E 3 How to convince yourself and others that there is a maximum

force c 4 /4G or a maximum power c 5 /4G in nature. Compare this table
with the table about maximum energy speed, on page 26 above, and with
the table about a smallest action, on page 18 in volume IV.

Issue Method

The maximum force value c 4 /4G is check all observations

observer-invariant
Force values > c 4 /4G are not check all observations
observed
Force values > c 4 /4G cannot be check all attempts
produced
Force values > c 4 /4G cannot be solve all paradoxes
imagined
A maximum force value c 4 /4G is 1 – deduce the theory of
consistent general relativity from it
2 – show that all

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

consequences, however
weird, are confirmed by
observation

black holes are and why they are connected to these limits.
The existence of a maximum force or power implies the full theory of general rela-
tivity. In order to prove the correctness and usefulness of this approach, a sequence of
arguments is required. The sequence of arguments, also shown in Table 3, is the same as

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Page 26 the one we used for the establishment of the limit speed in special relativity. The basis is
to recognize that the force value is invariant. This follows from the invariance of c and G.
For the first argument, we need to gather all observational evidence for the claimed limit
and show that it holds in all cases. Secondly, we have to show that the limit applies in all
possible and imaginable situations; any apparent paradoxes will need to be resolved. Fi-
nally, in order to establish the limit as a principle of nature, we have to show that general
relativity follows from it.
These three steps structure this introduction to general relativity. We start the story
by explaining the origin of the idea of a limiting value.

The meaning of the force and power limits

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In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries many physicists took pains to avoid the con-
cept of force. Heinrich Hertz made this a guiding principle of his work, and wrote an in-
fluential textbook on classical mechanics without ever using the concept. The fathers of
quantum theory, who all knew this text, then dropped the term ‘force’ completely from
the vocabulary of microscopic physics. Meanwhile, the concept of ‘gravitational force’
was eliminated from general relativity by reducing it to a ‘pseudo-force’. Force fell out of
fashion.
Nevertheless, the maximum force principle does make sense, provided that we visu-
alize it by means of the definition of force:
 gravitation, maximum speed and maximum force 107

⊳ Force is the flow of momentum per unit time.

In nature, momentum cannot be created or destroyed. We use the term ‘flow’ to remind
Ref. 102 us that momentum, being a conserved quantity, can only change by inflow or outflow. In
other words,

⊳ Change of momentum, and thus force, always takes place through some bound-
ary surface.

This fact is of central importance. Whenever we think about force at a point, we really
mean the momentum ‘flowing’ through a surface at that point. General relativity states
this idea usually as follows: forces keep bodies from following geodesics. (A geodesic is a
path followed by a freely falling particle.) The mechanism underlying a measured force
is not important; in order to have a concrete example to guide the discussion it can be
helpful to imagine force as electromagnetic in origin. However, any type of force is pos-
sible.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

We also stress that the force limit concerns 3-force, or what we call force in everyday
life, and that the power limit concerns what we call power in everyday life. In other words,
in nature, both 3-velocity and 3-force are limited.
The maximum force principle boils down to the following statement: if we imag-
ine any physical surface (and cover it with observers), the integral of momentum flow
through the surface (measured by all those observers) never exceeds the limit value
c 4 /4G. It does not matter how the surface is chosen, as long as it is physical:

⊳ A surface is physical as long as we can fix observers onto it.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

We stress that observers in general relativity, like in special relativity, are massive physical
systems that are small enough so that their influence on the system under observation is
negligible.
The principle of maximum force imposes a limit on muscles, the effect of hammers,
the flow of material, the acceleration of massive bodies, and much more. No system can
create, measure or experience a force above the limit. No particle, no galaxy and no bull-
dozer can exceed it.
The existence of a force limit has an appealing consequence. In nature, forces can be
measured. Every measurement is a comparison with a standard. The force limit provides
a natural unit of force that fits into the system of natural units* that Max Planck derived
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from c, G and h (or ħ). The maximum force thus provides a standard of force valid in
every place and at every instant of time.
The limit value of c 4 /4G differs from Planck’s proposed unit in two ways. First, the
numerical factor is different (Planck had in mind the value c 4 /G). Secondly, the force
unit is a limiting value. In this respect, the maximum force plays the same role as the
Ref. 103 maximum speed. As we will see later on, this limit property is valid for all other Planck

* When Planck discovered the quantum of action, he noticed at once the possibility to define natural units.
Vol. IV, page 19 On a walk with his seven-year-old son in the forest around Berlin, he told him that he had made a discovery
as important as the discovery of universal gravity.
 108 4 simple general rel ativit y

Vol. VI, page 24 units as well, once the numerical factors have been properly corrected. The factor 1/4 has
no deeper meaning: it is just the value that leads to the correct form of the field equations
of general relativity. The factor 1/4 in the limit is also required to recover, in everyday
Page 126 situations, the inverse square law of universal gravitation. When the factor is properly
taken into account, the maximum force (or power) is simply given by the (corrected)
Planck energy divided by the (corrected) Planck length or Planck time.
The expression for the maximum force involves the speed of light c and the gravita-
tional constant G; it thus qualifies as a statement on relativistic gravitation. The funda-
mental principle of special relativity states that speed 󰑣 obeys 󰑣 ⩽ c for all observers.
Analogously, the basic principle of general relativity states that in all cases force F and
power P obey F ⩽ c 4 /4G and P ⩽ c 5 /4G. It does not matter whether the observer mea-
sures the force or power while moving with high velocity relative to the system under
observation, during free fall, or while being strongly accelerated. However, we will see
that it is essential that the observer records values measured at his own location and that
the observer is realistic, i.e., made of matter and not separated from the system by a hori-
zon. These conditions are the same that must be obeyed by observers measuring velocity

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

in special relativity.
Since physical power is force times speed, and since nature provides a speed limit,
the force bound and the power bound are equivalent. We have already seen that force
Page 80 and power appear together in the definition of 4-force. The statement of a maximum
3-force is valid for every component of the 3-force, as well as for its magnitude. (As we
will see below, a boost to an observer with high γ value cannot be used to overcome
Page 119 the force or power limits.) The power bound limits the output of car and motorcycle
engines, lamps, lasers, stars, gravitational radiation sources and galaxies. It is equivalent
to 1.2 ⋅ 1049 horsepower. The maximum power principle states that there is no way to
move or get rid of energy more quickly than that.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

The power limit can be understood intuitively by noting that every engine produces
exhausts, i.e., some matter or energy that is left behind. For a lamp, a star or an evapo-
rating black hole, the exhausts are the emitted radiation; for a car or jet engine they are
hot gases; for a water turbine the exhaust is the slowly moving water leaving the turbine;
for a rocket it is the matter ejected at its back end; for a photon rocket or an electric mo-
tor it is electromagnetic energy. Whenever the power of an engine gets close to the limit
value, the exhausts increase dramatically in mass–energy. For extremely high exhaust
masses, the gravitational attraction from these exhausts – even if they are only radiation
– prevents further acceleration of the engine with respect to them. The maximum power
principle thus expresses that there is a built-in braking mechanism in nature; this braking
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mechanism is gravity.
Yet another, equivalent limit appears when the maximum power is divided by c 2 .

⊳ There is a maximum rate of mass change in nature:

dm c3
⩽ = 1.000 93(1) ⋅ 1035 kg/s . (105)
dt 4G
This bound imposes a limit on pumps, jet engines and fast eaters. Indeed, the rate of flow
of water or any other material through tubes is limited. The mass flow limit is obviously
 gravitation, maximum speed and maximum force 109

equivalent to either the force or the power limit.

The claim of a maximum force, power or mass change in nature seems almost too
fantastic to be true. Our first task is therefore to check it empirically as thoroughly as we
can.

The experimental evidence

Like the maximum speed principle, the maximum force principle must first of all be
checked experimentally. Michelson spent a large part of his research life looking for pos-
sible changes in the value of the speed of light. No one has yet dedicated so much effort
to testing the maximum force or power. However, it is straightforward to confirm that
no experiment, whether microscopic, macroscopic or astronomical, has ever measured
force values larger than the stated limit. Many people have claimed to have produced
speeds larger than that of light. So far, nobody has ever claimed to have produced or
Challenge 162 s observed a force larger than the limit value.
The large accelerations that particles undergo in collisions inside the Sun, in the most
powerful accelerators or in reactions due to cosmic rays correspond to force values much

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

smaller than the force limit. The same is true for neutrons in neutron stars, for quarks
inside protons, and for all matter that has been observed to fall towards black holes. Fur-
thermore, the search for space-time singularities, which would allow forces to achieve or
exceed the force limit, has been fruitless.
In the astronomical domain, all forces between stars or galaxies are below the limit
value, as are the forces in their interior. Not even the interactions between any two halves
of the universe exceed the limit, whatever physically sensible division between the two
Page 123 halves is taken. (The meaning of ‘physically sensible division’ will be defined below; for di-
visions that are not sensible, exceptions to the maximum force claim can be constructed.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Challenge 163 s You might enjoy searching for such an exception.)
Astronomers have also failed to find any region of space-time whose curvature (a
concept to be introduced below) is large enough to allow forces to exceed the force limit.
Indeed, none of the numerous recent observations of black holes has brought to light
forces larger than the limit value or objects smaller than the corresponding black hole
radii.
Also the power limit can be checked experimentally. It turns out that the power –
or luminosity – of stars, quasars, binary pulsars, gamma-ray bursters, galaxies or galaxy
clusters can indeed be a sizeable fraction of the power limit. However, no violation of
Ref. 104 the limit has ever been observed. In fact, the sum of all light output from all stars in the
universe does not exceed the limit. Similarly, even the brightest sources of gravitational
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waves, merging black holes, do not exceed the power limit. Only the brightness of evapo-
rating black holes in their final phase could equal the limit. But so far, none has ever been
observed. (Given that both localised sources can approach the power limit, the so-called
Page 123 power paradox arises, which will be discussed below.)
Similarly, all observed mass flow rates are orders of magnitude below the correspond-
ing limit. Even physical systems that are mathematical analogues of black holes – for
Ref. 105 example, silent acoustical black holes or optical black holes – do not invalidate the force
and power limits that hold in the corresponding systems.
In summary, the experimental situation is somewhat disappointing. Experiments do
 110 4 simple general rel ativit y

not contradict the limit values. But neither do the data do much to confirm the limits.
The reason is the lack of horizons in everyday life and in experimentally accessible sys-
tems. The maximum speed at the basis of special relativity is found almost everywhere;
maximum force and maximum power are found almost nowhere. Below we will propose
Page 129 some dedicated tests of the limits that could be performed in the future.

Deducing general relativity*

In order to establish the maximum force and power limits as fundamental physical prin-
ciples, it is not sufficient to show that they are consistent with what we observe in nature.
It is necessary to show that they imply the complete theory of general relativity. (This sec-
tion is only for readers who already know the field equations of general relativity. Other
Page 114 readers may skip to the next section.)
In order to derive the theory of relativity we need to study those systems that real-
ize the limit under scrutiny. In the case of the special theory of relativity, the main sys-
tem that realizes the limit speed is light. For this reason, light is central to the explo-
ration of special relativity. In the case of general relativity, the systems that realize the

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

limit are less obvious. We note first that a maximum force (or power) cannot be realized
throughout a volume of space. If this were possible, a simple boost** could transform
the force (or power) to a higher value. Therefore, nature can realize maximum force and
power only on surfaces, not volumes. In addition, these surfaces must be unattainable.
Ref. 103 These unattainable surfaces are basic to general relativity; they are called horizons. Maxi-
mum force and power only appear on horizons. We have encountered horizons in special
Page 94 relativity, where they were defined as surfaces that impose limits to observation. (Note
the contrast with everyday life, where a horizon is only a line, not a surface.) The present
definition of a horizon as a surface of maximum force (or power) is equivalent to the

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

definition as a surface beyond which no signal may be received. In both cases, a horizon
is a surface beyond which any interaction is impossible.
The connection between horizons and the maximum force is a central point of rel-
ativistic gravity. It is as important as the connection between light and the maximum
speed in special relativity. In special relativity, we showed that the fact that light speed
is the maximum speed in nature implies the Lorentz transformations. In general relativ-
ity, we will now prove that the maximum force in nature, which we can call the horizon
force, implies the field equations of general relativity. To achieve this aim, we start with
the realization that all horizons have an energy flow across them. The flow depends on
the horizon curvature, as we will see. This connection implies that horizons cannot be
planes, as an infinitely extended plane would imply an infinite energy flow.
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The deduction of the equations of general relativity has only two steps, as shown in
Figure 59. In the first step, we show that the maximum force or power principle implies
the first ‘law’ of horizon mechanics. In the second step, we show that the first ‘law’ implies
the field equations of general relativity.
The simplest finite horizon is a static sphere, corresponding to a Schwarzschild black
hole. A spherical horizon is characterized by its radius of curvature R, or equivalently, by

* This section can be skipped at first reading. (The mentioned proof dates from December 2003.)
** A boost was defined in special relativity as a change of viewpoint to a second observer moving in relation
to the first.
 gravitation, maximum speed and maximum force 111

Maximum force c4/4G, First law of horizon Field

are is equations
mechanics
Maximum power c5/4G, equivalent equivalent of general
to to relativity
(horizon equation)
Maximum mass rate c3/4G

F I G U R E 59 Showing the equivalence of the maximum force or power with the field equations of
general relativity.

its surface gravity a; the two quantities are related by 2aR = c 2 . Now, the energy flowing
through any horizon is always finite in extension, when measured along the propaga-
tion direction. We can thus speak more specifically of an energy pulse. Any energy pulse
through a horizon is thus characterized by an energy E and a proper length L. When the
energy pulse flows perpendicularly through a horizon, the rate of momentum change, or
force, for an observer at the horizon is

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

E
F= . (106)
L
Our goal is to show that the existence of a maximum force implies general relativity. Now,
maximum force is realized on horizons. We thus need to insert the maximum possible
values on both sides of equation (106) and to show that general relativity follows.
Using the maximum force value and the area 4πR2 for a spherical horizon we get

c4

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

E
= 4πR2 . (107)
4G LA
The fraction E/A is the energy per area flowing through any area A that is part of a
horizon. The insertion of the maximum values is complete when we note that the length
L of the energy pulse is limited by the radius R. The limit L ⩽ R follows from geometrical
considerations: seen from the concave side of the horizon, the pulse must be shorter than
the radius of curvature. An independent argument is the following. The length L of an
Ref. 106 object accelerated by a is limited, by special relativity, by L ⩽ c 2 /2a. Special relativity
already shows that this limit is related to the appearance of a horizon. Together with
relation (107), the statement that horizons are surfaces of maximum force leads to the
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following important relation for static, spherical horizons:

c2
E= aA . (108)
8πG
This horizon equation relates the energy flow E through an area A of a spherical horizon
with surface gravity a. It states that the energy flowing through a horizon is limited, that
this energy is proportional to the area of the horizon, and that the energy flow is propor-
tional to the surface gravity. (The horizon equation is also called the first law of black hole
Ref. 107 mechanics or the first law of horizon mechanics.)
 112 4 simple general rel ativit y

The above derivation also yields the intermediate result

c4 A
E⩽ . (109)
16πG L
This form of the horizon equation states more clearly that no surface other than a hori-
zon can achieve the maximum energy flow, when the area and pulse length (or surface
gravity) are given. No other domain of physics makes comparable statements: they are
intrinsic to the theory of gravitation.
An alternative derivation of the horizon equation starts with the emphasis on power
instead of on force, using P = E/T as the initial equation.
It is important to stress that the horizon equations (108) and (109) follow from only
two assumptions: first, there is a maximum speed in nature, and secondly, there is a max-
imum force (or power) in nature. No specific theory of gravitation is assumed. The hori-
zon equation might even be testable experimentally, as argued below. (We also note that
the horizon equation – or, equivalently, the force or power limit – implies a maximum
mass change rate in nature given by dm/dt ⩽ c 3 /4G.)

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Next, we have to generalize the horizon equation from static and spherical horizons
to general horizons. Since the maximum force is assumed to be valid for all observers,
whether inertial or accelerating, the generalization is straightforward. For a horizon that
is irregularly curved or time-varying the horizon equation becomes

c2
δE = a δA . (110)
8πG
This differential relation – it might be called the general horizon equation – is valid for

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

any horizon. It can be applied separately for every piece δA of a dynamic or spatially
changing horizon. The general horizon equation (110) has been known to be equivalent
to general relativity at least since 1995, when this equivalence was (implicitly) shown
Ref. 108 by Jacobson. We will show that the differential horizon equation has the same role for
general relativity as the equation dx = c dt has for special relativity. From now on, when
we speak of the horizon equation, we mean the general, differential form (110) of the
relation.
It is instructive to restate the behaviour of energy pulses of length L in a way that holds
for any surface, even one that is not a horizon. Repeating the above derivation, we get

c4 1
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δE
⩽ . (111)
δA 16πG L
Equality is only realized when the surface A is a horizon. In other words, whenever the
value δE/δA in a physical system approaches the right-hand side, a horizon starts to
form. This connection will be essential in our discussion of apparent counter-examples
to the limit principles.
If we keep in mind that on a horizon the pulse length L obeys L ⩽ c 2 /2a, it becomes
clear that the general horizon equation is a consequence of the maximum force c 4 /4G
or the maximum power c 5 /4G. In addition, the horizon equation takes also into account
 gravitation, maximum speed and maximum force 113

maximum speed, which is at the origin of the relation L ⩽ c 2 /2a. The horizon equation
thus follows purely from these two limits of nature.
The remaining, second step of the argument is the derivation of general relativity
Ref. 108 from the general horizon equation. This derivation was provided by Jacobson, and the
essential points are given in the following paragraphs. To see the connection between
the general horizon equation (110) and the field equations, we only need to generalize
the general horizon equation to general coordinate systems and to general directions of
energy–momentum flow. This is achieved by introducing tensor notation that is adapted
to curved space-time.
To generalize the general horizon equation, we introduce the general surface element
dΣ and the local boost Killing vector field k that generates the horizon (with suitable
norm). Jacobson uses these two quantities to rewrite the left-hand side of the general
horizon equation (110) as
δE = 󵐐 Tab k a dΣ b , (112)

where Tab is the energy–momentum tensor. This expression obviously gives the energy

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

at the horizon for arbitrary coordinate systems and arbitrary energy flow directions.
Jacobson’s main result is that the factor a δA in the right hand side of the general hori-
zon equation (110) can be rewritten, making use of the (purely geometric) Raychaudhuri
equation, as
a δA = c 2 󵐐 Rab k a dΣ b , (113)

where Rab is the Ricci tensor describing space-time curvature. This relation describes
how the local properties of the horizon depend on the local curvature.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Combining these two steps, the general horizon equation (110) becomes

c4
󵐐 Tab k a dΣ b = 󵐐 Rab k a dΣ b . (114)
8πG

Jacobson then shows that this equation, together with local conservation of energy (i.e.,
vanishing divergence of the energy–momentum tensor) can only be satisfied if

c4 R
Tab = 󶀤Rab − ( + Λ)дab 󶀴 , (115)
8πG 2
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where R is the Ricci scalar and Λ is a constant of integration the value of which is not
determined by the problem. The above equations are the full field equations of general
relativity, including the cosmological constant Λ. The field equations thus follow from
the horizon equation. They are therefore shown to be valid at horizons.
Since it is possible, by choosing a suitable coordinate transformation, to position a
horizon at any desired space-time point, the field equations must be valid over the whole
of space-time. This observation completes Jacobson’s argument. Since the field equations
follow, via the horizon equation, from the maximum force principle, we have also shown
that at every space-time point in nature the same maximum force holds: the value of the
 114 4 simple general rel ativit y

maximum force is an invariant and a constant of nature.

In other words, the field equations of general relativity are a direct consequence of
the limit on energy flow at horizons, which in turn is due to the existence of a maximum
force (or power). In fact, Jacobson’s derivation shows that the argument works in both
directions. Maximum force (or power), the horizon equation, and general relativity are
equivalent.
We note that the deduction of general relativity’s field equations from the maximum
power of force is correct only under the assumption that gravity is purely geometric. This
is the essential statement of general relativity. If the mechanism of gravity would be based
on other fields, such as hitherto unknown particles, the equivalence between gravity and
a maximum force would not be given.
Since the derivation of general relativity from the maximum force principle or from
the maximum power principle is now established, we can rightly call these limits hori-
zon force and horizon power. Every experimental or theoretical confirmation of the field
equations indirectly confirms their existence.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Gravity, space-time curvature, horizons and maximum force
Let us repeat the results of the previous section in simple terms.
Imagine two observers who start moving parallel to each other and who both continue
straight ahead. If after a while they discover that they are not moving parallel to each
other any more, then they can deduce that they have moved on a curved surface (try it!)
Challenge 164 s or in a curved space. Such deviations from parallel motion are observed near masses and
other localized energy. We conclude that space-time is curved near masses. Or, simply
put: gravity curves space.
Gravitation leads to acceleration. And acceleration leads to horizons at distances c 2 /a.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

No horizon occurs in everyday life; but they do occur around bodies whose mass is con-
centrated in a sphere of radius r = 2Gm/c 2 . Such bodies are called (Schwarzschild) black
holes. The curvature around a black hole of mass m is the maximum curvature possible
around a body of that mass.
Black holes can be seen as matter in permanent free fall. We will study black holes
Page 253 in detail below. In case of a black hole, like for any horizon, impossible to detect what is
‘behind’ the boundary.*
Black holes are characterized by a surface gravity a and an energy flow E.

⊳ The maximum force principle is a simple way to state that, on horizons, energy
flow is proportional to area and surface gravity.
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This connection makes it possible to deduce the full theory of general relativity. In par-
ticular, a maximum force value is sufficient to tell space-time how to curve. We will ex-
plore the details of this relation shortly.
If no force limit existed in nature, it would be possible to ‘pump’ any desired amount
of energy through a given surface, including any horizon. In this case, the energy flow
would not be proportional to area, horizons would not have the properties they have, and

* Analogously, in special relativity it is impossible to detect what moves faster than the light barrier.
 gravitation, maximum speed and maximum force 115

general relativity would not hold. We thus get an idea how the maximum flow of energy,
the maximum flow of momentum and the maximum flow of mass are all connected to
horizons. The connection is most obvious for black holes, where the energy, momentum
Page 256 or mass are those falling into the black hole.
The analogy between special and general relativity can be carried further. In special
relativity, maximum speed implies dx = c dt, and the change of time depends on the
observer. In general relativity, maximum force (or power) implies the horizon equation
c2
δE = 8πG a δA and the observation that space-time is curved. The horizon equation im-
plies the field equations of general relativity. In short:

⊳ The existence of a maximum force implies that space-time is curved near

masses, and it implies how it is curved.

The maximum force (or power) thus has the same double role in general relativity as the
maximum speed has in special relativity. In special relativity, the speed of light is the max-
imum speed; it is also the proportionality constant that connects space and time, as the

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

equation dx = c dt makes apparent. In general relativity, the horizon force is the maxi-
mum force; it also appears (with a factor 2π) in the field equations as the proportionality
constant connecting energy and curvature. The maximum force thus describes both the
elasticity of space-time and – if we use the simple image of space-time as a medium – the
Ref. 101 maximum tension to which space-time can be subjected. This double role of a material
constant as proportionality factor and as limit value is well known in materials science.
Why is the maximum force also the proportionality factor between curvature and en-
ergy? Imagine space-time as an elastic material.* The elasticity of a material is described
by a numerical material constant. The simplest definition of this material constant is the
ratio of stress (force per area) to strain (the proportional change of length). An exact

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

definition has to take into account the geometry of the situation. For example, the shear
modulus G (or μ) describes how difficult it is to move two parallel surfaces of a material
against each other. If the force F is needed to move two parallel surfaces of area A and
length l against each other by a distance Δl, we define the shear modulus G by

F Δl
=G . (116)
A l
The shear modulus for metals and alloys ranges between 25 and 80 GPa. The continuum
theory of solids shows that for any crystalline solid without any defect (a ‘perfect’ solid)
there is a so-called theoretical shear stress: when stresses higher than this value are ap-
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plied, the material breaks. The theoretical shear stress, in other words, the maximum
stress in a material, is given by
G
Gtss = . (117)
2π
The maximum stress is thus essentially given by the shear modulus. This connection is

* Does this analogy make you think about aether? Do not worry: physics has no need for the concept of
Vol. III, page 127 aether, because it is indistinguishable from vacuum. General relativity does describe the vacuum as a sort
of material that can be deformed and move – but it does not need nor introduce the aether.
 116 4 simple general rel ativit y

similar to the one we found for the vacuum. Indeed, imagining the vacuum as a material
Ref. 109 that can be bent is a helpful way to understand general relativity. We will use it regularly
in the following.
What happens when the vacuum is stressed with the maximum force? Is it also torn
apart like a solid? Almost: in fact, when vacuum is torn apart, particles appear. We will
find out more about this connection later on: since particles are quantum entities, we
need to study quantum theory first, before we can describe the effect in the last part of
Vol. VI, page 280 our mountain ascent.

Conditions of validity of the force and power limits

The maximum force value is valid only under certain conditions. To clarify this point,
we can compare the situation to the maximum speed. There are three conditions for the
validity of maximum speed.
First of all, the speed of light (in vacuum) is an upper limit for motion of systems with
momentum or energy only. It can, however, be exceeded for motions of non-material
points. Indeed, the cutting point of a pair of scissors, a laser light spot on the Moon,

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

shadows, or the group velocity or phase velocity of wave groups can exceed the speed of
Page 57 light.
Secondly, the speed of light is a limit only if measured near the moving mass or energy:
the Moon moves faster than light if one turns around one’s axis in a second; distant points
in a Friedmann universe move apart from each other with speeds larger than the speed
of light.
Thirdly, the observer measuring speeds must be realistic: the observer must be made
of matter and energy, thus must move more slowly than light, and must be able to observe
Ref. 110 the system. No system moving at or above the speed of light can be an observer.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

The same three conditions apply in general relativity for the validity of maximum
force and power. The third point is especially important. In particular, relativistic gravity
forbids point-like observers and test masses: they are not realistic. Surfaces moving faster
than light are also not realistic. In such cases, counter-examples to the maximum force
Challenge 165 s claim can be found. Try and find one – many are possible, and all are fascinating. We
now explore some of the most important ones.

Gedanken experiments and paradoxes about the force limit

“
Wenn eine Idee am Horizonte eben aufgeht, ist
gewöhnlich die Temperatur der Seele dabei sehr
kalt. Erst allmählich entwickelt die Idee ihre
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Wärme, und am heissesten ist diese (das heisst

sie tut ihre grössten Wirkungen), wenn der

”
Glaube an die Idee schon wieder im Sinken ist.
Friedrich Nietzsche*

* ‘When an idea is just rising on the horizon, the soul’s temperature with respect to it is usually very cold.
Only gradually does the idea develop its warmth, and it is hottest (which is to say, exerting its greatest in-
fluence) when belief in the idea is already once again in decline.’ Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), German
philosopher and scholar. This is aphorism 207 – Sonnenbahn der Idee – from his text Menschliches Allzu-
menschliches – Der Wanderer und sein Schatten.
 gravitation, maximum speed and maximum force 117

The last, but central, step in our discussion of the force limit is the same as in the dis-
cussion of the speed limit. We saw that no real experiment has ever led to a force value
large than the force limit. But we also need to show that no imaginable experiment can
overcome the force limit. Following a tradition dating back to the early twentieth cen-
tury, such an imagined experiment is called a Gedanken experiment, from the German
Gedankenexperiment, meaning ‘thought experiment’.
In order to dismiss all imaginable attempts to exceed the maximum speed, it was suf-
ficient to study the properties of velocity addition and the divergence of kinetic energy
near the speed of light. In the case of maximum force, the task is more involved. Indeed,
stating a maximum force, a maximum power and a maximum mass change easily pro-
vokes numerous attempts to contradict them.
∗∗
The brute force approach. The simplest attempt to exceed the force limit is to try to accel-
erate an object with a force larger than the maximum value. Now, acceleration implies
the transfer of energy. This transfer is limited by the horizon equation (110) or the limit

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

(111). For any attempt to exceed the force limit, the flowing energy results in the appear-
ance of a horizon. But a horizon prevents the force from exceeding the limit, because it
imposes a limit on interaction.
Page 99 We can explore this limit directly. In special relativity we found that the acceleration
of an object is limited by its length. Indeed, at a distance given by c 2 /2a in the direction
opposite to the acceleration a, a horizon appears. In other words, an accelerated body
breaks, at the latest, at that point. The force F on a body of mass M and radius R is thus
limited by
M 2
F⩽ c . (118)
2R

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

It is straightforward to add the (usually small) effects of gravity. To be observable, an ac-
celerated body must remain larger than a black hole; inserting the corresponding radius
R = 2GM/c 2 we get the force limit (103). Dynamic attempts to exceed the force limit
thus fail.
∗∗
The rope attempt. We can also try to generate a higher force in a static situation, for
example by pulling two ends of a rope in opposite directions. We assume for simplicity
that an unbreakable rope exists. Any rope works because the potential energy between its
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atoms can produce high forces between them. To produce a rope force exceeding the limit
value, we need to store large (elastic) energy in the rope. This energy must enter from the
ends. When we increase the tension in the rope to higher and higher values, more and
more (elastic) energy must be stored in smaller and smaller distances. To exceed the force
limit, we would need to add more energy per distance and area than is allowed by the
horizon equation. A horizon thus inevitably appears. But there is no way to stretch a rope
across a horizon, even if it is unbreakable. A horizon leads either to the breaking of the
rope or to its detachment from the pulling system. Horizons thus make it impossible to
generate forces larger than the force limit. In fact, the assumption of infinite wire strength
is unnecessary: the force limit cannot be exceeded even if the strength of the wire is only
 118 4 simple general rel ativit y

finite.
We note that it is not important whether an applied force pulls – as for ropes or wires
– or pushes. In the case of pushing two objects against each other, an attempt to increase
the force value without end will equally lead to the formation of a horizon, due to the
limit provided by the horizon equation. By definition, this happens precisely at the force
limit. As there is no way to use a horizon to push (or pull) on something, the attempt
to achieve a higher force ends once a horizon is formed. Static forces cannot exceed the
limit value.
∗∗
The braking attempt. A force limit provides a maximum momentum change per time. We
can thus search for a way to stop a moving physical system so abruptly that the maximum
force might be exceeded. The non-existence of rigid bodies in nature, already known
Page 99 from special relativity, makes a completely sudden stop impossible; but special relativity
on its own provides no lower limit to the stopping time. However, the inclusion of gravity
does. Stopping a moving system implies a transfer of energy. The energy flow per area

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

cannot exceed the value given by the horizon equation. Thus we cannot exceed the force
limit by stopping an object.
Similarly, if a rapid system is reflected instead of stopped, a certain amount of energy
needs to be transferred and stored for a short time. For example, when a tennis ball is
reflected from a large wall its momentum changes and a force is applied. If many such
balls are reflected at the same time, surely a force larger than the limit can be realized?
It turns out that this is impossible. If we attempted it, the energy flow at the wall would
reach the limit given by the horizon equation and thus create a horizon. In that case, no
reflection is possible any more. So the limit cannot be exceeded.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

∗∗
The classical radiation attempt. Instead of systems that pull, push, stop or reflect mat-
ter, we can explore systems where radiation is involved. However, the arguments hold
in exactly the same way, whether photons, gravitons or other particles are involved. In
particular, mirrors, like walls, are limited in their capabilities: it is impossible to use light
and mirrors to create a momentum change larger than c 4 /4G.
It is even impossible to create a force larger than the maximum force by concentrating
a large amount of light onto a surface. The same situation as for tennis balls arises: when
the limit value E/A given by the horizon equation (111) is reached, a horizon appears that
prevents the limit from being broken.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

∗∗
The brick attempt. The force and power limits can also be tested with more concrete
Gedanken experiments. We can try to exceed the force limit by stacking weight. But even
building an infinitely high brick tower does not generate a sufficiently strong force on its
foundations: integrating the weight, taking into account its decrease with height, yields a
finite value that cannot reach the force limit. If we continually increase the mass density
of the bricks, we need to take into account that the tower and the Earth will change into
a black hole. And black holes do not allow the force limit to be exceeded.
 gravitation, maximum speed and maximum force 119

∗∗
The boost attempt. A boost can apparently be chosen in such a way that a 3-force value
Ref. 111 F in one frame is transformed into any desired value F 󳰀 in another frame. This turns out
to be wrong. In relativity, 3-force cannot be increased beyond all bounds using boosts.
Page 81 In all reference frames, the measured 3-force can never exceed the proper force, i.e., the
3-force value measured in the comoving frame. (The situation can be compared to 3-
velocity, where a boost cannot be used to exceed the value c, whatever boost we may
choose; however, there is no strict equivalence, as the transformation behaviour of 3-
force and of 3-velocity differ markedly.)
∗∗
The divergence attempt. The force on a test mass m at a radial distance d from a Schwarz-
Ref. 104 schild black hole (for Λ = 0) is given by

GMm
F= . (119)
d 2 󵀆1 − 2GM

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

dc2

Similarly, the inverse square expression of universal gravitation states that the force be-
tween two masses m and M is
GMm
F= . (120)
d2
Both expressions can take any value; this suggest that no maximum force limit exists.
A detailed investigation shows that the maximum force still holds. Indeed, the force
in the two situations diverges only for non-physical point-like masses. However, the max-
imum force implies a minimum approach distance to a mass m given by

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

2Gm
dmin = . (121)
c2
The minimum approach distance – in simple terms, this would be the corresponding
black hole radius – makes it impossible to achieve zero distance between two masses or
between a horizon and a mass. This implies that a mass can never be point-like, and that
there is a (real) minimum approach distance, proportional to the mass. If this minimum
approach distance is introduced in equations (119) and (120), we get

c4 Mm 1 c4
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F= ⩽ . (122)
4G (M + m) 󵀆1 −
2 M 4G
M+m

The approximation of universal gravitation yields

c4 Mm c4
F= ⩽ . (123)
4G (M + m)2 4G

In both cases, the maximum force value is never exceeded, as long as we take into account
 120 4 simple general rel ativit y

the size of masses or of observers.

∗∗
The consistency problem. If observers cannot be point-like, we might question whether
it is still correct to apply the original definition of momentum change or energy change
as the integral of values measured by observers attached to a given surface. In general
relativity, observers cannot be point-like, but they can be as small as desired. The original
definition thus remains applicable when taken as a limit procedure for ever-decreasing
observer size. Obviously, if quantum theory is taken into account, this limit procedure
comes to an end at the Planck length. This is not an issue for general relativity, as long as
the typical dimensions in the situation are much larger than this value.
∗∗
The quantum problem. If quantum effects are neglected, it is possible to construct sur-
Challenge 166 e faces with sharp angles or even fractal shapes that overcome the force limit. However,
such surfaces are not physical, as they assume that lengths smaller than the Planck length

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

can be realized or measured. The condition that a surface be physical implies that it must
Ref. 103 have an intrinsic indeterminacy given by the Planck length. A detailed study shows that
quantum effects do not allow the horizon force to be exceeded.
∗∗
The relativistically extreme observer attempt. Any extreme observer, whether in rapid
inertial or in accelerated motion, has no chance to beat the limit. In classical physics
we are used to thinking that the interaction necessary for a measurement can be made
as small as desired. This statement, however, is not valid for all observers; in particular,
extreme observers cannot fulfil it. For them, the measurement interaction is large. As a

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

result, a horizon forms that prevents the limit from being exceeded.
∗∗
The microscopic attempt. We can attempt to exceed the force limit by accelerating a small
particle as strongly as possible or by colliding it with other particles. High forces do in-
deed appear when two high energy particles are smashed against each other. However,
if the combined energy of the two particles became high enough to challenge the force
limit, a horizon would appear before they could get sufficiently close.
In fact, quantum theory gives exactly the same result. Quantum theory by itself al-
Ref. 112 ready provides a limit to acceleration. For a particle of mass m it is given by
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

2mc 3
a⩽ . (124)
ħ
Here, ħ = 1.1 ⋅ 10−34 Js is the quantum of action, a fundamental constant of nature. In
particular, this acceleration limit is satisfied in particle accelerators, in particle collisions
and in pair creation. For example, the spontaneous generation of electron–positron pairs
in intense electromagnetic fields or near black hole horizons does respect the limit (124).
Inserting the maximum possible mass for an elementary particle, namely the (corrected)
Vol. VI, page 37 Planck mass, we find that equation (124) then states that the horizon force is the upper
 gravitation, maximum speed and maximum force 121

bound for elementary particles.

∗∗
The compaction attempt. Are black holes really the most dense form of matter or energy?
The study of black hole thermodynamics shows that mass concentrations with higher
Ref. 104 density than black holes would contradict the principles of thermodynamics. In black
hole thermodynamics, surface and entropy are related: reversible processes that reduce
entropy could be realized if physical systems could be compressed to smaller values than
the black hole radius. As a result, the size of a black hole is the limit size for a mass in
nature. Equivalently, the force limit cannot be exceeded in nature.
∗∗
The force addition attempt. In special relativity, composing velocities by a simple vector
addition is not possible. Similarly, in the case of forces such a naive sum is incorrect; any
attempt to add forces in this way would generate a horizon. If textbooks on relativity had
explored the behaviour of force vectors under addition with the same care with which

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

they explored that of velocity vectors, the force bound would have appeared much earl-
ier in the literature. (Obviously, general relativity is required for a proper treatment.) In
nature, large forces do not add up.
∗∗
In special relativity, a body moving more slowly than light in one frame does so in all
frames. Can you show that a force smaller than the invariant limit c 4 /4G in one frame
Challenge 167 s of reference is also smaller in any other frame?
∗∗

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

We could also try to use the cosmological constant to produce forces that exceed the
maximum force. This is not possible, as shown by Gary Gibbons.
∗∗
Can you propose and then resolve an additional attempt to exceed the force or power
Challenge 168 r limit?

Gedanken experiments with the power and the mass flow limits
Like the force bound, the power bound must be valid for all imaginable systems. Here
are some attempts to refute it.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

∗∗
The cable-car attempt. Imagine an engine that accelerates a mass with an unbreakable
and massless wire (assuming that such a wire could exist). As soon as the engine reached
the power bound, either the engine or the exhausts would reach the horizon equation.
When a horizon appears, the engine cannot continue to pull the wire, as a wire, even
an infinitely strong one, cannot pass a horizon. The power limit thus holds whether the
engine is mounted inside the accelerating body or outside, at the end of the wire pulling
it.
122 4 simple general rel ativit y

6000 m

mountain

nuclei

surface A

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

0m F I G U R E 60 The mountain
surface B attempt to exceed the
maximum mass flow value.

∗∗
The mountain attempt. It is possible to define a surface that is so strangely bent that
it passes just below every nucleus of every atom of a mountain, like the surface A in
Figure 60. All atoms of the mountain above sea level are then just above the surface,

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

barely touching it. In addition, imagine that this surface is moving upwards with almost
the speed of light. It is not difficult to show that the mass flow through this surface is
higher than the mass flow limit. Indeed, the mass flow limit c 3 /4G has a value of about
1035 kg/s. In a time of 10−22 s, the diameter of a nucleus divided by the speed of light,
only 1013 kg need to flow through the surface: that is the mass of a mountain.
This surface seems to provide a counter-example to the limit. However, a closer look
shows that this is not the case. The problem is the expression ‘just below’. Nuclei are
quantum particles and have an indeterminacy in their position; this indeterminacy is
essentially the nucleus–nucleus distance. As a result, in order to be sure that the surface
of interest has all atoms above it, the shape cannot be that of surface A in Figure 60. It
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

must be a flat plane that remains below the whole mountain, like surface B in the figure.
However, a flat surface beneath a mountain does not allow the mass change limit to be
exceeded.
∗∗
The multiple atom attempt. We can imagine a number of atoms equal to the number
of the atoms of a mountain that all lie with large spacing (roughly) in a single plane.
Again, the plane is moving upwards with the speed of light. Again, also in this case the
indeterminacy in the atomic positions makes it impossible to observe or state that the
mass flow limit has been exceeded.
 gravitation, maximum speed and maximum force 123

∗∗
The multiple black hole attempt. Black holes are typically large and the indeterminacy in
their position is thus negligible. The mass limit c 3 /4G, or power limit c 5 /4G, corresponds
to the flow of a single black hole moving through a plane at the speed of light. Several
black holes crossing a plane together at just under the speed of light thus seem to beat the
limit. However, the surface has to be physical: an observer must be possible on each of
its points. But no observer can cross a black hole. A black hole thus effectively punctures
the plane surface. No black hole can ever be said to cross a plane surface; even less so a
multiplicity of black holes. The limit remains valid.
∗∗
The multiple neutron star attempt. The mass limit seems to be in reach when several
neutron stars (which are slightly less dense than a black hole of the same mass) cross a
plane surface at the same time, at high speed. However, when the speed approaches the
speed of light, the crossing time for points far from the neutron stars and for those that
actually cross the stars differ by large amounts. Neutron stars that are almost black holes

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

cannot be crossed in a short time in units of a coordinate clock that is located far from
the stars. Again, the limit is not exceeded.
∗∗
The luminosity attempt. The existence of a maximum luminosity bound has been dis-
Ref. 104 cussed by astrophysicists. In its full generality, the maximum bound on power, i.e., on
energy per time, is valid for any energy flow through any physical surface whatsoever.
The physical surface may even run across the whole universe. However, not even bring-
ing together all lamps, all stars and all galaxies of the universe yields a surface which has
a larger power output than the proposed limit.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

The surface must be physical.* A surface is physical if an observer can be placed on
each of its points. In particular, a physical surface may not cross a horizon, or have local
detail finer than a certain minimum length. This minimum length will be introduced
Vol. VI, page 63 later on; it is given by the corrected Planck length. If a surface is not physical, it may pro-
Challenge 169 s vide a counter-example to the power or force limits. However, these unphysical counter-
examples make no statements about nature. (Ex falso quodlibet.**)
∗∗
The many lamps attempt, or power paradox. An absolute power limit imposes a limit on
the rate of energy transport through any imaginable, physical surface. At first sight, it
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

may seem that the combined power emitted by two radiation sources that each emit 3/4
of the maximum value should emit a total of 3/2 times the maximum value, and thus
allow us to overcome the power limit. However, two such lamps would be so massive
Challenge 170 e that they would form a horizon around them – a black hole would form. Again, since
the horizon limit (111) is achieved, the arising horizon swallows the light and prevents
the force or power limit from being exceeded. We can say that large power values do not
add up in nature.

* It can also be called physically sensible.

** ‘Anything can be deduced from a falsehood.’
 124 4 simple general rel ativit y

∗∗
The light concentration attempt. Another approach is to shine a powerful, short and
spherical flash of light onto a spherical mass. At first sight it seems that the force and
power limits can be exceeded, because light energy can be concentrated into small vol-
umes. However, a high concentration of light energy forms a black hole or induces the
mass to form one. There is no way to pump energy into a mass at a faster rate than that
dictated by the power limit. In fact, it is impossible to group light sources in such a way
that their total output is larger than the power limit. Every time the force limit is ap-
proached, a horizon appears that prevents the limit from being exceeded.
∗∗
The black hole attempt. One possible system in nature that actually achieves the power
limit is the final stage of black hole evaporation. However, even in this case the power
limit is not exceeded, but only equalled.
∗∗

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

The saturation attempt. If the universe already saturates the power limit, any new power
source would break it, or at least imply that another elsewhere must close down. Can you
Challenge 171 s find the fallacy in this argument?
∗∗
The water flow attempt. We could try to pump water as rapidly as possible through a
large tube of cross-section A. However, when a tube of length L filled with water flowing
at speed 󰑣 gets near to the mass flow limit, the gravity of the water waiting to be pumped
through the area A will slow down the water that is being pumped through the area. The
limit is again reached when the cross-section A turns into a horizon.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

∗∗
Checking that no system – from microscopic to astrophysical – ever exceeds the maxi-
mum power or maximum mass flow is a further test of general relativity. It may seem easy
to find a counter-example, as the surface may run across the whole universe or envelop
any number of elementary particle reactions. However, no such attempt succeeds.
∗∗
In summary, in all situations where the force, power or mass-flow limit is challenged,
whenever the energy flow reaches the black hole mass–energy density in space or the
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

corresponding momentum flow in time, an event horizon appears; this horizon makes it
impossible to exceed the limits. All three limits are confirmed both in observation and
in theory. Values exceeding the limits can neither be generated nor measured. Gedanken
experiments also show that the three bounds are the tightest ones possible. Obviously,
all three limits are open to future tests and to further Gedanken experiments. (If you can
Challenge 172 r think of a good one, let me know.)
 gravitation, maximum speed and maximum force 125

Why maximum force has remained undiscovered for so long

The first reason why the maximum force principle remained undiscovered for so long is
the absence of horizons in everyday life. Due to this lack, experiments in everyday life do
not highlight the force or power limits. It took many decades before physicists realized
that the dark night sky is not something unique, but only one example of an observation
that is common in nature: nature is full of horizons. But in everyday life, horizons do not
play an important role – fortunately – because the nearest one is located at the centre of
the Milky Way.
The second reason why the principle of maximum force remained hidden is the erro-
neous belief that point particles exist. This is a theoretical prejudice due to a common
idealization used in Galilean physics. For a complete understanding of general relativity
it is essential to remember regularly that point particles, point masses and point-like ob-
servers do not exist. They are approximations that are only applicable in Galilean physics,
in special relativity or in quantum theory. In general relativity, horizons prevent the exis-
tence of point-like systems. The incorrect habit of believing that the size of a system can
be made as small as desired while keeping its mass constant prevents the force or power

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

limit from being noticed.
The third reason why the principle of maximum force remained hidden are prejudices
against the concept of force. In general relativity, gravitational force is hard to define.
Even in Galilean physics it is rarely stressed that force is the flow of momentum through
a surface. The teaching of the concept of force is incomplete since centuries – with rare
Ref. 113 notable exceptions – and thus the concept is often avoided.
In summary, the principle of maximum force – or of maximum power – has remained
undiscovered for so long because a ‘conspiracy’ of nature and of thinking habits hid it
from most experimental and theoretical physicists.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

An intuitive understanding of general relativity

“
Wir leben zwar alle unter dem gleichen
Himmel, aber wir haben nicht alle den gleichen

”
Horizont.*
Konrad Adenauer

The concepts of horizon force and horizon power can be used as the basis for a direct,
intuitive approach to general relativity.
∗∗
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

What is gravity? Of the many possible answers we will encounter, we now have the first:
gravity is the ‘shadow’ of the maximum force. Whenever we experience gravity as weak,
we can remember that a different observer at the same point and time would experience
the maximum force. Searching for the precise properties of that observer is a good exer-
cise. Another way to put it: if there were no maximum force, gravity would not exist.
∗∗

* ‘We all live under the same sky, but we do not have the same horizon.’ Konrad Adenauer (1876–1967),
West German Chancellor.
 126 4 simple general rel ativit y

The maximum force implies universal gravity. To see this, we study a simple planetary
system, i.e., one with small velocities and small forces. A simple planetary system of size
L consists of a (small) satellite circling a central mass M at a radial distance R = L/2.
Let a be the acceleration of the object. Small velocity implies the condition aL ≪ c 2 ,
deduced from special relativity; small force implies 󵀂4GMa ≪ c 2 , deduced from the
force limit. These conditions are valid for the system as a whole and for all its components.
Both expressions have the dimensions of speed squared. Since the system has only one
characteristic speed, the two expressions aL = 2aR and 󵀂4GMa must be proportional,
yielding
GM
a= f 2 , (125)
R
where the numerical factor f must still be determined. To determine it, we study the
escape velocity necessary to leave the central body. The escape velocity must be smaller
than the speed of light for any body larger than a black hole. The escape velocity, derived
from expression (125), from a body of mass M and radius R is given by 󰑣esc 2
= 2 f GM/R.
The minimum radius R of objects, given by R = 2GM/c 2 , then implies that f = 1.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Therefore, for low speeds and low forces, the inverse square law describes the orbit of a
satellite around a central mass.
∗∗
If empty space-time is elastic, like a piece of metal, it must also be able to oscillate. Any
physical system can show oscillations when a deformation brings about a restoring force.
We saw above that there is such a force in the vacuum: it is called gravitation. In other
words, vacuum must be able to oscillate, and since it is extended, it must also be able to
sustain waves. Indeed, gravitational waves are predicted by general relativity, as we will

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Page 169 see below.
∗∗
If curvature and energy are linked, the maximum speed must also hold for gravitational
energy. Indeed, we will find that gravity has a finite speed of propagation. The inverse
square law of everyday life cannot be correct, as it is inconsistent with any speed limit.
More about the corrections induced by the maximum speed will become clear shortly.
In addition, since gravitational waves are waves of massless energy, we would expect the
Page 169 maximum speed to be their propagation speed. This is indeed the case, as we will see.
∗∗
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

A body cannot be denser than a (non-rotating) black hole of the same mass. The maxi-
mum force and power limits that apply to horizons make it impossible to squeeze mass
into smaller horizons. The maximum force limit can therefore be rewritten as a limit for
the size L of physical systems of mass m:

4Gm
L⩾ . (126)
c2
If we call twice the radius of a black hole its ‘size’, we can state that no physical system
 gravitation, maximum speed and maximum force 127

of mass m is smaller than this value.* The size limit plays an important role in general
relativity. The opposite inequality, m ⩾ 󵀄A/16π c 2 /G, which describes the maximum
‘size’ of black holes, is called the Penrose inequality and has been proven for many physi-
Ref. 114, Ref. 115 cally realistic situations. The Penrose inequality can be seen to imply the maximum force
limit, and vice versa. The maximum force principle, or the equivalent minimum size of
matter–energy systems, thus prevents the formation of naked singularities. (Physicists
call the lack of naked singularities the so-called cosmic censorship. conjecture.)
∗∗
There is a power limit for all energy sources. In particular, the value c 5 /4G limits the lu-
minosity of all gravitational sources. Indeed, all formulae for gravitational wave emission
Ref. 104 imply this value as an upper limit. Furthermore, numerical relativity simulations never
exceed it: for example, the power emitted during the simulated merger of two black holes
is below the limit.
∗∗

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Perfectly plane waves do not exist in nature. Plane waves are of infinite extension. But
neither electrodynamic nor gravitational waves can be infinite, since such waves would
carry more momentum per time through a plane surface than is allowed by the force
limit. The non-existence of plane gravitational waves also precludes the production of
singularities when two such waves collide.
∗∗
In nature, there are no infinite forces. There are thus no (naked nor dressed) singularities
in nature. Horizons prevent the appearance of singularities. In particular, the big bang
was not a singularity. The mathematical theorems by Penrose and Hawking that seem to

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

imply the existence of singularities tacitly assume the existence of point masses – often
in the form of ‘dust’ – in contrast to what general relativity implies. Careful re-evaluation
of each such proof is necessary.
∗∗
The force limit means that space-time has a limited stability. The limit suggests that space-
time can be torn into pieces. This is indeed the case. However, the way that this happens
is not described by general relativity. We will study it in the last part of this text.
∗∗
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

The maximum force is the standard of force. This implies that the gravitational constant
G is constant in space and time – or at least, that its variations across space and time
Ref. 116 cannot be detected. Present data support this claim to a high degree of precision.
∗∗
The maximum force principle implies that gravitational energy – as long as it can be
defined – falls in gravitational fields in the same way as other type of energy. As a result,

* The maximum value for the mass to size limit is obviously equivalent to the maximum mass change given
above.
 128 4 simple general rel ativit y

Ref. 104 the maximum force principle predicts that the Nordtvedt effect vanishes. The Nordtvedt
effect is a hypothetical periodical change in the orbit of the Moon that would appear if the
gravitational energy of the Earth–Moon system did not fall, like other mass–energy, in
the gravitational field of the Sun. Lunar range measurements have confirmed the absence
of this effect.
∗∗
If horizons are surfaces, we can ask what their colour is. This question will be explored
Page 253 later on.
∗∗
Vol. VI, page 35 Later on we will find that quantum effects cannot be used to exceed the force or power
Challenge 173 e limit. (Can you guess why?) Quantum theory also provides a limit to motion, namely a
lower limit to action; however, this limit is independent of the force or power limit. (A
dimensional analysis already shows this: there is no way to define an action by combi-
nations of c and G.) Therefore, even the combination of quantum theory and general

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

relativity does not help in overcoming the force or power limits.
∗∗
Given that the speed c and the force value c 4 /4G are limit values, what can be said about
G itself? The gravitational constant G describes the strength of the gravitational inter-
action. In fact, G characterizes the strength of the weakest possible interaction. In other
words, given a central body of mass M, and given the acceleration a of a test body at a
distance r due to any interaction whatsoever with the central body, then the ratio ar 2 /M
is at least equal to G. (Can you show that geostationary satellites or atoms in crystals are
not counterexamples?) In summary, also the gravitational constant G is a limit value in

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Challenge 174 e
nature.

An intuitive understanding of cosmology

Page 232 A maximum power is the simplest possible explanation of Olbers’ paradox. Power and
luminosity are two names for the same observable. The sum of all luminosity values in the
universe is finite; the light and all other energy emitted by all stars, taken together, is finite.
If we assume that the universe is homogeneous and isotropic, the power limit P ⩽ c 5 /4G
must be valid across any plane that divides the universe into two halves. The part of the
universe’s luminosity that arrives on Earth is then so small that the sky is dark at night.
In fact, the actually measured luminosity is still smaller than this calculation, as a large
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

part of the power is not visible to the human eye (since most of it is matter anyway). In
other words, the night is dark because of nature’s power limit. This explanation is not in
contrast to the usual one, which uses the finite lifetime of stars, their finite density, their
finite size, and the finite age and the expansion of the universe. In fact, the combination
of all these usual arguments simply implies and repeats in more complex words that the
power limit cannot be exceeded. However, this more simple explanation seems to be
absent in the literature.
The existence of a maximum force in nature, together with homogeneity and isotropy,
implies that the visible universe is of finite size. The opposite case would be an infinitely
 gravitation, maximum speed and maximum force 129

large, homogeneous and isotropic universe. But in that case, any two halves of the uni-
verse would attract each other with a force above the limit (provided the universe were
sufficiently old). This result can be made quantitative by imagining a sphere whose centre
lies at the Earth, which encompasses all the universe, and whose radius decreases with
time almost as rapidly as the speed of light. The mass flow dm/dt = ρA󰑣 is predicted to
reach the mass flow limit c 3 /4G; thus we have

dm c3
= ρ0 4πR02 c = , (127)
dt 4G

Ref. 117 a relation also predicted by the Friedmann models. The precision measurements of the
cosmic background radiation by the WMAP satellite confirm that the present-day total
energy density ρ0 (including dark matter and dark energy) and the horizon radius R0
just reach the limit value. The maximum force limit thus predicts the observed size of
the universe.
A finite power limit also suggests that a finite age for the universe can be deduced.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Challenge 175 s Can you find an argument?

Experimental challenges for the third millennium

The lack of direct tests of the horizon force, power or mass flow is obviously due to the
lack of horizons in the environment of all experiments performed so far. Despite the
difficulties in reaching the limits, their values are observable and falsifiable.
In fact, the force limit might be tested with high-precision measurements in binary
pulsars or binary black holes. Such systems allow precise determination of the positions
of the two stars. The maximum force principle implies a relation between the position

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Ref. 103 error Δx and the energy error ΔE. For all systems we have

ΔE c4
⩽ . (128)
Δx 4G
For example, a position error of 1 mm gives a mass error of below 3 ⋅ 1023 kg. In everyday
life, all measurements comply with this relation. Indeed, the left side is so much smaller
than the right side that the relation is rarely mentioned. For a direct check, only systems
which might achieve direct equality are interesting. Dual black holes or dual pulsars are
such systems.
It might be that one day the amount of matter falling into some black hole, such as
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

the one at the centre of the Milky Way, might be measured. The limit dm/dt ⩽ c 3 /4G
could then be tested directly.
The power limit implies that the highest luminosities are only achieved when systems
emit energy at the speed of light. Indeed, the maximum emitted power is only achieved
when all matter is radiated away as rapidly as possible: the emitted power P = c 2 M/(R/󰑣)
cannot reach the maximum value if the body radius R is larger than that of a black hole
(the densest body of a given mass) or the emission speed 󰑣 is lower than that of light. The
sources with highest luminosity must therefore be of maximum density and emit entities
without rest mass, such as gravitational waves, electromagnetic waves or (maybe) gluons.
 130 4 simple general rel ativit y

Candidates to detect the limit are black holes in formation, in evaporation or undergoing
mergers.
A candidate surface that reaches the limit is the night sky. The night sky is a horizon.
Provided that light, neutrino, particle and gravitational wave flows are added together,
the limit c 5 /4G is predicted to be reached. If the measured power is smaller than the
limit (as it seems to be at present), this might even give a hint about new particles yet
to be discovered. If the limit were exceeded or not reached, general relativity would be
shown to be incorrect. This might be an interesting future experimental test.
The power limit implies that a wave whose integrated intensity approaches the force
limit cannot be plane. The power limit thus implies a limit on the product of intensity
I (given as energy per unit time and unit area) and the size (curvature radius) R of the
front of a wave moving with the speed of light c:

c5
4πR2 I ⩽ . (129)
4G

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Obviously, this statement is difficult to check experimentally, whatever the frequency
and type of wave might be, because the value appearing on the right-hand side is ex-
tremely large. Possibly, future experiments with gravitational wave detectors, X-ray de-
tectors, gamma ray detectors, radio receivers or particle detectors might allow us to test
relation (129) with precision. (You might want to predict which of these experiments will
Challenge 176 e confirm the limit first.)
The lack of direct experimental tests of the force and power limits implies that indirect
tests become particularly important. All such tests study the motion of matter or energy
and compare it with a famous consequence of the force and power limits: the field equa-
tions of general relativity. This will be our next topic.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

A summary of general relativity – and minimum force

“
Non statim pusillum est si quid maximo minus

”
est.*
Seneca

There is a simple axiomatic formulation of general relativity: the horizon force c 4 /4G and
the horizon power c 5 /4G are the highest possible force and power values. No contradict-
ing observation is known. No counter-example has been imagined. General relativity
follows from these limits. Moreover, the limits imply the darkness of the night and the
finiteness of the universe.
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The principle of maximum force has obvious applications for the teaching of general
relativity. The principle brings general relativity to the level of first-year university, and
possibly to well-prepared secondary school, students: only the concepts of maximum
force and horizon are necessary. Space-time curvature is a consequence of horizon cur-
vature.
The concept of a maximum force leads us to an additional aspect of gravitation. The
Challenge 177 e cosmological constant Λ is not fixed by the maximum force principle. (However, the prin-
* ‘Nothing is negligible only because it is smaller that the maximum.’ Lucius Annaeus Seneca (c. 4 bce–65),
Epistolae 16, 100.
 gravitation, maximum speed and maximum force 131

ciple does fix its sign to be positive.) Present measurements give the result Λ ≈ 10−52 /m2 .
Page 234 A positive cosmological constant implies the existence of a negative energy volume den-
sity −Λc 4 /G. This value corresponds to a negative pressure, as pressure and energy den-
sity have the same dimensions. Multiplication by the (numerically corrected) Planck area
Vol. VI, page 34 2Għ/c 3 , the smallest area in nature, gives a force value

F = 2Λħc = 0.60 ⋅ 10−77 N . (130)

This is also the gravitational force between two (numerically corrected) Planck masses
󵀄 ħc/8G located at the cosmological distance 1/4󵀂Λ .
We conjecture that expression (130) is the minimum force in nature. Proving this con-
jecture is more involved than for the case of maximum force. So far, only some hints are
possible. Like the maximum force, also the minimum force must be compatible with grav-
itation, must not be contradicted by any experiment, and must withstand any thought
experiment. A quick check shows that the minimum force allows us to deduce the cos-
mological constant of gravitation; minimum force is an invariant and is not contradicted

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

by any experiment. There are also hints that there may be no way to generate or measure
any smaller value. For example, the gravitational force between any two neutral particles
at cosmological distance, such as between two atoms or two neutrinos, is much smaller
than the minimum force; however, it seems impossible to detect experimentally whether
Challenge 178 e two such particles interact at all: the acceleration is too small to be measured. As another
example, the minimum force corresponds to the energy per length contained by a pho-
ton with a wavelength of the size of the universe. It is hard – but maybe not impossible –
Challenge 179 d to imagine the measurement of a still smaller force. (Can you do so?)
If we leap to the – not completely proven – conclusion that expression (130) is the
smallest possible force in nature (the numerical factors are not yet verified), we get the

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

fascinating conjecture that the full theory of general relativity, including the cosmological
constant, may be defined by the combination of a maximum and a minimum force in
nature.
We have seen that both the maximum force principle and general relativity fail to fix
the value of the cosmological constant. Only a unified theory can do so. We thus get two
requirements for such a theory. First, any unified theory must predict the same upper
limit to force as general relativity. Secondly, a unified theory must fix the cosmological
constant. The appearance of ħ in the conjectured expression for the minimum force sug-
gests that the minimum force is determined by a combination of general relativity and
quantum theory. The proof of this suggestion and the confirmation of the minimum force
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

are two important challenges for our ascent beyond general relativity. We come back to
the issue in the last part of our adventure.
We are now ready to explore the consequences of general relativity and its field equa-
tions in more detail. We start by focusing on the concept of space-time curvature in
everyday life, and in particular, on its consequences for the observation of motion.
 Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014 free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net
4 simple general rel ativit y
132
 Chapter 5

HOW MA XIMUM SPEED CHANGES

SPAC E, TIME AND GR AVIT Y

“ ”
Sapere aude.*
Horace Epistulae, 1, 2, 40.

O
bservation shows that gravitational influences do transport energy.**
ur description of gravity must therefore include the speed limit.
nly a description that takes into account the limit speed for energy trans-

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

port can be a precise description of gravity. Henri Poincaré stated this requirement for a
precise description of gravitation as early as 1905. But universal gravity, with its relation
a = GM/r 2 , allows speeds higher than that of light. For example, in universal gravity,
the speed of a mass in orbit is not limited. In universal gravity it is also unclear how the
values of a and r depend on the observer. In short, universal gravity cannot be correct.
In order to reach the correct description, called general relativity by Albert Einstein, we
Ref. 118, Ref. 119 have to throw quite a few preconceptions overboard.
The results of combining maximum speed with gravity will be fascinating: we will find
that empty space can bend and move, that the universe has a finite age and that objects

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

can be in permanent free fall. We will discover that even though empty space can be bent,
it is much stiffer than steel. Despite the strangeness of these and other consequences, they
have all been confirmed by all experiments performed so far.

Rest and free fall

The opposite of motion in daily life is a body at rest, such as a child sleeping or a rock
defying the waves. A body is at rest whenever it is not disturbed by other bodies. In
the everyday description of the world, rest is the absence of velocity. With Galilean and
special relativity, rest became inertial motion, since no inertial observer can distinguish
its own motion from rest: nothing disturbs him. Both the rock in the waves and the rapid
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

protons crossing the galaxy as cosmic rays are at rest. With the inclusion of gravity, we
are led to an even more general definition of rest.

⊳ Every observer and every body in free fall can rightly claim to be at rest.

Challenge 180 e If any body moving inertially is to be considered at rest, then any body in free fall must
also be. Nobody knows this better than Joseph Kittinger, the man who in August 1960

* ‘Venture to be wise.’ Horace is Quintus Horatius Flaccus, (65–8 bce), the great Roman poet.
** The details of this statement are far from simple. They are discussed on page 169 and page 197.
 134 5 how maximum speed changes space, time and gravit y

Ref. 120 stepped out of a balloon capsule at the record height of 31.3 km. At that altitude, the air
is so thin that during the first minute of his free fall he felt completely at rest, as if he
were floating. Although an experienced parachutist, he was so surprised that he had to
turn upwards in order to convince himself that he was indeed moving away from his
balloon! Despite his lack of any sensation of movement, he was falling at up to 274 m/s
or 988 km/h with respect to the Earth’s surface. He only started feeling something when
he encountered the first substantial layers of air. That was when his free fall started to be
disturbed. Later, after four and a half minutes of fall, his special parachute opened; and
nine minutes later he landed in New Mexico.
Kittinger and all other observers in free fall, such as the cosmonauts circling the Earth
or the passengers in parabolic aeroplane flights,* make the same observation: it is impos-
sible to distinguish anything happening in free fall from what would happen at rest. This
impossibility is called the principle of equivalence; it is one of the starting points of gen-
eral relativity. It leads to the most precise – and final – definition of rest that we will
encounter: rest is free fall. Rest is lack of disturbance; so is free fall.
The set of all free-falling observers at a point in space-time generalizes the special-

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

relativistic notion of the set of the inertial observers at a point. This means that we must
describe motion in such a way that not only all inertial but also all freely falling observers
can talk to each other. In addition, a full description of motion must be able to describe
gravitation and the motion it produces, and it must be able to describe motion for any
observer imaginable. General relativity realizes this aim.
As a first step, we put the result on rest in other words:

⊳ True motion is the opposite of free fall.

This statement immediately rises a number of questions: Most trees or mountains are not

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Challenge 181 s in free fall, thus they are not at rest. What motion are they undergoing? And if free fall is
rest, what is weight? And what then is gravity anyway? Let us start with the last question.

What clocks tell us about gravity

Page 125 Above, we described gravity as the shadow of the maximum force. But there is a sec-
ond way to describe it, more closely related to everyday life. As William Unruh likes to
Ref. 121 explain, the constancy of the speed of light for all observers implies a simple conclusion:

⊳ Gravity is the uneven running of clocks at different places.**

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Challenge 183 e Of course, this seemingly absurd definition needs to be checked. The definition does not
talk about a single situation seen by different observers, as we often did in special relativ-
ity. The definition depends on the observation that neighbouring, identical clocks, fixed
against each other, run differently in the presence of a gravitational field when watched
by the same observer; moreover, this difference is directly related to what we usually call

* Nowadays it is possible to book such flights in specialized travel agents.

** Gravity is also the uneven length of metre bars at different places, as we will see below. Both effects are
needed to describe it completely; but for daily life on Earth, the clock effect is sufficient, since it is much
Challenge 182 s larger than the length effect, which can usually be neglected. Can you see why?
 how maximum speed changes space, time and gravit y 135

󰑣(t) = д t

B light F

F I G U R E 61 Inside an accelerating train or

bus.

gravity. There are two ways to check this connection: by experiment and by reasoning.
Let us start with the latter method, as it is cheaper, faster and more fun.
An observer feels no difference between gravity and constant acceleration. We can
thus study constant acceleration and use a way of reasoning we have encountered already
in the chapter on special relativity. We assume light is emitted at the back end of a train

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

of length Δh that is accelerating forward with acceleration д, as shown in Figure 61. The
light arrives at the front of the train after a time t = Δh/c. However, during this time the
accelerating train has picked up some additional velocity, namely Δ󰑣 = дt = дΔh/c. As a
result, because of the Doppler effect we encountered in our discussion of special relativity,
Page 57 the frequency f of the light arriving at the front has changed. Using the expression of the
Challenge 184 e Doppler effect, we get*
Δf дΔh
= 2 . (131)
f c

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

The sign of the frequency change depends on whether the light motion and the train
acceleration are in the same or in opposite directions. For actual trains or buses, the
Challenge 186 s frequency change is quite small; nevertheless, it is measurable.

⊳ Acceleration induces frequency changes in light.

Let us compare this first effect of acceleration with the effects of gravity.
To measure time and space, we use light. What happens to light when gravity is
Ref. 122 involved? The simplest experiment is to let light fall or rise. In order to deduce what
must happen, we add a few details. Imagine a conveyor belt carrying masses around two
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wheels, a low and a high one, as shown in Figure 62. The descending, grey masses are
slightly larger. Whenever such a larger mass is near the bottom, some mechanism – not
shown in the figure – converts the mass surplus to light, in accordance with the equation
E = c 2 m, and sends the light up towards the top.** At the top, one of the lighter, white
masses passing by absorbs the light and, because of its added weight, turns the conveyor

* The expression 󰑣 = дt is valid only for non-relativistic speeds; nevertheless, the conclusion of this section
Challenge 185 e is not affected by this approximation.
** As in special relativity, here and in the rest of our mountain ascent, the term ‘mass’ always refers to rest
mass.
 136 5 how maximum speed changes space, time and gravit y

m + E/c 2

light

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F I G U R E 62 The necessity of blue- and red-shift of
light: why trees are greener at the bottom.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

belt until it reaches the bottom. Then the process repeats.*
As the grey masses on the descending side are always heavier, the belt would turn for
ever and this system could continuously generate energy. However, since energy conser-
Vol. I, page 258 vation is at the basis of our definition of time, as we saw in the beginning of our walk, the
whole process must be impossible. We have to conclude that the light changes its energy
when climbing. The only possibility is that the light arrives at the top with a frequency
different from the one at which it is emitted from the bottom.**
In short, it turns out that

⊳ Rising light is gravitationally red-shifted.

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Similarly, the light descending from the top of a tree down to an observer is blue-shifted;
this gives a darker colour to the top in comparison with the bottom of the tree. The com-
bination of light speed invariance and gravitation thus imply that trees have different
shades of green along their height.*** How big is the effect? The result deduced from the

Challenge 187 s * Can this process be performed with 100 % efficiency?

** The precise relation between energy and frequency of light is described and explained in the discussion
Vol. IV, page 43 on quantum theory. But we know already from classical electrodynamics that the energy of light depends
on its intensity and on its frequency.
Challenge 188 ny *** How does this argument change if you include the illumination by the Sun?
 how maximum speed changes space, time and gravit y 137

Challenge 189 e drawing is again the one of formula (131). That is what we would, as light moving in an ac-
celerating train and light moving in gravity are equivalent situations, as you might want
Challenge 190 s to check yourself. The formula gives a relative change of frequency of only 1.1 ⋅ 10−16 /m
near the surface of the Earth. For trees, this so-called gravitational red-shift or gravita-
tional Doppler effect is far too small to be observable, at least using normal light.
Ref. 123 In 1911, Einstein proposed an experiment to check the change of frequency with height
by measuring the red-shift of light emitted by the Sun, using the famous Fraunhofer lines
Vol. IV, page 171 as colour markers. The results of the first experiments, by Schwarzschild and others, were
unclear or even negative, due to a number of other effects that induce colour changes at
high temperatures. But in 1920 and 1921, Leonhard Grebe and Albert Bachem, and inde-
Ref. 124 pendently Alfred Perot, confirmed the gravitational red-shift with careful experiments.
In later years, technological advances made the measurements much easier, until it was
even possible to measure the effect on Earth. In 1960, in a classic experiment using the
Mössbauer effect, Pound and Rebka confirmed the gravitational red-shift in their univer-
Ref. 125 sity tower using γ radiation.
But our two thought experiments tell us much more. Let us use the same argument as

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

in the case of special relativity: a colour change implies that clocks run differently at dif-
ferent heights, just as they run differently in the front and in the back of a train. The time
difference Δτ is predicted to depend on the height difference Δh and the acceleration of
gravity д according to
Δτ Δ f дΔh
= = 2 . (132)
τ f c

In simple words,

⊳ In gravity, time is height-dependent.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Challenge 191 e In other words, height makes old. Can you confirm this conclusion?
In 1972, by flying four precise clocks in an aeroplane while keeping an identical one
Ref. 50 on the ground, Hafele and Keating found that clocks indeed run differently at different
Ref. 126 altitudes according to expression (132). Subsequently, in 1976, the team of Vessot shot a
precision clock based on a maser – a precise microwave generator and oscillator – up-
wards on a missile. The team compared the maser inside the missile with an identical
maser on the ground and again confirmed the above expression. In 1977, Briatore and
Ref. 127 Leschiutta showed that a clock in Torino indeed ticks more slowly than one on the top of
the Monte Rosa. They confirmed the prediction that on Earth, for every 100 m of height
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Challenge 192 e gained, people age more rapidly by about 1 ns per day. This effect has been confirmed for
all systems for which experiments have been performed, such as several planets, the Sun
and numerous other stars.
Do these experiments show that time changes or are they simply due to clocks that
Challenge 193 e function badly? Take some time and try to settle this question. We will give one argument
only: gravity does change the colour of light, and thus really does change time. Clock
precision is not an issue here.
In summary, gravity is indeed the uneven running of clocks at different heights. Note
that an observer at the lower position and another observer at the higher position agree
on the result: both find that the upper clock goes faster. In other words, when gravity is
 138 5 how maximum speed changes space, time and gravit y

before

after

F I G U R E 63 Tidal effects: the only effect bodies feel when falling.

present, space-time is not described by the Minkowski geometry of special relativity, but

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

by some more general geometry. To put it mathematically, whenever gravity is present,
the 4-distance ds 2 between events is different from the expression without gravity:

ds 2 ̸= c 2 dt 2 − dx 2 − dy 2 − dz 2 . (133)

We will give the correct expression shortly.

Is this view of gravity as height-dependent time really reasonable? No. It turns out that
it is not yet strange enough! Since the speed of light is the same for all observers, we can
say more. If time changes with height, length must also do so! More precisely, if clocks

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

run differently at different heights, the length of metre bars must also change with height.
Challenge 194 s Can you confirm this for the case of horizontal bars at different heights?
If length changes with height, the circumference of a circle around the Earth cannot be
given by 2πr. An analogous discrepancy is also found by an ant measuring the radius and
circumference of a circle traced on the surface of a basketball. Indeed, gravity implies that
humans are in a situation analogous to that of ants on a basketball, the only difference
being that the circumstances are translated from two to three dimensions. We conclude
that wherever gravity plays a role, space is curved.

What tides tell us about gravity

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During his free fall, Kittinger was able to specify an inertial frame for himself. Indeed,
he felt completely at rest. Does this mean that it is impossible to distinguish acceleration
from gravitation? No: distinction is possible. We only have to compare two (or more)
falling observers, or two parts of one observer.
Kittinger could not have found a frame which is also inertial for a colleague falling
Challenge 195 e on the opposite side of the Earth. Such a common frame does not exist. In general, it is
impossible to find a single inertial reference frame describing different observers freely
falling near a mass. In fact, it is impossible to find a common inertial frame even for
nearby observers in a gravitational field. Two nearby observers observe that during their
Challenge 196 s fall, their relative distance changes. (Why?) The same happens to orbiting observers.
 how maximum speed changes space, time and gravit y 139

In a closed room in orbit around the Earth, a person or a mass at the centre of the
room would not feel any force, and in particular no gravity. But if several particles are
located in the room, they will behave differently depending on their exact positions in
the room. Only if two particles were on exactly the same orbit would they keep the same
relative position. If one particle is in a lower or higher orbit than the other, they will de-
part from each other over time. Even more interestingly, if a particle in orbit is displaced
Challenge 197 e sideways, it will oscillate around the central position. (Can you confirm this?)
Gravitation leads to changes of relative distance. These changes evince another effect,
shown in Figure 63: an extended body in free fall is slightly squeezed. This effect also tells
us that it is an essential feature of gravity that free fall is different from point to point.
Vol. I, page 184 That rings a bell. The squeezing of a body is the same effect as that which causes the
tides. Indeed, the bulging oceans can be seen as the squeezed Earth in its fall towards the
Ref. 128 Moon. Using this result of universal gravity we can now affirm: the essence of gravity is
the observation of tidal effects.
In other words, gravity is simple only locally. Only locally does it look like acceleration.
Only locally does a falling observer like Kittinger feel at rest. In fact, only a point-like

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

observer does so! As soon as we take spatial extension into account, we find tidal effects.

⊳ Gravity is the presence of tidal effects.

The absence of tidal effects implies the absence of gravity. Tidal effects are the everyday
consequence of height-dependent time. Isn’t this a beautiful conclusion from the invari-
ance of the speed of light?
In principle, Kittinger could have felt gravitation during his free fall, even with his eyes

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

closed, had he paid attention to himself. Had he measured the distance change between
his two hands, he would have found a tiny decrease which could have told him that he
was falling. This tiny decrease would have forced Kittinger to a strange conclusion. Two
inertially moving hands should move along two parallel lines, always keeping the same
distance. Since the distance changes, he must conclude that in the space around him lines
starting out in parallel do not remain so. Kittinger would have concluded that the space
around him was similar to the surface of the Earth, where two lines starting out north,
parallel to each other, also change distance, until they meet at the North Pole. In other
words, Kittinger would have concluded that he was in a curved space.
By studying the change in distance between his hands, Kittinger could even have con-
cluded that the curvature of space changes with height. Physical space differs from a
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sphere, which has constant curvature. Physical space is more involved. The effect is ex-
tremely small, and cannot be felt by human senses. Kittinger had no chance to detect any-
thing. However, the conclusion remains valid. Space-time is not described by Minkowski
geometry when gravity is present. Tidal effects imply space-time curvature.

⊳ Gravity is the curvature of space-time.

This is the main and final lesson that follows from the invariance of the speed of light.
 140 5 how maximum speed changes space, time and gravit y

Bent space and mattresses

“
Wenn ein Käfer über die Oberfläche einer Kugel
krabbelt, merkt er wahrscheinlich nicht, daß
der Weg, den er zurücklegt, gekrümmt ist. Ich

”
dagegen hatte das Glück, es zu merken.*
Albert Einstein’s answer to his son Eduard’s
question about the reason for his fame

On the 7th of November 1919, Albert Einstein became world-famous. On that day, an
article in the Times newspaper in London announced the results of a double expedition
to South America under the heading ‘Revolution in science / new theory of the universe /
Newtonian ideas overthrown’. The expedition had shown unequivocally – though not
for the first time – that the theory of universal gravity, essentially given by a = GM/r 2 ,
was wrong, and that instead space was curved. A worldwide mania started. Einstein was
presented as the greatest of all geniuses. ‘Space warped’ was the most common headline.
Einstein’s papers on general relativity were reprinted in full in popular magazines. People
could read the field equations of general relativity, in tensor form and with Greek indices,

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

in Time magazine. Nothing like this has happened to any other physicist before or since.
What was the reason for this excitement?
The expedition to the southern hemisphere had performed an experiment proposed
Ref. 129 by Einstein himself. Apart from seeking to verify the change of time with height, Einstein
had also thought about a number of experiments to detect the curvature of space. In the
one that eventually made him famous, Einstein proposed to take a picture of the stars
near the Sun, as is possible during a solar eclipse, and compare it with a picture of the
same stars at night, when the Sun is far away. From the equations of general relativity,
Einstein predicted a change in position of 1.75󳰀 (1.75 seconds of arc) for star images at

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Vol. I, page 188 the border of the Sun, a value twice as large as that predicted by universal gravity. The
Ref. 130 prediction was confirmed for the first time in 1919, and thus universal gravity was ruled
out.
Does this result imply that space is curved? Not by itself. In fact, other explanations
could be given for the result of the eclipse experiment, such as a potential differing from
the inverse square form. However, the eclipse results are not the only data. We already
know about the change of time with height. Experiments show that two observers at
different heights measure the same value for the speed of light c near themselves. But
these experiments also show that if an observer measures the speed of light at the position
of the other observer, he gets a value differing from c, since his clock runs differently.
There is only one possible solution to this dilemma: metre bars, like clocks, also change
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

with height, and in such a way as to yield the same speed of light everywhere.
If the speed of light is constant but clocks and metre bars change with height, the
Challenge 198 e conclusion must be that space is curved near masses. Many physicists in the twentieth
century checked whether metre bars really behave differently in places where gravity
is present. And indeed, curvature has been detected around several planets, around all
the hundreds of stars where it could be measured, and around dozens of galaxies. Many
indirect effects of curvature around masses, to be described in detail below, have also

* ‘When an insect walks over the surface of a sphere it probably does not notice that the path it walks is
curved. I, on the other hand, had the luck to notice it.’
 how maximum speed changes space, time and gravit y 141

image image
of star
position
star of star

Sun
Sun

Mercury Earth
Earth

F I G U R E 64 The mattress model of space: the path of a light beam and of a satellite near a spherical
mass.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

been observed. All results confirm the curvature of space and space-time around masses,
and in addition confirm the curvature values predicted by general relativity. In other
words, metre bars near masses do indeed change their size from place to place, and even
from orientation to orientation. Figure 64 gives an impression of the situation.
But beware: the right-hand figure, although found in many textbooks, can be
Ref. 131 misleading. It can easily be mistaken for a reproduction of a potential around a body. In-
deed, it is impossible to draw a graph showing curvature and potential separately. (Why?)
Challenge 199 s We will see that for small curvatures, it is even possible to explain the change in metre
bar length using a potential only. Thus the figure does not really cheat, at least in the

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

case of weak gravity. But for large and changing values of gravity, a potential cannot be
defined, and thus there is indeed no way to avoid using curved space to describe grav-
ity. In summary, if we imagine space as a sort of generalized mattress in which masses
produce deformations, we have a reasonable model of space-time. As masses move, the
deformation follows them.
The acceleration of a test particle only depends on the curvature of the mattress. It
does not depend on the mass of the test particle. So the mattress model explains why
all bodies fall in the same way. (In the old days, this was also called the equality of the
inertial and gravitational mass.)
Space thus behaves like a frictionless mattress that pervades everything. We live in-
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

side the mattress, but we do not feel it in everyday life. Massive objects pull the foam of
the mattress towards them, thus deforming the shape of the mattress. More force, more
energy or more mass imply a larger deformation. (Does the mattress remind you of the
Vol. III, page 127 aether? Do not worry: physics eliminated the concept of aether because it is indistin-
guishable from vacuum.)
If gravity means curved space, then any accelerated observer, such as a man in a de-
parting car, must also observe that space is curved. However, in everyday life we do not
notice any such effect, because for accelerations and sizes of everyday life the curvature
values are too small to be noticed. Could you devise a sensitive experiment to check the
Challenge 200 s prediction?
 142 5 how maximum speed changes space, time and gravit y

Curved space-time
Figure 64 shows the curvature of space only, but in fact the whole of space-time is curved.
We will shortly find out how to describe both the shape of space and the shape of space-
time, and how to measure their curvature.
Let us have a first attempt to describe nature with the idea of curved space-time. In
the case of Figure 64, the best description of events is with the use of the time t shown
by a clock located at spatial infinity; that avoids problems with the uneven running of
clocks at different distances from the central mass. For the radial coordinate r, the most
practical choice to avoid problems with the curvature of space is to use the circumference
of a circle around the central body, divided by 2π. The curved shape of space-time is
best described by the behaviour of the space-time distance ds, or by the wristwatch time
Page 45 dτ = ds/c, between two neighbouring points with coordinates (t, r) and (t + dt, r + dr).
Page 138 As we saw above, gravity means that in spherical coordinates we have

ds 2
dτ 2 = ̸= dt 2 − dr 2 /c 2 − r 2 dφ2 /c 2 . (134)
c2

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

The inequality expresses the fact that space-time is curved. Indeed, the experiments on
time change with height confirm that the space-time interval around a spherical mass is
given by
ds 2 2GM dr 2 r2 2
dτ 2 = 2 = 󶀤1 − 󶀴 dt 2
− − dφ . (135)
c rc 2 c 2 − 2GMr
c2

This expression is called the Schwarzschild metric after one of its discoverers.* The metric
(135) describes the curved shape of space-time around a spherical non-rotating mass. It

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

is well approximated by the Earth or the Sun. (Why can their rotation be neglected?)
Challenge 201 s Expression (135) also shows that gravity’s strength around a body of mass M and radius
R is measured by a dimensionless number h defined as

2G M
h= . (136)
c2 R
This ratio expresses the gravitational strain with which lengths and the vacuum are de-
formed from the flat situation of special relativity, and thus also determines how much
clocks slow down when gravity is present. (The ratio also reveals how far one is from any
possible horizon.) On the surface of the Earth the ratio h has the small value of 1.4 ⋅ 10−9 ;
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

on the surface of the Sun is has the somewhat larger value of 4.2 ⋅ 10−6 . The precision of
modern clocks allows detecting such small effects quite easily. The various consequences
and uses of the deformation of space-time will be discussed shortly.
We note that if a mass is highly concentrated, in particular when its radius becomes

* Karl Schwarzschild (1873–1916), important German astronomer; he was one of the first people to under-
stand general relativity. He published his formula in December 1915, only a few months after Einstein had
published his field equations. He died prematurely, at the age of 42, much to Einstein’s distress. We will
deduce the form of the metric later on, directly from the field equations of general relativity. The other
Ref. 132 discoverer of the metric, unknown to Einstein, was Johannes Droste, a student of Lorentz.
 how maximum speed changes space, time and gravit y 143

equal to its so-called Schwarzschild radius

2GM
RS = , (137)
c2
the Schwarzschild metric behaves strangely: at that location, time disappears (note that
t is time at infinity). At the Schwarzschild radius, the wristwatch time (as shown by a
clock at infinity) stops – and a horizon appears. What happens precisely will be explored
Page 257 below. This situation is not common: the Schwarzschild radius for a mass like the Earth is
8.8 mm, and for the Sun is 3.0 km; you might want to check that the object size for every
Challenge 202 e system in everyday life is larger than its Schwarzschild radius. Physical systems which
Ref. 133 realize the Schwarzschild radius are called black holes; we will study them in detail shortly.
Page 253 In fact, general relativity states that no system in nature is smaller than its Schwarzschild
size, in other words that the ratio h defined by expression (136) is never above unity.
In summary, the results mentioned so far make it clear that mass generates curvature.
The mass–energy equivalence we know from special relativity then tells us that as a con-
sequence, space should also be curved by the presence of any type of energy–momentum.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Every type of energy curves space-time. For example, light should also curve space-time.
However, even the highest-energy beams we can create correspond to extremely small
masses, and thus to unmeasurably small curvatures. Even heat curves space-time; but in
most systems, heat is only about a fraction of 10−12 of total mass; its curvature effect is
thus unmeasurable and negligible. Nevertheless it is still possible to show experimentally
that energy curves space. In almost all atoms a sizeable fraction of the mass is due to the
electrostatic energy among the positively charged protons. In 1968 Kreuzer confirmed
Ref. 134 that energy curves space with a clever experiment using a floating mass.
It is straightforward to deduce that the temporal equivalent of spatial curvature is the

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Challenge 203 e uneven running of clock. Taking the two curvatures together, we conclude that when
gravity is present, space-time is curved.
Let us sum up our chain of thoughts. Energy is equivalent to mass; mass produces
gravity; gravity is equivalent to acceleration; acceleration is position-dependent time.
Since light speed is constant, we deduce that energy–momentum tells space-time to curve.
This statement is the first half of general relativity.
We will soon find out how to measure curvature, how to calculate it from energy–
momentum and what is found when measurement and calculation are compared. We
will also find out that different observers measure different curvature values. The set
of transformations relating one viewpoint to another in general relativity, the diffeomor-
phism symmetry, will tell us how to relate the measurements of different observers.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Since matter moves, we can say even more. Not only is space-time curved near masses,
it also bends back when a mass has passed by. In other words, general relativity states
that space, as well as space-time, is elastic. However, it is rather stiff: quite a lot stiffer
Ref. 135 than steel. To curve a piece of space by 1 % requires an energy density enormously larger
Challenge 204 ny than to curve a simple train rail by 1 %. This and other interesting consequences of the
elasticity of space-time will occupy us for a while.
 144 5 how maximum speed changes space, time and gravit y

The speed of light and the gravitational constant

“ ”
Si morior, moror.*
Antiquity

We continue on the way towards precision in our understanding of gravitation. All our
theoretical and empirical knowledge about gravity can be summed up in just two general
statements. The first principle states:

⊳ The speed 󰑣 of a physical system is bounded above:

󰑣⩽c (138)

for all observers, where c is the speed of light.

The theory following from this first principle, special relativity, is extended to general rel-
ativity by adding a second principle, characterizing gravitation. There are several equiv-

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

alent ways to state this principle. Here is one.

⊳ For all observers, the force F on a system is limited by

c4
F⩽ , (139)
4G
where G is the universal constant of gravitation.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

In short, there is a maximum force in nature. Gravitation leads to attraction of masses.
Challenge 205 e However, this force of attraction is limited. An equivalent statement is:

⊳ For all observers, the size L of a system of mass M is limited by

L 4G
⩾ 2 . (140)
M c

In other words, a massive system cannot be more concentrated than a non-rotating black
hole of the same mass. Another way to express the principle of gravitation is the follow-
ing:
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

⊳ For all systems, the emitted power P is limited by

c5
P⩽ . (141)
4G

In short, there is a maximum power in nature.

* ‘If I rest, I die.’ This is the motto of the bird of paradise.

 how maximum speed changes space, time and gravit y 145

The three limits given above are all equivalent to each other; and no exception is
known or indeed possible. The limits include universal gravity in the non-relativistic
case. They tell us what gravity is, namely curvature, and how exactly it behaves. The lim-
its allow us to determine the curvature in all situations, at all space-time events. As we
Page 110 have seen above, the speed limit together with any one of the last three principles imply
all of general relativity.*
For example, can you show that the formula describing gravitational red-shift com-
Challenge 206 ny plies with the general limit (140) on length-to-mass ratios?
We note that any formula that contains the speed of light c is based on special rela-
tivity, and if it contains the constant of gravitation G, it relates to universal gravity. If a
formula contains both c and G, it is a statement of general relativity. The present chapter
frequently underlines this connection.
Our mountain ascent so far has taught us that a precise description of motion requires
the specification of all allowed viewpoints, their characteristics, their differences, and
the transformations between them. From now on, all viewpoints are allowed, without
exception: anybody must be able to talk to anybody else. It makes no difference whether

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

an observer feels gravity, is in free fall, is accelerated or is in inertial motion. Furthermore,
people who exchange left and right, people who exchange up and down or people who
say that the Sun turns around the Earth must be able to talk to each other and to us. This
gives a much larger set of viewpoint transformations than in the case of special relativity;
it makes general relativity both difficult and fascinating. And since all viewpoints are
allowed, the resulting description of motion is complete.**

Why does a stone thrown into the air fall back to Earth? –
Geodesics

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

“
A genius is somebody who makes all possible

”
mistakes in the shortest possible time.
Anonymous

In our discussion of special relativity, we saw that inertial or free-floating motion is the
Page 84 motion which connecting two events that requires the longest proper time. In the absence
of gravity, the motion fulfilling this requirement is straight (rectilinear) motion. On the
Vol. I, page 58 other hand, we are also used to thinking of light rays as being straight. Indeed, we are all
accustomed to check the straightness of an edge by looking along it. Whenever we draw
the axes of a physical coordinate system, we imagine either drawing paths of light rays
or drawing the motion of freely moving bodies.
In the absence of gravity, object paths and light paths coincide. However, in the pres-
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

ence of gravity, objects do not move along light paths, as every thrown stone shows. Light
does not define spatial straightness any more. In the presence of gravity, both light and
matter paths are bent, though by different amounts. But the original statement remains
valid: even when gravity is present, bodies follow paths of longest possible proper time.
For matter, such paths are called timelike geodesics. For light, such paths are called light-
like or null geodesics.
* This didactic approach is unconventional. It is possible that is has been pioneered by the present author.
Ref. 101 The British physicist Gary Gibbons also developed similar ideas independently.
** Or it would be, were it not for a small deviation called quantum theory.
 146 5 how maximum speed changes space, time and gravit y

height
slow, steep throw c · time
h
d

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F I G U R E 65 All paths of flying stones,
rapid, flat throw independently of their speed and angle,
have the same curvature in space-time
throw distance (photograph © Marco Fulle).

We note that in space-time, geodesics are the curves with maximal length. This is in
contrast with the case of pure space, such as the surface of a sphere, where geodesics are
the curves of minimal length.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

In simple words, stones fall because they follow geodesics. Let us perform a few checks
of this statement. Since stones move by maximizing proper time for inertial observers,
they also must do so for freely falling observers, like Kittinger. In fact, they must do so
for all observers. The equivalence of falling paths and geodesics is at least coherent.
If falling is seen as a consequence of the Earth’s surface approaching – as we will argue
Page 155 below – we can deduce directly that falling implies a proper time that is as long as possible.
Challenge 207 e Free fall indeed is motion along geodesics.
We saw above that gravitation follows from the existence of a maximum force. The
result can be visualized in another way. If the gravitational attraction between a central
body and a satellite were stronger than it is, black holes would be smaller than they are;
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

in that case the maximum force limit and the maximum speed could be exceeded by
getting close to such a black hole. If, on the other hand, gravitation were weaker than it
is, there would be observers for which the two bodies would not interact, thus for which
they would not form a physical system. In summary, a maximum force of c 4 /4G implies
universal gravity. There is no difference between stating that all bodies attract through
gravitation and stating that there is a maximum force with the value c 4 /4G. But at the
same time, the maximum force principle implies that objects move on geodesics. Can
Challenge 208 ny you show this?
Let us turn to an experimental check. If falling is a consequence of curvature, then
the paths of all stones thrown or falling near the Earth must have the same curvature in
 how maximum speed changes space, time and gravit y 147

space-time. Take a stone thrown horizontally, a stone thrown vertically, a stone thrown
rapidly, or a stone thrown slowly: it takes only two lines of argument to show that in space-
Challenge 209 ny time all their paths are approximated to high precision by circle segments, as shown in
Figure 65. All paths have the same curvature radius r, given by

c2
r= ≈ 9.2 ⋅ 1015 m . (142)
д

The large value of the radius, corresponding to a low curvature, explains why we do not
notice it in everyday life. The parabolic shape typical of the path of a stone in everyday
life is just the projection of the more fundamental path in 4-dimensional space-time
into 3-dimensional space. The important point is that the value of the curvature does not
depend on the details of the throw. In fact, this simple result could have suggested the
ideas of general relativity to people a full century before Einstein; what was missing was
the recognition of the importance of the speed of light as limit speed. In any case, this
simple calculation confirms that falling and curvature are connected. As expected, and

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

as mentioned already above, the curvature diminishes at larger heights, until it vanishes
at infinite distance from the Earth. Now, given that the curvature of all paths for free fall
is the same, and given that all such paths are paths of least action, it is straightforward
that they are also geodesics.
If we describe fall as a consequence of the curvature of space-time, we must show that
the description with geodesics reproduces all its features. In particular, we must be able
to explain that stones thrown with small speed fall back, and stones thrown with high
Challenge 210 ny speed escape. Can you deduce this from space curvature?
In summary, the motion of any particle falling freely ‘in a gravitational field’ is de-
scribed by the same variational principle as the motion of a free particle in special rel-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

ativity: the path maximizes the proper time ∫ dτ. We rephrase this by saying that any
particle in free fall from space-time point A to space-time point B minimizes the action
S given by
B
S = −c 2 m 󵐐 dτ . (143)
A

That is all we need to know about the free fall of objects. As a consequence, any deviation
from free fall keeps you young. The larger the deviation, the younger you stay.
Page 279 As we will see below, the minimum action description of free fall has been tested
Ref. 136 extremely precisely, and no difference from experiment has ever been observed. We will
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

also find out that for free fall, the predictions of general relativity and of universal gravity
differ substantially both for particles near the speed of light and for central bodies of
high density. So far, all experiments have shown that whenever the two predictions differ,
general relativity is right, and universal gravity and other alternative descriptions are
wrong.
All bodies fall along geodesics. This tells us something important. The fall of bodies
does not depend on their mass. The geodesics are like ‘rails’ in space-time that tell bod-
ies how to fall. In other words, space-time can indeed be imagined as a single, giant,
deformed entity. Space-time is not ‘nothing’; it is an entity of our thinking. The shape of
 148 5 how maximum speed changes space, time and gravit y

this entity tells objects how to move. Space-time is thus indeed like an intangible mat-
tress; this deformed mattress guides falling objects along its networks of geodesics.
Moreover, bound energy falls in the same way as mass, as is proven by comparing the
fall of objects made of different materials. They have different percentages of bound en-
Challenge 211 s ergy. (Why?) For example, on the Moon, where there is no air, cosmonauts dropped steel
balls and feathers and found that they fell together, alongside each other. The indepen-
Ref. 137 dence on material composition has been checked and confirmed over and over again.

Can light fall?

How does radiation fall? Light, like any radiation, is energy without rest mass. It moves
like a stream of extremely fast and light objects. Therefore deviations from universal
gravity become most apparent for light. How does light fall? Light cannot change speed.
Page 134 When light falls vertically, it only changes colour, as we have seen above. But light can
also change direction. Long before the ideas of relativity became current, in 1801, the
Ref. 138 Prussian astronomer Johann Soldner understood that universal gravity implies that light
is deflected when passing near a mass. He also calculated how the deflection angle de-

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Vol. I, page 188 pends on the mass of the body and the distance of passage. However, nobody in the
nineteenth century was able to check the result experimentally.
Obviously, light has energy, and energy has weight; the deflection of light by itself is
thus not a proof of the curvature of space. General relativity also predicts a deflection
angle for light passing masses, but of twice the classical Soldner value, because the curva-
ture of space around large masses adds to the effect of universal gravity. The deflection of
light thus only confirms the curvature of space if the value agrees with the one predicted
by general relativity. This is the case: observations do coincide with predictions. More
Page 157 details will be given shortly.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Simply said, mass is not necessary to feel gravity; energy is sufficient. This result of the
mass–energy equivalence must become second nature when studying general relativity.
In particular, light is not light-weight, but heavy. Can you argue that the curvature of
Challenge 212 ny light near the Earth must be the same as that of stones, given by expression (142)?
In summary, all experiments show that not only mass, but also energy falls along
geodesics, whatever its type (bound or free), and whatever the interaction (be it elec-
tromagnetic or nuclear). Moreover, the motion of radiation confirms that space-time is
curved.
Since experiments show that all particles fall in the same way, independently of their
mass, charge or any other property, we can conclude that the system of all possible tra-
jectories forms an independent structure. This structure is what we call space-time.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

We thus find that space-time tells matter, energy and radiation how to fall. This state-
ment is the second half of general relativity. It complements the first half, which states
that energy tells space-time how to curve. To complete the description of macroscopic
motion, we only need to add numbers to these statements, so that they become testable.
As usual, we can proceed in two ways: we can deduce the equations of motion directly,
or we can first deduce the Lagrangian and then deduce the equations of motion from it.
But before we do that, let’s have some fun.
 how maximum speed changes space, time and gravit y 149

rubber band

cup
ball

hand

wooden
stick,
about
1.5 m
long

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F I G U R E 66 A puzzle: what is the simplest way to get the ball attached
to the rubber band into the cup?

Curiosities and fun challenges about gravitation

“
Wenn Sie die Antwort nicht gar zu ernst
nehmen und sie nur als eine Art Spaß ansehen,
so kann ich Ihnen das so erklären: Früher hat

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

man geglaubt, wenn alle Dinge aus der Welt
verschwinden, so bleiben noch Raum und Zeit
übrig. Nach der Relativitätstheorie
verschwinden aber auch Zeit und Raum mit

”
den Dingen.*
Albert Einstein in 1921 in New York

Take a plastic bottle and make some holes in it near the bottom. Fill the bottle with water,
closing the holes with your fingers. If you let the bottle go, no water will leave the bottle
Challenge 213 s during the fall. Can you explain how this experiment confirms the equivalence of rest
and free fall?
∗∗
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

On his seventy-sixth birthday, Einstein received a birthday present specially made for
him, shown in Figure 66. A rather deep cup is mounted on the top of a broom stick.
The cup contains a weak piece of elastic rubber attached to its bottom, to which a ball
is attached at the other end. In the starting position, the ball hangs outside the cup. The
rubber is too weak to pull the ball into the cup against gravity. What is the most elegant

* ‘If you do not take the answer too seriously and regard it only for amusement, I can explain it to you in the
following way: in the past it was thought that if all things were to disappear from the world, space and time
would remain. But following relativity theory, space and time would disappear together with the things.’
 150 5 how maximum speed changes space, time and gravit y

Challenge 214 s way to get the ball into the cup?

∗∗
Gravity has the same properties in the whole universe – except in the US patent office. In
2005, it awarded a patent, Nr. 6 960 975, for an antigravity device that works by distorting
space-time in such a way that gravity is ‘compensated’ (see patft.uspto.gov). Do you know
Challenge 215 s a simpler device?
∗∗
The radius of curvature of space-time at the Earth’s surface is 9.2 ⋅ 1015 m. Can you con-
Challenge 216 e firm this value?
∗∗
Challenge 217 s A piece of wood floats on water. Does it stick out more or less in a lift accelerating up-
wards?
∗∗

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Page 57 We saw in special relativity that if two twins are identically accelerated in the same di-
rection, with one twin some distance ahead of the other, then the twin ahead ages more
than the twin behind. Does this happen in a gravitational field as well? And what happens
Challenge 218 s when the field varies with height, as on Earth?
∗∗
A maximum force and a maximum power also imply a maximum flow of mass. Can you
Challenge 219 s show that no mass flow can exceed 1.1 ⋅ 1035 kg/s?

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

∗∗
The experiments of Figure 61 and 62 differ in one point: one happens in flat space, the
other in curved space. One seems to be related energy conservation, the other not. Do
Challenge 220 s these differences invalidate the equivalence of the observations?
∗∗
Challenge 221 s How can cosmonauts weigh themselves to check whether they are eating enough?
∗∗
Is a cosmonaut in orbit really floating freely? No. It turns out that space stations and satel-
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

lites are accelerated by several small effects. The important ones are the pressure of the
light from the Sun, the friction of the thin air, and the effects of solar wind. (Micromete-
orites can usually be neglected.) These three effects all lead to accelerations of the order
of 10−6 m/s2 to 10−8 m/s2 , depending on the height of the orbit. Can you estimate how
long it would take an apple floating in space to hit the wall of a space station, starting
Challenge 222 s from the middle? By the way, what is the magnitude of the tidal accelerations in this
situation?
∗∗
Vol. I, page 101 There is no negative mass in nature, as discussed in the beginning of our walk (even
 how maximum speed changes space, time and gravit y 151

antimatter has positive mass). This means that gravitation cannot be shielded, in contrast
to electromagnetic interactions. Since gravitation cannot be shielded, there is no way to
make a perfectly isolated system. But such systems form the basis of thermodynamics!
Vol. V, page 133 We will study the fascinating implications of this later on: for example, we will discover
an upper limit for the entropy of physical systems.
∗∗
Can curved space be used to travel faster than light? Imagine a space-time in which
two points could be connected either by a path leading through a flat portion, or by a
second path leading through a partially curved portion. Could that curved portion be
used to travel between the points faster than through the flat one? Mathematically, this
is possible; however, such a curved space would need to have a negative energy density.
Such a situation is incompatible with the definition of energy and with the non-existence
Ref. 139 of negative mass. The statement that this does not happen in nature is also called the weak
Challenge 223 ny energy condition. Is it implied by the limit on length-to-mass ratios?
∗∗

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

The statement of a length-to-mass limit L/M ⩾ 4G/c 2 invites experiments to try to over-
come it. Can you explain what happens when an observer moves so rapidly past a mass
Challenge 224 ny that the body’s length contraction reaches the limit?
∗∗
There is an important mathematical property of three-dimensional space ℝ3 that singles
it from all other dimensions. A closed (one-dimensional) curve can form knots only in
ℝ3 : in any higher dimension it can always be unknotted. (The existence of knots also ex-
plains why three is the smallest dimension that allows chaotic particle motion.) However,

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

general relativity does not say why space-time has three plus one dimensions. It is simply
based on the fact. This deep and difficult question will be settled only in the last part of
our mountain ascent.
∗∗
Henri Poincaré, who died in 1912, shortly before the general theory of relativity was fin-
ished, thought for a while that curved space was not a necessity, but only a possibility. He
imagined that one could continue using Euclidean space provided light was permitted
Challenge 225 s to follow curved paths. Can you explain why such a theory is impossible?
∗∗
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Can two hydrogen atoms circle each other, in their mutual gravitational field? What
Challenge 226 s would the size of this ‘molecule’ be?
∗∗
Challenge 227 s Can two light pulses circle each other, in their mutual gravitational field?
∗∗
The various motions of the Earth mentioned in the section on Galilean physics, such as
Vol. I, page 149 its rotation around its axis or around the Sun, lead to various types of time in physics
 152 5 how maximum speed changes space, time and gravit y

and astronomy. The time defined by the best atomic clocks is called terrestrial dynamical
time. By inserting leap seconds every now and then to compensate for the bad definition
Vol. I, page 414 of the second (an Earth rotation does not take 86 400, but 86 400.002 seconds) and, in
minor ways, for the slowing of Earth’s rotation, one gets the universal time coordinate or
UTC. Then there is the time derived from this one by taking into account all leap seconds.
One then has the – different – time which would be shown by a non-rotating clock in
the centre of the Earth. Finally, there is barycentric dynamical time, which is the time
Ref. 140 that would be shown by a clock in the centre of mass of the solar system. Only using
this latter time can satellites be reliably steered through the solar system. In summary,
relativity says goodbye to Greenwich Mean Time, as does British law, in one of the rare
cases where the law follows science. (Only the BBC continues to use it.)
∗∗
Space agencies thus have to use general relativity if they want to get artificial satellites to
Mars, Venus, or comets. Without its use, orbits would not be calculated correctly, and
satellites would miss their targets and usually even the whole planet. In fact, space agen-

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

cies play on the safe side: they use a generalization of general relativity, namely the so-
called parametrized post-Newtonian formalism, which includes a continuous check on
whether general relativity is correct. Within measurement errors, no deviation has been
found so far.*
∗∗
General relativity is also used by space agencies around the world to calculate the exact
Ref. 141 positions of satellites and to tune radios to the frequency of radio emitters on them.
In addition, general relativity is essential for the so-called global positioning system, or
GPS. This modern navigation tool** consists of 24 satellites equipped with clocks that

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

fly around the world. Why does the system need general relativity to operate? Since all
the satellites, as well as any person on the surface of the Earth, travel in circles, we have
dr = 0, and we can rewrite the Schwarzschild metric (135) as

dτ 2 2GM r 2 dφ 2 2GM 󰑣 2
󶀥 󶀵 =1− − 󶀥 󶀵 = 1 − − 2 . (145)
dt rc 2 c 2 dt rc 2 c

* To give an idea of what this means, the unparametrized post-Newtonian formalism, based on general
relativity, writes the equation of motion of a body of mass m near a large mass M as a deviation from the
inverse square expression for the acceleration a:
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

GM GM 󰑣 2 GM 󰑣 4 Gm 󰑣 5
a= 2
+ f2 2 2 + f4 2 4 + f5 2 5 + ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ (144)
r r c r c r c
Here the numerical factors fn are calculated from general relativity and are of order one. The first two odd
terms are missing because of the (approximate) reversibility of general relativistic motion: gravity wave
emission, which is irreversible, accounts for the small term f5 ; note that it contains the small mass m instead
of the large mass M. All factors fn up to f7 have now been calculated. However, in the solar system, only the
term f2 has ever been detected. This situation might change with future high-precision satellite experiments.
Page 175 Higher-order effects, up to f5 , have been measured in the binary pulsars, as discussed below.
In a parametrized post-Newtonian formalism, all factors fn , including the uneven ones, are fitted through
the data coming in; so far all these fits agree with the values predicted by general relativity.
** For more information, see the www.gpsworld.com website.
 how maximum speed changes space, time and gravit y 153

Challenge 228 e For the relation between satellite time and Earth time we then get
2
2GM 󰑣sat
dtsat 2 1− rsat c2
− c2
󶀥 󶀵 = 󰑣Earth
2 . (146)
dtEarth 1− 2GM
−
rEarth c2 c2

Can you deduce how many microseconds a satellite clock gains every day, given that the
Challenge 229 s GPS satellites orbit the Earth once every twelve hours? Since only three microseconds
would give a position error of one kilometre after a single day, the clocks in the satellites
Ref. 142 must be adjusted to run slow by the calculated amount. The necessary adjustments are
monitored, and so far have confirmed general relativity every single day, within experi-
mental errors, since the system began operation.
∗∗
General relativity is the base of the sport of geocaching, the world-wide treasure hunt
with the help of GPS receivers. See the www.terracaching.com and www.geocaching.com

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

websites for more details.
∗∗
Ref. 143 The gravitational constant G does not seem to change with time. The latest experiments
limit its rate of change to less than 1 part in 1012 per year. Can you imagine how this can
Challenge 230 d be checked?
∗∗
Could our experience that we live in only three spatial dimensions be due to a limitation

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Challenge 231 s of our senses? How?
∗∗
Challenge 232 s Can you estimate the effect of the tides on the colour of the light emitted by an atom?
∗∗
The strongest possible gravitational field is that of a small black hole. The strongest grav-
Ref. 144 itational field ever observed is somewhat less though. In 1998, Zhang and Lamb used the
X-ray data from a double star system to determine that space-time near the 10 km sized
neutron star is curved by up to 30 % of the maximum possible value. What is the corre-
sponding gravitational acceleration, assuming that the neutron star has the same mass
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Challenge 233 ny as the Sun?

∗∗
Ref. 145 Light deflection changes the angular size δ of a mass M with radius r when observed at
Challenge 234 e distance d. The effect leads to the pretty expression

r󵀄1 − RS /d 2GM
δ = arcsin 󶀦 󶀶 where RS = . (147)
d󵀄1 − RS /r c2
 154 5 how maximum speed changes space, time and gravit y

Challenge 235 ny What percentage of the surface of the Sun can an observer at infinity see? We will exam-
Page 267 ine this issue in more detail shortly.

What is weight?
There is no way for a single (and point-like) observer to distinguish the effects of grav-
ity from those of acceleration. This property of nature allows making a strange state-
ment: things fall because the surface of the Earth accelerates towards them. Therefore,
the weight of an object results from the surface of the Earth accelerating upwards and
pushing against the object. That is the principle of equivalence applied to everyday life.
For the same reason, objects in free fall have no weight.
Let us check the numbers. Obviously, an accelerating surface of the Earth produces
a weight for each body resting on it. This weight is proportional to the inertial mass. In
other words, the inertial mass of a body is identical to the gravitational mass. This is
Ref. 146 indeed observed in experiments, and to the highest precision achievable. Roland von
Eötvös* performed many such high-precision experiments throughout his life, without
finding any discrepancy. In these experiments, he used the fact that the inertial mass

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

determines centrifugal effects and the gravitational mass determines free fall. (Can you
Challenge 236 ny imagine how he tested the equality?) Recent experiments showed that the two masses
Ref. 146 agree to one part in 10−12 .
However, the mass equality is not a surprise. Remembering the definition of mass
Vol. I, page 97 ratio as negative inverse acceleration ratio, independently of the origin of the accelera-
tion, we are reminded that mass measurements cannot be used to distinguish between
inertial and gravitational mass. As we have seen, the two masses are equal by definition
Vol. I, page 189 in Galilean physics, and the whole discussion is a red herring. Weight is an intrinsic effect
of mass.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

The equality of acceleration and gravity allows us to imagine the following. Imagine
stepping into a lift in order to move down a few stories. You push the button. The lift is
pushed upwards by the accelerating surface of the Earth somewhat less than is the build-
ing; the building overtakes the lift, which therefore remains behind. Moreover, because
of the weaker push, at the beginning everybody inside the lift feels a bit lighter. When
the contact with the building is restored, the lift is accelerated to catch up with the accel-
erating surface of the Earth. Therefore we all feel as if we were in a strongly accelerating
car, pushed in the direction opposite to the acceleration: for a short while, we feel heavier,
until the lift arrives at its destination.

Why do apples fall?

free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

“ ”
Vires acquirit eundo.
Vergilius**

* Roland von Eötvös (b. 1848 Budapest, d. 1919 Budapest), physicist. He performed many high-precision
gravity experiments; among other discoveries, he discovered the effect named for him. The university of
Budapest bears his name.
** ‘Going it acquires strength.’ Publius Vergilius Maro (b. 70 bce Andes, d. 19 bce Brundisium), from the
Aeneid 4, 175.
 how maximum speed changes space, time and gravit y 155

An accelerating car will soon catch up with an object thrown forward from it. For the
same reason, the surface of the Earth soon catches up with a stone thrown upwards,
because it is continually accelerating upwards. If you enjoy this way of seeing things,
imagine an apple falling from a tree. At the moment when it detaches, it stops being
accelerated upwards by the branch. The apple can now enjoy the calmness of real rest.
Because of our limited human perception, we call this state of rest free fall. Unfortunately,
the accelerating surface of the Earth approaches mercilessly and, depending on the time
for which the apple stayed at rest, the Earth hits it with a greater or lesser velocity, leading
to more or less severe shape deformation.
Falling apples also teach us not to be disturbed any more by the statement that gravity
is the uneven running of clocks with height. In fact, this statement is equivalent to saying
that the surface of the Earth is accelerating upwards, as the discussion above shows.
Can this reasoning be continued indefinitely? We can go on for quite a while. It is
fun to show how the Earth can be of constant radius even though its surface is acceler-
Challenge 237 ny ating upwards everywhere. We can thus play with the equivalence of acceleration and
gravity. However, this equivalence is only useful in situations involving only one acceler-

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

ating body. The equivalence between acceleration and gravity ends as soon as two falling
objects are studied. Any study of several bodies inevitably leads to the conclusion that
gravity is not acceleration; gravity is curved space-time.
Many aspects of gravity and curvature can be understood with no or only a little math-
ematics. The next section will highlight some of the differences between universal gravity
and general relativity, showing that only the latter description agrees with experiment.
After that, a few concepts relating to the measurement of curvature are introduced and
applied to the motion of objects and space-time. If the reasoning gets too involved for a
first reading, skip ahead. In any case, the section on the stars, cosmology and black holes
again uses little mathematics.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

A summary: the implications of the invariant speed of light on
gravitation
In situations with gravity, time depends on height. The invariance of the speed of light
implies that space and space-time are curved in all regions where gravity plays a role.
Curvature of space can be visualized by threading space with lines of equal distance or
by imagining space as a mattress. In situations with gravity, these lines are curved. Masses
thus curve space, especially large ones. Curved space influences and determines the mo-
tion of test masses and of light.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net
 Chapter 6

OPEN OR BI T S, BENT LIGHT AND

WOBBLI NG VAC UUM

“
Einstein explained his theory to me every day,
and on my arrival I was fully convinced that he

”
understood it.
Ref. 147 Chaim Weizmann, first president of Israel.

B
efore we tackle the details of general relativity, we explore the differences

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

etween the motion of objects in general relativity and in universal gravity,
ecause the two descriptions lead to measurable differences. Since the invariance
of the speed of light implies that space is curved near masses, we first of all have to check
whether this curvature is indeed observed. After that, we explore how curvature is mea-
sured and how curvature measurements help to describe motion with precision.

Weak fields
Gravity is strong near horizons. This happens when the mass M and the distance scale
R obey

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

2GM
≈1. (148)
Rc 2
Therefore, gravity is strong mainly in three situations: near black holes, near the horizon
of the universe, and at extremely high particle energies. The first two cases are explored
below, while the last will be explored in the final part of our mountain ascent. In contrast,
in most regions of the universe, including our own planet and our solar system, there are
no nearby horizons; in these cases, gravity is a weak effect.
Despite the violence of avalanches or of falling asteroids, in everyday life gravity is
much weaker than the maximum force. On the Earth the ratio just mentioned is only
about 10−9 . In all cases of everyday life, gravitation can still be approximated by a field,
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

i.e., with a potential in flat space-time, despite what was said above. These weak field
situations are interesting because they are simple to understand; they mainly require for
their explanation the different running of clocks at different heights. Weak field situations
allow us to mention space-time curvature only in passing, and allow us to continue to
think of gravity as a source of acceleration. Nevertheless, the change of time with height
already induces many new and interesting effects that do not occur in universal gravity.
To explore them, the only thing we need is a consistent relativistic treatment.
 open orbits, bent light and wobbling vacuum 157

b
m

y
light
beam
x

F I G U R E 67 Calculating the bending of light by a mass.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Bending of light and radio waves
Gravity influences the motion of light. In particular, gravity bends light beams. The de-
Page 140 tection of the bending of light beams by the Sun made Einstein famous. This happened
because the measured value differed from the one predicted by universal gravitation and
confirmed that of general relativity which takes into account the curvature of space.
The bending of light by a mass is, in the vocabulary defined below, a pure gravito-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

electric effect, and thus is easy to calculate. The bending of light is observed because any
distant observer measures a changing value for the effective light speed 󰑣 near a mass.
(Measured at a location nearby, the speed of light is of course always c.) It turns out that
a distant observer measures a lower speed, so that for him, gravity has the same effects
as a dense optical medium. It takes only a little bit of imagination to see that this effect
will thus increase the bending of light near masses already deduced in 1801 by Soldner
from universal gravity. In short, relativistic light bending differs from non-relativistic
light bending.
Let us calculate the bending angle. As usual, we use the coordinate system of flat space-
time at spatial infinity, shown in Figure 67. The idea is to do all calculations to first order,
as the value of the bending is very small. The angle of deflection α, to first order, is simply
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Ref. 166

∞
∂󰑣
α=󵐐 dy , (149)
−∞ ∂x

Challenge 238 e where 󰑣 is the speed of light measured by a distant observer. (Can you confirm this?) The
next step is to use the Schwarzschild metric

2GM dr 2 r2 2
dτ 2 = 󶀤1 − 󶀴 dt 2
− − dφ (150)
rc 2 c 2 − 2GMr
c2
 158 6 motion in general rel ativit y

Challenge 239 ny and transform it into (x, y) coordinates to first order. This gives

2GM 2GM 1
dτ 2 = 󶀤1 − 2
󶀴 dt 2 − 󶀤1 + 󶀴 (dx 2 + dy 2 ) (151)
rc rc 2 c 2
which again to first order leads to

∂󰑣 2GM
= 󶀤1 − 󶀴c . (152)
∂x rc 2

This confirms what we know already, namely that distant observers see light slowed down
when passing near a mass. Thus we can also speak of a height-dependent index of refrac-
tion. In other words, constant local light speed leads to a global slowdown.
Challenge 240 ny Inserting the last result into expression (149) and using a clever substitution, we get a
deviation angle α given by
4GM 1
α= (153)
c2 b

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

where the distance b is the so-called impact parameter of the approaching light beam. The
resulting deviation angle α is twice the result we and Soldner found for universal gravity.
Vol. I, page 188 For a beam just above the surface of the Sun, the result is the famous value of 1.75 󳰀󳰀
which was confirmed by the measurement expedition of 1919. (How did they measure
Challenge 241 s the deviation angle?) This was the experiment that made Einstein famous, as it showed
that universal gravity is wrong. In fact, Einstein was lucky. Two earlier expeditions orga-
nized to measure the value had failed. In 1912, it was impossible to take data because of
rain, and in 1914 in Crimea, scientists were arrested (by mistake) as spies, because the

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Ref. 167 First World War had just begun. But in 1911, Einstein had already published an incorrect
calculation, giving only the Soldner value with half the correct size; only in 1915, when
Vol. I, page 188 he completed general relativity, did he find the correct result. Therefore Einstein became
famous only because of the failure of the two expeditions that took place before he pub-
lished his correct calculation.
For high-precision experiments around the Sun, it is more effective to measure the
bending of radio waves, as they encounter fewer problems when they propagate through
the solar corona. So far, over a dozen independent experiments have done so, using ra-
Ref. 141, Ref. 118 dio sources in the sky which lie on the path of the Sun. They have confirmed general
Ref. 119 relativity’s prediction within a few per cent.
The bending of radiation has also been observed near Jupiter, near certain stars, near
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Page 243 several galaxies and near galaxy clusters. For the Earth, the angle is at most 3 nrad, too
small to be measured yet, even though this may be feasible in the near future. There is
a chance to detect this value if, as Andrew Gould proposes, the data of the satellite Hip-
parcos, which was taking precision pictures of the night sky for many years, are analysed
properly in the future.
Page 183 Of course, the bending of light also confirms that in a triangle, the sum of the angles
does not add up to π (two right angles), as is predicted for curved space. (What is the
Challenge 242 ny sign of the curvature?)
 open orbits, bent light and wobbling vacuum 159

Time delay
The calculation of the bending of light near masses shows that for a distant observer,
light is slowed down near a mass. Constant local light speed leads to a global light speed
slowdown. If light were not slowed down near a mass, it would have to go faster than c
Ref. 168 for an observer near the mass!* In 1964, Irwin Shapiro had the idea to measure this effect.
He proposed two methods. The first was to send radar pulses to Venus, and measure the
time taken for the reflection to get back to Earth. If the signals pass near the Sun, they
will be delayed. The second was to use an artificial satellite communicating with Earth.
Ref. 169 The first measurement was published in 1968, and directly confirmed the prediction of
general relativity within experimental errors. All subsequent tests of the same type, such
as the one shown in Figure 68, have also confirmed the prediction within experimental
errors, which nowadays are of the order of one part in a thousand. The delay has also
Ref. 170 been measured in binary pulsars, as there are a few such systems in the sky for which the
line of sight lies almost precisely in the orbital plane.
In short, relativistic gravitation is also confirmed by time delay measurements; univer-
sal gravitation predicts no such effect. The simple calculations presented here suggest a

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

challenge: Is it also possible to describe full general relativity – thus gravitation in strong
fields – as a change of the speed of light with position and time induced by mass and
Challenge 244 ny energy?

Relativistic effects on orbits

Astronomy allows the most precise measurements of motions known. This is especially
valid for planet motion. So, Einstein first of all tried to apply his results on relativistic
gravitation to the motion of planets. He looked for deviations of their motions from the
predictions of universal gravity. Einstein found such a deviation: the precession of the per-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

ihelion of Mercury. The effect is shown in Figure 69. Einstein said later that the moment
he found out that his calculation for the precession of Mercury matched observations
was one of the happiest moments of his life.
The calculation is not difficult. In universal gravity, orbits are calculated by setting
agrav = acentri , in other words, by setting GM/r 2 = ω2 r and fixing energy and angular
momentum. The mass of the orbiting satellite does not appear explicitly.
In general relativity, the mass of the orbiting satellite is made to disappear by rescaling
Ref. 118, Ref. 119 energy and angular momentum as e = E/c 2 m and j = J/m. Next, the space curvature
Page 142 needs to be included. We use the Schwarzschild metric (150) mentioned above to de-
duce that the initial condition for the energy e, together with its conservation, leads to a
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Challenge 245 e relation between proper time τ and time t at infinity:

dt e
= , (154)
dτ 1 − 2GM/rc 2

whereas the initial condition on the angular momentum j and its conservation imply
* A nice exercise is to show that the bending of a slow particle gives the Soldner value, whereas with increas-
Challenge 243 e ing speed, the value of the bending approaches twice that value. In all these considerations, the rotation
of the mass has been neglected. As the effect of frame dragging shows, rotation also changes the deviation
angle; however, in all cases studied so far, the influence is below the detection threshold.
 160 6 motion in general rel ativit y

10 May 1970
Earth orbit
31 March 1970 periastron
(e.g. perihelion,
Sun Mariner 6 perigee)
a: semimajor
orbit
axis
a

240
Time delay (μs)

180

120

60

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
1970
F I G U R E 68 Time delay in radio signals – one of F I G U R E 69 The orbit around a central body in
the experiments by Irwin Shapiro. general relativity.

that
dφ j
= 2 . (155)
dτ r

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

These relations are valid for any particle, whatever its mass m. Inserting all this into the
Schwarzschild metric, we find that the motion of a particle follows

dr 2
󶀥 󶀵 + V 2 ( j, r) = e 2 (156)
cdτ

where the effective potential V is given by

2GM j2
V 2 (J , r) = 󶀤1 − 󶀴 󶀦1 + 󶀶 . (157)
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

rc 2 r2 c2

Challenge 246 e The expression differs slightly from the one in universal gravity, as you might want to
Challenge 247 e check. We now need to solve for r(φ). For circular orbits we get two possibilities

6GM/c 2
r± = (158)
1 ± 󵀆1 − 12( GM
cj
)2

where the minus sign gives a stable and the plus sign an unstable orbit. If c j/GM < 2󵀂3 ,
 open orbits, bent light and wobbling vacuum 161

no stable orbit exists; the object will impact the surface or, for a black hole, be swallowed.
There is a stable circular orbit only if the angular momentum j is larger than 2󵀂3 GM/c.
We thus find that in general relativity, in contrast to universal gravity, there is a smallest
stable circular orbit. The radius of this smallest stable circular orbit is 6GM/c 2 = 3RS .
What is the situation for elliptical orbits? Setting u = 1/r in (156) and differentiating,
the equation for u(φ) becomes

GM 3GM 2
u󳰀 + u = + 2 u . (159)
j2 c

Without the nonlinear correction due to general relativity on the far right, the solutions
Challenge 248 e are the famous conic sections

GM
u0 (φ) = (1 + ε cos φ) , (160)
j2

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

i.e., ellipses, parabolas or hyperbolas. The type of conic section depends on the value
of the parameter ε, the so-called eccentricity. We know the shapes of these curves from
Vol. I, page 181 universal gravity. Now, general relativity introduces the nonlinear term on the right-hand
side of equation (159). Thus the solutions are not conic sections any more; however, as
Challenge 249 e the correction is small, a good approximation is given by

GM 3G 2 M 2
u1 (φ) = 󶀦1 + ε cos(φ − φ)󶀶 . (161)
j2 j2 c2

The hyperbolas and parabolas of universal gravity are thus slightly deformed. Instead of

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

elliptical orbits we get the famous rosetta path shown in Figure 69. Such a path is above
all characterized by a periastron shift. The periastron, or perihelion in the case of the Sun,
is the nearest point to the central body reached by an orbiting body. The periastron turns
Challenge 250 e around the central body by an angle

GM
α ≈ 6π (162)
a(1 − ε 2 )c 2

for every orbit, where a is the semimajor axis. For Mercury, the value is 43 󳰀󳰀 per century.
Around 1900, this was the only known effect that was unexplained by universal gravity;
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

when Einstein’s calculation led him to exactly that value, he was overflowing with joy for
many days.
To be sure about the equality between calculation and experiment, all other effects
leading to rosetta paths must be eliminated. For some time, it was thought that the
quadrupole moment of the Sun could be an alternative source of this effect; later mea-
surements ruled out this possibility.
In the meantime, the perihelion shift has been measured also for the orbits of Icarus,
Venus and Mars around the Sun, as well as for several binary star systems. In binary pul-
Ref. 170 sars, the periastron shift can be as large as several degrees per year. In all cases, expression
(162) describes the motion within experimental errors.
 162 6 motion in general rel ativit y

geodesic
precession
Earth
start
Lense– S
after one
Thirring
orbit
precession

F I G U R E 70 The geodesic
effect.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

We note that even the rosetta orbit itself is not really stable, due to the emission of
gravitational waves. But in the solar system, the power lost this way is completely negli-
Page 174 gible even over thousands of millions of years, as we saw above, so that the rosetta path
remains a good description of observations.

The geodesic effect

Relativistic gravitation has a further effect on orbiting bodies, predicted in 1916 by
Willem de Sitter.* When a pointed body orbits a central mass m at distance r, the di-
rection of the tip will change after a full orbit. This effect, shown in Figure 70, exists only

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

in general relativity. The angle α describing the direction change after one orbit is given
by
3Gm 3πGm
α = 2π 󶀦1 − 󵀊1 − 󶀶≈ . (163)
rc 2 rc 2

This angle change is called the geodesic effect – ‘geodetic’ in other languages. It is a further
consequence of the split into gravitoelectric and gravitomagnetic fields, as you may want
Challenge 251 e to show. Obviously, it does not exist in universal gravity.
In cases where the pointing of the orbiting body is realized by an intrinsic rotation,
such as a spinning satellite, the geodesic effect produces a geodesic precession of the axis.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Thus the effect is comparable to spin–orbit coupling in atomic theory. (The Thirring–
Lense effect mentioned below is analogous to spin–spin coupling.)
When Willem de Sitter predicted the geodesic effect, or geodesic precession, he pro-
posed detecting that the Earth–Moon system would change its pointing direction in its
fall around the Sun. The effect is tiny; for the axis of the Moon the precession angle is
Ref. 172 about 0.019 arcsec per year. The effect was first measured in 1987 by an Italian team for the
Earth–Moon system, through a combination of radio-interferometry and lunar ranging,
making use of the Cat’s-eyes, shown in Figure 71, deposited by Lunokhod and Apollo on

* Willem de Sitter (b. 1872 Sneek, d. 1934 Leiden) was mathematician, physicist and astronomer.
open orbits, bent light and wobbling vacuum 163

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

F I G U R E 71 The lunar retroreflectors deposited by Apollo 11 (top right), the two Lunokhods (right),
Apollo 14 (bottom right) and Apollo 15 (bottom left), their locations on the Moon (top left) and a
telescope performing a laser distance measurement (© NASA, Wikimedia, Observatoire de la Côte
d’Azur).
 164 6 motion in general rel ativit y

Thirring effect

universal gravity prediction relativistic prediction

Moon a
m

Earth M

universe or mass shell

Thirring–Lense effect
universal gravity prediction relativistic prediction

Foucault's pendulum

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

or
orbiting satellite

Earth
Earth
universe or mass shell F I G U R E 72 The Thirring and
the Thirring–Lense effects.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

the Moon. Experiments to detect the geodesic effect in artificial satellites are also under
way.
At first sight, geodesic precession is similar to the Thomas precession found in special
Page 61 relativity. In both cases, a transport along a closed line results in the loss of the original
direction. However, a careful investigation shows that Thomas precession can be added
to geodesic precession by applying some additional, non-gravitational interaction, so the
analogy is shaky.

The Thirring effects

In 1918, the Austrian physicist Hans Thirring published two new, simple and beautiful
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

predictions of motions, one of them with his collaborator Josef Lense. Neither motion
Ref. 148 appears in universal gravity, but they both appear in general relativity. Figure 72 illus-
trates these predictions.
The first example, nowadays called the Thirring effect, predicts centrifugal acceler-
ations and Coriolis accelerations for masses in the interior of a rotating mass shell.
Thirring showed that if an enclosing mass shell rotates, masses inside it are attracted
towards the shell. The effect is very small; however, this prediction is in stark contrast to
that of universal gravity, where a spherical mass shell – rotating or not – has no effect at
all on masses in its interior. Can you explain this effect using the figure and the mattress
Challenge 252 e analogy?
 open orbits, bent light and wobbling vacuum 165

F I G U R E 73 The LAGEOS satellites: metal spheres with a

diameter of 60 cm, a mass of 407 kg, and covered with 426
retroreflectors (courtesy NASA).

The second effect, the Thirring–Lense effect,* is more famous. General relativity pre-
dicts that an oscillating Foucault pendulum, or a satellite circling the Earth in a polar
orbit, does not stay precisely in a fixed plane relative to the rest of the universe, but that

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

the rotation of the Earth drags the plane along a tiny bit. This frame-dragging, as the ef-
fect is also called, appears because the Earth in vacuum behaves like a rotating ball in a
foamy mattress. When a ball or a shell rotates inside the foam, it partly drags the foam
along with it. Similarly, the Earth drags some vacuum with it, and thus turns the plane
of the pendulum. For the same reason, the Earth’s rotation turns the plane of an orbiting
satellite.
The Thirring–Lense or frame-dragging effect is extremely small. It might be that it
was measured for the first time in 1998 by an Italian group led by Ignazio Ciufolini, and
then again by the same group in the years up to 2004. The group followed the motion of
two special artificial satellites – shown in Figure 73 – consisting only of a body of steel

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

and some Cat’s-eyes. The group measured the satellite’s motion around the Earth with
Ref. 149 extremely high precision, making use of reflected laser pulses. This method allowed this
experiment to be comparatively cheap and quick. Unfortunately, the size of the system-
Ref. 150 atic effects and other reasons imply that the published results cannot be trusted.
So far, only one other group tried the experiment around Earth. The satellite for the
so-called Gravity Probe B experiment was put in orbit in 2005, after over 30 years of
Ref. 151 planning. These satellites were extremely involved and were carrying rapidly rotating
superconducting spheres. Despite several broken systems, in 2009 the experiment con-
firmed the existence of frame dragging around Earth. The evaluation confirmed the pre-
dictions of general relativity within about 25 %.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

In the meantime, frame dragging effects have also been measured in various other
astronomical systems. The best confirmations have come from pulsars. Pulsars send out
regular radio pulses, e.g. every millisecond, with extremely high precision. By measuring
the exact times when the pulses arrive on Earth, one can deduce the details of the motion
Ref. 152 of these stars and confirm that such subtle effects as frame dragging do indeed take place.

* Even though the order of the authors is Lense and Thirring, it is customary (but not universal) to stress
the idea of Hans Thirring by placing him first.
 166 6 motion in general rel ativit y

Gravitomagnetism*
Frame-dragging, the geodesic effect and the Thirring effects can be seen as special cases
of gravitomagnetism. (We will show the connection below.) This approach to gravity was
already studied in the nineteenth century by Holzmüller and by Tisserand, long before
Ref. 153 general relativity was discovered. The approach has become popular again in recent years
because it is simple to understand. As mentioned above, talking about a gravitational
field is always an approximation. In the case of weak gravity, such as occurs in everyday
life, the approximation is very good. Many relativistic effects can be described in terms
of the gravitational field, without using the concept of space curvature or the metric ten-
sor. Instead of describing the complete space-time mattress, the gravitational-field model
only describes the deviation of the mattress from the flat state, by pretending that the de-
viation is a separate entity, called the gravitational field. But what is the relativistically
correct way to describe the gravitational field?
We can compare the situation to electromagnetism. In a relativistic description of elec-
Vol. III, page 49 trodynamics, the electromagnetic field has an electric and a magnetic component. The
electric field is responsible for the inverse-square Coulomb force. In the same way, in a

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

relativistic description of (weak) gravity,** the gravitational field has an gravitoelectric
and a gravitomagnetic component. The gravitoelectric field is responsible for the inverse
square acceleration of gravity; what we call the gravitational field in everyday life is sim-
Ref. 154, Ref. 155 ply the gravitoelectric part of the full relativistic (weak) gravitational field.
What is the gravitomagnetic field? In electrodynamics, electric charge produces an
electric field, and a moving charge, i.e., a current, produces a magnetic field. Simi-
larly, in relativistic weak-field gravitation, mass–energy produces the gravitoelectric field,
and moving mass–energy produces the gravitomagnetic field. In other words, frame-
dragging is due to a gravitomagnetic effect and is due to mass currents.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

In the case of electromagnetism, the distinction between magnetic and electric field
depends on the observer; each of the two can (partly) be transformed into the other. The
Ref. 154 same happens in the case of gravitation. Electromagnetism provides a good indication
as to how the two types of gravitational fields behave; this intuition can be directly trans-
Vol. III, page 46 ferred to gravity. In electrodynamics, the motion x(t) of a charged particle is described
by the Lorentz equation
m ẍ = qE + q ẋ × B . (164)

In other words, the change of speed is due to electric field E, whereas the magnetic field
B produces a velocity-dependent change of the direction of velocity, without changing
the speed itself. Both changes depend on the value of the electric charge q. In the case of
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

gravity this expression becomes

m ẍ = mG + m ẋ × H . (165)

The role of charge is taken by mass. The role of the electric field is taken by the gravito-
electric field G – which we simply call gravitational field in everyday life – and the role

* This section can be skipped at first reading.

** The approximation requires low velocities, weak fields, and localized and stationary mass–energy distri-
butions.
 open orbits, bent light and wobbling vacuum 167

m particle

free
fall

M rod
󰑣
F I G U R E 74 The reality of gravitomagnetism.

of the magnetic field is taken by the gravitomagnetic field H. In this expression for the

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

motion we already know the gravitoelectric field G; it is given by

GM GMx
G = ∇φ = ∇ =− 3 . (166)
r r
As usual, the quantity φ is the (scalar) potential. The field G is the usual gravitational field
of universal gravity, produced by every mass, and has the dimension of an acceleration.
Masses are the sources of the gravitoelectric field. The gravitoelectric field obeys ∇G =
−4πG ρ, where ρ is the mass density. A static field G has no vortices; it obeys ∇ × G = 0.
It is not hard to show that if gravitoelectric fields exist, relativity requires that grav-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Ref. 156 itomagnetic fields must exist as well. The latter appear whenever we change from an ob-
server at rest to a moving one. (We will use the same argument in electrodynamics.)
Vol. III, page 49 A particle falling perpendicularly towards an infinitely long rod illustrates the point, as
shown in Figure 74. An observer at rest with respect to the rod can describe the whole
situation with gravitoelectric forces alone. A second observer, moving along the rod with
constant speed, observes that the momentum of the particle along the rod also increases.
This observer will thus not only measure a gravitoelectric field; he also measures a gravit-
omagnetic field. Indeed, a mass moving with velocity 󰑣 produces a gravitomagnetic (3-)
acceleration on a test mass m given by
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ma = m󰑣 × H (167)

Challenge 253 ny where, almost as in electrodynamics, the static gravitomagnetic field H obeys

H = 16πN ρ󰑣 (168)

where ρ is mass density of the source of the field and N is a proportionality constant.
In nature, there are no sources for the gravitomagnetic field; it thus obeys ∇H = 0. The
gravitomagnetic field has dimension of inverse time, like an angular velocity.
Challenge 254 ny When the situation in Figure 74 is evaluated, we find that the proportionality constant
 168 6 motion in general rel ativit y

N is given by
G
N= 2
= 7.4 ⋅ 10−28 m/kg , (169)
c
an extremely small value. We thus find that as in the electrodynamic case, the gravito-
magnetic field is weaker than the gravitoelectric field by a factor of c 2 . It is thus hard to
observe. In addition, a second aspect renders the observation of gravitomagnetism even
more difficult. In contrast to electromagnetism, in the case of gravity there is no way to
Challenge 255 s observe pure gravitomagnetic fields (why?); they are always mixed with the usual, grav-
itoelectric ones. For these reasons, gravitomagnetic effects were measured for the first
time only in the 1990s. In other words, universal gravity is the weak-field approximation
of general relativity that arises when all gravitomagnetic effects are neglected.
In summary, if a mass moves, it also produces a gravitomagnetic field. How can we
imagine gravitomagnetism? Let’s have a look at its effects. The experiment of Figure 74
showed that a moving rod has the effect to slightly accelerate a test mass in the same
direction as its motion. In our metaphor of the vacuum as a mattress, it looks as if a
moving rod drags the vacuum along with it, as well as any test mass that happens to be

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

in that region. Gravitomagnetism appears as vacuum dragging. Because of a widespread
reluctance to think of the vacuum as a mattress, the expression frame dragging is used
instead.
In this description, all frame dragging effects are gravitomagnetic effects. In particular,
a gravitomagnetic field also appears when a large mass rotates, as in the Thirring–Lense
effect of Figure 72. For an angular momentum J the gravitomagnetic field H is a dipole
field; it is given by
J×x
H = ∇ × 󶀤−2 3 󶀴 (170)
r

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

exactly as in the electrodynamic case. The gravitomagnetic field around a spinning mass
has three main effects.
First of all, as in electromagnetism, a spinning test particle with angular momentum
S feels a torque if it is near a large spinning mass with angular momentum J. This torque
T is given by
dS 1
T= = 2S×H . (171)
dt
The torque leads to the mentioned precession of gyroscopes or geodesic precession. For the
Earth, this effect is extremely small: at the North Pole, the precession has a conic angle
of 0.6 milli-arcseconds and a rotation rate of the order of 10−10 times that of the Earth.
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A second effect of gravitomagnetism is the following. Since for a torque we have T =

Ω̇ × S, the dipole field of a large rotating mass with angular momentum J has an effect
on orbiting masses. An orbiting mass will experience precession of its orbital plane. Seen
Challenge 256 ny from infinity we get, for an orbit with semimajor axis a and eccentricity e,

̇ = − H = − G J + G 3(J x)x = G
Ω
2J
(172)
2 c |x|
2 3 c |x|
2 5 c a (1 − e 2 )3/2
2 3
 open orbits, bent light and wobbling vacuum 169

F I G U R E 75 A Gedanken
experiment showing the
necessity of gravity waves.

which is the prediction of Lense and Thirring.* The effect – analogous to spin–spin cou-
pling in atoms – is extremely small, giving an angle change of only 8 󳰀󳰀 per orbit for a satel-
lite near the surface of the Earth. This explains the difficulties and controversies around
such Earth-bound experiments. As mentioned above, the effect is much larger in pulsar
systems.
As a third effect of gravitomagnetism, not mentioned yet, a rotating mass leads to an

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

additional precession of the periastron. This is a similar effect to the one produced by space
curvature on orbiting masses even if the central body does not rotate. The rotation just
reduces the precession due to space-time curvature. This effect has been fully confirmed
for the famous binary pulsar PSR 1913+16, discovered in 1974, as well as for the ‘real’ double
pulsar PSR J0737-3039, discovered in 2003. This latter system shows a periastron precession
Ref. 157 of 16.9°/a, the largest value observed so far.
The split into gravitoelectric and gravitomagnetic effects is thus a useful approxima-
tion to the description of gravity. The split also helps to answer questions such as: How
can gravity keep the Earth orbiting around the Sun, if gravity needs 8 minutes to get

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Challenge 258 s from the Sun to us? Above all, the split of the gravitational field into gravitoelectric and
gravitomagnetic components allows a simple description of gravitational waves.

Gravitational waves
One of the most fantastic predictions of physics is the existence of gravitational waves.
Gravity waves** prove that empty space itself has the ability to move and vibrate. The
basic idea is simple. Since space is elastic, like a large mattress in which we live, space
should be able to oscillate in the form of propagating waves, like a mattress or any other
elastic medium.
Starting from the existence of a maximum energy speed, Jørgen Kalckar and Ole Ulf-
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Ref. 158 beck have given a simple argument for the necessity of gravitational waves. They studied
two equal masses falling towards each other under the effect of gravitational attraction,
and imagined a spring between them. The situation is illustrated in Figure 75. Such a
spring will make the masses bounce towards each other again and again. The central
spring stores the kinetic energy from the falling masses. The energy value can be mea-

Challenge 257 ny * A homogeneous spinning sphere has an angular momentum given by J = 25 MωR2 .
** To be strict, the term ‘gravity wave’ has a special meaning: gravity waves are the surface waves of the sea,
where gravity is the restoring force. However, in general relativity, the term is used interchangeably with
‘gravitational wave’.
170 6 motion in general rel ativit y

TA B L E 4 The predicted spectrum of gravitational waves.

Frequency Wa v e l e n g t h N a m e Expected
appearance

< 10−4 Hz > 3 Tm extremely low slow binary star systems,

frequencies supermassive black holes
10−4 Hz–10−1 Hz 3 Tm–3 Gm very low frequencies
fast binary star systems,
massive black holes, white
dwarf vibrations
10−1 Hz–102 Hz 3 Gm–3 Mm low frequencies binary pulsars, medium and
light black holes
102 Hz–105 Hz 3 Mm–3 km medium frequencies supernovae, pulsar
vibrations
105 Hz–108 Hz 3 km–3 m high frequencies unknown; maybe future
human-made sources
> 108 Hz < 3m maybe unknown
cosmological sources

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

sured by determining the length by which the spring is compressed. When the spring ex-
pands again and hurls the masses back into space, the gravitational attraction will grad-
ually slow down the masses, until they again fall towards each other, thus starting the
same cycle again.
However, the energy stored in the spring must get smaller with each cycle. Whenever
a sphere detaches from the spring, it is decelerated by the gravitational pull of the other
sphere. Now, the value of this deceleration depends on the distance to the other mass;

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

but since there is a maximal propagation velocity, the effective deceleration is given by
the distance the other mass had when its gravity effect started out towards the second
mass. For two masses departing from each other, the effective distance is thus somewhat
smaller than the actual distance. In short, while departing, the real deceleration is larger
than the one calculated without taking the time delay into account.
Similarly, when one mass falls back towards the other, it is accelerated by the other
mass according to the distance it had when the gravity effect started moving towards it.
Therefore, while approaching, the acceleration is smaller than the one calculated without
time delay.
Therefore, the masses arrive with a smaller energy than they departed with. At every
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bounce, the spring is compressed a little less. The difference between these two energies
is lost by each mass: the energy is taken away by space-time. In other words, the energy
difference is radiated away as gravitational radiation. The same thing happens with mat-
tresses. Remember that a mass deforms the space around it as a metal ball on a mattress
deforms the surface around it. (However, in contrast to actual mattresses, there is no fric-
tion between the ball and the mattress.) If two metal balls repeatedly bang against each
other and then depart again, until they come back together, they will send out surface
waves on the mattress. Over time, this effect will reduce the distance that the two balls
depart from each other after each bang. As we will see shortly, a similar effect has already
been measured; the two masses, instead of being repelled by a spring, were orbiting each
 open orbits, bent light and wobbling vacuum 171

other.
A simple mathematical description of gravity waves follows from the split into gravit-
Ref. 159 omagnetic and gravitoelectric effects. It does not take much effort to extend gravitomag-
netostatics and gravitoelectrostatics to gravitodynamics. Just as electrodynamics can be
deduced from Coulomb’s attraction by boosting to all possible inertial observers, gravi-
Challenge 259 ny todynamics can be deduced from universal gravity by boosting to other observers. One
gets the four equations

1 ∂H
∇⋅G = −4πG ρ , ∇×G = −
4 ∂t
N ∂G
∇⋅H = 0 , ∇ × H = −16πN ρ󰑣 + 4 . (173)
G ∂t
We have met two of these equations already. The two other equations are expanded ver-
sions of what we have encountered, taking time-dependence into account. Except for the
various factors of 4, the equations for gravitodynamics are the same as Maxwell’s equa-

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

tions for electrodynamics. The additional factors of 4 appear because the ratio between
angular momentum and energy (the ‘spin’) of gravity waves is different from that of elec-
tromagnetic waves. Gravity waves have spin 2, whereas electromagnetic waves have spin
1. It is worth recalling that the spin of radiation is a classical property. The spin of a wave
is the ratio E/Lω, where E is the energy, L the angular momentum, and ω is the angular
frequency. For electromagnetic waves, this ratio is equal to 1; for gravitational waves, it
is 2.
Note that since gravity is universal, there can exist only a single kind of spin 2 radiation
particle in nature. This is in strong contrast to the spin 1 case, of which there are several
examples in nature.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

The equations of gravitodynamics must be complemented by the definition of the
fields through the acceleration they produce:

m ẍ = mG + m ẋ × H . (174)

Definitions with different numerical factors are also common and then lead to different
numerical factors in the equations of gravitodynamics.
The equations of gravitodynamics have a simple property: in vacuum, we can deduce
from them a wave equation for the gravitoelectric and the gravitomagnetic fields G and H.
Challenge 260 ny (It is not hard: try!) In other words, gravity can behave like a wave: gravity can radiate. All
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

this follows from the expression of universal gravity when applied to moving observers,
with the requirement that neither observers nor energy can move faster than c. Both the
above argument involving the spring and the present mathematical argument use the
same assumptions and arrive at the same conclusion.
Challenge 261 e A few manipulations show that the speed of gravitational waves is given by

G
c=󵀊 . (175)
N
 172 6 motion in general rel ativit y

No wave Four gravitational waves, all moving perpendicularly to the page

(all times)
t1 t2 t3 t4 t5

test
body

linear polarization in + direction

linear polarization in x direction

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

circular polarization in R sense

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

circular polarization in L sense

F I G U R E 76 Effects on a circular or spherical body due to a plane gravitational wave moving in a

direction perpendicular to the page.

Vol. III, page 103 This result corresponds to the electromagnetic expression

1
c= . (176)
󵀂ε0 μ0
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The same letter has been used for the two speeds, as they are identical. Both influences
travel with the speed common to all energy with vanishing rest mass. We note that this
is, strictly speaking, a prediction: the speed of gravitational waves has not yet been mea-
Ref. 160 sured, despite claims to the contrary.
Ref. 161 How should we imagine gravitational waves? We sloppily said above that a gravita-
tional wave corresponds to a surface wave of a mattress; now we have to do better and
imagine that we live inside the mattress. Gravitational waves are thus moving and oscil-
lating deformations of the mattress, i.e., of space. Like (certain) mattress waves, it turns
out that gravity waves are transverse. Thus they can be polarized. In fact, gravity waves
 open orbits, bent light and wobbling vacuum 173

can be polarized in two ways. The effects of a gravitational wave are shown in Figure 76,
for both linear and circular polarization.* We note that the waves are invariant under
a rotation by π and that the two linear polarizations differ by an angle π/4; this shows
that the particles corresponding to the waves, the gravitons, are of spin 2. (In general,
the classical radiation field for a spin S particle is invariant under a rotation by 2π/S. In
addition, the two orthogonal linear polarizations of a spin S particle form an angle π/2S.
For the photon, for example, the spin is 1; indeed, its invariant rotation angle is 2π and
the angle formed by the two polarizations is π/2.)
If we image empty space as a mattress that fills space, gravitational waves are wobbling
deformations of the mattress. More precisely, Figure 76 shows that a wave of circular po-
larization has the same properties as a corkscrew advancing through the mattress. We
will discover later on why the analogy between a corkscrew and a gravity wave with cir-
cular polarization works so well. Indeed, in the last part of our adventure we will find
a specific model of the space-time mattress that automatically incorporates corkscrew
Vol. VI, page 276 waves (instead of the spin 1 waves shown by ordinary latex mattresses).

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Production and detection of gravitational waves
How does one produce gravitational waves? Obviously, masses must be accelerated.
But how exactly? The conservation of energy forbids mass monopoles from varying in
strength. We also know from universal gravity that a spherical mass whose radius oscil-
lates would not emit gravitational waves. In addition, the conservation of momentum
Challenge 262 ny forbids mass dipoles from changing.
As a result, only changing quadrupoles can emit gravitational waves.** For example,
two masses in orbit around each other will emit gravitational waves. Also, any rotating

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

* A (small amplitude) plane gravity wave travelling in the z-direction is described by a metric д given by

1 0 0 0
0 −1 + hxx hx y 0
д=󶀫 󶀻 (177)
0 hx y −1 + hxx 0
0 0 0 −1

where its two components, whose amplitude ratio determine the polarization, are given by

hab = Bab sin(kz − ωt + φab ) (178)

as in all plane harmonic waves. The amplitudes Bab , the frequency ω and the phase φ are determined by
the specific physical system. The general dispersion relation for the wave number k resulting from the wave
equation is
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ω
=c (179)
k
and shows that the waves move with the speed of light.
In another gauge, a plane wave can be written as

c 2 (1 + 2φ) A1 A2 A3
A1 −1 + 2φ hx y 0
д=󶀫 󶀻 (180)
A2 hx y −1 + hxx 0
A3 0 0 −1
∂A
where φ and A are the potentials such that G = ∇φ − c∂t and H = ∇ × A.
** A quadrupole is a symmetrical arrangement, on the four sides of a square, of four alternating poles. In
 174 6 motion in general rel ativit y

object that is not cylindrically symmetric around its rotation axis will do so. As a result,
rotating an arm leads to gravitational wave emission. Most of these statements also apply
Challenge 263 ny to masses in mattresses. Can you point out the differences?
Einstein found that the amplitude h of waves at a distance r from a source is given, to
Ref. 162 a good approximation, by the second derivative of the retarded quadrupole moment Q:

2G 1 ret 2G 1
hab = 4
dtt Qab = 4 dtt Qab (t − r/c) . (181)
c r c r
This expression shows that the amplitude of gravity waves decreases only with 1/r, in
contrast to naive expectations. However, this feature is the same as for electromagnetic
waves. In addition, the small value of the prefactor, 1.6 ⋅ 10−44 Wm/s, shows that truly
gigantic systems are needed to produce quadrupole moment changes that yield any de-
tectable length variations in bodies. To be convinced, just insert a few numbers, keep-
Challenge 264 ny ing in mind that the best present detectors are able to measure length changes down to
h = δl/l = 10−19 . The production of detectable gravitational waves by humans is proba-
bly impossible.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Gravitational waves, like all other waves, transport energy.* If we apply the general
formula for the emitted power P to the case of two masses m1 and m2 in circular orbits
Ref. 119 around each other at distance l and get

dE G ⃛ ret ⃛ ret 32 G m1 m2 2 4 6
P=− = Q Q = 󶀥 󶀵 l ω (182)
dt 45c 5 ab ab 5 c 5 m1 + m2

which, using Kepler’s relation 4π2 r 3 /T 2 = G(m1 + m2 ), becomes

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

32 G 4 (m1 m2 )2 (m1 + m2 )
P= . (183)
5 c5 l5
For elliptical orbits, the rate increases with the ellipticity, as explained in the text by Goen-
Ref. 119 ner. Inserting the values for the case of the Earth and the Sun, we get a power of about
200 W, and a value of 400 W for the Jupiter–Sun system. These values are so small that
their effect cannot be detected at all.
For all orbiting systems, the frequency of the waves is twice the orbital frequency, as
Challenge 265 ny you might want to check. These low frequencies make it even more difficult to detect
them.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

As a result, the only observation of effects of gravitational waves to date is in binary

pulsars. Pulsars are small but extremely dense stars; even with a mass equal to that of
the Sun, their diameter is only about 10 km. Therefore they can orbit each other at small
distances and high speeds. Indeed, in the most famous binary pulsar system, PSR 1913+16,
the two stars orbit each other in an amazing 7.8 h, even though their semimajor axis is
gravitation, a monopole is a point-like or two spherical masses, and, since masses cannot be negative, a
quadrupole is formed by two monopoles. A flattened sphere, such as the Earth, can be approximated by the
sum of a monopole and a quadrupole. The same is valid for an elongated sphere.
Vol. III, page 83 * Gravitoelectromagnetism allows defining the gravitational Poynting vector. It is as easy to define and use
Ref. 156 as in the case of electrodynamics.
 open orbits, bent light and wobbling vacuum 175

time
shift
(s) 0

data
points
5

10

15

prediction
20 by general
relativity

25
F I G U R E 77 Comparison between measured time

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

year delay for the periastron of the binary pulsar PSR
30 1913+16 and the prediction due to energy loss by
1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000
gravitational radiation.

about 700 Mm, just less than twice the Earth–Moon distance. Since their orbital speed is
up to 400 km/s, the system is noticeably relativistic.
Pulsars have a useful property: because of their rotation, they emit extremely regular
radio pulses (hence their name), often in millisecond periods. Therefore it is easy to fol-
low their orbit by measuring the change of pulse arrival time. In a famous experiment, a

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

team of astrophysicists led by Joseph Taylor* measured the speed decrease of the binary
Ref. 163 pulsar system just mentioned. Eliminating all other effects and collecting data for 20
Ref. 164 years, they found a decrease in the orbital frequency, shown in Figure 77. The slowdown
is due to gravity wave emission. The results exactly fit the prediction by general relativ-
ity, without any adjustable parameter. (You might want to check that the effect must be
Challenge 266 ny quadratic in time.) This is the only case so far in which general relativity has been tested
Page 152 up to (󰑣/c)5 precision. To get an idea of the precision, consider that this experiment de-
Ref. 163 tected a reduction of the orbital diameter of 3.1 mm per orbit, or 3.5 m per year! The
measurements were possible only because the two stars in this system are neutron stars
with small size, large velocities and purely gravitational interactions. The pulsar rotation
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period around its axis, about 59 ms, is known to eleven digits of precision, the orbital
Ref. 119 time of 7.8 h is known to ten digits and the eccentricity of the orbit to six digits.
The direct detection of gravitational waves is one of the aims of experimental general
relativity. The race has been on since the 1990s. The basic idea is simple, as shown in
Figure 78: take four bodies, usually four mirrors, for which the line connecting one pair
is perpendicular to the line connecting the other pair. Then measure the distance changes
of each pair. If a gravitational wave comes by, one pair will increase in distance and the
other will decrease, at the same time.

* In 1993 he shared the Nobel Prize in Physics for his life’s work.
176 6 motion in general rel ativit y

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

F I G U R E 78 Detection of gravitational waves: an illustration of the merger of two black holes emitting
such waves (top left). The other images show the VIRGO detector in Cascina, Italy, with one of its huge
mirror suspensions, the mirror suspension details, and two drawings of the laser interferometer (© INFN).

Since detectable gravitational waves cannot be produced by humans, wave detection

first of all requires the patience to wait for a strong enough wave to come by. The merger
of two black holes could be the source of such a strong gravitational wave, as also shown
 open orbits, bent light and wobbling vacuum 177

in Figure 78. Secondly, a system able to detect length changes of the order of 10−22 or
better is needed – in other words, a lot of money. Any detection is guaranteed to make the
news on television.* Essential for a successful detection are the techniques to eliminate
noise in the detection signal. The worlds’s best noise reduction experts are all working
on gravitational wave detectors.
It turns out that even for a body around a black hole, only about 6 % of the rest mass
can be radiated away as gravitational waves; furthermore, most of the energy is radiated
during the final fall into the black hole, so that only quite violent processes, such as black
hole collisions, are good candidates for detectable gravity wave sources.
Gravitational waves are a fascinating area of study. They still provide many topics to
Challenge 268 r explore. For example: can you find a method to measure their speed? No such measure-
Ref. 160 ment has been achieved, despite some serious attempts. Indeed, any measurement that
does not simply use two spaced detectors of the type of Figure 78 would be a scientific
sensation.
Another question on gravitational waves remains open at this point: If all change is
due to motion of particles, as the Greeks maintained, how do gravity waves fit into the

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Challenge 269 e picture? If gravitational waves were made of particles, space-time would also have to be.
We have to wait until the beginning of the final part of our ascent to say more.

Curiosities and fun challenges about weak fields

Challenge 270 s Is there a static gravitational field that oscillates in space?
∗∗
If we explore the options for the speed of gravitational waves, an interesting connection
appears. If the speed of gravitational waves were smaller than the speed of light, moving

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

bodies that move almost as rapidly as the speed of light, like cosmic ray particles, would
Page 27 be slowed down by emitting Vavilov–Čerenkov radiation, until they reach the lower speed.
This is not observed.
If on the other hand, the speed of gravitational waves were larger than that of light,
the waves would not obey causality or the second principle of thermodynamics. In short,
gravitational waves, if they exist, must propagate with the speed of light. (A speed very
near to the speed of light might also be possible.)
∗∗
One effect that disturbs gravitational wave detectors are the tides. On the GEO600 de-
tector in Hannover, tides change the distance of the mirrors, around 600 m, by 2 μm.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

∗∗
Are narrow beams of gravitational waves, analogous to beams of light, possible? Would
Challenge 271 ny two parallel beams of gravitational waves attract each other?
∗∗
One difference between gravity and electromagnetism is important. Two equal charges
Ref. 165 * The topic of gravity waves is full of interesting sidelines. For example, can gravity waves be used to power
Challenge 267 ny a rocket? Yes, maintain Bonnor and Piper. You might ponder the possibility yourself.
178 6 motion in general rel ativit y

repel, two equal masses attract. In more elaborate terms: for the exchange of spin 2 par-
ticles (gravitons), the effect of mass can be depicted with the mattress model. This is
possible because the sign of the effect in the mattress is independent of other masses. In
contrast, for electromagnetism, the sign of the potential depends on the other electric
charges.

A summary on orbits and waves

In summary, the curvature of space and space-time implies that, in contrast to univer-
sal gravity, orbits are not closed, that orbiting objects change their orientation in space,
that light is effectively slowed down near masses and therefore deflected by masses more
than naively expected, and that empty vacuum can propagate gravitational waves. All
experiments performed so far confirm these conclusions.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net
 Chapter 7

FROM CURVATURE TO MOTION

I
n the precise description of gravity, motion depends on space-time curvature.
n order to quantify this idea, we first of all need to accurately describe curvature
tself. To clarify the issue, we will start the discussion in two dimensions, and then
move to three and four dimensions. Once we are able to explore curvature, we explore
the precise relation between curvature and motion.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

How to measure curvature in two dimensions
Obviously, a flat sheet of paper has no curvature. If we roll it into a cone or a cylinder, it
gets what is called extrinsic curvature; however, the sheet of paper still looks flat for any
two-dimensional animal living on it – as approximated by an ant walking over it. In other
words, the intrinsic curvature of the sheet of paper is zero even if the sheet as a whole is
extrinsically curved.
Intrinsic curvature is thus the stronger concept, measuring the curvature which can
be observed even by an ant. We note that all intrinsically curved surfaces are also ex-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

trinsically curved. The surface of the Earth, the surface of an island, or the slopes of a
mountain* are intrinsically curved. Whenever we talk about curvature in general relativ-
ity, we always mean intrinsic curvature, since any observer in nature is by definition in
the same situation as an ant on a surface: their experience, their actions and plans always
only concern their closest neighbourhood in space and time.
But how can an ant determine whether it lives on an intrinsically curved surface?**
One way is shown in Figure 79. The ant can check whether either the circumference of a
circle bears a Euclidean relation to the measured radius. She can even use the difference
between the measured and the Euclidean values as a measure for the local intrinsic cur-
vature, if she takes the limit for vanishingly small circles and if she normalizes the values
correctly. In other words, the ant can imagine to cut out a little disc around the point
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she is on, to iron it flat and to check whether the disc would tear or produce folds. Any
two-dimensional surface is intrinsically curved whenever ironing is not able to make a
flat street map out of it. The ‘density’ of folds or tears is related to the curvature. Folds
imply negative intrinsic curvature, tears positive curvature.

Challenge 272 e * Unless the mountain has the shape of a perfect cone. Can you confirm this?
** Note that the answer to this question also tells us how to distinguish real curvature from curved coordi-
nate systems on a flat space. This question is often asked by those approaching general relativity for the first
time.
 180 7 from curvature to motion

F I G U R E 79
Positive,
vanishing and
negative
curvature in two
dimensions.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Check your understanding: Can a one-dimensional space have intrinsic curvature? Is
Challenge 273 s a torus intrinsically curved?
Alternatively, we can recognize intrinsic curvature also by checking whether two par-
allel lines stay parallel, approach each other, or depart from each other. On a paper cylin-
der, parallel lines remain parallel; in this case, the surface is said to have vanishing in-
trinsic curvature. A surface with approaching parallels, such as the Earth, is said to have
positive intrinsic curvature, and a surface with diverging parallels, such as a saddle, is
said to have negative intrinsic curvature. Speaking simply, positive curvature means that
we are more restricted in our movements, negative that we are less restricted. A constant

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

curvature even implies being locked in a finite space. You might want to check this with
Page 182 Figure 79 and Figure 81.
A third way to measure intrinsic curvature of surfaces uses triangles. On curved sur-
faces the sum of angles in a triangle is larger than π (two right angles) for positive curva-
ture, and smaller than π for negative curvature.
Ref. 173 Let us see how we can quantify and measure the curvature of surfaces. First a question
of vocabulary: a sphere with radius a is said, by definition, to have an intrinsic curvature
K = 1/a2 . Therefore a plane has zero curvature. You might check that for a circle on a
Challenge 274 e sphere, the measured radius r, circumference C, and area A are related by

K 2 K 2
A = πr 2 󶀤1 −
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C = 2πr 󶀤1 − r + ...󶀴 and r + ...󶀴 (184)

6 12

where the dots imply higher-order terms. This allows us to define the intrinsic curvature
K, also called the Gaussian curvature, for a general point on a two-dimensional surface
in either of the following two equivalent ways:

C 1 A 1
K = 6 lim 󶀤1 − 󶀴 or K = 12 lim 󶀤1 − 󶀴 . (185)
r→0 2πr r 2 r→0 πr 2 r 2

These expressions allow an ant to measure the intrinsic curvature at each point for any
 from curvature to motion 181

direction of point of interest

minimal curvature

right
angle ! direction of F I G U R E 80 The maximum and
maximal curvature minimum curvature of a surface are
always at a right angle to each other.

smooth surface.*
From now on in this text, curvature will always mean intrinsic curvature. Like an ant
on a surface, also observers in space can only detect intrinsic curvature. Therefore, only
intrinsic curvature is of interest in the description of nature.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Note that the curvature can be different from place to place, and that it can be pos-
itive, as for an egg, or negative, as for the part of a torus nearest to the hole. A saddle
is another example of the latter case, but, unlike the torus, its curvature changes along
all directions. In fact, it is not possible at all to fit a two-dimensional surface of constant
negative curvature inside three-dimensional space; one needs at least four dimensions,
Challenge 276 e as you can find out if you try to imagine the situation.
For any surface, at every point, the direction of maximum curvature and the direc-
tion of minimum curvature are perpendicular to each other. This relationship, shown in
Figure 80, was discovered by Leonhard Euler in the eighteenth century. You might want

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

to check this with a tea cup, with a sculpture by Henry Moore, or with any other curved
Challenge 277 e object from your surroundings, such as a Volkswagen Beetle. The Gaussian curvature K
defined in (185) is in fact the product of the two corresponding inverse curvature radii.
Thus, even though line curvature is not an intrinsic property, the Gaussian curvature is.
Gaussian curvature is a measure of the intrinsic curvature of two-dimensional sur-
faces. Intrinsic measures of curvature are needed if we are forced to stay inside the sur-
face or space that we are exploring. Physicists are thus particularly interested in Gaussian
curvature and its higher-dimensional analogues.

Three dimensions: curvature of space

For three-dimensional space, describing intrinsic curvature is a bit more involved. First
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of all, we have difficulties imagining the situation, because we usually associate curvature
with extrinsic curvature. In fact, the only way to explore three-dimensional curvature of
space is to think like the ant on a surface, and to concentrate on intrinsic curvature. In

* If the n-dimensional volume of a sphere is written as Vn = Cn r n and its (n − 1)-dimensional ‘surface’ as

Ref. 174 On = nCn r n−1 , we can generalize the expressions for curvature to

Vn 1 On 1
K = 3(n + 2) lim 󶀥1 − 󶀵 or K = 3n lim 󶀥1 − 󶀵 , (186)
r→0 Cn r n r 2 r→0 nCn r n−1 r 2

Challenge 275 ny as shown by Vermeil. A famous riddle is to determine the number Cn .

 182 7 from curvature to motion

F I G U R E 81
Positive,
vanishing and
negative
curvature (in
two dimensions)
illustrated with
the
Σα> π Σα=π Σα<π corresponding
geodesic
behaviour and
the sum of

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

angles in a
triangle.

fact, we will describe three-dimensional curvature with help of two-dimensional curva-

ture.
In curved three-dimensional space, the Gaussian curvature of an arbitrary, small two-
dimensional disc around a general point will depend on the orientation of the disc. Let
us first look at the simplest case. If the Gaussian curvature at a point is the same for

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

all orientations of the disc, the point is called isotropic. We can imagine a small sphere
around that point. In this special case, in three dimensions, the relation between the
Challenge 278 ny measured radius r and the measured surface area A and volume V of the sphere lead to

K 2 4π 3 K
A = 4πr 2 󶀤1 − r + ...󶀴 and V = r 󶀤1 − r 2 + ...󶀴 , (187)
3 3 5

where K is the curvature for an isotropic point. This leads to

A 1 r − 󵀄A/4π r
K = 3 lim 󶀤1 − 󶀴 2 = 6 lim = 6 lim excess , (188)
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r→0 2
4πr r r→0 r 3 r→0 r 3

where we defined the excess radius as rexcess = r − 󵀄A/4π . We thus find that for a three-
dimensional space, the average curvature is six times the excess radius of a small sphere
divided by the cube of the radius. A positive curvature is equivalent to a positive excess
radius, and similarly for vanishing and negative cases.
If we apply the curvature definition with a small sphere to an arbitrary, non-isotropic
point, we only get an average curvature at that point. For a non-isotropic point, the Gaus-
sian curvature value will depend on the orientation of the disc. In fact, there is a relation-
ship between all possible disc curvatures at a given point; taken together, they must form
 from curvature to motion 183

Challenge 279 ny a tensor. (Why?) In other words, the curvature values define an ellipsoid at each point.
For a full description of curvature, we thus have to specify, as for any tensor in three
dimensions, the main curvature values in three orthogonal directions, corresponding to
the thee main axes of the ellipsoid.*
What are the curvature values for the space around us? Already in 1827, the mathe-
matician and physicist Carl-Friedrich Gauß** is said to have checked whether the three
angles formed by three mountain peaks near his place of residence added up to π. Nowa-
days we know that the deviation δ from the angle π on the surface of a body of mass M
and radius r is given by

GM
δ = π − (α + β + γ) ≈ −A triangle K = A triangle . (189)
r3 c2
This expression is typical for hyperbolic geometries. For the case of mathematical nega-
tive curvature K, the first equality was deduced by Johann Lambert.*** The last equation
came only one and a half century later, and is due to Einstein, who made clear that the
negative curvature K of the space around us is related to the mass and gravitation of a

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

body. For the case of the Earth and typical mountain distances, the angle δ is of the order
of 10−14 rad. Gauss had no chance to detect any deviation, and in fact he detected none.
Even today, studies with lasers and high-precision apparatus have detected no deviation
yet – on Earth. The proportionality factor that determines the curvature of space-time
on the surface of the Earth, is simply too small. But Gauss did not know, as we do today,
that gravity and curvature go hand in hand.

Curvature in space-time

“
Notre tête est ronde pour permettre à la pensée

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

”
de changer de direction.****
Francis Picabia

* These three disc values are not independent however, since together, they must yield the just-mentioned
average volume curvature K. In total, there are thus three independent scalars describing the curvature in
three dimensions (at each point). Using the metric tensor дab and the Ricci tensor Rab to be introduced be-
low, one possibility is to take for the three independent numbers the values R = −2K, Rab R ab and detR/detд.
** Carl-Friedrich Gauß (b. 1777 Braunschweig, d. 1855 Göttingen), together with Leonhard Euler, was
the most important mathematician of all times. A famous child prodigy, when he was 19 years old,
he constructed the regular heptadecagon with compass and ruler (see www.mathworld.wolfram.com/
Heptadecagon.html). He was so proud of this result that he put a drawing of the figure on his tomb. Gauss
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

produced many results in number theory, topology, statistics, algebra, complex numbers and differential
geometry which are part of modern mathematics and bear his name. Among his many accomplishments,
he produced a theory of curvature and developed non-Euclidean geometry. He also worked on electromag-
netism and astronomy.
Gauss was a difficult character, worked always for himself, and did not found a school. He published
little, as his motto was: pauca sed matura. As a consequence, when another mathematician published a new
result, he regularly produced a notebook in which he had noted the very same result already years before.
His notebooks are now available online at www.sub.uni-goettingen.de.
*** Johann Lambert (1728–1777), Swiss mathematician, physicist and philosopher. Among many achieve-
ments, he proved the irrationality of π; also several laws of optics are named after him.
**** ‘Our head is round in order to allow our thougths to change direction.’ Francis Picabia (b. 1879 Paris,
d. 1953 Paris) dadaist and surrealist painter.
 184 7 from curvature to motion

In nature, with four space-time dimensions, specifying curvature requires a more in-
volved approach. First of all, the use of space-time coordinates automatically introduces
the speed of light c as limit speed. Furthermore, the number of dimensions being four, we
expect several types of curvature: We expect a value for an average curvature at a point,
defined by comparing the 4-volume of a 4-sphere in space-time with the one deduced
from the measured radius; then we expect a set of ‘almost average’ curvatures defined
by 3-volumes of 3-spheres in various orientations, plus a set of ‘low-level’ curvatures de-
fined by usual 2-areas of usual 2-discs in even more orientations. Obviously, we need to
bring some order to bear on this set.
Fortunately, physics can help to make the mathematics easier. We start by defining
what we mean by curvature in space-time. To achieve this, we use the definition of cur-
vature of Figure 81. As shown in the figure, the curvature K also describes how geodesics
diverge or converge.
Geodesics are the straightest paths on a surface, i.e., those paths that a tiny car or
tricycle would follow if it drove on the surface keeping the steering wheel straight. Locally,

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

nearby geodesics are parallel lines. If two nearby geodesics are in a curved space, their
Challenge 280 e separation s will change along the geodesics. This happens as

d2 s
= −K s + higher orders (190)
dl 2
where l measures the length along the geodesic. Here, K is the local curvature, in other
words, the inverse squared curvature radius. In the case of space-time, this relation is
extended by substituting proper time τ (times the speed of light) for proper length. Thus
separation and curvature are related by

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

d2 s
= −K c 2 s + higher orders . (191)
dτ 2
But this is the definition of an acceleration! In space-time, geodesics are the paths fol-
lowed by freely falling particles. In other words, what in the purely spatial case is de-
scribed by curvature, in the case of space-time becomes the relative acceleration of two
nearby, freely falling particles. Indeed, we have encountered these accelerations already:
Vol. I, page 184 they describe tidal effects. In short, space-time curvature and tidal effects are precisely
the same.
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Obviously, the magnitude of tidal effects, and thus of curvature, will depend on the
orientation – more precisely on the orientation of the space-time plane formed by the
two particle velocities. Figure 82 shows that the sign of tidal effects, and thus the sign
of curvature, depends on the orientation: particles above each other diverge, particles
side-by-side converge.
The definition of curvature also implies that K is a tensor, so that later on we will have
Challenge 281 ny to add indices to it. (How many?) The fun is that we can avoid indices for a while by
Ref. 175 looking at a special combination of spatial curvatures. If we take three planes in space,
all orthogonal to each other and intersecting at a given point, the sum of these three so-
called sectional curvatures does not depend on the observer. (This corresponds to the
 from curvature to motion 185

before

after

F I G U R E 82 Tidal effects measure the curvature of space-time.

Challenge 282 ny tensor trace.) Can you confirm this, by using the definition of the curvature just given?
The sum of the three sectional curvatures defined for mutually orthogonal planes

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Challenge 283 ny K(12) , K(23) and K(31) , is related to the excess radius defined above. Can you find out how?
If a surface has constant curvature, i.e., the same curvature at all locations, geometrical
Challenge 284 e objects can be moved around without deforming them. Can you picture this?
In summary, space-time curvature is an intuitive concept that describes how space-
time is deformed. The local curvature of space-time is determined by following the mo-
Ref. 176 tion of nearby, freely falling particles. If we imagine space (-time) as a mattress, a big
blob of rubber inside which we live, the curvature at a point describes how this mattress
is squeezed at that point. Since we live inside the mattress, we need to use ‘insider’ meth-
ods, such as excess radii and sectional curvatures, to describe the deformation.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

General relativity often seems difficult to learn because people do not like to think
about the vacuum as a mattress, and even less to explain it in this way. We recall that for
a hundred years it is an article of faith for every physicist to say that the vacuum is empty.
This remains true. Nevertheless, picturing vacuum as a mattress, or as a substance, helps
in many ways to understand general relativity.

Average curvature and motion in general relativity

One half of general relativity is the statement that any object moves along geodesics, i.e.,
along paths of maximum proper time. The other half is contained in a single expression:
for every observer, the sum of all three proper sectional spatial curvatures at a point, the
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average curvature, is given by

8πG (0)
K(12) + K(23) + K(31) = W (192)
c4

where W (0) is the proper energy density at the point. The lower indices indicate the mixed
curvatures defined by the three orthogonal directions 1, 2 and 3. This is all of general
relativity in one paragraph.
We know that space-time is curved around mass and energy. Expression (192) speci-
fies how much mass and energy curve space. We note that the factor on the right side is
 186 7 from curvature to motion

2π divided by the maximum force.

Challenge 285 e An equivalent description is easily found using the excess radius defined above, by
introducing the mass M = VW (0) /c 2 . For the surface area A of the spherical volume V
containing the mass, we get

G
rexcess = r − 󵀄A/4π = M. (193)
3c 2
In short, general relativity affirms that for every observer, the excess radius of a small
sphere is given by the mass inside the sphere.*
Note that both descriptions imply that the average space curvature at a point in empty
space vanishes. As we will see shortly, this means that near a spherical mass the negative
of the curvature towards the mass is equal to twice the curvature around the mass; the
total sum is thus zero.
Curvature differs from point to point. In particular, the two descriptions imply that if
energy moves, curvature will move with it. In short, both space curvature and, as we will

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

see shortly, space-time curvature change over space and time.
We note in passing that curvature has an annoying effect: the relative velocity of dis-
Challenge 286 ny tant observers is undefined. Can you provide the argument? In curved space, relative
velocity is defined only for nearby objects – in fact only for objects at no distance at all.
Relative velocities of distant objects are well defined only in flat space.
The quantities appearing in expression (192) are independent of the observer. But often
people want to use observer-dependent quantities. The relation then gets more involved;
the single equation (192) must be expanded to ten equations, called Einstein’s field equa-
tions. They will be introduced below. But before we do that, we will check that general
relativity makes sense. We will skip the check that it contains special relativity as a limit-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

ing case, and go directly to the main test.

Universal gravity

“ ”
The only reason which keeps me here is gravity.
Anonymous

For small velocities and low curvature values, the temporal curvatures K(0 j) turn out to
have a special property. In this case, they can be defined as the second spatial derivatives
Challenge 287 e of a single scalar function φ. In other words, in everyday situations we can write
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

∂2 φ
K(0 j) = . (195)
∂(x j )2

Ref. 177 * Another, equivalent formulation is that for small radii the area A is given by

1
A = 4πr 2 󶀤1 + r 2 R󶀴 (194)
9

where R is the Ricci scalar, to be introduced later on.

 from curvature to motion 187

In everyday situations, this approximation is excellent, and the function φ turns out to
be the gravitational potential. Indeed, low velocities and low curvature imply that we can
set W (0) = ρc 2 and c → ∞, so that we get

K(i j) = 0 and K(01) + K(02) + K(03) = Δφ = 4πG ρ . (196)

In other words, for small speeds, space is flat and the potential φ obeys Poisson’s equa-
tion. Universal gravity is thus indeed the low speed and low curvature limit of general
relativity.
Challenge 288 ny Can you show that relation (192) between curvature and energy density indeed im-
plies, in a more precise approximation, that time near a mass depends on the height, as
Page 134 mentioned before?

The Schwarzschild metric

Ref. 175 What is the exact curvature of space-time near a spherical mass? The answer was given
in 1915 by Karl Schwarzschild, who calculated the result during his military service in the

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

First World War. Einstein then called the solution after him.
Page 142 In spherical coordinates the line element is

2GM 2 2 dr 2
ds 2 = 󶀤1 − 󶀴 c dt − − r 2 dφ2 . (197)
rc 2
1 − rc2
2GM

Challenge 289 ny The curvature of the Schwarzschild metric is then by

GM GM

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Krφ = Krθ = − 2 3
and Kθφ = 2 2 3
c r c r
GM GM
Ktφ = Ktθ = 2 3 and Ktr = −2 2 3 (198)
c r c r

Ref. 175 everywhere. The dependence on 1/r 3 follows from the general dependence of all tidal
Vol. I, page 184 effects; we have already calculated them in the chapter on universal gravity. The factors
G/c 2 are due to the maximum force of gravity. Only the numerical prefactors need to be
calculated from general relativity. The average curvature obviously vanishes, as it does
Challenge 290 ny for all points in vacuum. As expected, the values of the curvatures near the surface of the
Earth are exceedingly small.
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Curiosities and fun challenges about curvature

“ ”
Il faut suivre sa pente, surtout si elle monte.*
André Gide

A fly has landed on the outside of a cylindrical glass, 1 cm below its rim. A drop of honey
is located halfway around the glass, also on the outside, 2 cm below the rim. What is the

* ‘One has to follow one’s inclination, especially if it climbs upwards.’

 188 7 from curvature to motion

Challenge 291 e shortest distance from the fly to the drop? What is the shortest distance if the drop is on
the inside of the glass?
∗∗
Challenge 292 e Where are the points of highest and lowest Gaussian curvature on an egg?

Three-dimensional curvature: the Ricci tensor*

“
Jeder Straßenjunge in unserem mathematischen
Göttingen versteht mehr von vierdimensionaler
Geometrie als Einstein. Aber trotzdem hat
Einstein die Sache gemacht, und nicht die

”
großen Mathematiker.
David Hilbert**

Now that we have a feeling for curvature, let us describe it in a way that allows any ob-
server to talk to any other observer. Unfortunately, this means using formulae with ten-
sors. These formulae look daunting. The challenge is to see in each of the expressions the

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

essential point (e.g. by forgetting all indices for a while) and not to be distracted by those
small letters sprinkled all over them.
We mentioned above that a 4-dimensional space-time is described by 2-curvature,
3-curvature and 4-curvature. Many introductions to general relativity start with 3-
curvature. 3-curvature describes the distinction between the 3-volume calculated from
a radius and the actual 3-volume. The details are described by the Ricci tensor.*** Ex-
ploring geodesic deviation, it turns out that the Ricci tensor describes how the shape of
a spherical cloud of freely falling particles – a coffee cloud – is deformed along its path.
More precisely, the Ricci tensor Rab is (the precise formulation of) the second (proper)

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

time derivative of the cloud volume divided by the cloud volume. In vacuum, the volume
Ref. 178 of such a falling coffee cloud always stays constant, and this despite the deformation due
Page 185 to tidal forces. Figure 82 illustrates that gravitation does not change coffee cloud volumes.
In short, the Ricci tensor is the general-relativistic version of the Laplacian of the poten-
tial Δφ, or better, of ◻φ.

Average curvature: the Ricci scalar

The most global, but least detailed, definition of curvature is the one describing the
distinction between the 4-volume calculated from a measured radius and the actual 4-
volume. This is the average curvature at a space-time point and is represented by the
so-called Ricci scalar R, defined as
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

−2
R = −2K = 2
. (199)
rcurvature

** ‘Every street urchin in our mathematical Göttingen knows more about four-dimensional geometry than
Einstein. Nevertheless, it was Einstein who did the work, not the great mathematicians.’
** The rest of this chapter might be skipped at first reading.
*** Gregorio Ricci-Cubastro (b. 1853 Lugo , d. 1925 Bologna), mathematician. He is the father of absolute
differential calculus, also called ‘Ricci calculus’. Tullio Levi-Civita was his pupil.
 from curvature to motion 189

It turns out that the Ricci scalar can be derived from the Ricci tensor by a so-called con-
traction, which is a precise averaging procedure. For tensors of rank two, contraction is
the same as taking the trace:
R = R λ λ = д λμ Rλμ . (200)

The Ricci scalar describes the curvature averaged over space and time. In the image of
a falling spherical cloud, the Ricci scalar describes the volume change of the cloud. The
Ricci scalar always vanishes in vacuum. This result allows us to relate the spatial curva-
Challenge 293 ny ture to the change of time with height on the surface of the Earth.

The Einstein tensor

After two years of hard work, Einstein discovered that the best quantity for the descrip-
tion of curvature in nature is not the Ricci tensor Rab , but a tensor built from it. This
so-called Einstein tensor Gab is defined mathematically (for vanishing cosmological con-
stant) as
1
Gab = Rab − дab R .

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

(201)
2
It is not difficult to understand its meaning. The value G00 is the sum of sectional curva-
tures in the planes orthogonal to the 0 direction and thus the sum of all spatial sectional
curvatures:
G00 = K(12) + K(23) + K(31) . (202)

Similarly, for each dimension i the diagonal element Gii is the sum (taking into consid-
eration the minus signs of the metric) of sectional curvatures in the planes orthogonal to

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

the i direction. For example, we have

G11 = K(02) + K(03) − K(23) . (203)

The distinction between the Ricci tensor and the Einstein tensor thus lies in the way in
which the sectional curvatures are combined: discs containing the coordinate in question
for the Ricci tensor, and discs orthogonal to the coordinate for the Einstein tensor. Both
describe the curvature of space-time equally well, and fixing one means fixing the other.
Challenge 294 d (What are the trace and the determinant of the Einstein tensor?)
The Einstein tensor is symmetric, which means that it has ten independent compo-
nents. Most importantly, its divergence vanishes; it therefore describes a conserved quan-
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

tity. This was the essential property which allowed Einstein to relate it to mass and energy
in mathematical language.

The description of momentum, mass and energy

Obviously, for a complete description of gravity, the motion of momentum and energy
need to be quantified in such a way that any observer can talk to any other. We have seen
that momentum and energy always appear together in relativistic descriptions; the next
step is thus to find out how their motions can be quantified for general observers.
First of all, the quantity describing energy, let us call it T, must be defined using the
 190 7 from curvature to motion

energy–momentum vector p = mu = (γmc, γm󰑣) of special relativity. Furthermore, T

does not describe a single particle, but the way energy–momentum is distributed over
space and time. As a consequence, it is most practical to use T to describe a density of
energy and momentum. T will thus be a field, and depend on time and space, a fact
usually indicated by the notation T = T(t, x).
Since the energy–momentum density T describes a density over space and time, it de-
fines, at every space-time point and for every infinitesimal surface dA around that point,
the flow of energy–momentum dp through that surface. In other words, T is defined by
the relation
dp = T dA . (204)

The surface is assumed to be characterized by its normal vector dA. Since the energy–
momentum density is a proportionality factor between two vectors, T is a tensor.
Of course, we are talking about 4-flows and 4-surfaces here. Therefore the energy–
momentum density tensor can be split in the following way:

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

󰑤 S1 S2 S3 energy energy flow or
S1 t11 t12 t13 density momentum density
T =󶀫 󶀻=󶀫 󶀻 (205)
S2 t21 t22 t23 energy flow or momentum
S3 t31 t32 t33 momentum density flow density

where 󰑤 = T00 is a 3-scalar, S a 3-vector and t a 3-tensor. The total quantity T is called
the energy–momentum (density) tensor. It has two essential properties: it is symmetric
and its divergence vanishes.
The symmetry of the tensor T is a result of the conservation of angular momentum.
The vanishing divergence of the tensor T, often written as

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

∂a T ab = 0 or abbreviated T ab , a = 0 , (206)

implies that the tensor describes a conserved quantity. In every volume, energy can
change only via flow through its boundary surface. Can you confirm that the description
of energy–momentum with this tensor satisfies the requirement that any two observers,
differing in position, orientation, speed and acceleration, can communicate their results
Challenge 295 ny to each other?
The energy–momentum density tensor gives a full description of the distribution of
energy, momentum and mass over space and time. As an example, let us determine the
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

energy–momentum density for a moving liquid. For a liquid of density ρ, a pressure p

and a 4-velocity u, we have

T ab = (ρ0 + p)ua ub − pд ab (207)

 from curvature to motion 191

where ρ0 is the density measured in the comoving frame, the so-called proper density.*
Obviously, ρ, ρ0 and p depend on space and time.
Of course, for a particular material fluid, we need to know how pressure p and density
ρ are related. A full material characterization thus requires the knowledge of the relation

p = p(ρ) . (209)

This relation is a material property and thus cannot be determined from relativity. It has
to be derived from the constituents of matter or radiation and their interactions. The
simplest possible case is dust, i.e., matter made of point particles** with no interactions
at all. Its energy–momentum tensor is given by

T ab = ρ0 ua ub . (210)

Challenge 296 ny Can you explain the difference from the liquid case?
The divergence of the energy–momentum tensor vanishes for all times and positions,

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Challenge 297 ny as you may want to check. This property is the same as for the Einstein tensor presented
above. But before we elaborate on this issue, a short remark. We did not take into account
gravitational energy. It turns out that gravitational energy cannot be defined in general.
In general, gravity does not have an associated energy. In certain special circumstances,
such as weak fields, slow motion, or an asymptotically flat space-time, we can define the
integral of the G 00 component of the Einstein tensor as negative gravitational energy.
Gravitational energy is thus only defined approximately, and only for our everyday envi-
ronment.***

Einstein’s field equations

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

“
[Einstein’s general theory of relativity] cloaked

”
the ghastly appearance of atheism.
A witch hunter from Boston, around 1935

“ ”
Do you believe in god? Prepaid reply 50 words.
Subsequent telegram by another witch hunter
to his hero Albert Einstein
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

* In the comoving frame we thus have

ρ0 c 2 0 0 0
ab 0 p 0 0
T =󶀫 󶀻 . (208)
0 0 p 0
0 0 0 p

** Even though general relativity expressly forbids the existence of point particles, the approximation is
useful in cases when the particle distances are large compared to their own size.
*** This approximation leads to the famous speculation that the total energy of the universe is zero. Do you
Challenge 298 s agree?
 192 7 from curvature to motion

“
I believe in Spinoza’s god, who reveals himself
in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a
god who concerns himself with fates and

”
actions of human beings.
Albert Einstein’s answer
Einstein’s famous field equations were the basis of many religious worries. They contain
the full description of general relativity. The equations can be deduced in many ways. The
Page 110 simplest way to deduce them is to start from the principle of maximum force. Another
Page 195 way is to deduce the equation from the Hilbert action, as explained below. A third way
is what we are doing at present, namely to generalize the relation between curvature and
energy to general observers.
Einstein’s field equations are given by

Gab = −κ Tab
or, in more detail
1
Rab − д R − Λ дab = −κ T ab

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

. (211)
2 ab
The constant κ, called the gravitational coupling constant, has been measured to be

8πG
κ= 4
= 2.1 ⋅ 10−43 /N (212)
c

and its small value – the value 2π divided by the maximum force c 4 /4G – reflects the
weakness of gravity in everyday life, or better, the difficulty of bending space-time. The
constant Λ, the so-called cosmological constant, corresponds to a vacuum energy volume

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Page 234 density, or pressure Λ/κ. Its low value is quite hard to measure. The currently favoured
value is
Λ ≈ 10−52 /m2 or Λ/κ ≈ 0.5 nJ/m3 = 0.5 nPa . (213)

Ref. 179 Current measurements and simulations suggest that this parameter, even though it is
numerically near to the inverse square of the present radius of the universe, is a constant
of nature that does not vary with time.
In summary, the field equations state that the curvature at a point is equal to the flow of
energy–momentum through that point, taking into account the vacuum energy density.
In other words: Energy–momentum tells space-time how to curve, using the maximum
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

force as proportionality factor.*

* Einstein arrived at his field equations using a number of intellectual guidelines that are called principles in
the literature. Today, many of them are not seen as central any more. Nevertheless, we give a short overview.
- Principle of general relativity: all observers are equivalent; this principle, even though often stated, is
probably empty of any physical content.
- Principle of general covariance: the equations of physics must be stated in tensor form; even though it
Ref. 180 is known today that all equations can be written with tensors, even universal gravity, in many cases they
require unphysical ‘absolute’ elements, i.e., quantities which affect others but are not affected themselves.
Vol. III, page 283 This unphysical idea is in contrast with the idea of interaction, as explained later on.
- Principle of minimal coupling: the field equations of gravity are found from those of special relativity
 from curvature to motion 193

Universal gravitation – again

The field equations of general relativity can be simplified for the case in which speeds are
small. In that case T00 = c 2 ρ and all other components of T vanish. Using the definition
Challenge 299 ny of the constant κ and setting φ = (c 2 /2)h00 in дab = ηab + hab , we find

d2 x
∇2 φ = 4πρ and = −∇φ (214)
dt 2
which we know well, since it can be restated as follows: a body of mass m near a body of
mass M is accelerated by
M
a=G 2, (215)
r
a value which is independent of the mass m of the falling body. And indeed, as noted
already by Galileo, all bodies fall with the same acceleration, independently of their size,
their mass, their colour, etc. In general relativity also, gravitation is completely demo-

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

cratic.* The independence of free fall from the mass of the falling body follows from the
description of space-time as a bent mattress. Objects moving on a mattress also move in
the same way, independently of the mass value.

by taking the simplest possible generalization. Of course, now that the equations are known and tested
experimentally, this principle is only of historical interest.
- Equivalence principle: acceleration is locally indistinguishable from gravitation; we used it to argue that
space-time is semi-Riemannian, and that gravity is its curvature.
- Mach’s principle: inertia is due to the interaction with the rest of the universe; this principle is correct,

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

even though it is often maintained that it is not fulfilled in general relativity. In any case, it is not the essence
Page 249 of general relativity.
- Identity of gravitational and inertial mass: this is included in the definition of mass from the outset, but
restated ad nauseam in general relativity texts; it is implicitly used in the definition of the Riemann tensor.
- Correspondence principle: a new, more general theory, such as general relativity, must reduce to previous
theories, in this case universal gravity or special relativity, when restricted to the domains in which those
are valid.
* Here is yet another way to show that general relativity fits with universal gravity. From the definition of
the Riemann tensor we know that relative acceleration ba and speed of nearby particles are related by

∇e ba = R ceda 󰑣 c 󰑣 d . (216)
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From the symmetries of R we know there is a φ such that ba = −∇a φ. That means that

∇e ba = ∇e ∇a φ = R aced 󰑣 c 󰑣 d (217)

which implies that

Δφ = ∇a ∇a φ = R acad 󰑣 c 󰑣 d = R cd 󰑣 c 󰑣 d = κ(Tcd 󰑣 c 󰑣 d − T/2) (218)

Introducing Tab = ρ󰑣a 󰑣b we get

Δφ = 4πG ρ (219)

as we wanted to show.
 194 7 from curvature to motion

Understanding the field equations

To get a feeling for the complete field equations, we will take a short walk through their
main properties. First of all, all motion due to space-time curvature is reversible, differ-
Challenge 300 e entiable and thus deterministic. Note that only the complete motion, of space-time and
matter and energy, has these properties. For particle motion only, motion is in fact irre-
versible, since some gravitational radiation is usually emitted.
By contracting the field equations we find, for vanishing cosmological constant, the
following expression for the Ricci scalar:

R = −κT . (220)

This result also implies the relation between the excess radius and the mass inside a
Challenge 301 ny sphere.
The field equations are nonlinear in the metric д, meaning that sums of solutions usu-
ally are not solutions. That makes the search for solutions rather difficult. For a complete
solution of the field equations, initial and boundary conditions should be specified. The

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Ref. 181 ways to do this form a specialized part of mathematical physics; it is not explored here.
Albert Einstein used to say that general relativity only provides the understanding
of one side of the field equations (211), but not of the other. Can you see which side he
Challenge 302 ny meant?
What can we do of interest with the field equations? In fact, to be honest, not much
that we have not done already. Very few processes require the use of the full equations.
Many textbooks on relativity even stop after writing them down! However, studying
them is worthwhile. For example, one can show that the Schwarzschild solution is the
only spherically symmetric solution. Similarly, in 1923, Birkhoff showed that every rota-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

tionally symmetric vacuum solution is static. This is the case even if masses themselves
move, as for example during the collapse of a star.
Maybe the most beautiful applications of the field equations are the various films made
of relativistic processes. The worldwide web hosts several of these; they allow one to see
what happens when two black holes collide, what happens when an observer falls into
a black hole, etc. To generate these films, the field equations usually need to be solved
directly, without approximations.*
Another area of application concerns gravitational waves. The full field equations show
that gravity waves are not harmonic, but nonlinear. Sine waves exist only approximately,
for small amplitudes. Even more interestingly, if two waves collide, in many cases sin-
gularities are predicted to appear. This whole theme is still a research topic and might
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

provide new insights for the quantization of general relativity in the coming years.
We end this section with a side note. Usually, the field equations are read in one sense
only, as stating that energy–momentum produces curvature. One can also read them in
the other way, calculating the energy–momentum needed to produces a given curvature.
When one does this, one discovers that not all curved space-times are possible, as some
would lead to negative energy (or mass) densities. Such solutions would contradict the
mentioned limit on length-to-mass ratios for physical systems.

* See for example the www.photon.at/~werner/black-earth website.

 from curvature to motion 195

Hilbert’s action – how do things fall?

When Einstein discussed his research with David Hilbert, Hilbert found a way to do in
a few weeks what had taken years for Einstein. Hilbert showed that general relativity in
empty space could be described with the least action principle, like all other examples
of motion. Hilbert knew that all motion minimizes action, i.e., all motion minimizes
change.
Hilbert set out to find the Lagrangian, i.e., the measure of change, for the motion of
space-time. Obviously, the measure must be observer-invariant; in particular, it must be
invariant under all possible changes of viewpoints.
Motion due to gravity is determined by curvature. Any curvature measure indepen-
dent of the observer must be a combination of the Ricci scalar R and the cosmological
constant Λ. In this way both the equivalence principle and general covariance are re-
spected. It thus makes sense to expect that the change of space-time is described by an
action S given by
c4
S= 󵐐 (R + 2Λ) dV . (221)
16πG

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

The volume element dV must be specified to use this expression in calculations. The cos-
mological constant Λ (added some years after Hilbert’s work) appears as a mathematical
possibility to describe the most general action that is diffeomorphism-invariant. We will
see below that its value in nature, though small, seems to be different from zero.
A lengthy calculation confirms that the Hilbert action allows deducing Einstein’s field
equations and vice versa. Both formulations are completely equivalent. The Hilbert ac-
tion of a chunk of space-time is thus the integral of the Ricci scalar plus twice the cos-
mological constant over that chunk. The principle of least action states that space-time

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

moves in such a way that this integral changes as little as possible.
In addition to the Hilbert action, for a full description of motion we need initial con-
Ref. 118 ditions. The various ways to do this define a specific research field. This topic however,
leads too far from our path.
In summary, the question ‘how do things move?’ is answered by general relativity in
the same way as by special relativity: things follow the path of maximal ageing.
Challenge 303 ny Can you show that the Hilbert action follows from the maximum force?

The symmetries of general relativity

The main symmetry of the Lagrangian of general relativity is called diffeomorphism in-
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

variance or general covariance. The symmetry states that motion is independent of the
coordinate system used. More precisely, the motion of matter, radiation and space-time
does not change under arbitrary differentiable coordinate transformations. Diffeomor-
phism invariance is the essential symmetry of the Hilbert action.
The field equations for empty space-time also show scale symmetry. This is the in-
variance of the equations after multiplication of all coordinates by a common numerical
factor. In 1993, Torre and Anderson showed that diffeomorphism symmetry and trivial
Ref. 182 scale symmetry are the only symmetries of the vacuum field equations.
Apart from diffeomorphism symmetry, full general relativity, including mass–energy,
has an additional symmetry which is not yet fully elucidated. This symmetry connects
 196 7 from curvature to motion

the various possible initial conditions of the field equations; the symmetry is extremely
Ref. 183 complex and is still a topic of research. These fascinating investigations should give new
insights into the classical description of the big bang.

Mass in general relativity

The diffeomorphism-invariance of general relativity makes life quite interesting. We will
Page 276 see that it allows us to say that we live on the inside of a hollow sphere. We have seen
that general relativity does not allow us to say where energy is actually located. If energy
cannot be located, what about mass? Exploring the issue shows that mass, like energy,
can be localized only if distant space-time is known to be flat. It is then possible to define
a localized mass value by making precise an intuitive idea: the mass of an unknown body
is measured by the time a probe takes to orbit the unknown body.*
The intuitive mass definition requires flat space-time at infinity; it cannot be extended
Challenge 304 ny to other situations. In short, mass can only be localized if total mass can be defined. And
total mass is defined only for asymptotically flat space-time. The only other notion of
mass that is precise in general relativity is the local mass density at a point. In contrast, it

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

is not well understood how to define the mass contained in a region larger than a point
but smaller than the entirety of space-time (in the case that it is not asymptotically flat).

The force limit and the cosmological constant

When the cosmological constant is taken into the picture, the maximum force principle
requires a second look. In the case of a non-vanishing cosmological constant, the force
Ref. 184 limit makes sense only if the constant Λ is positive; this is the case for the currently
Ref. 118, Ref. 119 measured value, which is Λ ≈ 10−52 /m2 . Indeed, the radius–mass relation of black holes

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Λ 2
2GM = Rc 2 󶀤1 − R 󶀴 (224)
3

implies that a radius-independent maximum force is valid only for positive or zero cos-
mological constant. For a negative cosmological constant the force limit would only be
valid for infinitely small black holes. In the following, we take a pragmatic approach and
note that a maximum force limit can be seen to imply a vanishing or positive cosmo-
logical constant. Obviously, the force limit does not specify the value of the constant; to

Ref. 185 * This definition was formalized by Arnowitt, Deser and Misner, and since then has often been called the
ADM mass. The idea is to use the metric дi j and to take the integral
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c2
m= 󵐐 (д 󰜈 − дii, j 󰜈 j )dA (222)
32πG S󰑅 i j,i j
where SR is the coordinate sphere of radius R, 󰜈 is the unit vector normal to the sphere and dA is the
area element on the sphere. The limit exists for large R if space-time is asymptotically flat and if the mass
Ref. 186 distribution is sufficiently concentrated. Mathematical physicists have also shown that for any manifold
whose metric changes at infinity as

дi j = (1 + f /r + O(1/r 2 ))δi j (223)

the total mass is given by M = f c 2 /G.

 from curvature to motion 197

achieve this, a second principle needs to be added. A straightforward formulation, using

Page 130 the additional principle of a minimum force in nature, was proposed above.
One might ask also whether rotating or charged black holes change the argument that
leads from maximum force to the derivation of general relativity. However, the deriva-
tion using the Raychaudhuri equation does not change. In fact, the only change of the
argument appears with the inclusion of torsion, which changes the Raychaudhuri equa-
tion itself. As long as torsion plays no role, the derivation given above remains valid. The
inclusion of torsion is still an open research issue.

Is gravity an interaction?
We tend to answer this question affirmatively, as in Galilean physics gravity was seen
as an influence on the motion of bodies. In Galilean physics, we described gravity by
a potential, because gravity changes motion. Indeed, a force or an interaction is what
changes the motion of objects. However, we just saw that when two bodies attract each
other through gravitation, both always remain in free fall. For example, the Moon cir-
cles the Earth because it continuously falls around it. Since any freely falling observer

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

continuously remains at rest, the statement that gravity changes the motion of bodies
is not correct for all observers. In fact, given that geodesics are the path of maximum
straightness, we can also argue that the Moon and the Earth both follow ‘straight’ paths,
and for all observers. But objects that follow straight paths are not under the influence
of interactions, are they?
Vol. III, page 283 Let us explore this issue in another way. The most fundamental definition of ‘inter-
action’ is as the difference between the whole and the sum of its parts. In the case of
gravity, an observer in free fall could indeed claim that nothing special is going on, in-
dependently of whether the other body is present or not, and could claim that gravity is

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

not an interaction.
However, an interaction also transports energy between systems. Now, we have seen
Page 191 that gravity can be said to transport energy only approximately. The properties of gravi-
Challenge 305 s tational energy confirm this argument. Even in its energy aspect, gravitation is an inter-
action only approximately.
A mathematical way to look at these issue is the following. Take a satellite orbiting
Jupiter with energy–momentum p = mu. If we calculate the energy–momentum change
Challenge 306 ny along its path s, we get

dp du dua dea a dua

=m = m 󶀥ea + u 󶀵 = mea 󶀥 + Γa bd ub u c 󶀵 = 0 (225)
ds ds ds ds ds
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where e describes the unit vector along a coordinate axis. The energy–momentum
Challenge 307 ny change vanishes along any geodesic, as you might check. Therefore, the energy–
momentum of this motion is conserved. In other words, no force is acting on the
satellite. We could reply that in equation (225) the second term alone is the real gravita-
Ref. 187 tional force. But this term can be made to vanish along the entirety of any given world
Challenge 308 ny line. In short, also the mathematics confirm that nothing changes between two bodies
in free fall around each other: gravity could be said not to be an interaction.
Let us look at the behaviour of light. In vacuum, light is always moving freely. In a
 198 7 from curvature to motion

sense, we can say that radiation always is in free fall. Strangely, since we called free fall
the same as rest, we should conclude that radiation always is at rest. This is not wrong! We
have already seen that light cannot be accelerated.* We have also seen that gravitational
bending is not an acceleration, since light follows straight paths in space-time in this
case as well. Even though light seems to slow down near masses for distant observers, it
always moves at the speed of light locally. In short, even gravitation doesn’t manage to
move light.
In short, if we like such intellectual games, we can argue that gravitation is not an
interaction, even though it puts objects into orbits and deflects light. For all practical
purposes, gravity remains an interaction.

How to calculate the shape of geodesics

One half of general relativity states that bodies fall along geodesics. All orbits are
geodesics, thus curves with the longest proper time. It is thus useful to be able to calcu-
late these trajectories.** To start, one needs to know the shape of space-time, the notion
of ‘shape’ being generalized from its familiar two-dimensional meaning. For a being liv-

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

ing on the surface, it is usually described by the metric дab , which defines the distances
between neighbouring points through

ds 2 = dxa dx a = дab (x) dx a dx b . (226)

It is a famous exercise of calculus to show from this expression that a curve x a (s) depend-
ing on a well behaved (affine) parameter s is a timelike or spacelike (metric) geodesic, i.e.,
Challenge 309 ny the longest possible path between the two events,*** only if

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

d dx d 1 ∂дbc dx b dx c
󶀦дad 󶀶= , (227)
ds ds 2 ∂x a ds ds

as long as ds is different from zero along the path.**** All bodies in free fall follow such
Page 145 geodesics. We showed above that the geodesic property implies that a stone thrown in the
air falls back, unless if it is thrown with a speed larger than the escape velocity. Expression
(227) thus replaces both the expression d2 x/dt 2 = −∇φ valid for falling bodies and the
expression d2 x/dt 2 = 0 valid for freely floating bodies in special relativity.
* Refraction, the slowdown of light inside matter, is not a counter-example. Strictly speaking, light inside
matter is constantly being absorbed and re-emitted. In between these processes, light still propagates with
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

the speed of light in vacuum. The whole process only looks like a slowdown in the macroscopic limit. The
Vol. III, page 147 same applies to diffraction and to reflection. A full list of ways to bend light can be found elsewhere.
** This is a short section for the more curious; it can be skipped at first reading.
*** We remember that in space in everyday life, geodesics are the shortest possible paths; however, in space-
time in general relativity, geodesics are the longest possible paths. In both cases, they are the ‘straightest’
possible paths.
**** This is often written as
d2 x a b
a dx dx
c

2
+ Γbc =0 (228)
ds ds ds
where the condition
dx a dx b
дab =1 (229)
ds ds
 from curvature to motion 199

The path does not depend on the mass or on the material of the body. Therefore an-
Ref. 188 timatter also falls along geodesics. In other words, antimatter and matter do not repel;
they also attract each other. Interestingly, even experiments performed with normal mat-
Challenge 310 ny ter can show this, if they are carefully evaluated. Can you find out how?
For completeness, we mention that light follows lightlike or null geodesics. In other
words, there is an affine parameter u such that the geodesics follow

d2 x a b
a dx dx
c
+ Γ bc =0 (231)
du2 du du
with the different condition
dx a dx b
дab =0. (232)
du du
Given all these definitions of various types of geodesics, what are the lines drawn in
Challenge 311 ny Figure 64 on page 141?

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Riemann gymnastics*
Most books introduce curvature the hard way, namely historically, using the Riemann
curvature tensor. This is a short summary, so that you can understand that old stuff when
you come across it.
We saw above that curvature is best described by a tensor. In 4 dimensions, this cur-
vature tensor, usually called R, must be a quantity which allows us to calculate, among
other things, the area for any orientation of a 2-disc in space-time. Now, in 4 dimensions,
Challenge 312 e orientations of a disc are defined in terms of two 4-vectors; let us call them p and q. And
instead of a disc, we take the parallelogram spanned by p and q. There are several possible

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

definitions.
The Riemann-Christoffel curvature tensor R is then defined as a quantity which allows
us to calculate the curvature K(p, q) for the surface spanned by p and q, with area A,
through
R pqpq Rabcd pa q b p c q d
K(p, q) = 2 = (233)
A (p, q) (дαδ д βγ − дαγ д βδ )pα q β pγ q δ

where, as usual, Latin indices a, b, c, d, etc. run from 0 to 3, as do Greek indices here,
and a summation is implied when an index name appears twice. Obviously R is a tensor,
of rank 4. This tensor thus describes only the intrinsic curvature of a space-time. In con-
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

trast, the metric д describes the complete shape of the surface, not only the curvature.
The curvature is thus the physical quantity of relevance locally, and physical descriptions

must be fulfilled, thus simply requiring that all the tangent vectors are unit vectors, and that ds ̸= 0 all along
the path. The symbols Γ appearing above are given by

a 1
Γa bc = 󶁅 󶁕 = д ad (∂b дdc + ∂c дdb − ∂d дbc ) , (230)
bc 2

and are called Christoffel symbols of the second kind or simply the metric connection.
* This is a short section for the more curious; it can be skipped at first reading.
 200 7 from curvature to motion

therefore use only the Riemann* tensor R or quantities derived from it.**
But we can forget the just-mentioned definition of curvature. There is a second, more
physical way to look at the Riemann tensor. We know that curvature means gravity. As
we said above, gravity means that when two nearby particles move freely with the same
Challenge 313 e velocity and the same direction, the distance between them changes. In other words, the
local effect of gravity is relative acceleration of nearby particles.
It turns out that the tensor R describes precisely this relative acceleration, i.e., what
we called the tidal effects earlier on. Obviously, the relative acceleration b increases with
Challenge 314 ny the separation d and the square (why?) of the speed u of the two particles. Therefore we
can also define R as a (generalized) proportionality factor among these quantities:

b=Ruud or, more clearly, b a = R a bcd ub u c d d . (236)

The components of the Riemann curvature tensor have the dimensions of inverse square
length. Since it contains all information about intrinsic curvature, we conclude that if R
vanishes in a region, space-time in that region is flat. This connection is easily deduced

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Challenge 315 ny from this second definition.***
A final way to define the tensor R is the following. For a free-falling observer, the
metric дab is given by the metric ηab from special relativity. In its neighbourhood, we

* Bernhard Riemann (b. 1826 Breselenz, d. 1866 Selasca), important mathematician. One among his numer-
ous important achievements is the foundation of non-Euclidean geometry.
** We showed above that space-time is curved by noting changes in clock rates, in metre bar lengths and
in light propagation. Such experiments are the easiest way to determine the metric д. We know that space-
time is described by a 4-dimensional manifold M with a metric дab that locally, at each space-time point,

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

is a Minkowski metric. Such a manifold is called a Riemannian manifold. Only such a metric allows one to
define a local inertial system, i.e., a local Minkowski space-time at every space-time point. In particular, we
have
дab = 1/д ab and дa b = д a b = δba . (234)
How are curvature and metric related? The solution to this question usually occupies a large number of
pages in relativity books; just for information, the relation is

∂Γa bd ∂Γa bc
Ra bcd = − + Γa ec Γ e bd − Γa f d Γ f bc . (235)
∂x c ∂x d
The curvature tensor is built from the second derivatives of the metric. On the other hand, we can also
determine the metric if the curvature is known. An approximate relation is given below.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

*** This second definition is also called the definition through geodesic deviation. It is of course not evident
Ref. 189 that it coincides with the first. For an explicit proof, see the literature. There is also a third way to picture
the tensor R, a more mathematical one, namely the original way Riemann introduced it. If one parallel-
transports a vector 󰑤 around a parallelogram formed by two vectors u and 󰑣, each of length ε, the vector 󰑤
is changed to 󰑤 + δ󰑤. One then has

δ󰑤 = −ε 2 R u 󰑣 󰑤 + higher-order terms . (237)

More can be learned about the geodesic deviation by studying the behaviour of the famous south-pointing
Vol. I, page 225 carriage which we have encountered before. This device, used in China before the compass was discovered,
only works if the world is flat. Indeed, on a curved surface, after following a large closed path, it will show
Challenge 316 s a different direction than at the start of the trip. Can you explain why?
 from curvature to motion 201

have
1
дab = ηab + Racbd x c x d + O(x 3 )
3
1
= (∂ c ∂ d дab )x c x d + O(x 3 ) . (238)
2
The curvature term thus describes the departure of the space-time metric from that of flat
space-time. The curvature tensor R is a large beast; it has 44 = 256 components at each
point of space-time; however, its symmetry properties reduce them to 20 independent
numbers.* The actual number of importance in physical problems is still smaller, namely
only 10. These are the components of the Ricci tensor, which can be defined with the help
of the Riemann tensor by contraction, i.e., by setting

Rbc = R a bac . (241)

Its components, like those of the Riemann tensor, are inverse square lengths. The values

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

a
of the tensor Rbc , or those of Rbcd , are independent of the sign convention used in the
Challenge 318 e Minkowski metric, in contrast to Rabcd .
Challenge 319 ny Can you confirm the relation Rabcd R abcd = 48m2 /r 6 for the Schwarzschild solution?

Curiosities and fun challenges about general relativity

For a long time, people have speculated why the Pioneer 10 and 11 artificial satellites,
which are now over 70 astronomical units away from the Sun, are subject to a constant
deceleration of 8 ⋅ 10−10 m/s2 (towards the Sun) since they passed the orbit of Saturn.
This effect is called the Pioneer anomaly. For a while, the origin was not clear and was an

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

intense subject of research. But several investigations have shown that the reason is not a
Ref. 190 deviation from the inverse square dependence of gravitation, as is sometimes proposed.
In other words, the effect is electromagnetic.
There were many hints that pointed to an asymmetry in heat radiation emission of the
satellites. The on-board generators produce 2.5 kW of heat that is radiated away by the
satellite. A front-to-back asymmetry of only 80 W is sufficient to explain the measured
Ref. 191 anomaly. Recent research has shown that such an asymmetry indeed exists, so that the
problem is now solved.
∗∗
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

* The free-fall definition shows that the Riemann tensor is symmetric in certain indices and antisymmetric
Challenge 317 ny in others:
Rabcd = R cdab , Rabcd = −Rbacd = −Rabdc . (239)
These relations also imply that many components vanish. Of importance also is the relation

Rabcd + Radbc + Racdb = 0 . (240)

Note that the order of the indices is not standardized in the literature. The list of invariants which can be
constructed from R is long. We mention that 12 ε abcd R cd e f Rabe f , namely the product ∗ R R of the Riemann
tensor with its dual, is the invariant characterizing the Thirring–Lense effect.
 202 7 from curvature to motion

Maximum power or force appearing on horizons is the basis for general relativity. Are
there physical systems other than space-time that can also be described in this way?
Page 36 For special relativity, we found that all its main effects – such as a limit speed, Lorentz
contraction or energy–mass equivalence – are also found for dislocations in solids. Do
systems analogous to general relativity exist? So far, attempts to find such systems have
only been partially successful.
Several equations and ideas of general relativity are applicable to deformations of
Ref. 109 solids, since general relativity describes the deformation of the space-time mattress.
Kröner has studied this analogy in great detail.
Other physical systems with ‘horizons’, and thus with observables analogous to curva-
ture, are found in certain liquids – where vortices play the role of black holes – and in
Ref. 192 certain quantum fluids for the propagation of light. Exploring such systems has become
a research topic in its own right.
A full analogy of general relativity in a macroscopic system was discovered only a few
Vol. VI, page 261 years ago. This analogy will be presented in the final part of our adventure.
∗∗

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Can the maximum force principle be used to eliminate competing theories of gravitation?
The most frequently discussed competitors to general relativity are scalar–tensor theories
of gravity, such as the proposal by Brans and Dicke and its generalizations.
Page 112 If a particular scalar-tensor theory obeys the general horizon equation (110) then it
must also imply a maximum force. The general horizon equation must be obeyed both
for static and for dynamic horizons. If that were the case, the specific scalar–tensor theory
would be equivalent to general relativity, because it would allow one, using the argument
of Jacobson, to deduce the usual field equations. This case can appear if the scalar field be-
haves like matter, i.e., if it has mass–energy like matter and curves space-time like matter.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

On the other hand, if in the particular scalar–tensor theory the general horizon equa-
tion is not obeyed for all moving horizons – which is the general case, as scalar–tensor
theories have more defining constants than general relativity – then the maximum force
does not appear and the theory is not equivalent to general relativity. This connection
also shows that an experimental test of the horizon equation for static horizons only is
not sufficient to confirm general relativity; such a test rules out only some, but not all,
scalar–tensor theories.
∗∗
One way to test general relativity would be to send three space probes through the solar
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

system, and measure their relative position over time, with high precision. This is best
done using frequency-stabilized lasers that send light from one satellite to the other two.
Can you summarize the main technical risks involved in such a project? Can you find
Challenge 320 s ways to reduce them?

A summary of the field equations

The field equations of general relativity state that (1) the local curvature of space is given
by the local energy density divided by the maximum force, and (2) that objects move
along the geodesics defined by this local curvature.
 Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014 free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net
203

This description is confirmed by all experiments performed so far.

from curvature to motion
 Chapter 8

WHY C AN WE SEE THE STARS?

– MOTION I N THE UNI V ER SE

“
Zwei Dinge erfüllen das Gemüt mit immer
neuer und zunehmender Bewunderung und
Ehrfurcht, je öfter und anhaltender sich das
Nachdenken damit beschäftigt: der bestirnte
Himmel über mir und das moralische Gesetz in

”
mir.*
Immanuel Kant

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Ref. 194
O n clear nights, between two and five thousand stars are visible with the naked eye.
f them, several hundred have names. Why? Because in all parts
f the world, the stars and the constellations they form are attached to myths.
Myths are stories told to make the incomprehensible more comprehensible. But the
simple fact that we can see the stars is the basis for a story much more fantastic than all
myths. It touches almost all aspects of modern physics and is based on the full history
of the universe.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Which stars do we see?

“
Democritus says [about the Milky Way] that it
is a region of light emanating from numerous
stars small and near to each other, of which the

”
grouping produces the brightness of the whole.
Ref. 197 Aetius, Opinions.

The stars we see on a clear night are mainly the brightest of our nearest neighbours in
the surrounding region of the Milky Way. They lie at distances between four and a few
thousand light years from us. Roughly speaking, in our environment there is a star about
every 400 cubic light years. Our Sun is just one of the one hundred thousand million stars
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

of the Milky Way.

At night, almost all stars visible with the naked eye are from our own galaxy. The only
extragalactic object constantly visible to the naked eye in the northern hemisphere is the
so-called Andromeda nebula, shown enlarged in Figure 87. It is a whole galaxy like our
own, as Immanuel Kant had already conjectured in 1755. Several extragalactic objects are

* ‘Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the more often and persistently
Ref. 193 thought considers them: the starred sky above me and the moral law inside me.’ Immanuel Kant (1724–1804)
was the most important philospher of the Enlightenment, the movement that lead to modern science and
western standard of wealth and living by pushing aside the false ideas spread by religion-based governments.
 motion in the universe 205

F I G U R E 83 A modern photograph of the visible night sky, showing a few thousand stars and the Milky

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Way. The image is a digital composite of many photographs of cloudless night skies taken all over the
Earth. The Milky Way is positioned horizontally (© Axel Mellinger, from Ref. 195).

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

F I G U R E 84 A false colour image of how the night sky, and our galaxy in particular, looks in the near
infrared (courtesy NASA).
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

visible with the naked eye in the southern hemisphere: the Tarantula nebula, as well as
the large and the small Magellanic clouds. The Magellanic clouds are neighbour galaxies
to our own. Other, temporarily visible extragalactic objects are the rare novae, exploding
stars which can be seen if they appear in nearby galaxies, or the still rarer supernovae,
which can often be seen even in faraway galaxies.
In fact, the visible stars are special in other respects also. For example, telescopes show
that about half of them are in fact double: they consist of two stars circling around each
other, as in the case of Sirius. Measuring the orbits they follow around each other allows
Challenge 321 ny one to determine their masses. Can you explain how?
 206 8 why can we see the stars?

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F I G U R E 85 A false colour image of the X-ray sources observed in the night sky, for energies between 1
and 30 MeV (courtesy NASA).

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

F I G U R E 86 A false colour image, composed from infrared data, showing the large-scale structure of the
universe around us; the colour of each galaxy represents its distance and the numbers in parentheses
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

specify the red-shift; an infrared image of the Milky Way is superposed (courtesy Thomas
Jarret/IPAC/Caltech).

Vol. III, page 150 Many more extragalactic objects are visible with telescopes. Nowadays, this is one of
the main reasons to build them, and to build them as large as technically possible.
Is the universe different from our Milky Way? Yes, it is. There are several arguments to
demonstrate this. First of all, our galaxy – the word galaxy is just the original Greek term
for ‘Milky Way’ – is flattened, because of its rotation. If the galaxy rotates, there must be
other masses which determine the background with respect to which this rotation takes
 motion in the universe 207

F I G U R E 87 The Andromeda nebula M31, one of

our neighbour galaxies (and the 31st member of
the Messier object listing) (NASA).

place. In fact, there is a huge number of other galaxies – about 1011 – in the universe, a
discovery dating only from the twentieth century. Some examples are shown in Figure 87,

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Figure 88 and Figure 89. The last figure shows how galaxies usually ‘die’: by colliding with
other galaxies.
Why did our understanding of the place of our galaxy in the universe happen so late?
Well, people had the same difficulty as they had when trying to determine the shape of
the Earth. They had to understand that the galaxy is not only a milky strip seen on clear
nights, but an actual physical system, made of about 1011 stars gravitating around each
other.* Like the Earth, the Milky Way was found to have a three-dimensional shape: As
shown by the infrared photograph in Figure 84, our galaxy is a flat and circular structure,
with a spherical bulge at its centre. The diameter is 100 000 light years. It rotates about
Challenge 322 ny once every 200 to 250 million years. (Can you guess how this is measured?) The rotation

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

is quite slow: since the Sun was formed, it has made only about 20 to 25 full turns around
the centre.
It is even possible to measure the mass of our galaxy. The trick is to use a binary pulsar
on its outskirts. If it is observed for many years, one can deduce its acceleration around
the galactic centre, as the pulsar reacts with a frequency shift which can be measured
on Earth. Many decades of observation are needed and many spurious effects have to
Ref. 198 be eliminated. Nevertheless, such measurements are ongoing. Present estimates put the
mass of our galaxy at 1042 kg or 5 ⋅ 1011 solar masses.

How do we watch the stars?

free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

The best images of the night sky are produced by the most sensitive telescopes. On Earth,
the most sensitive telescopes are the largest ones, such as those shown in Figure 92, lo-
Ref. 196 cated in Paranal in Chile. The history and the capabilities these telescopes are fascinating.
For many wavelengths that are absorbed by the atmosphere, the most sensitive telescopes
are satellite-bound, such as those shown in Figure 93For each wavelength domain, such
modern systems produce fascinating images of the night sky. Figure 83 to Figure 86 give

* The Milky Way, or galaxy in Greek, was said to have originated when Zeus, the main Greek god, tried
to let his son Heracles feed at Hera’s breast in order to make him immortal; the young Heracles, in a sign
showing his future strength, sucked so forcefully that the milk splashed all over the sky.
208 8 why can we see the stars?

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F I G U R E 88 The elliptical galaxy NGC 205 (the 205th member of the New Galactic Catalogue) (NASA).

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

F I G U R E 89 The colliding galaxies M51 and M51B, 65 000 al across, 31 Mal away, show how a galaxy
‘dies’ (NASA).

some examples. A beautiful website dedicated to showing how the night sky looks at dif-
ferent wavelengths is www.chromoscope.net. The website allows to slide from one wave-
length to another simply by moving a cursor; watching it and exploring the beauty of the
universe is worth it.
motion in the universe 209

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F I G U R E 90 The universe is full of galaxies – this photograph shows the Perseus cluster (NASA).

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

F I G U R E 91 The universe contains many clouds; an example is this molecular cloud in Ophiuchus
(© ESO).

What do we see at night?

Astrophysics leads to a strange conclusion about matter, quite different from how we are
used to thinking in classical physics: the matter observed in the sky is found in clouds.
210 8 why can we see the stars?

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

F I G U R E 92 One of the four Very Large Telescopes (VLT) of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in
Paranal in Chile, the most powerful telescopes in the world, each with a diameter of 8 m (© ESO).
motion in the universe 211

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

F I G U R E 93 Top: the XMM-Newton satellite and its high-precision, onion-like mirrors that produced an
X-ray map of the night sky. Bottom: the Planck satellite and its golden-plated microwave antennas that
produced a high-resolution map of the cosmic background radiation (© ESA).
 212 8 why can we see the stars?

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

F I G U R E 94 Rotating clouds emitting jets along their axis; top row: a composite image (visible and
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

infrared) of the galaxy 0313-192, the galaxy 3C296, and the Vela pulsar; middle row: the star in
formation HH30, the star in formation DG Tauri B, and a black hole jet from the galaxy M87; bottom row:
the discovery of jets in our own galaxy (all NASA).

Clouds are systems in which the matter density diminishes with the distance from the
centre, with no sharp border and with no definite size. The object shown in Figure 91
Page 209 is a molecular cloud. But this is not the only case. Most astrophysical objects, including
planets and stars, are clouds.
The Earth is also a cloud, if we take its atmosphere, its magnetosphere and the dust
 motion in the universe 213

ring around it as part of it. The Sun is a cloud. It is a gas ball to start with, but is even
more a cloud if we take into consideration its protuberances, its heliosphere, the solar
wind it generates and its magnetosphere. The solar system is a cloud if we consider its
comet cloud, its asteroid belt and its local interstellar gas cloud. The galaxy is a cloud if
we remember its matter distribution and the cloud of cosmic radiation it is surrounded
by. In fact, even people can be seen as clouds, as every person is surrounded by gases,
little dust particles from skin, vapour, etc.
Ref. 199 In the universe, almost all clouds are plasma clouds. A plasma is an ionized gas, such
as fire, lightning, the inside of neon tubes, or the Sun. At least 99.9 % of all matter in the
universe is in the form of plasma clouds. Only a very small percentage exists in solid or
liquid form, such as toasters, toothpicks or their users.
All clouds in the universe share a number of common properties. First, all clouds seen
in the universe – when undisturbed by collisions or other interactions from neighbour-
ing objects – are rotating. Most clouds are therefore flattened: they are in shape of discs.
Secondly, in many rotating clouds, matter is falling towards the centre: most clouds are
accretion discs. Finally, undisturbed accretion discs usually emit something along the ro-

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

tation axis: they possess jets. This basic cloud structure has been observed for young stars,
for pulsars, for galaxies, for quasars and for many other systems. Figure 94 gives some
examples. Finally, in 2010, jets have been found in our own galaxy, the Milky Way. (Does
Challenge 323 r the Sun have jets? So far, none has been detected.)
In summary, at night we see mostly rotating, flattened plasma clouds emitting jets
along their axes. But the night sky has many other phenomena. A large part of astronomy
Ref. 200 and astrophysics collects information about them. An overview about the observations
is given in Table 5.

TA B L E 5 Some observations about the universe.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Aspect Main Va l u e
properties
Phenomena
Galaxy formation observed by Hubble several times
trigger event unknown
Galactic collisions momentum 1045 to 1047 kg m/s
Star formation cloud collapse forms stars between 0.04 and 130 solar
masses
frequency between 0 and 1000 solar masses per
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

year per galaxy; around 1 solar mass

per year in the Milky Way
by star mergers up to 250 solar masses
Novae new luminous stars, L < 1031 W
ejecting bubble R ≈ t ⋅ c/100
Supernovae new bright stars, L < 1036 W
rate 1 to 5 per galaxy per 1000 a
Hypernovae optical bursts L > 1037 W
214 8 why can we see the stars?

TA B L E 5 (Continued) Some observations about the universe.

Aspect Main Va l u e
properties
Gamma-ray bursts luminosity L up to 1045 W, about 1 % of the whole
visible universe’s luminosity
energy c. 1046 J
duration c. 0.015 to 1000 s
observed number c. 2 per day
Radio sources radio emission 1033 to 1038 W
X-ray sources X-ray emission 1023 to 1034 W
Cosmic rays energy from 1 eV to 1022 eV
Gravitational lensing light bending angles down to 10−4 󳰀󳰀
Comets recurrence, typ. period 50 a, typ. visibility lifetime
evaporation 2 ka, typ. lifetime 100 ka
Meteorites age up to 4.57 ⋅ 109 a

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Components
Intergalactic space mass density c. 10−26 kg/m3
Quasars red-shift up to z = 6
luminosity L = 1040 W, about the same as one
galaxy
Galaxy superclusters number of galaxies c. 108 inside our horizon
Our own local supercluster number of galaxies about 4000
Galaxy groups size 100 Zm

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

number of galaxies between a dozen and 1000
Our local group number of galaxies 30
Galaxies size 0.5 to 2 Zm
number c. 1011 inside horizon
containing 10 to 400 globular clusters
containing typically 1011 stars each
containing typically one supermassive and several
intermediate-mass black holes
The Milky Way, our galaxy diameter 1.0(0.1) Zm
mass 1042 kg or 5 ⋅ 1011 solar masses Ref. 198
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

speed 600 km/s towards Hydra-Centaurus

containing about 30 000 pulsars Ref. 201
containing 100 globular clusters each with 1
million stars
Globular clusters (e.g. M15) containing thousands of stars, one
intermediate-mass black hole
age up to 12 Ga (oldest known objects)
Nebulae, clouds composition dust, oxygen, hydrogen
Our local interstellar cloud size 20 light years
motion in the universe 215

TA B L E 5 (Continued) Some observations about the universe.

Aspect Main Va l u e
properties
composition atomic hydrogen at 7500 K
Star systems types orbiting double stars, over 70 stars
orbited by brown dwarfs, several
planetary systems
Our solar system size 2 light years (Oort cloud)
speed 368 km/s from Aquarius towards Leo
Stars mass up to 130 solar masses (except when
stars merge) Ref. 202
giants and supergiants large size up to 1 Tm
main sequence stars
brown dwarfs low mass below 0.072 solar masses
low temperature below 2800 K Ref. 203

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

L dwarfs low temperature 1200 to 2800 K
T dwarfs low temperature 900 to 1100 K
white dwarfs small radius r ≈ 5000 km
high temperature cools from 100 000 to 5000 K
neutron stars nuclear mass density ρ ≈ 1017 kg/m3
small size r ≈ 10 km
emitters of X-ray bursts X-ray emission
pulsars periodic radio
emission

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

mass up to around 25 solar masses
magnetars high magnetic fields up to 1011 T and higher Ref. 204
some are gamma repeaters, others are anomalous X-ray pulsars
mass above 25 solar masses Ref. 205
Black holes horizon radius r = 2GM/c 2 , observed mass range
from 3 solar masses to 1011 solar
masses
General properties
Cosmic horizon distance c. 1026 m = 100 Ym
71(4) km s−1 Mpc−1 or 2.3(2) ⋅ 10−18 s−1
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Expansion Hubble’s constant

‘Age’ of the universe 13.8(1) Ga
Vacuum energy density 0.5 nJ/m3 or ΩΛ = 0.73 for k = 0
no evidence for time-dependence
Large-scale shape space curvature k ≈ ΩK = 0 Page 228
topology simple at all measured scales
Dimensions number 3 for space, 1 for time, at all measured
energies and scales
 216 8 why can we see the stars?

TA B L E 5 (Continued) Some observations about the universe.

Aspect Main Va l u e
properties
Matter density 2 to 11 ⋅ 10−27 kg/m3 or 1 to 6
hydrogen atoms per cubic metre
ΩM = 0.25
Baryons density Ωb = 0.04, one sixth of the previous
(included in ΩM )
Dark matter density ΩDM = 0.21 (included in ΩM ),
unknown
Dark energy density ΩDM = 0.75, unknown
Photons number density 4 to 5 ⋅ 108 /m3
= 1.7 to 2.1 ⋅ 10−31 kg/m3
energy density ΩR = 4.6 ⋅ 10−5
Neutrinos energy density Ω󰜈 unknown

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Average temperature photons 2.725(2) K
neutrinos not measured, predicted value is 2 K
Perturbations photon anisotropy ΔT /T = 1 ⋅ 10−5
density amplitude A = 0.8(1)
spectral index n = 0.97(3)
tensor-to-scalar ratio r < 0.53 with 95 % confidence
Ionization optical depth τ = 0.15(7)
Decoupling z = 1100

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

But while we are speaking of what we see in the sky, we need to clarify a general issue.

What is the universe?

“
I’m astounded by people who want to ‘know’
the universe when it’s hard enough to find your

”
way around Chinatown.
Woody Allen

The term ‘universe’ implies turning. The universe is what turns around us at night. For a
physicist, at least three definitions are possible for the term ‘universe’:
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

— The (observable or visible) universe is the totality of all observable mass and energy.
This includes everything inside the cosmological horizon. Since the horizon is mov-
ing away from us, the amount of observable mass and energy is constantly increasing.
The content of the term ‘observable universe’ is thus not fixed in time. (What is the ori-
gin of this increase? We will come back to this issue in the final leg of our adventure.)
Vol. VI, page 284
— The (believed) universe is the totality of all mass and energy, including any that is
not observable. Numerous books on general relativity state that there definitely exists
matter or energy beyond the observation boundaries. We will explain the origin of
Challenge 324 e this belief below. (Do you agree with it?)
 motion in the universe 217

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F I G U R E 95 The beauty of
astronomy: the Cygnus Bubble,
discovered in 2008, a nebula
expelled from a central star (false

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

colour image courtesy of T.A.
Rector, H. Schweiker).

— The (full) universe is the sum of matter and energy as well as space-time itself.
These definitions are often mixed up in physical and philosophical discussions. There
is no generally accepted consensus on the terms, so one has to be careful. In this text,
when we use the term ‘universe’, we imply the last definition only. We will discover re-
peatedly that without clear distinction between the definitions the complete ascent of
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Motion Mountain becomes impossible. (For example: Is the amount of matter and en-
Challenge 325 s ergy in the full universe the same as in the observable universe?)
Note that the ‘size’ of the visible universe, or better, the distance to its horizon, is a
quantity which can be imagined. The value of 1026 m, or ten thousand million light years,
is not beyond imagination. If we took all the iron from the Earth’s core and made it into a
Challenge 326 s wire reaching to the edge of the observable universe, how thick would it be? The answer
might surprise you. Also, the content of the universe is clearly finite. There are about
as many visible galaxies in the universe as there are grains in a cubic metre of sand. To
expand on the comparison, can you deduce how much space you would need to contain
all the flour you would get if every little speck, with a typical size of 150 μm, represented
218 8 why can we see the stars?

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

F I G U R E 96 An atlas of our cosmic environment: illustrations at scales up to 12.5, 50, 250, 5 000, 50 000,
500 000, 5 million, 100 million, 1 000 million and 14 000 million light years (© Richard Powell, www.
atlasoftheuniverse.com).
 motion in the universe 219

Challenge 327 s one star?

The colour and the motion of the stars

“ ”
᾽Η τοι μὲν πρώτιστα Ξάος γένετ΄ ... *
Hesiod, Theogony.

Obviously, the universe is full of motion. To get to know the universe a bit, it is useful
to measure the speed and position of as many objects in it as possible. In the twenti-
eth century, a large number of such observations were obtained from stars and galaxies.
Challenge 328 s (Can you imagine how distance and velocity are determined?) This wealth of data can be
summed up in two points.
First of all, on large scales, i.e., averaged over about five hundred million light years,
the matter density in the universe is homogeneous and isotropic. Obviously, at smaller
scales inhomogeneities exist, such as galaxies or cheesecakes. Our galaxy for example is
Ref. 206 neither isotropic nor homogeneous. But at large scales the differences average out. This
large-scale homogeneity of matter distribution is often called the cosmological principle.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

The second point about the universe is even more important. In the 1920s, indepen-
Ref. 207 dently, Carl Wirtz, Knut Lundmark and Gustaf Stromberg showed that on the whole, all
galaxies move away from the Earth, and the more so, the more they were distant. There are
a few exceptions for nearby galaxies, such as the Andromeda nebula itself; but in general,
the speed of flight 󰑣 of an object increases with distance d. In 1929, the US-American
astronomer Edwin Hubble** published the first measurement of the relation between
speed and distance. Despite his use of incorrect length scales he found a relation

󰑣=H d, (242)

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

where the proportionality constant H is today called the Hubble constant. A modern
graph of the relation is given in Figure 97. The Hubble constant is known today to have
a value around 71 km s−1 Mpc−1 . (Hubble’s own value was so far from this value that it is
not cited any more.) For example, a star at a distance of 2 Mpc*** is moving away from
Earth with a speed of around 142 km/s, and proportionally more for stars further away.
In fact, the discovery by Wirtz, Lundmark and Stromberg implies that every galaxy
Challenge 329 s moves away from all the others. (Why?) In other words, the matter in the universe is
expanding. The scale of this expansion and the enormous dimensions involved are amaz-
ing. The motion of all the thousand million galaxy groups in the sky is described by the
single equation (242)! Some deviations are observed for nearby galaxies, as mentioned
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

above, and for faraway galaxies, as we will see.

* ‘Verily, at first chaos came to be ...’ The Theogony, attributed to the probably mythical Hesiodos, was
finalized around 700 bce. It can be read in English and Greek on the www.perseus.tufts.edu website. The
famous quotation here is from verse 117.
** Edwin Powell Hubble (1889–1953), important US-American astronomer. After being an athlete and tak-
ing a law degree, he returned to his childhood passion of the stars; he finally proved Immanuel Kant’s 1755
conjecture that the Andromeda nebula was a galaxy like our own. He thus showed that the Milky Way is
only a tiny part of the universe.
Page 298 *** A megaparsec or Mpc is a distance of 30.8 Zm.
 220 8 why can we see the stars?

Type Ia Supernovae

0.0001 26
Supernova Cosmology Project
24
High-Z Supernova Search
fainter

0.001
22 y
pt
Relative brightness

Calan/Tololo m
25 0e

density
0.01 Supernova Survey y
erg

mass
20
en
m
0.2 0.4 0.6 1.0 cuu 1
18 24 va
0.1 th
wi y
erg
en
16 um
1 v acu
ut
23 ho
14 wit
0.01 0.02 0.04 0.1
Magnitude

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

22 Accelerating
Universe

21 Decelerating
Universe

20
0.2 0.4 0.6 1.0
Redshift

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5
Scale of the Universe
relative to today's scale
F I G U R E 97 The relation between star distance and star velocity (courtesy Saul Perlmutter and the
Supernova Cosmology Project).

The cosmological principle and the expansion taken together imply that the universe
cannot have existed before time when it was of vanishing size; the universe thus has a
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

finite age. Together with the evolution equations, as explained in more detail below, the
Hubble constant points to an age value of around 13 800 million years. The expansion
also means that the universe has a horizon, i.e., a finite maximum distance for sources
whose signals can arrive on Earth. Signals from sources beyond the horizon cannot reach
us.
The motion of galaxies tells something important: in the past, the night sky, and thus
the universe, has been much smaller; matter has been much denser than it is now. It
Ref. 208 turns out that matter has also been much hotter. George Gamow* predicted in 1948 that

* George Gamow (b. 1904 Odessa, d. 1968 St. Boulder), physicist. He explained alpha decay as a tunnelling
 motion in the universe 221

F I G U R E 98 The measured spectrum of the

cosmic background radiation, with the error
bars multiplied by 500, compared to the
calculated Planck spectrum for 2.728 K (NASA).

since hot objects radiate light, the sky cannot be completely black at night, but must
be filled with black-body radiation emitted when it was ‘in heat’. That radiation, called

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

the background radiation, must have cooled down due to the expansion of the universe.
Challenge 330 ny (Can you confirm this?) Despite various similar predictions by other authors, including
Yakov Zel’dovich, in one of the most famous cases of missed scientific communication,
the radiation was found only much later, by two researchers completely unaware of all
Ref. 209 this work. A famous paper in 1964 by Doroshkevich and Novikov had even stated that
the antenna used by the (unaware) later discoverers was the best device to search for the
radiation! In any case, only in 1965 did Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson discover the
radiation. It was in one of the most beautiful discoveries of science, for which both later
Ref. 210 received the Nobel Prize for physics. The radiation turns out to be described by the black-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

body radiation for a body with a temperature of 2.728(1) K, as illustrated in Figure 98. In
fact, the spectrum follows the black-body dependence to a precision better than 1 part
in 104 .
In summary, the universe started with a hot big bang. But apart from expansion and
cooling, the past fourteen thousand million years have also produced a few other mem-
orable events.

Do stars shine every night?

“
Don’t the stars shine beautifully? I am the only

”
person in the world who knows why they do.
Friedrich (Fritz) Houtermans (1903–1966)
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Stars seem to be there for ever. In fact, every now and then a new star appears in the
sky: a nova. The name is Latin and means ‘new’. Especially bright novae are called super-
novae. Novae and similar phenomena remind us that stars usually live much longer than
humans, but that like people, stars are born, shine and die.
It turns out that one can plot all stars on the so-called Hertzsprung–Russell diagram.
This diagram, central to every book on astronomy, is shown in Figure 99. It is a beautiful

effect and predicted the microwave background. He wrote the first successful popular physics texts, such as
1, 2, 3, infinity and the Mr. Thompkins series, which were later imitated by many other writers.
 222 8 why can we see the stars?

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F I G U R E 99 The
Hertzsprung–Russell
diagram (© Richard
Powell).

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

example of a standard method used by astrophysicists: collecting statistics over many
examples of a type of object, one can deduce the life cycle of the object, even though their
lifetime is much longer than that of a human. For example, it is possible, by clever use of
the diagram, to estimate the age of stellar clusters, such as the M15 cluster of Figure 100,
and thus arrive at a minimum age of the universe. The result is around thirteen thousand
million years.
The finite lifetime of stars leads to restrictions on their visibility, especially for high
red-shifts. Indeed, modern telescope can look at places (and times) so far in the past that
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

they contained no stars yet. At those distances one only observes quasars; these light
sources are not stars, but much more massive and bright systems. Their precise structure
is still being studied by astrophysicists.
Since the stars shine, they were also formed somehow. Over millions of years, vast dust
clouds in space can contract, due to the influence of gravity, and form a dense, hot and
rotating structure: a new star. The fascinating details of their birth from dust clouds are
Ref. 211 a central part of astrophysics, but we will not explore them here. Stars differ in life and
lifetime. Above all, their life depends on their birth mass. Stars of the mass of the Sun
live 10 to 20 Ga and die as red giants. Stars with a mass that is 20 times that of the Sun
live only a few million years and die as supernovas. The most massive stars seem to have
 motion in the universe 223

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014
F I G U R E 100 The Messier 15 globular star cluster, with an age of thirteen thousand million years (© ESA,
NASA).

about 130 solar masses. Exceptions are those stars that form through merging of several
Ref. 212 stars; they can be as massive as 250 solar masses.
Yet we do not have the full answer to our question. Why do stars shine at all? Clearly,
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

they shine because they are hot. They are hot because of nuclear reactions in their interior.
Vol. V, page 199 We will discuss these processes in more detail in a latter volume.

A short history of the universe

“ ”
Anima scintilla stellaris essentiae.*
Ref. 213 Heraclitus of Ephesus (c. 540 to c. 480 bce)

* ‘The soul is a spark of the substance of the stars.’

 224 8 why can we see the stars?

Not only stars are born, shine and die. Also galaxies do so. What about the universe? The
most important adventures that the matter and radiation around us have experienced
Ref. 214 are summarized in Table 6. The steps not yet discussed will be studied in the rest of our
ascent of Motion Mountain. The history table is awe-inspiring. This history table even
has applications no theoretical physicist would have imagined. The sequence of events is
so beautiful and impressive that nowadays it is used in certain psychotherapies to point
out to people the story behind their existence, and to remind them of their own worth.
Enjoy.

TA B L E 6 A short history of the universe.

Ti me Ti me Event Temper -
before from big at u r e
n o wa b a n gb
c. 13.8 ⋅ 109 a ≈ tPl b Time, space, matter and initial conditions are 1032 K ≈ TPl
indeterminate
13 ⋅ 10 a
9
c. 1000 tPl Distinction of space-time from matter and radiation, 1030 K

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

−42
≈ 10 s initial conditions are determinate
10−35 s to Inflation & GUT epoch starts; strong and 5 ⋅ 1026 K
−32
10 s electroweak interactions diverge
−12
10 s Antiquarks annihilate; electromagnetic and weak 1015 K
interaction separate
2 ⋅ 10−6 s Quarks get confined into hadrons; universe is a 1013 K
plasma
Positrons annihilate
0.3 s Universe becomes transparent for neutrinos 1010 K

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

a few seconds Nucleosynthesis: D, 4 He, 3 He and 7 Li nuclei form; 109 K
radiation still dominates
2500 a Matter domination starts; density perturbations 75 000 K
magnify
z = 1100 380 000 a Recombination: during these latter stages of the big 3000 K
bang, H, He and Li atoms form, and the universe
becomes ‘transparent’ for light, as matter and
radiation decouple, i.e., as they acquire different
temperatures; the ‘night’ sky starts to get darker and
darker
Sky is almost black except for black-body radiation Tγ =
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

To (1 + z)
z = 10 to 30 Galaxy formation
z = 9.6 Oldestobject seen so far
z=5 Galaxy clusters form
z=3 106 a First generation of stars (population II) is formed,
starting hydrogen fusion; helium fusion produces
carbon, silicon and oxygen
2 ⋅ 10 a
9
First stars explode as supernovaec ; iron is produced
motion in the universe 225

TA B L E 6 (Continued) A short history of the universe.

Ti me Ti me Event Temper -
before from big at u r e
n o wa b a n gb
z=1 3 ⋅ 109 a Second generation of stars (population I) appears,
and subsequent supernova explosions of the ageing
stars form the trace elements (Fe, Se, etc.) we are
made of and blow them into the galaxy
4.7 ⋅ 109 a Primitive cloud, made from such explosion
remnants, collapses; Sun forms
4.5 ⋅ 109 a Earth and other planet formation: Azoicum startsd
4.5 ⋅ 109 a Moon forms from material ejected during the
collision of a large asteroid with the still-liquid Earth
4.3 ⋅ 109 a Craters form on the planets
4.0 ⋅ 109 a Archean eon (Archaeozoicum) starts: bombardment
from space stops; Earth’s crust solidifies; oldest

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

minerals form; water condenses
3.5 ⋅ 109 a Unicellular (microscopic) life appears; stromatolites
form
2.5 ⋅ 109 a Proterozoic eon (‘age of first life’) starts: atmosphere
becomes rich in oxygen thanks to the activity of
microorganisms Ref. 215
1.3 ⋅ 109 a Macroscopic, multicellular life appears, fungi
conquer land
800 ⋅ 106 a Earth is completely covered with ice for the first time

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

(reason still unknown) Ref. 216
600 to Earth is completely covered with ice for the last time
540 ⋅ 106 a
540(5) ⋅ 106 a Paleozoic era (Palaeozoicum, ‘age of old life’) starts,
after a gigantic ice age ends: animals appear, oldest
fossils (with 540(5) start of Cambrian, 495(5)
Ordovician, 440(5) Silurian, 417(5) Devonian, 354(5)
Carboniferous and 292(5) Permian periods)
450 ⋅ 106 a Land plants appear
370 ⋅ 106 a Wooden trees appear
250(5) ⋅ 106 a Mesozoic era (Mesozoicum, ‘age of middle life’,
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

formerly called Secondary) starts: most insects and

other life forms are exterminated; mammals appear
(with 250(5) start of Triassic, 205(4) Jurassic and
142(3) Cretaceous periods)
150 ⋅ 106 a Continent Pangaea splits into Laurasia and
Gondwana
The star cluster of the Pleiades forms
150 ⋅ 106 a Birds appear
142(3) ⋅ 106 a Golden time of dinosaurs (Cretaceous) starts
 226 8 why can we see the stars?

TA B L E 6 (Continued) A short history of the universe.

Ti me Ti me Event Temper -
before from big at u r e
n o wa b a n gb
100 ⋅ 106 a Start of formation of Alps, Andes and Rocky
Mountains
65.5 ⋅ 106 a Cenozoic era (Caenozoicum, ‘age of new life’) starts:
after an asteroid hits the Earth in the Yucatan,
dinosaurs become extinct, and grass and primates
appear, (with 65.5 start of Tertiary, consisting of
Paleogene period with Paleocene, 55.0 Eocene and
33.7 Oligocene epoch, and of Neogene period, with
23.8 Miocene and 5.32 Pliocene epoch; then 1.81
Quaternary period with Pleistocene (or Diluvium)
and 0.01 Holocene (or Alluvium) epoch)
50 ⋅ 106 a Large mammals appear

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

7(1) ⋅ 106 a Hominids appears
3 ⋅ 106 a Supernova explodes, with following consequences:
more intense cosmic radiation, higher formation rate
of clouds, Earth cools down drastically, high
evolutionary pressure on the hominids and as a
result, Homo appears Ref. 217
500 000 a Formation of youngest stars in galaxy
500 000 a Homo sapiens appears
100 000 a Beginning of last ice age

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

90 000 a Homo sapiens sapiens appears
11 800 a End of last ice age, start of Holocene
6 000 a First written texts
2 500 a Physics starts
500 a Use of coffee, pencil and modern physics starts
200 a Electricity use begins
100 a Einstein publishes
10 to 120 a You were a unicellular being
Present c. 14 ⋅ 109 a You are reading this Tγ = 2.73 K,
T󰜈 ≈ 1.6 K,
Tb ≈ 0 K
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Future You enjoy life; for details and reasons, see the following volumes.

a. The time coordinate used here is the one given by the coordinate system defined by the microwave back-
ground radiation, as explained on page 230. A year is abbreviated ‘a’ (Latin ‘annus’). Errors in the last digits
are given between parentheses.
b. This quantity is not exactly defined since the big bang is not a space-time event. This issue will be explored
Vol. VI, page 87 later on.
c. The history of the atoms on Earth shows that we are made from the leftovers of a supernova. We truly are
made of stardust.
 motion in the universe 227

d. Apart from the term Azoicum, all other names and dates from the geological time scale are those of the
Vol. V, page 175 International Commission on Stratigraphy; the dates are measured with the help of radioactive dating.

Despite its length and its interest, the history table has its limitations. For example, what
happened elsewhere in the last few thousand million years? There is still a story to be
written of which next to nothing is known. For obvious reasons, investigations have been
rather Earth-centred.
Research in astrophysics is directed at discovering and understanding all phenomena
observed in the skies. In our adventure we have to skip most of this fascinating topic,
because we want to focus on motion. Interestingly, general relativity allows us to explain
many of the general observations about motion in the universe.

The history of space-time

“
A number of rabbits run away from a central
point in various directions, all with the same
speed. While running, one rabbit turns its head,

”
Challenge 331 s and makes a startling observation. Which one?

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Page 218 The data showing that the universe is sprinkled with stars all over lead to a simple conclu-
sion: the universe cannot be static. Gravity always changes the distances between bodies;
the only exceptions are circular orbits. Gravity also changes the average distances be-
tween bodies: gravity always tries to collapse clouds. The biggest cloud of all, the one
formed by all the matter in the universe, must therefore be changing: either it is collaps-
ing, or it is still expanding.
Ref. 218 The first to dare to draw this conclusion was Aleksander Friedmann.* In 1922 he de-
duced the possible evolutions of the universe in the case of homogeneous, isotropic mass

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

distribution. His calculation is a classic example of simple but powerful reasoning. For a
universe which is homogeneous and isotropic for every point, the line element of space-
Challenge 332 ny time is given by
ds 2 = c 2 dt 2 − a2 (t)(dx 2 + dy 2 + dz 2 ) . (243)

The quantity a(t) is called the scale factor. Matter is described by a density ρM and a
pressure pM . Inserting all this into the field equations, we get two equations that any
school student can grasp; they are

ȧ 2 k 8πG Λ
󶀤 󶀴 + 2 = ρ + (244)
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

a a 3 M 3

* Aleksander Aleksandrowitsch Friedmann (1888–1925), physicist who predicted the expansion of the uni-
verse. Following his early death from typhus, his work remained almost unknown until Georges A. Lemaître
(b. 1894 Charleroi, d. 1966 Leuven), priest and cosmologist, took it up and expanded it in 1927, focusing, as
his job required, on solutions with an initial singularity. Lemaître was one of the propagators of the (erro-
Page 239, page 240 neous!) idea that the big bang was an ‘event’ of ‘creation’ and convinced his whole organization of it. The
Friedmann–Lemaître solutions are often erroneously called after two other physicists, who studied them
again much later, in 1935 and 1936, namely H.P. Robertson and A.G. Walker.
 228 8 why can we see the stars?

and

4πG Λ
ä = − (ρM + 3pM ) a + a . (245)
3 3

Together, they imply

ȧ
ρ̇M = −3 (ρM + pM ) . (246)
a
At the present time t0 , the pressure of matter is negligible. (In the following, the index 0
Challenge 333 e refers to the present time.) In this case, the expression ρM a3 is constant in time.
Equations (244) and (245) depend on only two constants of nature: the gravitational
constant G, related to the maximum force or power in nature, and the cosmological con-
Page 130 stant Λ, describing the energy density of the vacuum, or, if one prefers, the smallest force
in nature.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Before we discuss the equations, first a few points of vocabulary. It is customary to
Challenge 334 ny relate all mass densities to the so-called critical mass density ρc given by

3H02
ρc = ≈ (8 ± 2) ⋅ 10−27 kg/m3 (247)
8πG
corresponding to about 8, give or take 2, hydrogen atoms per cubic metre. On Earth, one
would call this value an extremely good vacuum. Such are the differences between every-
day life and the universe as a whole. In any case, the critical density characterizes a matter
distribution leading to an evolution of the universe just between never-ending expansion

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

and collapse. In fact, this density is the critical one, leading to a so-called marginal evolu-
tion, only in the case of vanishing cosmological constant. Despite this restriction, the
term ‘critical mass density’ is now used in all other cases as well. We can thus speak of a
dimensionless mass density ΩM defined as

ΩM = ρ0 /ρc . (248)

The cosmological constant can also be related to this critical density by setting

ρΛ Λc 2 Λc 2
ΩΛ = = = . (249)
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

ρc 8πG ρc 3H02

A third dimensionless parameter ΩK describes the curvature of space. It is defined in

terms of the present-day radius of the universe R0 and the curvature constant k =
{1, −1, 0} as
−k
ΩK = 2 2 (250)
R0 H0

and its sign is opposite to the one of the curvature k; ΩK vanishes for vanishing curvature.
Note that a positively curved universe, when homogeneous and isotropic, is necessarily
 motion in the universe 229

no big
bang

2
experimental on
values pa nsi
ex
ed ion
1 lerat ans
ce x p
ac it e
ted
ΩΛ lim elera
dec ansion
eternal exp
0 limit
llapse
eventual co
clo t
fla en
se
op

du
niv

-1
un

too
er
ive

se

young
rse

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

0 1 2 3
ΩM
F I G U R E 101 The ranges for the Ω
parameters and their consequences.

closed and of finite volume. A flat or negatively curved universe with the same matter
distribution can be open, i.e., of infinite volume, but does not need to be so. It could be
simply or multiply connected. In these cases the topology is not completely fixed by the

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

curvature.
The present-time Hubble parameter is defined by H0 = ȧ0 /a0 . From equation (244)
Challenge 335 ny we then get the central relation

ΩM + ΩΛ + ΩK = 1 . (251)

In the past, when data were lacking, physicists were divided into two camps: the claus-
trophobics believing that ΩK > 0 and the agoraphobics believing that ΩK < 0. More
details about the measured values of these parameters will be given shortly. The diagram
of Figure 101 shows the most interesting ranges of parameters together with the corre-
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

sponding behaviours of the universe. Modern measurements are consistent with a flat
universe, thus with ΩK = 0.
For the Hubble parameter, the most modern measurements give a value of

H0 = 71 ± 4 km/sMpc = 2.3 ± 2 ⋅ 10−18 /s (252)

which corresponds to an age of the universe of 13.8 ± 1 thousand million years. In other
words, the age deduced from the history of space-time agrees with the age, given above,
deduced from the history of stars.
To get a feeling of how the universe evolves, it is customary to use the so-called decel-
 230 8 why can we see the stars?

eration parameter q0 . It is defined as

ä0 1
q0 = − 2
= ΩM − ΩΛ . (253)
a0 H0 2

The parameter q0 is positive if the expansion is slowing down, and negative if the expan-
sion is accelerating. These possibilities are also shown in the diagram of Figure 101.
An even clearer way to picture the expansion of the universe for vanishing pressure
is to rewrite equation (244) using τ = t H0 and x(τ) = a(t)/a(t0 ), yielding

dx 2
󶀥 󶀵 + U(x) = ΩK
dτ
where U(x) = −ΩΛ x − ΩΛ x 2 . (254)

This looks like the evolution equation for the motion of a particle with mass 1, with total
energy ΩK in a potential U(x). The resulting evolutions are easily deduced.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

For vanishing ΩΛ , the universe either expands for ever, or recollapses, depending on
the value of the mass–energy density.
For non-vanishing (positive) ΩΛ , the potential has exactly one maximum; if the par-
ticle has enough energy to get over the maximum, it will accelerate continuously. That is
the situation the universe seems to be in today.
For a certain time range, the result is shown in Figure 102. There are two points to be
noted: first the set of possible curves is described by two parameters, not one. In addition,
lines cannot be drawn down to zero size. There are two main reasons: we do not yet
understand the behaviour of matter at very high energy, and we do not understand the

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

behaviour of space-time at very high energy. We return to this important issue later on.
The main conclusion to be drawn from Friedmann’s work is that a homogeneous and
isotropic universe is not static: it either expands or contracts. In either case, it has a finite
age. This profound idea took many years to spread around the cosmology community;
even Einstein took a long time to get accustomed to it.
Note that due to its isotropic expansion, the universe has a preferred reference frame:
the frame defined by average matter. The time measured in that frame is the time listed
in Table 6 and is the one we assume when we talk about the age of the universe.
An overview of the possibilities for the long time evolution is given in Figure 103.
The evolution can have various outcomes. In the early twentieth century, people decided
among them by personal preference. Albert Einstein first preferred the solution k = 1
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

and Λ = a−2 = 4πG ρM . It is the unstable solution found when x(τ) remains at the top of
the potential U(x).
In 1917, the Dutch physicist Willem de Sitter had found, much to Einstein’s personal
dismay, that an empty universe with ρM = pM = 0 and k = 1 is also possible. This type
Challenge 336 ny of universe expands for large times. The De Sitter universe shows that in special cases,
matter is not needed for space-time to exist.
Lemaître had found expanding universes for positive mass, and his results were also
contested by Einstein at first. When later the first measurements confirmed the calcu-
lations, the idea of a massive and expanding universe became popular. It became the
 motion in the universe 231

Expansion history of the universe

ds
an r
expreve
Scale relative fo s

0.0001

0.001

0.01
0.1
1
brightness pse
a , 1.5 colla
relative
to
today’s
scale
Scale 1.0 0
a

redshift
a(t) 0.5

ed
The expansion

rat
d
0.5 ate 1
either... ler

ele
e
ac c

dec
l Planck 1.5
hen 2
d, t

s
e

way
t 3
lera
ce

... or al
Quantum de
st past present future
effects
fir

t Planck Time t 0.0

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

–20 –10 0 10
Time t , in Gigayears from present

F I G U R E 102 The evolution of the universe’s scale a for different values of its mass density, as well as the
measured data (the graph on the right is courtesy of Saul Perlmutter and the Supernova Cosmology
Project).

standard model in textbooks. However, in a sort of collective blindness that lasted from
around 1950 to 1990, almost everybody believed that Λ = 0.* Only towards the end of
the twentieth century did experimental progress allow one to make statements based on

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

evidence rather than beliefs or personal preferences, as we will find out shortly. But first
of all we will settle an old issue.

Why is the sky dark at night?

“
In der Nacht hat ein Mensch nur ein
Nachthemd an, und darunter kommt gleich der

”
Charakter.**
Rober Musil

First of all, the sky is not black at night – it is dark blue. Seen from the surface of the Earth,
it has the same blue colour as during the day, as any long-exposure photograph, such as
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Figure 104, shows. The blue colour of the night sky, like the colour of the sky during the
day, is due to light from the stars that is scattered by the atmosphere. If we want to know
the real colour of the sky, we need to go above the atmosphere. There, to the eye, the sky
is pitch black. But precise measurements show that even the empty sky is not completely
black at night; it is filled with radiation of around 200 GHz; more precisely, it is filled

Challenge 337 ny * In this case, for ΩM ⩾ 1, the age of the universe follows t0 ⩽ 2/(3H0 ), where the limits correspond. For
vanishing mass density one has t0 = 1/Ho .
** ‘At night, a person is dressed only with a nightgown, and directly under it there is the character.’ Robert
Musil (b. 1880 Klagenfurt, d. 1942 Geneva), writer.
 232 8 why can we see the stars?

Λ>0 Λ=0 Λ<0

scale factor scale factor scale factor

k = –1

time t time t time t

confirmed by
modern
scale factor scale factor scale factor
data:

k=0

time t time t time t

Λ < Λc Λ = Λc Λ > Λc
scale factor scale factor scale factor scale factor scale factor

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

k = +1

time t time t time t time t time t

F I G U R E 103 The long-term evolution of the universe’s scale factor a for various parameters.

with radiation that corresponds to the thermal emission of a body at 2.73 K. This cosmic
background radiation is the thermal radiation left over from the big bang.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Ref. 219 Thus the universe is indeed colder than the stars. But why is this so? If the universe
were homogeneous on large scales and also infinitely large, it would have an infinite num-
ber of stars. Looking in any direction, we would see the surface of a star. The night sky
would be as bright as the surface of the Sun! Can you convince your grandmother about
Challenge 338 s this?
In a deep forest, one sees a tree in every direction. Similarly, in a ‘deep’ universe, we
would see a star in every direction. Now, the average star has a surface temperature of
about 6000 K. If we lived in a deep and old universe, we would effectively live inside
an oven with a temperature of around 6000 K! Such a climate would make it difficult to
enjoy ice cream.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

So why is the sky black at night, despite being filled with radiation from stars at 6000 K,
i.e., with white light? This paradox was most clearly formulated in 1823 by the astronomer
Wilhelm Olbers.* Because he extensively discussed the question, it is also called Olbers’
paradox.

* Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers (b. 1758 Arbergen, d. 1840 Bremen) was an important astronomer.
He discovered two planetoids, Pallas and Vesta, and five comets; he developed the method of calculating
parabolic orbits for comets which is still in use today. Olbers also actively supported the mathematician
Vol. I, page 142 and astronomer Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel in his career choice. The paradox is named after Olbers, though
others had made similar points before, such as the Swiss astronomer Jean Philippe Loÿs de Cheseaux in
1744 and Johannes Kepler in 1610.
 motion in the universe 233

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F I G U R E 104 All colours, such as the blue of the sky, are present also at night, as this long-time
exposure shows. On the top left, the bright object is Mars; the lower half shows a rare coloured fog bow
created by moonlight (© Wally Pacholka).

Today we know that two main effects explain the darkness of the night. First, since

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

the universe is finite in age, distant stars are shining for less time. We see them in a
younger stage or even during their formation, when they were darker. As a result, the
share of brightness of distant stars is smaller than that of nearby stars, so that the average
temperature of the sky is reduced.* Today we know that even if all matter in the universe
were converted into radiation, the universe would still not be as bright as just calculated.
In other words, the power and lifetime of stars are much too low to produce the oven
Ref. 220 brightness just mentioned. Secondly, we can argue that the radiation of distant stars is
red-shifted and that the volume that the radiation must fill is increasing continuously, so
that the effective average temperature of the sky is also reduced.
Calculations are necessary to decide which reason for the darkness at night is the most
Ref. 221 important one. This issue has been studied in great detail by Paul Wesson; he explains that
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

the first effect, darkness due to a maximum finite star lifetime, is larger than the second,
darkness due to red-shift, by a factor of about three. However, both effects are due to
the finite age of the universe. We may thus state that the sky is dark at night because the
universe has a finite age.
Ref. 219 We note that the darkness of the sky arises only because the speed of light is finite.
Challenge 340 e Can you confirm this?

* Can you explain that the sky is not black just because it is painted black or made of black chocolate? Or
more generally, that the sky is not made of and does not contain any dark and cold substance, as Olbers
Challenge 339 ny himself suggested, and as John Herschel refuted in 1848?
 234 8 why can we see the stars?

The darkness of the sky also tells us that the universe has a large (but finite) age. In-
deed, the 2.7 K background radiation is that cold, despite having been emitted at 3000 K,
Ref. 222 because it is red-shifted, thanks to the Doppler effect. Under reasonable assumptions, the
temperature T of this radiation changes with the scale factor a(t) of the universe as

1
T∼ . (255)
a(t)

In a young universe, we would thus not be able to see the stars, even if they existed.
From the brightness of the sky at night, measured to be about 3 ⋅ 10−13 times that of
an average star like the Sun, we can deduce something interesting: the density of stars in
the universe must be much smaller than in our galaxy. The density of stars in the galaxy
can be deduced by counting the stars we see at night. But the average star density in
the galaxy would lead to much higher values for the night brightness if it were constant
Ref. 220 throughout the universe. We can thus deduce that the galaxy is much smaller than the
universe simply by measuring the brightness of the night sky and by counting the stars

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Challenge 341 e in the sky! Can you make the explicit calculation?
In summary, the sky is black, or better, very dark at night because space-time and
matter are of finite, but old age. As a side issue, here is a quiz: is there an Olbers’ paradox
Challenge 342 ny also for gravitation?

The colour variations of the night sky

Not only is the night sky not black; the darkness of the night sky even depends on the
direction one is looking.
Since the Earth is moving when compared to the average stars, the dark colour of

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

the sky shows a Doppler shift. But even when this motion is compensated some colour
variations remain. The variations are tiny, but they can be measured with special satellites.
The most precise results are those taken in 2013 by the European Planck satellite; they
are shown in Figure 105. These temperature variations are in the microkelvin range; they
show that the universe had already some inhomogeneities when the detected light was
emitted. Figure 105 thus gives an impression of the universe when it was barely 380 000
years ‘young’.
The data of Figure 105 is being studied in great detail. It allows to deduce the precise
age of the universe – 13.8 Ga – its composition, and many other aspects. These studies
are still ongoing.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Is the universe open, closed or marginal?

“
– Doesn’t the vastness of the universe make you
feel small?
– I can feel small without any help from the

”
universe.
Anonymous

Sometimes the history of the universe is summed up in two words: bang!...crunch. But
will the universe indeed recollapse, or will it expand for ever? Or is it in an intermediate,
marginal situation? The parameters deciding its fate are the mass density and cosmolog-
 motion in the universe 235

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

-103 -102 -10 -1 0 1 10 102 103 104 105 106 107

Temperature fluctuations in μK

F I G U R E 105 A false colour image of the fluctuations of the cosmic background radiation, after the
Doppler shift from our local motion and the signals from the Milky Way have been subtracted
(© Planck/ESA).

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

ical constant.
The main news of the last decade of twentieth-century astrophysics are the experi-
mental results allowing one to determine all these parameters. Several methods are being
used. The first method is obvious: determine the speed and distance of distant stars. For
large distances, this is difficult, since the stars are so faint. But it has now become possible
to search the sky for supernovae, the bright exploding stars, and to determine their dis-
tance from their brightness. This is presently being done with the help of computerized
Ref. 223 searches of the sky, using the largest available telescopes.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

A second method is the measurement of the anisotropy of the cosmic microwave back-
ground. From the observed power spectrum as a function of the angle, the curvature of
space-time can be deduced.
A third method is the determination of the mass density using the gravitational lens-
Page 243 ing effect for the light of distant quasars bent around galaxies or galaxy clusters.
A fourth method is the determination of the mass density using galaxy clusters. All
these measurements are expected to improve greatly in the years to come.
At present, these four completely independent sets of measurements provide the
Ref. 224 values
ΩM ≈ 0.3 , ΩΛ ≈ 0.7 , ΩK ≈ 0.0 (256)
 236 8 why can we see the stars?

where the errors are of the order of 0.1 or less. The values imply that the universe is spa-
tially flat, its expansion is accelerating and there will be no big crunch. However, no definite
Page 245 statement on the topology is possible. We will return to this last issue shortly.
In particular, the data show that the density of matter, including all dark matter, is
only about one third of the critical value.* Over two thirds are given by the cosmological
term. For the cosmological constant Λ the present measurements yield

3H02
Λ = ΩΛ ≈ 10−52 /m2 . (257)
c2
This value has important implications for quantum theory, since it corresponds to a vac-
uum energy density

Λc 4 10−46 (GeV)4
ρΛ c 2 = ≈ 0.5 nJ/m3 ≈ . (258)
8πG (ħc)3

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

But the cosmological term also implies a negative vacuum pressure pΛ = −ρΛ c 2 . In-
serting this result into the relation for the potential of universal gravity deduced from
Page 193 relativity
Δφ = 4πG(ρ + 3p/c 2 ) (259)

Ref. 225 we get

Δφ = 4πG(ρM − 2ρΛ ) . (260)

Challenge 343 ny Thus the gravitational acceleration around a mass M is

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

GM Λ 2 GM
a= 2
− c r = 2 − ΩΛ H02 r , (261)
r 3 r
which shows that a positive vacuum energy indeed leads to a repulsive gravitational effect.
Inserting the mentioned value (257) for the cosmological constant Λ we find that the
repulsive effect is negligibly small even for the distance between the Earth and the Sun.
In fact, the order of magnitude of the repulsive effect is so much smaller than that of
attraction that one cannot hope for a direct experimental confirmation of this deviation
Challenge 344 ny from universal gravity at all. Probably astrophysical determinations will remain the only
possible ones. In particular, a positive gravitational constant manifests itself through a
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

positive component in the expansion rate.

But the situation is puzzling. The origin of the cosmological constant is not explained
by general relativity. This mystery will be solved only with the help of quantum theory. In
fact, the cosmological constant is the first local and quantum aspect of nature detected
by astrophysical means.

* The difference between the total matter density and the separately measurable baryonic matter density,
only about one sixth of the former value, is also not explained yet. It might even be that the universe contains
matter of a type unknown so far. We can say that the universe is not WYSIWYG; there is invisible, or dark
matter. This issue, the dark matter problem, is one of the important unsolved questions of cosmology.
 motion in the universe 237

Why is the universe transparent?

Could the universe be filled with water, which is transparent, as maintained by some
Ref. 226 popular books in order to explain rain? No. Even if the universe were filled with air, the
total mass would never have allowed the universe to reach the present size; it would have
Challenge 345 ny recollapsed much earlier and we would not exist.
The universe is thus transparent because it is mostly empty. But why is it so empty?
First of all, in the times when the size of the universe was small, all antimatter annihilated
with the corresponding amount of matter. Only a tiny fraction of matter, which originally
was slightly more abundant than antimatter, was left over. This 10−9 fraction is the matter
Vol. V, page 245 we see now. As a consequence, there are 109 as many photons in the universe as electrons
or quarks.
In addition, 380 000 years after antimatter annihilation, all available nuclei and elec-
trons recombined, forming atoms, and their aggregates, like stars and people. No free
charges interacting with photons were lurking around any more, so that from that period
onwards light could travel through space as it does today, being affected only when it hits
a star or a dust particle or some other atom. The observation of this cosmic background

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

radiation shows that light can travel for over 13 000 million years without problems or
disturbance. Indeed, if we recall that the average density of the universe is 10−26 kg/m3
and that most of the matter is lumped by gravity in galaxies, we can imagine what an ex-
cellent vacuum lies in between. As a result, light can travel along large distances without
noticeable hindrance.
But why is the vacuum transparent? That is a deeper question. Vacuum is transpar-
ent because it contains no electric charges and no horizons: charges or horizons are in-
dispensable in order to absorb light. In fact, quantum theory shows that vacuum does
Vol. V, page 115 contain so-called virtual charges. However, these virtual charges have no effects on the

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

transparency of vacuum.

The big bang and its consequences

“ ”
Μελέτη θανάτου. Learn to die.
Plato, Phaedo, 81a.

Above all, the hot big bang model, which is deduced from the colour of the stars and
Page 220 galaxies, states that about fourteen thousand million years ago the whole universe was
Vol. III, page 297 extremely small. This fact gave the big bang its name. The term was created (with a sar-
castic undertone) in 1950 by Fred Hoyle, who by the way never believed that it applies
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Ref. 227 to nature. Nevertheless, the term caught on. Since the past smallness of the universe be
checked directly, we need to look for other, verifiable consequences. The central ones are
the following:
— all matter moves away from all other matter;
— the mass of the universe is made up of about 75 % hydrogen and 23 % helium;
— there is thermal background radiation of about 2.7 K;
— the maximal age for any system in the universe is around fourteen thousand million
years;
 238 8 why can we see the stars?

— there are background neutrinos with a temperature of about 2 K;*

— for non-vanishing cosmological constant, Newtonian gravity is slightly reduced.
All predictions except the last two have been confirmed by observations. Technology will
probably not allow us to check the last two in the foreseeable future; however, there is no
evidence against them.
Competing descriptions of the universe have not been successful in matching
Ref. 227 observations. In addition, theoretical arguments state that with matter distributions
such as the observed one, and some rather weak general assumptions, there is no way
Ref. 228 to avoid a period in the finite past in which the universe was extremely small and hot.
Therefore it is worth having a close look at the situation.

Was the big bang a big bang?

First of all, was the big bang a kind of explosion? This description implies that some
material transforms internal energy into motion of its parts. However, there was no such
process in the early history of the universe. In fact, a better description is that space-

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

time is expanding, rather than matter moving. The mechanism and the origin of the
expansion is unknown at this point of our mountain ascent. Because of the importance
of spatial expansion, the whole phenomenon cannot be called an explosion at all. And
obviously there neither was nor is any sound carrying medium in interstellar space, so
that one cannot speak of a ‘bang’ in any sense of the term.
Was it big? The visible universe was rather small about fourteen thousand million
years ago, much smaller than an atom. In summary, the big bang was neither big nor a
bang; but the rest is correct.

Was the big bang an event?

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

“
Quid faciebat deus, antequam faceret caelum et

”
terram? ...Non faciebat aliquid.**
Augustine of Hippo, Confessiones, XI, 12.

The big bang theory is a description of what happened in the whole of space-time. Despite
what is often written in careless newspaper articles, at every moment of the expansion
space has been of non-vanishing size: space was never a single point. People who pretend
it was are making ostensibly plausible, but false statements. The big bang theory is a
description of the expansion of space-time, not of its beginning. Following the motion of
matter back in time – even neglecting the issue of measurement errors – general relativity
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

can deduce the existence of an initial singularity only if point-like matter is assumed to
exist. However, this assumption is wrong. In addition, the effect of the nonlinearities in
general relativity at situations of high energy densities is not even completely clarified
yet. Above all, the big bang occurred across the hole universe. (This is the reason that
researchers ponder ‘inflation’ to explain various aspects of the universe.) In short, the big
bang was no event.

* The theory states that T󰜈 /Tγ ≈ (4/11)1/3 . These neutrinos appeared about 0.3 s after the big bang.
** ‘What was god doing before he made heaven and earth? ...He didn’t do anything.’ Augustine of Hippo
(b. 354 Tagaste , d. 430 Hippo Regius) was an reactionary and influential theologian.
 motion in the universe 239

Most importantly, quantum theory shows that the big bang was not a true singular-
ity, as no physical observable, neither density nor temperature, ever reaches an infinitely
Vol. VI, page 97 large (or infinitely small) value. Such values cannot exist in nature.* In any case, there is
a general agreement that arguments based on pure general relativity alone cannot make
correct statements about the big bang. Nevertheless, most statements in newspaper arti-
cles are of this sort.

Was the big bang a beginning?

Asking what was before the big bang is like asking what is north of the North Pole. Just
as nothing is north of the North Pole, so nothing ‘was’ before the big bang. This analogy
could be misinterpreted to imply that the big bang took its start at a single point in time,
which of course is incorrect, as just explained. But the analogy is better than it looks: in
fact, there is no precise North Pole, since quantum theory shows that there is a funda-
mental indeterminacy as to its position. There is also a corresponding indeterminacy for
the big bang.
In fact, it does not take more than three lines to show with quantum theory that time

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

and space are not defined either at or near the big bang. We will give this simple argument
Vol. VI, page 61 in the first chapter of the final part of our mountain ascent. The big bang therefore cannot
be called a ‘beginning’ of the universe. There never was a time when the scale factor a(t)
of the universe was zero.
The conceptual mistake of stating that time and space exist from a ‘beginning’ on-
wards is frequently encountered. In fact, quantum theory shows that near the big bang,
events can neither be ordered nor even be defined. More bluntly, there is no beginning;
there has never been an initial event or singularity.
Obviously the concept of time is not defined ‘outside’ or ‘before’ the existence of the

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Ref. 229 universe; this fact was already clear to thinkers over a thousand years ago. It is then tempt-
ing to conclude that time must have started. But as we saw, that is a logical mistake as
well: first of all, there is no starting event, and secondly, time does not flow, as clarified
Vol. I, page 48 already in the beginning of our walk.
A similar mistake lies behind the idea that the universe had certain ‘initial condi-
Vol. I, page 218 tions.’ Initial conditions by definition make sense only for objects or fields, i.e., for entities
which can be observed from the outside, i.e., for entities which have an environment. The
universe does not comply with this requirement; it thus cannot have initial conditions.
Nevertheless, many people still insist on thinking about this issue; interestingly, Stephen
Ref. 230 Hawking sold millions of copies of a book explaining that a description of the universe
without initial conditions is the most appealing, without mentioning the fact that there
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

is no other possibility anyway.**

In summary, the big bang is not a beginning, nor does it imply one. We will uncover
Vol. VI, page 282 the correct way to think about it in the final part of our mountain ascent.

* Many physicists are still wary of making such strong statements on this point. The first sections of the
Vol. VI, page 53 final part of our mountain ascent give the precise arguments leading to them.
** This statement will still provoke strong reactions among physicists; it will be discussed in more detail in
the section on quantum theory.
 240 8 why can we see the stars?

Does the big bang imply creation?

“
[The general theory of relativity produces]

”
universal doubt about god and his creation.
A witch hunter

Creation, i.e., the appearance of something out of nothing, needs an existing concept of
Vol. III, page 290 space and time to make sense. The concept of ‘appearance’ makes no sense otherwise.
But whatever the description of the big bang, be it classical, as in this chapter, or quan-
tum mechanical, as in later ones, this condition is never fulfilled. Even in the present,
classical description of the big bang, which gave rise to its name, there is no appearance
of matter, nor of energy, nor of anything else. And this situation does not change in any
later, improved description, as time or space are never defined before the appearance of
matter.
In fact, all properties of a creation are missing: there is no ‘moment’ of creation, no
appearance from nothing, no possible choice of any ‘initial’ conditions out of some set
Vol. VI, page 140 of possibilities, and, as we will see in more detail in the last volume of this adventure, not
even any choice of particular physical ‘laws’ from any set of possibilities.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

In summary, the big bang does not imply nor harbour a creation process. The big bang
was not an event, not a beginning and not a case of creation. It is impossible to continue
Challenge 346 ny the ascent of Motion Mountain if we do not accept each of these three conclusions. To
deny them is to continue in the domain of beliefs and prejudices, thus effectively giving
up on the mountain ascent.

Why can we see the Sun?

First of all, the Sun is visible because air is transparent. It is not self-evident that air is

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

transparent; in fact it is transparent only to visible light and to a few selected other fre-
quencies. Infrared and ultraviolet radiation are mostly absorbed. The reasons lie in the
behaviour of the molecules the air consists of, namely mainly nitrogen, oxygen and a
few other transparent gases. Several moons and planets in the solar system have opaque
atmospheres: we are indeed lucky to be able to see the stars at all.
In fact, even air is not completely transparent; air molecules scatter light a little bit.
That is why the sky and distant mountains appear blue and sunsets red. However, our
eyes are not able to perceive this, and stars are invisible during daylight. At many wave-
lengths far from the visible spectrum the atmosphere is even opaque, as Figure 106 shows.
(It is also opaque for all wavelengths shorter than 200 nm, up to gamma rays. On the long
wavelength range, it remains transparent up to wavelength of around 10 to 20 m, depend-
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

ing on solar activity, when the extinction by the ionosphere sets in.)
Secondly, we can see the Sun because the Sun, like all hot bodies, emits light. We
Vol. III, page 209 describe the details of incandescence, as this effect is called, later on.
Thirdly, we can see the Sun because we and our environment and the Sun’s environ-
ment are colder than the Sun. In fact, incandescent bodies can be distinguished from
their background only if the background is colder. This is a consequence of the prop-
erties of incandescent light emission, usually called black-body radiation. The radiation
is material-independent, so that for an environment with the same temperature as the
body, nothing can be seen at all. Any oven, such as the shown in Figure 107 provides a
 motion in the universe 241

F I G U R E 106 The transmittance of the atmosphere (NASA).

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014
F I G U R E 107 A hot red oven shows that at high
temperature, objects and their environment cannot be
distinguished from each other (© Wikimedia).

proof.
Finally, we can see the Sun because it is not a black hole. If it were, it would emit
(almost) no light.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Obviously, each of these conditions applies to stars as well. For example, we can only
see them because the night sky is black. But then, how to explain the multicoloured sky?

Why do the colours of the stars differ?

Stars are visible because they emit visible light. We have encountered several important
effects which determine colours: the diverse temperatures among the stars, the Doppler
shift due to a relative speed with respect to the observer, and the gravitational red-shift.
Not all stars are good approximations to black bodies, so that the black-body radiation
Vol. III, page 138 law does not always accurately describe their colour. However, most stars are reasonable
 242 8 why can we see the stars?

TA B L E 7 The colour of the stars.

C l ass Tempera- Example L o c at i o n Colour

ture
O 30 kK Mintaka δ Orionis blue-violet
O 31(10) kK Alnitak ζ Orionis blue-violet
B 22(6) kK Bellatrix γ Orionis blue
B 26 kK Saiph κ Orionis blue-white
B 12 kK Rigel β Orionis blue-white
B 25 kK Alnilam ε Orionis blue-white
B 17(5) kK Regulus α Leonis blue-white
A 9.9 kK Sirius α Canis Majoris blue-white
A 8.6 kK Megrez δ Ursae Majoris white
A 7.6(2) kK Altair α Aquilae yellow-white
F 7.4(7) kK Canopus α Carinae yellow-white
F 6.6 kK Procyon α Canis Minoris yellow-white

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

G 5.8 kK Sun ecliptic yellow
K 3.5(4) kK Aldebaran α Tauri orange
M 2.8(5) kK Betelgeuse α Orionis red
D <80 kK – – any

Note. White dwarfs, or class-D stars, are remnants of imploded stars, with a size of only a few tens of kilo-
metres. Not all are white; they can be yellow or red. They comprise 5 % of all stars. None is visible with the
naked eye. Temperature uncertainties in the last digit are given between parentheses.
The size of all other stars is an independent variable and is sometimes added as roman numerals at the end

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

of the spectral type. (Sirius is an A1V star, Arcturus a K2III star.) Giants and supergiants exist in all classes
from O to M.
To accommodate brown dwarfs, two new star classes, L and T, have been proposed.

approximations of black bodies. The temperature of a star depends mainly on its size,
Ref. 231 its mass, its composition and its age, as astrophysicists are happy to explain. Orion is a
good example of a coloured constellation: each star has a different colour. Long-exposure
Vol. I, page 85 photographs beautifully show this.
The basic colour determined by temperature is changed by two effects. The first, the
Doppler red-shift z, depends on the speed 󰑣 between source and observer as
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Challenge 347 ny

Δλ f c+󰑣
z= = S −1=󵀊 −1. (262)
λ fO c−󰑣

Such shifts play a significant role only for remote, and thus faint, stars visible through
the telescope. With the naked eye, Doppler shifts cannot be seen. But Doppler shifts can
make distant stars shine in the infrared instead of in the visible domain. Indeed, the
highest Doppler shifts observed for luminous objects are larger than 5.0, corresponding
Challenge 348 ny to a recessional speed of more than 94 % of the speed of light. In the universe, the red-
 motion in the universe 243

shift is related to the scale factor R(t) by

R(t0 )
z= −1. (263)
R(temission )

Light at a red-shift of 5.0 was thus emitted when the universe was one sixth of its present
age.
The other colour-changing effect, the gravitational red-shift zg , depends on the matter
density of the source and the light emission radius R; it is given by

Δλ f 1
zg = = S −1= −1. (264)
λ f0 󵀆1 − 2GM
2
c R

Challenge 349 e It is usually quite a bit smaller than the Doppler shift. Can you confirm this?
No other red-shift processes are known; moreover, such processes would contradict
Page 252 all the known properties of nature. But the colour issue leads to the next question.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Are there dark stars?
It could be that some stars are not seen because they are dark. This could be one ex-
planation for the large amount of dark matter seen in the recent measurements of the
background radiation. This issue is currently of great interest and hotly debated. It is
known that objects more massive than Jupiter but less massive than the Sun can exist in
states which emit hardly any light. Any star with a mass below 7.2 % of the mass of the
Sun cannot start fusion and is called a brown dwarf. It is unclear at present how many
such objects exist.Many of the so-called extrasolar ‘planets’ are probably brown dwarfs.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

The issue is not yet settled.
Page 253 Another possibility for dark stars are black holes. These are discussed in detail below.

Are all stars different? – Gravitational lenses

“ ”
Per aspera ad astra.*

Are we sure that at night, two stars are really different? The answer is no. Recently, it
was shown that two ‘stars’ were actually two images of the same object. This was found
by comparing the flicker of the two images. It was found that the flicker of one image
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

was exactly the same as the other, just shifted by 423 days. This result was found by the
Estonian astrophysicist Jaan Pelt and his research group while observing two images of
Ref. 232 quasars in the system Q0957+561.
The two images are the result of gravitational lensing, an effect illustrated in Figure 108.
Indeed, a large galaxy can be seen between the two images observed by Pelt, and much
nearer to the Earth that the star. This effect had been already considered by Einstein;
however he did not believe that it was observable. The real father of gravitational lensing
Ref. 233 is Fritz Zwicky, who predicted in 1937 that the effect would be quite common and easy to
* ‘Through hardship to the stars.’ A famous Latin motto. Often incorrectly given as ‘per ardua ad astra’.
 244 8 why can we see the stars?

Gravitational lensing Toplogical effect

first image first image

star star
Earth
galaxy
Earth

second image second image

F I G U R E 108 Two ways in which a single star can lead to several images.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F I G U R E 109 The Zwicky–Einstein ring
B1938+666, seen in the radio spectrum (left) and

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

in the optical domain (right) (NASA).

observe, if lined-up galaxies instead of lined-up stars were considered, as indeed turned
out to be the case.
Interestingly, when the time delay is known, astronomers are able to determine the
Challenge 350 ny size of the universe from this observation. Can you imagine how?
If the two observed massive objects are lined up exactly behind each other, the more
distant one is seen as ring around the nearer one. Such rings have indeed been ob-
served, and the galaxy image around a central foreground galaxy at B1938+666, shown in
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Figure 109, is one of the most beautiful examples. In 2005, several cases of gravitational
lensing by stars were also discovered. More interestingly, three events where one of the
two stars has a Earth-mass planet have also been observed. The coming years will surely
lead to many additional observations, helped by the sky observation programme in the
southern hemisphere that checks the brightness of about 100 million stars every night.
Generally speaking, images of nearby stars are truly unique, but for the distant stars
the problem is tricky. For single stars, the issue is not so important, seen overall. Reas-
suringly, only about 80 multiple star images have been identified so far. But when whole
galaxies are seen as several images at once (and several dozens are known so far) we might
start to get nervous. In the case of the galaxy cluster CL0024+1654, shown in Figure 110,
 motion in the universe 245

F I G U R E 110 Multiple blue images of a galaxy

formed by the yellow cluster CL0024+1654
(NASA).

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

seven thin, elongated, blue images of the same distant galaxy are seen around the yellow,
nearer, elliptical galaxies.
But multiple images can be created not only by gravitational lenses; the shape of the
universe could also play some tricks.

What is the shape of the universe?

A popular analogy for the expansion of the universe is the comparison to a rubber bal-
loon that increase in diameter by blowing air into it. The surface of the balloon is as-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

sumed to correspond to the volume of the universe. The dots on the balloon correspond
to the galaxies; their distance continuously increases. The surface of the balloon is finite
and has no boundary. By analogy, this suggests that the volume of the universe has a fi-
nite volume, but no boundary. This analogy presupposes that the universe has the same
topology, the same ‘shape’ as that of a sphere with an additional dimension.
Ref. 234 But what is the experimental evidence for this analogy? Not much. Nothing definite
is known about the shape of the universe. It is extremely hard to determine it, simply
because of its sheer size. Experiments show that in the nearby region of the universe, say
within a few million light years, the topology is simply connected. But for large distances,
almost nothing is certain. Maybe research into gamma-ray bursts will tell us something
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about the topology, as these bursts often originate from the dawn of time.* Maybe even
the study of fluctuations of the cosmic background radiation can tell us something. All
this research is still in its infancy.
Since little is known, we can ask about the range of possible answers. As just men-
tioned, in the standard model of cosmology, there are three options. For k = 0, com-
patible with experiments, the simplest topology of space is three-dimensional Euclidean
space ℝ3 . For k = 1, space-time is usually assumed to be a product of linear time, with
the topology R of the real line, and a sphere S 3 for space. That is the simplest possible

* The story is told from the mathematical point of view by B ob Osserman, Poetry of the Universe, 1996.
 246 8 why can we see the stars?

shape, corresponding to a simply-connected universe. For k = −1, the simplest option for
space is a hyperbolic manifold H 3 .
Page 229 In addition, Figure 101 showed that depending on the value of the cosmological con-
stant, space could be finite and bounded, or infinite and unbounded. In most Friedmann–
Lemaître calculations, simple-connectedness is usually tacitly assumed, even though it is
not at all required.
It could well be that space-time is multiply connected, like a higher-dimensional ver-
sion of a torus, as illustrated on the right-hand side of Figure 108. A torus still has k = 0
everywhere, but a non-trivial global topology. For k ̸= 0, space-time could also have even
more complex topologies.* If the topology is non-trivial, it could even be that the actual
number of galaxies is much smaller than the observed number. This situation would cor-
respond to a kaleidoscope, where a few beads produce a large number of images.
In fact, the range of possibilities is not limited to the simply and multiply connected
cases suggested by classical physics. If quantum effects are included, additional and much
Vol. VI, page 96 more complex options appear; they will be discussed in the last part of our walk.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

What is behind the horizon?

“ ”
The universe is a big place; perhaps the biggest.
Kilgore Trout, Venus on the Half Shell.

The horizon of the night sky is a tricky entity. In fact, all cosmological models show that it
Ref. 236 moves rapidly away from us. A detailed investigation shows that for a matter-dominated
Challenge 351 ny universe the horizon moves away from us with a velocity

󰑣horizon = 3c . (265)

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

A pretty result, isn’t it? Obviously, since the horizon does not transport any signal, this is
not a contradiction of relativity. Now, measurements of ΩK show that space is essentially
Page 234 flat. So we can ask: What is behind the horizon?
If the universe is open or marginal, the matter we see at night is predicted by naively
applied general relativity to be a – literally – infinitely small part of all matter existing.
Indeed, applying the field equations to an open or marginal universe implies that there
Challenge 352 s is an infinite amount of matter behind the horizon. Is such a statement testable?
In a closed universe, matter is still predicted to exist behind the horizon; however, in
Challenge 353 s this case it is only a finite amount. Is this statement testable?
In short, the standard model of cosmology states that there is a lot of matter behind
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

the horizon. Like most cosmologists, we sweep the issue under the rug and take it up
only later in our walk. A precise description of the topic is provided by the hypothesis of
inflation.

* The Friedmann–Lemaître metric is also valid for any quotient of the just-mentioned simple topologies by
a group of isometries, leading to dihedral spaces and lens spaces in the case k = 1, to tori in the case k = 0,
Ref. 235 and to any hyperbolic manifold in the case k = −1.
 motion in the universe 247

Why are there stars all over the place? – Inflation

What were the initial conditions of matter? Matter was distributed in a constant density
over space expanding with great speed. How could this happen? The researcher who has
explored this question most thoroughly is Alan Guth. So far, we have based our studies
of the night sky, cosmology, on two observational principles: the isotropy and the ho-
mogeneity of the universe. In addition, the universe is (almost) flat. The conjecture of
inflation is an attempt to understand the origin of these observations.
Flatness at the present instant of time is strange: the flat state is an unstable solution of
the Friedmann equations. Since the universe is still flat after fourteen thousand million
years, it must have been even flatter near the big bang.
Ref. 237 Guth argued that the precise flatness, the homogeneity and the isotropy of the uni-
verse could follow if in the first second of its history, the universe had gone through a
short phase of exponential size increase, which he called inflation. This exponential size
increase, by a factor of about 1026 , would homogenize the universe. This extremely short
evolution would be driven by a still-unknown field, the inflaton field. Inflation also seems
to describe correctly the growth of inhomogeneities in the cosmic background radiation.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

However, so far, inflation poses as many questions as it solves. Twenty years after his
initial proposal, Guth himself is sceptical on whether it is a conceptual step forward. The
final word on the issue has not been said yet.

Why are there so few stars? – The energy and entropy content
of the universe

“
Die Energie der Welt ist constant. Die Entropie

”
der Welt strebt einem Maximum zu.*
Rudolph Clausius

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

The matter–energy density of the universe is near the critical one. Inflation, described in
the previous section, is the favourite explanation for this connection. This implies that the
actual number of stars is given by the behaviour of matter at extremely high temperatures,
and by the energy density left over at lower temperature. The precise connection is still
the topic of intense research. But this issue also raises a question about the quotation
above. Was the creator of the term ‘entropy’, Rudolph Clausius, right when he made this
famous statement? Let us have a look at what general relativity has to say about all this.
In general relativity, a total energy can indeed be defined, in contrast to localized en-
ergy, which cannot. The total energy of all matter and radiation is indeed a constant of
motion. It is given by the sum of the baryonic, luminous and neutrino parts:
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

c 2 M0 c2
E = Eb + Eγ + E󰜈 ≈ + ... ≈ + ... . (266)
T0 G

This value is constant only when integrated over the whole universe, not when just the
inside of the horizon is taken.**

* ‘The energy of the universe is constant. Its entropy tends towards a maximum.’
** Except for the case when pressure can be neglected.
 248 8 why can we see the stars?

Many people also add a gravitational energy term. If one tries to do so, one is obliged
to define it in such a way that it is exactly the negative of the previous term. This value
for the gravitational energy leads to the popular speculation that the total energy of the
universe might be zero. In other words, the number of stars could also be limited by this
relation.
However, the discussion of entropy puts a strong question mark behind all these seem-
ingly obvious statements. Many people have tried to give values for the entropy of the
Ref. 238 universe. Some have checked whether the relation

kc 3 A kG
S= = 4πM 2 , (267)
Għ 4 ħc

Challenge 354 ny which is correct for black holes, also applies to the universe. This assumes that all the
matter and all the radiation of the universe can be described by some average tempera-
ture. They argue that the entropy of the universe is surprisingly low, so that there must
be some ordering principle behind it. Others even speculate over where the entropy of

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

the universe comes from, and whether the horizon is the source for it.
But let us be careful. Clausius assumes, without the slightest doubt, that the universe is
a closed system, and thus deduces the statement quoted above. Let us check this assump-
tion. Entropy describes the maximum energy that can be extracted from a hot object.
After the discovery of the particle structure of matter, it became clear that entropy is also
given by the number of microstates that can make up a specific macrostate. But neither
definition makes any sense if applied to the universe as a whole. There is no way to ex-
tract energy from it, and no way to say how many microstates of the universe would look
like the macrostate.
The basic reason is the impossibility of applying the concept of state to the universe.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Vol. I, page 27 We first defined the state as all those properties of a system which allow one to distin-
guish it from other systems with the same intrinsic properties, or which differ from one
observer to another. You might want to check for yourself that for the universe, such state
Challenge 355 s properties do not exist at all.
We can speak of the state of space-time and we can speak of the state of matter and
energy. But we cannot speak of the state of the universe, because the concept makes no
sense. If there is no state of the universe, there is no entropy for it. And neither is there
an energy value. This is in fact the only correct conclusion one can draw about the issue.

Why is matter lumped?

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We are able to see the stars because the universe consists mainly of empty space, in other
words, because stars are small and far apart. But why is this the case? Cosmic expansion
was deduced and calculated using a homogeneous mass distribution. So why did matter
lump together?
It turns out that homogeneous mass distributions are unstable. If for any reason the
density fluctuates, regions of higher density will attract more matter than regions of lower
density. Gravitation will thus cause the denser regions to increase in density and the re-
gions of lower density to be depleted. Can you confirm the instability, simply by assuming
Challenge 356 ny a space filled with dust and a = GM/r 2 ? In summary, even a tiny quantum fluctuation
 motion in the universe 249

in the mass density will lead, after a certain time, to lumped matter.
But how did the first inhomogeneities form? That is one of the big problems of mod-
ern physics and astrophysics, and there is no accepted answer yet. Several modern ex-
periments are measuring the variations of the cosmic background radiation spectrum
with angular position and with polarization; these results, which will be available in the
Ref. 239 coming years, might provide some information on the way to settle the issue.

Why are stars so small compared with the universe?

Given that the matter density is around the critical one, the size of stars, which contain
most of the matter, is a result of the interaction of the elementary particles composing
Page 273 them. Below we will show that general relativity (alone) cannot explain any size appear-
ing in nature. The discussion of this issue is a theme of quantum theory.

Are stars and galaxies moving apart or is the universe

expanding?

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Can we distinguish between space expanding and galaxies moving apart? Yes, we can.
Challenge 357 ny Can you find an argument or devise an experiment to do so?
The expansion of the universe does not apply to the space on the Earth. The expan-
sion is calculated for a homogeneous and isotropic mass distribution. Matter is neither
homogeneous nor isotropic inside the galaxy; the approximation of the cosmological
principle is not valid down here. It has even been checked experimentally, by studying
Ref. 240 atomic spectra in various places in the solar system, that there is no Hubble expansion
taking place around us.

Is there more than one universe?

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

The existence of ‘several’ universes might be an option when we study the question
whether we see all the stars. But you can check that neither definition of ‘universe’ given
above, be it ‘all matter-energy’ or ‘all matter–energy and all space-time’, allows us to an-
Challenge 358 e swer the question positively.
There is no way to define a plural for universe: either the universe is everything, and
then it is unique, or it is not everything, and then it is not the universe. We will discover
Vol. IV, page 157 that quantum theory does not change this conclusion, despite recurring reports to the
contrary.
Whoever speaks of many universes is talking gibberish.
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Why are the stars fixed? – Arms, stars and Mach’s principle

“
Si les astres étaient immobiles, le temps et

”
l’espace n’existeraient plus.*
Maurice Maeterlink.

The two arms possessed by humans have played an important role in discussions about
motion, and especially in the development of relativity. Looking at the stars at night, we

* ‘If the stars were immobile, time and space would not exist any more.’ Maurice Maeterlink (1862–1949) is
a famous Belgian dramatist.
 250 8 why can we see the stars?

can make a simple observation, if we keep our arms relaxed. Standing still, our arms hang
down. Then we turn rapidly. Our arms lift up. In fact they do so whenever we see the stars
turning. Some people have spent a large part of their lives studying this phenomenon.
Why?
Ref. 241 Stars and arms prove that motion is relative, not absolute.* This observation leads to
two possible formulations of what Einstein called Mach’s principle.
— Inertial frames are determined by the rest of the matter in the universe.
This idea is indeed realized in general relativity. No question about it.
— Inertia is due to the interaction with the rest of the universe.
This formulation is more controversial. Many interpret it as meaning that the mass of an
object depends on the distribution of mass in the rest of the universe. That would mean
that one needs to investigate whether mass is anisotropic when a large body is nearby.
Of course, this question has been studied experimentally; one simply needs to measure
whether a particle has the same mass values when accelerated in different directions.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Ref. 242 Unsurprisingly, to a high degree of precision, no such anisotropy has been found. Many
therefore conclude that Mach’s principle is wrong. Others conclude with some pain in
Ref. 243 their stomach that the whole topic is not yet settled.
But in fact it is easy to see that Mach cannot have meant a mass variation at all: one
then would also have to conclude that mass is distance-dependent, even in Galilean
physics. But this is known to be false; nobody in his right mind has ever had any doubts
Challenge 359 e about it.
The whole debate is due to a misunderstanding of what is meant by ‘inertia’: one
can interpret it as inertial mass or as inertial motion (like the moving arms under the
stars). There is no evidence that Mach believed either in anisotropic mass or in distance-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

dependent mass; the whole discussion is an example people taking pride in not making
a mistake which is incorrectly imputed to another, supposedly more stupid, person.**
Obviously, inertial effects do depend on the distribution of mass in the rest of the
universe. Mach’s principle is correct. Mach made some blunders in his life (he is infa-
mous for opposing the idea of atoms until he died, against experimental evidence) but
his principle is not one of them. Unfortunately it is to be expected that the myth about
Ref. 243 the incorrectness of Mach’s principle will persist, like that of the derision of Columbus.
In fact, Mach’s principle is valuable. As an example, take our galaxy. Experiments show
that it is flattened and rotating. The Sun turns around its centre in about 250 million years.
Indeed, if the Sun did not turn around the galaxy’s centre, we would fall into it in about
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Page 204 20 million years. As mentioned above, from the shape of our galaxy we can draw the
powerful conclusion that there must be a lot of other matter, i.e., a lot of other stars and
galaxies in the universe.

* The original reasoning by Newton and many others used a bucket and the surface of the water in it; but
the arguments are the same.
** A famous example is often learned at school. It is regularly suggested that Columbus was derided because
he thought the Earth to be spherical. But he was not derided at all for this reason; there were only disagree-
ments on the size of the Earth, and in fact it turned out that his critics were right, and that he was wrong in
his own, much too small, estimate of the radius.
 motion in the universe 251

At rest in the universe

There is no preferred frame in special relativity, no absolute space. Is the same true in
the actual universe? No; there is a preferred frame. Indeed, in the standard big-bang
cosmology, the average galaxy is at rest. Even though we talk about the big bang, any
average galaxy can rightly maintain that it is at rest. Each one is in free fall. An even
better realization of this privileged frame of reference is provided by the background
radiation.
In other words, the night sky is black because we move with almost no speed through
background radiation. If the Earth had a large velocity relative to the background radi-
ation, the sky would be bright even at night, thanks to the Doppler effect for the back-
ground radiation. In other words, the night sky is dark in all directions because of our
slow motion against the background radiation.
This ‘slow’ motion has a speed of 368 km/s. (This is the value of the motion of the Sun;
there are variations due to addition of the motion of the Earth.) The speed value is large
in comparison to everyday life, but small compared to the speed of light. More detailed
studies do not change this conclusion. Even the motion of the Milky Way and that of the

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

local group against the cosmic background radiation is of the order of 600 km/s; that is
still much slower than the speed of light. The reasons why the galaxy and the solar system
move with these ‘low’ speeds across the universe have already been studied in our walk.
Challenge 360 e Can you give a summary?
By the way, is the term ‘universe’ correct? Does the universe rotate, as its name im-
plies? If by universe we mean the whole of experience, the question does not make sense,
because rotation is only defined for bodies, i.e., for parts of the universe. However, if
Ref. 244 by universe we only mean ‘all matter’, the answer can be determined by experiments. It
turns out that the rotation is extremely small, if there is any: measurements of the cosmic

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

background radiation show that in the lifetime of the universe, it cannot have rotated by
more than a hundredth of a millionth of a turn! In short, with a dose of humour we can
say that ‘universe’ is a misnomer.

Does light attract light?

Another reason why we can see stars is that their light reaches us. But why are travelling
light rays not disturbed by each other’s gravitation? We know that light is energy and that
any energy attracts other energy through gravitation. In particular, light is electromag-
netic energy, and experiments have shown that all electromagnetic energy is subject to
gravitation. Could two light beams that are advancing with a small angle between them
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converge, because of mutual gravitational attraction? That could have measurable and
possibly interesting effects on the light observed from distant stars.
The simplest way to explore the issue is to study the following question: Do parallel
light beams remain parallel? Interestingly, a precise calculation shows that mutual grav-
Ref. 245 itation does not alter the path of two parallel light beams, even though it does alter the
path of antiparallel light beams, i.e., parallel beams travelling in opposite directions. The
reason is that for parallel beams moving at light speed, the gravitomagnetic component
Challenge 361 ny exactly cancels the gravitoelectric component.
Since light does not attract light moving along, light is not disturbed by its own gravity
during the millions of years that it takes to reach us from distant stars. Light does not
 252 8 why can we see the stars?

attract or disturb light moving alongside. So far, all known quantum-mechanical effects
also confirm this conclusion.

Does light decay?

In the section on quantum theory we will encounter experiments showing that light is
made of particles. It is plausible that these photons might decay into some other particle,
as yet unknown, or into lower-frequency photons. If that actually happened, we would
not be able to see distant stars.
Challenge 362 e But any decay would also mean that light would change its direction (why?) and thus
produce blurred images for remote objects. However, no blurring is observed. In addi-
tion, the Soviet physicist Matvey Bronstein demonstrated in the 1930s that any light decay
Ref. 246 process would have a larger rate for smaller frequencies. When people checked the shift
of radio waves, in particular the famous 21 cm line, and compared it with the shift of
light from the same source, no difference was found for any of the galaxies tested.
People even checked that Sommerfeld’s fine-structure constant, which determines the
Ref. 247 colour of objects, does not change over time. Despite an erroneous claim in recent years,

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

no change could be detected over thousands of millions of years.
Of course, instead of decaying, light could also be hit by some hitherto unknown
Challenge 363 ny entity. But this possibility is excluded by the same arguments. These investigations also
show that there is no additional red-shift mechanism in nature apart from the Doppler
Page 243 and gravitational red-shifts.
The visibility of the stars at night has indeed shed light on numerous properties of
nature. We now continue our mountain ascent with a more general issue, nearer to our
quest for the fundamentals of motion.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Summary on cosmology
Asking what precisely we see at night leads to several awe-inspiring insights. First, the
universe is huge – but of finite size. Secondly, the universe is extremely old – but of finite
age. Thirdly, the universe is expanding.
If you ever have the chance to look through a telescope, do so! It is wonderful.

free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

 Chapter 9

BL AC K HOLES – FALLING FOREVER

“ ”
Qui iacet in terra non habet unde cadat.*
Alanus de Insulis

Why explore black holes?

T
he most extreme gravitational phenomena in nature are black holes. They realize

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

he limit of length-to-mass ratios in nature. In other words, they produce
he highest force value possible in nature at their surface, the so-called horizon.
Black holes also produce the highest space-time curvature values for a given mass value.
In other terms, black holes are the most extreme general relativistic systems that are
found in nature. Due to their extreme properties, the study of black holes is also a major
stepping stone towards unification and the final description of motion.
Ref. 133 Black hole is shorthand for ‘gravitationally completely collapsed object’. Predicted over
two centuries ago, it was unclear for a long time whether or not they exist. Around the
year 2000, the available experimental data have now led most experts to conclude that
there is a black hole at the centre of almost all galaxies, including our own (see Figure 111).

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Ref. 248
Black holes are also suspected at the heart of quasars, of active galactic nuclei and of
gamma-ray bursters. In short, it seems that the evolution of galaxies is strongly tied to
the evolution of black holes. In addition, about a dozen smaller black holes have been
identified elsewhere in our galaxy. For these reasons, black holes, the most impressive,
Ref. 249 the most powerful and the most relativistic systems in nature, are a fascinating subject
of study.

Mass concentration and horizons

The escape velocity is the speed needed to launch an projectile in such a way that it never
falls back down. The escape velocity depends on the mass and the size of the planet from
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

which the launch takes place: the denser the planet is, the higher is the escape velocity.
What happens when a planet or star has an escape velocity that is larger than the speed of
light c? Such objects were first imagined by the British geologist John Michell in 1784, and
Ref. 250 independently by the French mathematician Pierre Laplace in 1795, long before general
relativity was developed. Michell and Laplace realized something fundamental: even if
an object with such a high escape velocity were a hot star, to a distant observer it would
appear to be completely black, as illustrated in Figure 112. The object would not allow
* ‘He who lies on the ground cannot fall down from it.’ The author’s original name is Alain de Lille (c. 1128
–1203).
 254 9 bl ack holes – falling forever

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F I G U R E 111 A time-lapse film, taken over a period of 16 years, of the orbits of the stars near the centre
of our Galaxy. The invisible central object is so massive and small that it is almost surely a black hole
(QuickTime film © ESO).

any light to leave it; in addition, it would block all light coming from behind it. In 1967,
Ref. 133 John Wheeler* made the now standard term black hole, due to Anne Ewing, popular in
physics.
Challenge 364 e It only takes a few lines to show that light cannot escape from a body of mass M

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

whenever the radius is smaller than a critical value given by

2GM
RS = (268)
c2
called the Schwarzschild radius. The formula is valid both in universal gravity and in
general relativity, provided that in general relativity we take the radius as meaning the
circumference divided by 2π. Such a body realizes the limit value for length-to-mass
ratios in nature. For this and other reasons to be given shortly, we will call RS also the
size of the black hole of mass M. (But note that it is only half the diameter.) In principle,
it is possible to imagine an object with a smaller length-to-mass ratio; however, we will
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

discover that there is no way to observe an object smaller than the Schwarzschild radius,
just as an object moving faster than the speed of light cannot be observed. However, we
can observe black holes – the limit case – just as we can observe entities moving at the
speed of light.
When a test mass is made to shrink and to approach the critical radius RS , two things
happen. First, the local proper acceleration for (imaginary) point masses increases with-
* John Archibald Wheeler (1911–2008), US-American physicist, important expert on general relativity and
author of several excellent textbooks, among them the beautiful John A. Wheeler, A Journey into Grav-
ity and Spacetime, Scientific American Library & Freeman, 1990, in which he explains general relativity with
passion and in detail, but without any mathematics.
 bl ack holes – falling forever 255

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F I G U R E 112 A simplified simulated image of how a black hole of ten solar masses, with Schwarzschild
radius of 30 km, seen from a constant distance of 600 km, will distort an image of the Milky Way in the

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

background. Note the Zwicky–Einstein ring formed at around twice the black hole radius and the thin
bright rim (image © Ute Kraus at www.tempolimit-lichtgeschwindigkeit.de).

out bound. For realistic objects of finite size, the black hole realizes the highest force
possible in nature. Something that falls into a black hole cannot be pulled back out. A
black hole thus swallows all matter that falls into it. It acts like a cosmic vacuum cleaner.
At the surface of a black hole, the red-shift factor for a distant observer also increases
without bound. The ratio between the two quantities is called the surface gravity of a
Challenge 365 ny black hole. It is given by
c4 c2
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

GM
дsurf = 2 = = . (269)
RS 4GM 2RS

A black hole thus does not allow any light to leave it.
A surface that realizes the force limit and an infinite red-shift makes it is impossible
to send light, matter, energy or signals of any kind to the outside world. A black hole
is thus surrounded by a horizon. We know that a horizon is a limit surface. In fact, a
horizon is a limit in two ways. First, a horizon is a limit to communication: nothing can
communicate across it. Secondly, a horizon is a surface of maximum force and power.
These properties are sufficient to answer all questions about the effects of horizons. For
 256 9 bl ack holes – falling forever

event horizon

black
hole

F I G U R E 113 The light cones in the

equatorial plane around a non-rotating
black hole, seen from above the plane.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Challenge 366 s example: What happens when a light beam is sent upwards from the horizon? And from
slightly above the horizon? Figure 113 provides some hints.
Black holes, regarded as astronomical objects, are thus different from planets. During
the formation of planets, matter lumps together; as soon as it cannot be compressed any
further, an equilibrium is reached, which determines the radius of the planet. That is the
same mechanism as when a stone is thrown towards the Earth: it stops falling when it
hits the ground. A ‘ground’ is formed whenever matter hits other matter. In the case of a

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

black hole, there is no ground; everything continues falling. That is why, in Russian, black
holes used to be called collapsars.
This continuous falling of a black hole takes place when the concentration of matter
is so high that it overcomes all those interactions which make matter impenetrable in
Ref. 251 daily life. In 1939, Robert Oppenheimer* and Hartland Snyder showed theoretically that
a black hole forms whenever a star of sufficient mass stops burning. When a star of suffi-
cient mass stops burning, the interactions that form the ‘floor’ disappear, and everything
continues falling without end.
A black hole is matter in permanent free fall. Nevertheless, its radius for an outside
observer remains constant! But that is not all. Furthermore, because of this permanent
free fall, black holes are the only state of matter in thermodynamic equilibrium! In a
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

sense, floors and all other every-day states of matter are metastable: these forms are not
as stable as black holes.

* Robert Oppenheimer (1904–1967), important US-American physicist. He can be called the father of the-
oretical physics in the USA. He worked on quantum theory and atomic physics. He then headed the team
that developed the nuclear bomb during the Second World War. He was also the most prominent (innocent)
victim of one of the greatest witch-hunts ever organized in his home country. See also the www.nap.edu/
readingroom/books/biomems/joppenheimer.html website.
 bl ack holes – falling forever 257

Black hole horizons as limit surfaces

The characterizing property of a black hole is thus its horizon. The first time we encoun-
Page 93 tered horizons was in special relativity, in the section on accelerated observers. The hori-
zons due to gravitation are similar in all their properties; the section on the maximum
force and power gave a first impression. The only difference we have found is due to the
neglect of gravitation in special relativity. As a result, horizons in nature cannot be planar,
in contrast to what is suggested by the observations of the imagined point-like observers
assumed to exist in special relativity.
Both the maximum force principle and the field equations imply that the space-time
around a rotationally symmetric (thus non-rotating) and electrically neutral mass is de-
Page 142 scribed by
2GM dr 2
di 2 = 󶀤1 − 󶀴 dt 2
− 2GM
− r 2 dφ2 /c 2 . (270)
rc 2 1 − rc2

This is the so-called Schwarzschild metric. As mentioned above, r is the circumference

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

divided by 2π; t is the time measured at infinity.
Let us now assume that the mass is strongly localized. We then find that no outside
observer will ever receive any signal emitted from a radius value r = 2GM/c 2 or smaller.
We have a horizon at that distance, and the situation describes a black hole. Indeed, as the
proper time i of an observer at radius r is related to the time t of an observer at infinity
through
2GM
di = 󵀊1 − dt , (271)
rc 2

we find that an observer at the horizon would have vanishing proper time. In other words,

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

at the horizon the red-shift is infinite. (More precisely, the surface of infinite red-shift and
the horizon coincide only for non-rotating black holes. For rotating black holes, the two
surfaces are distinct.) Everything happening at the horizon goes on infinitely slowly, as
observed by a distant observer. In other words, for a distant observer observing what is
going on at the horizon itself, nothing at all ever happens.
In the same way that observers cannot reach the speed of light, observers cannot reach
a horizon. For a second observer, it can only happen that the first is moving almost as
fast as light; in the same way, for a second observer, it can only happen that the first
has almost reached the horizon. In addition, a traveller cannot feel how much he is near
the speed of light for another, and experiences light speed as unattainable; in the same
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

way, a traveller (into a large black hole) cannot feel how much he is near a horizon and
experiences the horizon as unattainable.
We cannot say what happens inside the horizon.* We can take this view to the extreme
and argue that the black hole metric is a type of vacuum metric. In this view, mass is a
quantity that is ‘built’ from vacuum.

* Of course, mathematicians do not care about physical arguments. Therefore, Martin Kruskal and George
Szekeres have defined coordinates for the inside of the black hole. However, these and similar coordinate
systems are unrealistic academic curiosities, as they contradict quantum theory. Coordinate systems for the
inside of a black hole horizon have the same status as coordinate systems behind the cosmological horizon:
they are belief systems that are not experimentally verifiable.
 258 9 bl ack holes – falling forever

black hole

impact
parameter

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F I G U R E 114 Motions of massive objects around a non-rotating black hole – for different impact
parameters and initial velocities.

In general relativity, horizons of any kind are predicted to be black. Since light cannot
escape from them, classical horizons are completely dark surfaces. In fact, horizons are
the darkest entities imaginable: nothing in nature is darker. Nonetheless, we will discover
Page 263 below that physical horizons are not completely black.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Orbits around black holes
Ref. 246 Since black holes curve space-time strongly, a body moving near a black hole behaves in
more complicated ways than predicted by universal gravity. In universal gravity, paths
are either ellipses, parabolas, or hyperbolas; all these are plane curves. It turns out that
paths lie in a plane only near non-rotating black holes.*
Around non-rotating black holes, also called Schwarzschild black holes, circular paths
Challenge 368 ny are impossible for radii less than 3RS /2 (can you show why?) and are unstable to pertur-
bations from there up to a radius of 3RS . Only at larger radii are circular orbits stable.
Around black holes, there are no elliptic paths; the corresponding rosetta path is shown
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

in Figure 114. Such a path shows the famous periastron shift in all its glory.
Note that the potential around a black hole is not appreciably different from 1/r for
Challenge 369 e distances above about fifteen Schwarzschild radii. For a black hole of the mass of the

* For such paths, Kepler’s rule connecting the average distance and the time of orbit

GMt 3
= r3 (272)
(2π)2

Challenge 367 ny still holds, provided the proper time and the radius measured by a distant observer are used.
 bl ack holes – falling forever 259

limit orbit

limit orbit

black black
hole hole

the photon sphere the photon sphere

F I G U R E 115 Motions of light passing near a non-rotating black hole.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Sun, that would be 42 km from its centre; therefore, we would not be able to note any
difference for the path of the Earth around the Sun.
We have mentioned several times in our adventure that gravitation is characterized
by its tidal effects. Black holes show extreme properties in this respect. If a cloud of dust
falls into a black hole, the size of the cloud increases as it falls, until the cloud envelops
the whole horizon. In fact, the result is valid for any extended body. This property of
black holes will be of importance later on, when we will discuss the size of elementary
particles.
For falling bodies coming from infinity, the situation near black holes is even more in-
teresting. Of course there are no hyperbolic paths, only trajectories similar to hyperbolas

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

for bodies passing far enough away. But for small, but not too small impact parameters,
a body will make a number of turns around the black hole, before leaving again. The
number of turns increases beyond all bounds with decreasing impact parameter, until a
value is reached at which the body is captured into an orbit at a radius of 2R, as shown in
Figure 114. In other words, this orbit captures incoming bodies if they approach it below
a certain critical angle. For comparison, remember that in universal gravity, capture is
never possible. At still smaller impact parameters, the black hole swallows the incoming
mass. In both cases, capture and deflection, a body can make several turns around the
black hole, whereas in universal gravity it is impossible to make more than half a turn
around a body.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

The most absurd-looking orbits, though, are those corresponding to the parabolic case
Challenge 370 ny of universal gravity. (These are of purely academic interest, as they occur with probability
zero.) In summary, relativity changes the motions due to gravity quite drastically.
Around rotating black holes, the orbits of point masses are even more complex than
those shown in Figure 114; for bound motion, for example, the ellipses do not stay in
one plane – thanks to the Thirring–Lense effect – leading to extremely involved orbits in
three dimensions filling the space around the black hole.
For light passing a black hole, the paths are equally interesting, as shown in Figure 115.
There are no qualitative differences with the case of rapid particles. For a non-rotating
black hole, the path obviously lies in a single plane. Of course, if light passes sufficiently
 260 9 bl ack holes – falling forever

nearby, it can be strongly bent, as well as captured. Again, light can also make one or
several turns around the black hole before leaving or being captured. The limit between
the two cases is the path in which light moves in a circle around a black hole, at 3R/2.
If we were located on that orbit, we would see the back of our head by looking forward!
Challenge 371 ny However, this orbit is unstable. The surface containing all orbits inside the circular one
is called the photon sphere. The photon sphere thus divides paths leading to capture from
those leading to infinity. Note that there is no stable orbit for light around a black hole.
Challenge 372 ny Are there any rosetta paths for light around a black hole?
For light around a rotating black hole, paths are much more complex. Already in the
equatorial plane there are two possible circular light paths: a smaller one in the direction
Challenge 373 ny of the rotation, and a larger one in the opposite direction.
For charged black holes, the orbits for falling charged particles are even more com-
plex. The electrical field lines need to be taken into account. Several fascinating effects
appear which have no correspondence in usual electromagnetism, such as effects similar
to electrical versions of the Meissner effect. The behaviour of such orbits is still an active
area of research in general relativity.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Black holes have no hair
How is a black hole characterized? It turns out that all properties of black holes follow
from a few basic quantities characterizing them, namely their mass M, their angular mo-
mentum J, and their electric charge Q.* All other properties – such as size, shape, colour,
magnetic field – are uniquely determined by these.** It is as though, to use Wheeler’s
colourful analogy, one could deduce every characteristic of a woman from her size, her
waist and her height. Physicists also say that black holes ‘have no hair,’ meaning that
(classical) black holes have no other degrees of freedom. This expression was also intro-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Ref. 254 duced by Wheeler.*** This fact was proved by Israel, Carter, Robinson and Mazur; they
showed that for a given mass, angular momentum and charge, there is only one possible
Ref. 255 black hole. (However, the uniqueness theorem is not valid any more if the black hole
carries nuclear quantum numbers, such as weak or strong charges.)
In other words, a black hole is independent of how it has formed, and of the materials
used when forming it. Black holes all have the same composition, or better, they have no
composition at all.
The mass M of a black hole is not restricted by general relativity. It may be as small
as that of a microscopic particle and as large as many million solar masses. But for their
angular momentum J and electric charge Q, the situation is different. A rotating black
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

* The existence of three basic characteristics is reminiscent of particles. We will find out more about the
Vol. VI, page 140 relation between black holes and particles in the final part of our mountain ascent.
** Mainly for marketing reasons, non-rotating and electrically neutral black holes are often called Schwarz-
Ref. 252 schild black holes; uncharged and rotating ones are often called Kerr black holes, after Roy Kerr, who discov-
ered the corresponding solution of Einstein’s field equations in 1963. Electrically charged but non-rotating
black holes are often called Reissner–Nordström black holes, after the German physicist Hans Reissner and
the Finnish physicist Gunnar Nordström. The general case, charged and rotating, is sometimes named after
Ref. 253 Kerr and Newman.
Ref. 133 *** Wheeler claims that he was inspired by the difficulty of distinguishing between bald men; however, it is
not a secret that Feynman, Ruffini and others had a clear anatomical image in mind when they stated that
‘black holes, in contrast to their surroundings, have no hair.’
 bl ack holes – falling forever 261

rotation axis

event horizon

ergosphere

static limit

F I G U R E 116 The ergosphere of a rotating black hole.

hole has a maximum possible angular momentum and a maximum possible electric (and
magnetic) charge.* The limit on the angular momentum appears because its perimeter
Challenge 374 ny may not move faster than light. The electric charge is also limited. The two limits are not

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

independent: they are related by

J 2 GQ 2 GM 2
󶀤 󶀴 + ⩽ 󶀤 󶀴 . (273)
cM 4πε0 c 4 c2

This follows from the limit on length-to-mass ratios at the basis of general relativity.
Challenge 375 ny Rotating black holes realizing the limit (273) are called extremal black holes. The limit
(273) implies that the horizon radius of a general black hole is given by

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

GM J 2 c2 Q2
rh = 󶀧1 + 󵀌1 − − 󶀷 (274)
c2 M 4 G 2 4πε0 GM 2

For example, for a black hole with the mass and half the angular momentum of the Sun,
namely 2 ⋅ 1030 kg and 0.45 ⋅ 1042 kg m2 /s, the charge limit is about 1.4 ⋅ 1020 C.
How does one distinguish rotating from non-rotating black holes? First of all by the
shape. Non-rotating black holes must be spherical (any non-sphericity is radiated away
Ref. 256 as gravitational waves) and rotating black holes have a slightly flattened shape, uniquely
determined by their angular momentum. Because of their rotation, their surface of in-
finite gravity or infinite red-shift, called the static limit, is different from their (outer)
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

horizon, as illustrated in Figure 116. The region in between is called the ergosphere; this
is a misnomer as it is not a sphere. (It is so called because, as we will see shortly, it can be
used to extract energy from the black hole.) The motion of bodies within the ergosphere
can be quite complex. It suffices to mention that rotating black holes drag any in-falling
body into an orbit around them; this is in contrast to non-rotating black holes, which
swallow in-falling bodies. In other words, rotating black holes are not really ‘holes’ at all,
but rather vortices.

Vol. III, page 50 * More about the conjectured magnetic charge later on. In black holes, it enters like an additional type of
charge into all expressions in which electric charge appears.
 262 9 bl ack holes – falling forever

The distinction between rotating and non-rotating black holes also appears in the hori-
zon surface area. The (horizon) surface area A of a non-rotating and uncharged black
Challenge 376 e hole is obviously related to its mass M by

16πG 2 2
A= M . (275)
c4
The relation between surface area and mass for a rotating and charged black hole is more
complex: it is given by

8πG 2 2 J 2 c2 Q2
A= M 󶀧1 + 󵀌1 − − 󶀷 (276)
c4 M 4 G 2 4πε0 GM 2

where J is the angular momentum and Q the charge. In fact, the relation

8πG
A=

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Mrh (277)
c2
is valid for all black holes. Obviously, in the case of an electrically charged black hole, the
rotation also produces a magnetic field around it. This is in contrast with non-rotating
black holes, which cannot have a magnetic field.

Black holes as energy sources

Can one extract energy from a black hole? Roger Penrose has discovered that this is
Ref. 257 possible for rotating black holes. A rocket orbiting a rotating black hole in its ergosphere

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

could switch its engines on and would then get hurled into outer space at tremendous
velocity, much greater than what the engines could have produced by themselves. In fact,
the same effect is used by rockets on the Earth, and is the reason why all satellites orbit
the Earth in the same direction; it would require much more fuel to make them turn the
other way.*
The energy gained by the rocket would be lost by the black hole, which would thus
slow down and lose some mass; on the other hand, there is a mass increases due to the
exhaust gases falling into the black hole. This increase always is larger than, or at best
equal to, the loss due to rotation slowdown. The best one can do is to turn the engines on
exactly at the horizon; then the horizon area of the black hole stays constant, and only
its rotation is slowed down.**
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

As a result, for a neutral black hole rotating with its maximum possible angular mo-
mentum, 1 − 1/󵀂2 = 29.3 % of its total energy can be extracted through the Penrose
Challenge 378 ny process. For black holes rotating more slowly, the percentage is obviously smaller.

* And it would be much more dangerous, since any small object would hit such an against-the-stream
Challenge 377 ny satellite at about 15.8 km/s, thus transforming the object into a dangerous projectile. In fact, any power
wanting to destroy satellites of the enemy would simply have to load a satellite with nuts or bolts, send it
into space the wrong way, and distribute the bolts into a cloud. It would make satellites impossible for many
decades to come.
** It is also possible to extract energy from rotational black holes through gravitational radiation.
 bl ack holes – falling forever 263

For charged black holes, such irreversible energy extraction processes are also possible.
Challenge 379 ny Can you think of a way? Using expression (273), we find that up to 50 % of the mass of
Challenge 380 ny a non-rotating black hole can be due to its charge. In fact, in the quantum part of our
mountain ascent we will encounter an energy extraction process which nature seems to
Vol. V, page 146 use quite frequently.
The Penrose process allows one to determine how angular momentum and charge
Ref. 258 increase the mass of a black hole. The result is the famous mass–energy relation

2 2
2E2 Q2 J 2 c2 Q2 J2 1
M = 4 = 󶀦mirr + 󶀶 + 2 G2
= 󶀦m irr + 󶀶 + 2 c2
(278)
c 16πε0Gmirr 4mirr 8πε0 ρirr ρirr

which shows how the electrostatic and the rotational energy enter the mass of a black
hole. In the expression, mirr is the irreducible mass defined as
2
2 A(M, Q = 0, J = 0) c 4 c2
mirr = = 󶀦ρirr 󶀶 (279)
16π G2 2G

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

and ρirr is the irreducible radius.
Detailed investigations show that there is no process which decreases the horizon area,
and thus the irreducible mass or radius, of the black hole. People have checked this in
all ways possible and imaginable. For example, when two black holes merge, the total
area increases. One calls processes which keep the area and energy of the black hole
constant reversible, and all others irreversible. In fact, the area of black holes behaves
like the entropy of a closed system: it never decreases. That the area in fact is an entropy
Ref. 259 was first stated in 1970 by Jacob Bekenstein. He deduced that only when an entropy is

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

ascribed to a black hole, is it possible to understand where the entropy of all the material
falling into it is collected.
The black hole entropy is a function only of the mass, the angular momentum and
the charge of the black hole. You might want to confirm Bekenstein’s deduction that the
Challenge 381 ny entropy S is proportional to the horizon area. Later it was found, using quantum theory,
that
A kc 3 Ak
S= = 2 . (280)
4 ħG 4 lPl

This famous relation cannot be deduced without quantum theory, as the absolute value
of entropy, as for any other observable, is never fixed by classical physics alone. We will
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Vol. V, page 147 discuss this expression later on in our mountain ascent.
If black holes have an entropy, they also must have a temperature. If they have a tem-
perature, they must shine. Black holes thus cannot be black! This was proven by Stephen
Hawking in 1974 with extremely involved calculations. However, it could have been de-
duced in the 1930s, with a simple Gedanken experiment which we will present later on.
Vol. V, page 140 You might want to think about the issue, asking and investigating what strange conse-
quences would appear if black holes had no entropy. Black hole radiation is a further,
though tiny (quantum) mechanism for energy extraction, and is applicable even to non-
rotating, uncharged black holes. The interesting connections between black holes, ther-
 264 9 bl ack holes – falling forever

TA B L E 8 Types of black holes.

Black hole Mass Charge Angular E x pe ri m e n ta l

type momentum evidence

Supermassive black 105 to 1011 m⊙ unknown unknown orbits of nearby stars,

holes light emission from
accretion
Intermediate black 50 to 105 m⊙ unknown unknown X-ray emission of
holes accreting matter
Stellar black holes 1 to 50 m⊙ unknown unknown X-ray emission from
double star companion
Primordial black below 1 m⊙ unknown unknown undetected so far;
holes research ongoing
Micro black holes below 1 g n.a. n.a. none; appear only in
science fiction and in
the mind of cranks

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Vol. V, page 140 modynamics, and quantum theory will be presented in the upcoming parts of our moun-
Challenge 382 ny tain ascent. Can you imagine other mechanisms that make black holes shine?

Formation of and search for black holes

How might black holes form? At present, at least three possible mechanisms have been
distinguished; the question is still a hot subject of research. First of all, black holes could
Ref. 260 have formed during the early stages of the universe. These primordial black holes might
grow through accretion, i.e., through the swallowing of nearby matter and radiation, or

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Vol. V, page 143 disappear through one of the mechanisms to be studied later on.
Of the observed black holes, the so-called supermassive black holes are found at the
centre of every galaxy studied so far. They have typical masses in the range from 106 to
109 solar masses and contain about 0.5 % of the mass of a galaxy. For example, the black
Ref. 248 hole at the centre of the Milky Way has about 2.6 million solar masses, while the central
black hole of the galaxy M87 has 6400 million solar masses. Supermassive black holes
seem to exist at the centre of almost all galaxies, and seem to be related to the formation
of galaxies themselves. Supermassive black holes are supposed to have formed through
the collapse of large dust clouds, and to have grown through subsequent accretion of
matter. The latest ideas imply that these black holes accrete a lot of matter in their early
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

stage; the matter falling in emits lots of radiation, which would explain the brightness
of quasars. Later on, the rate of accretion slows, and the less spectacular Seyfert galaxies
form. It may even be that the supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy triggers
the formation of stars. Still later, these supermassive black holes become almost dormant,
or quiescent, like the one at the centre of the Milky Way.
Ref. 261 On the other hand, black holes can form when old massive stars collapse. It is esti-
mated that when stars with at least three solar masses burn out their fuel, part of the
matter remaining will collapse into a black hole. Such stellar black holes have a mass
between one and a hundred solar masses; they can also continue growing through subse-
quent accretion. This situation provided the first ever candidate for a black hole, Cygnus
 bl ack holes – falling forever 265

Ref. 248 X-1, which was discovered in 1971. Over a dozen stellar black holes of between 4 and 20
solar masses are known to be scattered around our own galaxy; all have been discovered
after 1971.
Recent measurements suggest also the existence of intermediate black holes, with typi-
cal masses around a thousand solar masses; the mechanisms and conditions for their for-
mation are still unknown. The first candidates were found in the year 2000. Astronomers
are also studying how large numbers of black holes in star clusters behave, and how often
they collide. Under certain circumstances, the two black holes merge. Whatever the out-
come, black hole collisions emit strong gravitational waves. In fact, this signal is being
Page 176 looked for at the gravitational wave detectors that are in operation around the globe.
The search for black holes is a popular sport among astrophysicists. Conceptually, the
simplest way to search for them is to look for strong gravitational fields. But only double
stars allow one to measure gravitational fields directly, and the strongest ever measured
Ref. 262 is 30 % of the theoretical maximum value. Another obvious way is to look for strong
gravitational lenses, and try to get a mass-to-size ratio pointing to a black hole; however,
no black holes was found in this way yet. Still another method is to look at the dynamics

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

of stars near the centre of galaxies. Measuring their motion, one can deduce the mass
of the body they orbit. The most favoured method to search for black holes is to look
for extremely intense X-ray emission from point sources, using space-based satellites or
balloon-based detectors. If the distance to the object is known, its absolute brightness
can be deduced; if it is above a certain limit, it must be a black hole, since normal matter
cannot produce an unlimited amount of light. This method is being perfected with the
aim of directly observing of energy disappearing into a horizon. This disappearance may
Ref. 263 in fact have been observed recently.
Finally, there is the suspicion that small black holes might be found in the halos of
galaxies, and make up a substantial fraction of the so-called dark matter.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

In summary, the list of discoveries about black holes is expected to expand dramati-
cally in the coming years.

Singularities
Solving the equations of general relativity for various initial conditions, one finds that
a cloud of dust usually collapses to a singularity, i.e., to a point of infinite density. The
same conclusion appears when one follows the evolution of the universe backwards in
time. In fact, Roger Penrose and Stephen Hawking have proved several mathematical
theorems on the necessity of singularities for many classical matter distributions. These
theorems assume only the continuity of space-time and a few rather weak conditions on
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Ref. 264 the matter in it. The theorems state that in expanding systems such as the universe itself,
or in collapsing systems such as black holes in formation, events with infinite matter
density should exist somewhere in the past, or in the future, respectively. This result is
usually summarized by saying that there is a mathematical proof that the universe started
in a singularity.
In fact, the derivation of the initial singularities makes a hidden, but strong assump-
tion about matter: that dust particles have no proper size, i.e., that they are point-like.
In other words, it is assumed that dust particles are singularities. Only with this assump-
tion can one deduce the existence of initial or final singularities. However, we have seen
 266 9 bl ack holes – falling forever

that the maximum force principle can be reformulated as a minimum size principle for
matter. The argument that there must have been an initial singularity of the universe is
thus flawed! The experimental situation is clear: there is overwhelming evidence for an
early state of the universe that was extremely hot and dense; but there is no evidence for
infinite temperature or density.
Mathematically inclined researchers distinguish two types of singularities: those with
a horizon – also called dressed singularities – and those without a horizon, the so-called
naked singularities. Naked singularities are especially strange: for example, a toothbrush
could fall into a naked singularity and disappear without leaving any trace. Since the
field equations are time invariant, we could thus expect that every now and then, naked
singularities emit toothbrushes. (Can you explain why dressed singularities are less dan-
Challenge 383 ny gerous?)
To avoid the spontaneous appearance of toothbrushes, over the years many people
have tried to discover some theoretical principles forbidding the existence of naked sin-
gularities. It turns out that there are two such principles. The first is the maximum force
or maximum power principle we encountered above. The maximum force implies that

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

no infinite force values appear in nature; in other words, there are no naked singularities
Ref. 265 in nature. This statement is often called cosmic censorship. Obviously, if general relativity
were not the correct description of nature, naked singularities could still appear. Cosmic
censorship is thus still discussed in research articles. The experimental search for naked
singularities has not yielded any success; in fact, there is not even a candidate observation
for the – less abstruse – dressed singularities. But the theoretical case for ‘dressed’ singu-
larities is also weak. Since there is no way to interact with anything behind a horizon, it
is futile to discuss what happens there. There is no way to prove that behind a horizon a
singularity exists. Dressed singularities are articles of faith, not of physics.
In fact, there is another principle preventing singularities, namely quantum theory.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Whenever we encounter a prediction of an infinite value, we have extended our descrip-
tion of nature to a domain for which it was not conceived. To speak about singularities,
one must assume the applicability of pure general relativity to very small distances and
Vol. VI, page 97 very high energies. As will become clear in the last volume, nature does not allow this:
the combination of general relativity and quantum theory shows that it makes no sense
to talk about ‘singularities’, nor about what happens ‘inside’ a black hole horizon. The
Vol. VI, page 61 reason is that arbitrary small time and space values do not exist in nature.

Curiosities and fun challenges about black holes

“ ”
Tiens, les trous noirs. C’est troublant.*
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Anonymous

Black holes have many counter-intuitive properties. We will first have a look at the clas-
Vol. V, page 149 sical effects, leaving the quantum effects for later on.
∗∗
Following universal gravity, light could climb upwards from the surface of a black hole

* No translation possible.
 bl ack holes – falling forever 267

observer dense
star

F I G U R E 117 Motion of some light rays from a

dense body to an observer.

and then fall back down. In general relativity, a black hole does not allow light to climb
Challenge 384 ny up at all; it can only fall. Can you confirm this?
∗∗
What happens to a person falling into a black hole? An outside observer gives a clear
answer: the falling person never arrives there since she needs an infinite time to reach the

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Challenge 385 ny horizon. Can you confirm this result? The falling person, however, reaches the horizon
Challenge 386 ny in a finite amount of her own time. Can you calculate it?
This result is surprising, as it means that for an outside observer in a universe with
finite age, black holes cannot have formed yet! At best, we can only observe systems that
are busy forming black holes. In a sense, it might be correct to say that black holes do not
exist. Black holes could have existed right from the start in the fabric of space-time. On
the other hand, we will find out later why this is impossible. In short, it is important to
keep in mind that the idea of black hole is a limit concept but that usually, limit concepts
(like baths or temperature) are useful descriptions of nature. Independently of this last

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

issue, we can confirm that in nature, the length-to-mass ratio always satisfies

L 4G
⩾ 2 . (281)
M c
No exception has ever been observed.
∗∗
Interestingly, the size of a person falling into a black hole is experienced in vastly different
ways by the falling person and a person staying outside. If the black hole is large, the in-
falling observer feels almost nothing, as the tidal effects are small. The outside observer
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

makes a startling observation: he sees the falling person spread all over the horizon of
the black hole. In-falling, extended bodies cover the whole horizon. Can you explain this
Challenge 387 ny fact, for example by using the limit on length-to-mass ratios?
This strange result will be of importance later on in our exploration, and lead to im-
portant results about the size of point particles.
∗∗
An observer near a (non-rotating) black hole, or in fact near any object smaller than 7/4
times its gravitational radius, can even see the complete back side of the object, as shown
Challenge 388 ny in Figure 117. Can you imagine what the image looks like? Note that in addition to the
 268 9 bl ack holes – falling forever

paths shown in Figure 117, light can also turn several times around the black hole before
reaching the observer! Therefore, such an observer sees an infinite number of images of
the black hole. The resulting formula for the angular size of the innermost image was
Page 153 given above.
In fact, the effect of gravity means that it is possible to observe more than half the
surface of any spherical object. In everyday life, however, the effect is small: for example,
light bending allows us to see about 50.0002 % of the surface of the Sun.
∗∗
A mass point inside the smallest circular path of light around a black hole, at 3R/2, can-
not stay in a circle, because in that region, something strange happens. A body which
circles another in everyday life always feels a tendency to be pushed outwards; this cen-
trifugal effect is due to the inertia of the body. But at values below 3R/2, a circulating
body is pushed inwards by its inertia. There are several ways to explain this paradoxical
Ref. 266 effect. The simplest is to note that near a black hole, the weight increases faster than the
Challenge 389 ny centrifugal force, as you may want to check yourself. Only a rocket with engines switched

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

on and pushing towards the sky can orbit a black hole at 3R/2.
∗∗
By the way, how can gravity, or an electrical field, come out of a black hole, if no signal
Challenge 390 s and no energy can leave it?
∗∗
Do white holes exist, i.e., time-inverted black holes, in which everything flows out of,
Challenge 391 ny instead of into, some bounded region?

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

∗∗
Challenge 392 ny Show that a cosmological constant Λ leads to the following metric for a black hole:

ds 2 2GM Λ 2 dr 2 r2 2
dτ 2 = 2
= 󶀤1 − − r 󶀴 dt 2 − Λc2 2
− dφ . (282)
c rc 2 3 c2 − 2GM
− r c2
r 3

Note that this metric does not turn into the Minkowski metric for large values of r.
However, in the case that Λ is small, the metric is almost flat for values of r that satisfy
1/󵀂Λ ≫ r ≫ 2Gm/c 2 .
As a result, the inverse square law is also modified:
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Gm c 2 Λ
F=− + r. (283)
r2 6
With the known values of the cosmological constant, the second term is negligible inside
the solar system.
∗∗
In quantum theory, the gyromagnetic ratio is an important quantity for any rotating
 bl ack holes – falling forever 269

Challenge 393 ny charged system. What is the gyromagnetic ratio for rotating black holes?
∗∗
A large black hole is, as the name implies, black. Still, it can be seen. If we were to travel
towards it in a spaceship, we would note that the black hole is surrounded by a bright
rim, like a thin halo, as shown in Figure 112. The ring at the radial distance of the photon
sphere is due to those photons which come from other luminous objects, then circle the
hole, and finally, after one or several turns, end up in our eye. Can you confirm this result?
Challenge 394 s

∗∗
Challenge 395 ny Do moving black holes Lorentz-contract? Black holes do shine a little bit. It is true that
the images they form are complex, as light can turn around them a few times before
reaching the observer. In addition, the observer has to be far away, so that the effects of
curvature are small. All these effects can be taken into account; nevertheless, the question
remains subtle. The reason is that the concept of Lorentz contraction makes no sense in

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

general relativity, as the comparison with the uncontracted situation is difficult to define
precisely.
∗∗
Are black holes made of space or of matter? Both answers are correct! Can you confirm
Challenge 396 s this?
∗∗
Power is energy change over time. General relativity limits power values to P ⩽ c 5 /4G.
In other words, no engine in nature can provide more than 0.92 ⋅ 1052 W or 1.2 ⋅ 1049

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Challenge 397 e horsepower. Can you confirm that black holes support this limit?
∗∗
Black holes produce problems in the microscopic domain, where quantum theory, as
Ref. 267 was pointed out by Jürgen Ehlers. Quantum theory is built on point particles, and point
particles move on time-like world lines. But following general relativity, point particles
have a singularity inside their black hole horizon; and singularities always move on space-
like world lines. Microscopic black holes, in contrast to macroscopic black holes, thus
contradict quantum theory.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Summary on black holes

A black hole is matter in permanent free fall. Equivalently, a black hole is a strongly
curved type of space. Since black holes are defined through their horizon, they can be
seen either as limiting cases of matter systems or as limiting cases of curved empty space.
Black holes realize the maximum force. For a given mass value, black holes also real-
ize maximum density, maximum blackness and maximum entropy. Black holes deflect,
capture and emit matter and light in peculiar ways.
 270 9 bl ack holes – falling forever

A quiz – is the universe a black hole?

Could it be that we live inside a black hole? Both the universe and black holes have hori-
zons. Interestingly, the horizon distance r0 of the universe is about

r0 ≈ 3ct0 ≈ 4 ⋅ 1026 m (284)

and its matter content is about

4π 3 2Gm0
m0 ≈ ρ r whence = 72πG ρ0 ct03 = 6 ⋅ 1026 m (285)
3 o 0 c2
for a density of 3 ⋅ 10−27 kg/m3 . Thus we have

2Gm0
r0 ≈ , (286)
c2

which is similar to the black hole relation rS = 2Gm/c 2 . Is this a coincidence? No, it is not:

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

all systems with high curvature more or less obey this relation. But are we nevertheless
Challenge 398 s falling into a large black hole? You can answer that question by yourself.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net
 C h a p t e r 10

D OES SPAC E DIFFER FROM TIME?

“ ”
Tempori parce.*
Seneca

T
ime is our master, says a frequently heard statement. Nobody says that of space.
ime and space are obviously different in everyday life. But what is
he difference between them in general relativity? Do we need them at all?

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

These questions are worth an exploration.
General relativity states that we live in a (pseudo-Riemannian) space-time of variable
curvature. The curvature is an observable and is related to the distribution and motion
of matter and energy. The precise relation is described by the field equations. However,
there is a fundamental problem.
The equations of general relativity are invariant under numerous transformations
which mix the coordinates x0 , x1 , x2 and x3 . For example, the viewpoint transformation

x0󳰀 = x0 + x1

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

x1󳰀 = −x0 + x1
x2󳰀 = x2
x3󳰀 = x3 (287)

is allowed in general relativity, and leaves the field equations invariant. You might want
to search for other examples of transformations that follow from diffeomorphism invari-
Challenge 399 e ance.
Viewpoint transformations that mix space and time imply a consequence that is
clearly in sharp contrast with everyday life: diffeomorphism invariance makes it impossi-
ble to distinguish space from time inside general relativity. More explicitly, the coordinate
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

x0 cannot simply be identified with the physical time t, as we implicitly did up to now.
This identification is only possible in special relativity. In special relativity the invariance
under Lorentz (or Poincaré) transformations of space and time singles out energy, linear
momentum and angular momentum as the fundamental observables. In general rela-
tivity, there is no (non-trivial) metric isometry group; consequently, there are no basic
physical observables singled out by their characteristic of being conserved. But invariant
quantities are necessary for communication! In fact, we can talk to each other only be-

* ‘Care about time.’ Lucius Annaeus Seneca (c. 4 bce–65), Epistolae 14, 94, 28.
 272 10 d oes space differ from time?

cause we live in an approximately flat space-time: if the angles of a triangle did not add
up to π (two right angles), there would be no invariant quantities and we would not be
able to communicate.
How have we managed to sweep this problem under the rug so far? We have done
so in several ways. The simplest way was to always require that in some part of the sit-
uation under consideration space-time was our usual flat Minkowski space-time, where
x0 can be identified with t. We can fulfil this requirement either at infinity, as we did
around spherical masses, or in zeroth approximation, as we did for gravitational radia-
tion and for all other perturbation calculations. In this way, we eliminate the free mixing
of coordinates and the otherwise missing invariant quantities appear as expected. This
pragmatic approach is the usual way out of the problem. In fact, it is used in some oth-
erwise excellent texts on general relativity that preclude any deeper questioning of the
Ref. 222 issue.
A common variation of this trick is to let the distinction between space and time
‘sneak’ into the calculations by the introduction of matter and its properties, or by the in-
troduction of radiation, or by the introduction of measurements. The material properties

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

of matter, for example their thermodynamic state equations, always distinguish between
space and time. Radiation does the same, by its propagation. Obviously this is true also
for those special combinations of matter and radiation called clocks and metre bars. Both
matter and radiation distinguish between space and time simply by their presence.
In fact, if we look closely, the method of introducing matter to distinguish pace and
time is the same as the method of introducing Minkowski space-time in some limit: all
properties of matter are defined using flat space-time descriptions.*
Another variation of the pragmatic approach is the use of the cosmological time coor-
dinate. An isotropic and homogeneous universe does have a preferred time coordinate,
namely the one time coordinate that is used in all the tables on the past and the future

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Page 224
Vol. III, page 307 of the universe. This method is in fact a combination of the previous two.
But we are on a special quest here. We want to understand motion in principle, not
only to calculate it in practice. We want a fundamental answer, not a pragmatic one. And
for this we need to know how the positions xi and time t are connected, and how we
can define invariant quantities. The question also prepares us for the task of combining
gravity with quantum theory, which is the aim of the final part of our mountain ascent.
A fundamental solution to the problem requires a description of clocks together with
the system under consideration, and a deduction of how the reading t of a clock relates to
the behaviour of the system in space-time. But we know that any description of a system
requires measurements: for example, in order to determine the initial conditions. And
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

initial conditions require space and time. We thus enter a vicious circle: that is precisely
what we wanted to avoid in the first place.
A suspicion arises. Is there in fact a fundamental difference between space and time?
Let us take a tour of various ways to investigate this question.

* We note something astonishing here: the inclusion of some condition at small distances (the description
of matter) has the same effect as the inclusion of some condition at infinity (the asymptotic Minkowski
Challenge
Vol. VI, page
400107
ny space). Is this just coincidence? We will come back to this issue in the last part of our mountain ascent.
 d oes space differ from time? 273

Can space and time be measured?

In order to distinguish between space and time in general relativity, we must be able
to measure them. But already in the section on universal gravity we have mentioned
Vol. I, page 397 the impossibility of measuring lengths, times and masses with gravitational effects alone.
Does this situation change in general relativity? Lengths and times are connected by the
speed of light, and in addition lengths and masses are connected by the gravitational
constant. Despite this additional connection, it takes only a moment to convince oneself
that the problem persists.
In fact, we need electrodynamics to solve it. We need the elementary charge e in order
Ref. 268 to form length scales. The simplest one is

e 󵀂G
lemscale = ≈ 1.4 ⋅ 10−36 m . (288)
󵀄4πε0 c 2

Vol. III, page 25 Here, ε0 is the permittivity of free space. Alternatively, we can argue that quantum physics

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

provides a length scale, since we can use the quantum of action ħ to define the length
scale
ħG
lqtscale = 󵀊 3 ≈ 1.6 ⋅ 10−35 m , (289)
c

which is called the Planck length or Planck’s natural length unit. However, this does not
change the argument, because we need electrodynamics to measure the value of ħ. The
equivalence of the two arguments is shown by rewriting the elementary charge e as a
combination of nature’s fundamental constants:

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

e = 󵀆4πε0 cħα . (290)

Here, α ≈ 1/137.06 is the fine-structure constant that characterizes the strength of elec-
tromagnetism. In terms of α, expression (288) becomes

αħG
lscale = 󵀊 = 󵀂α lPl . (291)
c3

Summing up, every length measurement is based on the electromagnetic coupling con-
stant α and on the Planck length. Of course, the same is true for every time and every
mass measurement. There is thus no way to define or measure lengths, times and masses
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Challenge 401 e
using gravitation or general relativity only.*
Given this sobering result, we can ask whether in general relativity space and time are
really required at all.

Ref. 269 * In the past, John Wheeler used to state that his geometrodynamic clock, a device which measures time
by bouncing light back and forth between two parallel mirrors, was a counter-example; that is not correct,
Challenge 402 s however. Can you confirm this?
 274 10 d oes space differ from time?

Are space and time necessary?

Ref. 270 Robert Geroch answers this question in a beautiful five-page article. He explains how to
formulate the general theory of relativity without the use of space and time, by taking as
starting point the physical observables only.
He starts with the set of all observables. Among them there is one, called 󰑣, which
stands out. It is the only observable which allows one to say that for any two observables
a1 , a2 there is a third one a3 , for which

(a3 − 󰑣) = (a1 − 󰑣) + (a2 − 󰑣) . (292)

Such an observable is called the vacuum. Geroch shows how to use such an observable to
construct derivatives of observables. Then he builds the so-called Einstein algebra, which
comprises the whole of general relativity.
Usually in general relativity, we describe motion in three steps: we deduce space-time
from matter observables, we calculate the evolution of space-time, and then we deduce
the motion of matter that follows from space-time evolution. Geroch’s description shows

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

that the middle step, and thus the use of space and time, is unnecessary.
Indirectly, the principle of maximum force makes the same statement. General rela-
tivity can be derived from the existence of limit values for force or power. Space and time
are only tools needed to translate this principle into consequences for real-life observers.
In short, it is possible to formulate general relativity without the use of space and
time. Since both are unnecessary, it seems unlikely that there should be a fundamental
difference between them. Nevertheless, one difference is well-known.

Do closed timelike curves exist?

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Is it possible that the time coordinate behaves, at least in some regions, like a torus? When
we walk, we can return to the point of departure. Is it possible, to come back in time to
where we have started? The question has been studied in great detail. The standard refer-
Ref. 228 ence is the text by Hawking and Ellis; they list the required properties of space-time, ex-
plaining which are mutually compatible or exclusive. They find, for example, that space-
times which are smooth, globally hyperbolic, oriented and time-oriented do not contain
any such curves. It is usually assumed that the observed universe has these properties,
so that observation of closed timelike curves is unlikely. Indeed, no candidate has ever
been suggested. Later on, we will find that searches for such curves at the microscopic
Vol. V, page 152 scale have also failed to find any example in nature.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

The impossibility of closed timelike curves seems to point to a difference between

space and time. But in fact, this difference is only apparent. All these investigations are
based on the behaviour of matter. Thus these arguments assume a specific distinction
between space and time right from the start. In short, this line of enquiry cannot help us
to decide whether space and time differ. Let us look at the issue in another way.

Is general relativity local? – The hole argument

When Albert Einstein developed general relativity, he had quite some trouble with diffeo-
morphism invariance. Most startling is his famous hole argument, better called the hole
 d oes space differ from time? 275

hole

deformed
hole
y Mass

x
F I G U R E 118 A ‘hole’ in
space in a schematic view.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

paradox. Take the situation shown in Figure 118, in which a mass deforms the space-time
around it. Einstein imagined a small region of the vacuum, the hole, which is shown as
a small ellipse. What happens if we somehow change the curvature inside the hole while
Ref. 271 leaving the situation outside it unchanged, as shown in the inset of the picture?
On the one hand, the new situation is obviously physically different from the original
one, as the curvature inside the hole is different. This difference thus implies that the
curvature outside a region does not determine the curvature inside it. That is extremely
unsatisfactory. Worse, if we generalize this operation to the time domain, we seem to get
the biggest nightmare possible in physics: determinism is lost.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

On the other hand, general relativity is diffeomorphism invariant. The deformation
shown in the figure is a diffeomorphism; so the new situation must be physically equiv-
alent to the original situation.
Which argument is correct? Einstein first favoured the first point of view, and there-
fore dropped the whole idea of diffeomorphism invariance for about a year. Only later did
he understand that the second assessment is correct, and that the first argument makes a
fundamental mistake: it assumes an independent existence of the coordinate axes x and
y, as shown in the figure. But during the deformation of the hole, the coordinates x and
y automatically change as well, so that there is no physical difference between the two
situations.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

The moral of the story is that there is no difference between space-time and the gravita-
tional field. Space-time is a quality of the field, as Einstein put it, and not an entity with
a separate existence, as suggested by the graph. Coordinates have no physical meaning;
only distances (intervals) in space and time have one. In particular, diffeomorphism in-
variance proves that there is no flow of time. Time, like space, is only a relational entity:
time and space are relative; they are not absolute.
The relativity of space and time has practical consequences. For example, it turns out
that many problems in general relativity are equivalent to the Schwarzschild situation,
even though they appear completely different at first sight. As a result, researchers have
‘discovered’ the Schwarzschild solution (of course with different coordinate systems) over
 276 10 d oes space differ from time?

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F I G U R E 119 A model of the hollow Earth theory (© Helmut Diehl).

twenty times, often thinking that they had found a new, unknown solution. We now
discuss a startling consequence of diffeomorphism invariance.

Is the Earth hollow?

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

“
Any pair of shoes proves that we live on the
inside of a sphere. Their soles are worn out at

”
the ends, and hardly at all in between.
Anonymous

The hollow Earth hypothesis, i.e., the conjecture that we live on the inside of a sphere,
was popular in esoteric circles around the year 1900, and still remains so among certain
Vol. I, page 58 eccentrics today, especially in Britain, Germany and the US. They maintain, as illustrated
in Figure 119, that the solid Earth encloses the sky, together with the Moon, the Sun and
the stars. Most of us are fooled by education into another description, because we are
brought up to believe that light travels in straight lines. Get rid of this wrong belief, they
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

say, and the hollow Earth appears in all its glory.

Interestingly, the reasoning is partially correct. There is no way to disprove this sort
of description of the universe. In fact, as the great Austrian physicist Roman Sexl used
Ref. 272 to explain, the diffeomorphism invariance of general relativity even proclaims the equiv-
alence between the two views. The fun starts when either of the two camps wants to tell
the other that only its own description can be correct. You might check that any such
argument is wrong; it is fun to slip into the shoes of such an eccentric and to defend the
Challenge 403 e hollow Earth hypothesis against your friends. It is easy to explain the appearance of day
and night, of the horizon, and of the satellite images of the Earth. It is easy to explain
what happened during the flight to the Moon. You can drive many bad physicists crazy
 d oes space differ from time? 277

in this way. The usual description and the hollow Earth description are exactly equiva-
lent. Can you confirm that even quantum theory, with its introduction of length scales
Challenge 404 s into nature, does not change this situation?
Such investigations show that diffeomorphism invariance is not an easy symmetry to
swallow. But it is best to get used to it now, as the rest of our adventure will throw up
even more surprises. Indeed, in the final part of our walk we will discover that there is
an even larger symmetry of nature that is similar to the change in viewpoint from the
hollow Earth view to the standard view. This symmetry, space-time duality, is valid not
only for distances measured from the centre of the Earth, but for distances measured
Vol. VI, page 107 from any point in nature.

A summary: are space, time and mass independent?

We can conclude from this short discussion that there is no fundamental distinction
between space and time in general relativity. The only possible distinctions are the prag-
matic ones that make use of matter, radiation, or space-time at infinity.
Vol. I, page 396 In the beginning of our mountain ascent we found that we needed matter to define

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

space and time. Now we have found that we even need matter to distinguish between
space and time. Similarly, in the beginning of our ascent we found that space and time
Vol. I, page 196 are required to define matter; now we have found that we even need flat space-time to
define it. In these fundamental issues, general relativity has brought no improvement
over the results of Galilean physics.
In the rest of our adventure, quantum physics will confirm that matter is needed to dis-
Vol. IV, page 158 tinguish between space and time. No distinction between space and time without matter
is possible in principle. In the last part of our adventure, we will discover that mass and
space-time are on an equal footing in nature. Because either is defined with the other we

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Vol. VI, page 75 deduce that particles and vacuum are made of the same substance. It will turn out that
distinctions between space and time are possible only at low, everyday energies; such
distinctions do not exist in principle.
In summary, general relativity does not provide a way out of the circular reasoning we
discovered in Galilean physics. Indeed, general relativity makes the issue even less clear
than before. Matter and radiation remain essential to define and distinguish space and
time, and space and time remain essential to define matter and radiation. Continuing
our mountain ascent is the only way out. free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net
C h a p t e r 11

GENER AL R EL ATIVIT Y I N A
NUT SHELL – A SUMMARY FOR THE
L AYMAN

“ ”
Sapientia felicitas.*
Antiquity

G
eneral relativity is the final, correct description of macroscopic motion.
eneral relativity describes, first of all, all macroscopic motion due to
ravity, and in particular, describes how the observations of motion of any

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

two observers are related to each other. In addition, general relativity describes the
universe as a whole. In particular, general relativity describes the most extreme motions;
the most rapid, the most violent and the most distant motions.
The description of macroscopic motion with general relativity is final and correct. Cal-
culations and predictions from general relativity match all observations where the match
is possible. (This is not yet possible for dark matter; this issue is not settled yet.)
General relativity is based on two principles deduced from observations:
— All observers agree that there is a ‘perfect’ speed in nature, namely a common
maximum energy speed relative to (nearby) matter. The invariant speed value c =

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

299 792 458 m/s is realized by massless radiation, such as light or radio signals.
— All observers agree that there is a ‘perfect’ force in nature, a common maximum force
c4
that can be realized relative to (nearby) matter. The invariant force value F = 4G =
3.0258(4) ⋅ 1043 N is realized on event horizons.
These two observations contain the full theory of relativity. In particular, from these two
observations we deduce:
— Space-time consists of events in 3+1 continuous dimensions, with a variable curvature.
The curvature can be deduced from distance measurements among events, for exam-
ple from tidal effects. Measured times, lengths and curvatures vary from observer to
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

observer in a predictable way. In short, we live in a pseudo-Riemannian space-time.

— Space-time and space are curved near mass and energy. The curvature at a point is
determined by the energy–momentum density at that point, and described by the
field equations. When matter and energy move, the space curvature moves along with
them. A built-in delay in this movement renders faster-than-light transport of energy
impossible. The proportionality constant between energy and curvature is so small
that the curvature is not observed in everyday life; only its indirect manifestation,
namely universal gravity, is observed.
* ‘Wisdom is happiness.’ This old saying once was the motto of Oxford University.
 a summary for the l ayman 279

— All macroscopic motion – that of matter, of radiation and of vacuum – is described

by the field equations of general relativity.
— Space is elastic: it prefers being flat. Being elastic, it can oscillate independently of
matter; one then speaks of gravitational radiation or of gravity waves.
— Freely falling matter moves along geodesics, i.e., along paths of maximal length in
curved space-time. In space this means that light bends when it passes near large
masses by twice the amount predicted by universal gravity.
— In order to describe gravitation we need curved space-time, i.e., general relativity,
at the latest whenever distances are of the order of the Schwarzschild radius rS =
2Gm/c 2 . When distances are much larger than this value, the relativistic description
with gravity and gravitomagnetism (frame-dragging) is sufficient. When distances
are even larger and speeds much slower than those of light, the description by univer-
sal gravity, namely a = Gm/r 2 , together with flat Minkowski space-time, will do as a
good approximation.
— Space and time are not distinguished globally, but only locally. Matter is required to
make the distinction.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

In addition, all the matter and energy we observe in the sky lead us to the following
conclusions:
— The universe has a finite size, given roughly by rmax ≈ 1/󵀂Lambda ≈ 1026 m. The
Page 192 cosmological constant Λ also has the effect of an energy density. One speaks of dark
energy.
— The universe has a finite age; this is the reason for the darkness of the sky at night. A
horizon limits the measurable space-time intervals to about fourteen thousand mil-
lion years.
— On the cosmological scale, everything moves away from everything else: the universe

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

is expanding. The details of the underlying expansion of space, as well as the night-sky
horizon, are described by the field equations of general relativity.
In summary, the principles of maximum force and of maximum speed – and the theory
of general relativity that follows from them – describe all motion due to gravity and all
macroscopic motion that is observed in the universe.

The accuracy of the description

Was general relativity worth the effort? The discussion of its accuracy is most conve-
Ref. 273 niently split into two sets of experiments. The first set consists of measurements of how
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

matter moves. Do objects really follow geodesics? As summarized in Table 9, all experi-
ments agree with the theory to within measurement errors, i.e., at least within 1 part in
Ref. 274 1012 . In short, the way matter falls is indeed well described by general relativity.
The second set of measurements concerns the dynamics of space-time itself. Does
space-time move following the field equations of general relativity? In other words, is
space-time really bent by matter in the way the theory predicts? Many experiments have
been performed, near to and far from Earth, in both weak and strong fields. All agree
Ref. 273, Ref. 274 with the predictions to within measurement errors. However, the best measurements so
far have only about 3 significant digits. Note that even though numerous experiments
 280 11 general rel ativit y in a nu tshell

TA B L E 9 Types of tests of general relativity.

Measured effect C o n f i r - Ty pe Refer-

m at i o n ence

Equivalence principle 10−12 motion of matter Ref. 146,

Ref. 273,
Ref. 275
1/r 2 dependence (dimensionality of space-time) 10−10 motion of matter Ref. 276
Time independence of G 10−19 /s motion of matter Ref. 273
Red-shift (light and microwaves on Sun, Earth, 10−4 space-time curvature Ref. 125,
Sirius) Ref. 123,
Ref. 273
Perihelion shift (four planets, Icarus, pulsars) 10−3 space-time curvature Ref. 273
Light deflection (light, radio waves around Sun, 10−3 space-time curvature Ref. 273
stars, galaxies)
Time delay (radio signals near Sun, near pulsars)10−3 space-time curvature Ref. 273,

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Ref. 157
−1
Gravitomagnetism (Earth, pulsar) 10 space-time curvature Ref. 149,
Ref. 150
Geodesic effect (Moon, pulsars) 10−1 space-time curvature Ref. 172,
Ref. 273
−3
Gravity wave emission delay (pulsars) 10 space-time curvature Ref. 273

have been performed, there are only few types of tests, as Table 9 shows. The discovery
of a new type of experiment almost guarantees fame and riches. Most sought after, of

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Challenge 405 ny
course, is the direct detection of gravitational waves.
Another comment on Table 9 is in order. After many decades in which all measured
effects were only of the order 󰑣 2 /c 2 , several so-called strong field effects in pulsars allowed
Ref. 273 us to reach the order 󰑣 4 /c 4 . Soon a few effects of this order should also be detected even
inside the solar system, using high-precision satellite experiments. The present crown of
all measurements, the gravity wave emission delay, is the only 󰑣 5 /c 5 effect measured so
Page 175 far.
The difficulty of achieving high precision for space-time curvature measurements is
the reason why mass is measured with balances, always (indirectly) using the prototype
kilogram in Paris, instead of defining some standard curvature and fixing the value of
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

G. Indeed, no useful terrestrial curvature experiment has ever been carried out. A break-
through in this domain would make the news. The terrestrial curvature methods cur-
rently available would not even allow one to define a kilogram of gold or of oranges with
a precision of a single kilogram!
A different way to check general relativity is to search for alternative descriptions of
gravitation. Quite a number of alternative theories of gravity have been formulated and
Ref. 274, Ref. 277 studied, but so far, only general relativity is in agreement with all experiments.
In summary, as Thibault Damour likes to explain, general relativity is at least
99.999 999 999 9 % correct concerning the motion of matter and energy, and at least
Ref. 273 99.9 % correct about the way matter and energy curve and move space-time. No excep-
 a summary for the l ayman 281

tions, no anti-gravity and no unclear experimental data are known. All motion on Earth
and in the skies is described by general relativity. Albert Einstein’s achievement has no
flaws.
We note that general relativity has not been tested for microscopic motion. In this
context, microscopic motion is any motion for which the action is around the quantum
of action, namely 10−34 Js. This issue is central to the last part of our adventure.

Research in general relativity and cosmology

Research in general relativity is still intense, though declining; it is declining most
strongly in Switzerland and Germany, the countries where Albert Einstein developed the
Ref. 278 theory. Research in cosmology and astrophysics, however, is at a high point at present.
Here is a short overview.
∗∗
The most interesting experimental studies of general relativity are the tests using double
pulsars, the search for gravitational waves, and the precision measurements using satel-

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

lites. Among others a special satellite will capture all possible pulsars of the galaxy. All
these experiments expand the experimental tests into domains that have not been acces-
sible before.
∗∗
The investigation of cosmic collisions and many-body problems, especially those involv-
ing neutron stars and black holes, helps astrophysicists to improve their understanding
Ref. 256 of the rich behaviour they observe in their telescopes.
∗∗

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

The study of chaos in the field equations is of fundamental interest in the study of the
early universe, and may be related to the problem of galaxy formation, one of the biggest
Ref. 279 open problems in physics.
∗∗
Gathering data about galaxy formation is the main aim of several satellite systems and
purpose-build telescopes. One focus is the search for localized cosmic microwave back-
Ref. 280 ground anisotropies due to protogalaxies.
∗∗
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

The determination of the cosmological parameters, such as the matter density, the curva-
Ref. 224 ture and the vacuum density, is a central effort of modern astrophysics. The exploration
of vacuum density – also called cosmological constant or dark energy – and the clarifica-
tion of the nature of dark matter occupy a large fraction of astrophysicists.
∗∗
Astronomers and astrophysicists regularly discover new phenomena in the skies. The var-
ious types of gamma-ray bursts, X-ray bursts and optical bursts are still not completely
Ref. 281 understood. Gamma-ray bursts, for example, can be as bright as 1017 sun-like stars com-
 282 11 general rel ativit y in a nu tshell

bined; however, they last only a few seconds. More details on this research topic are given
Vol. V, page 146 later on.
∗∗
A computer database of all solutions of the field equations is being built. Among other
Ref. 282 things, researchers are checking whether they really are all different from each other.
∗∗
Ref. 284 Solutions of the field equations with non-trivial topology, such as wormholes and
particle-like solutions, constitue a fascinating field of enquiry. However, such solutions
Vol. V, page 152 are made impossible by quantum effects.
∗∗
Other formulations of general relativity, describing space-time with quantities other than
the metric, are continuously being developed, in the hope of clarifying the relationship
between gravity and the quantum world. The so-called Ashtekar variables are such a

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Ref. 285 modern description.
∗∗
The study of the early universe and its relation of elementary particle properties, with
conjectures such as inflation, a short period of accelerated expansion during the first few
Ref. 283, Ref. 286 seconds after the big bang, is still an important topic of investigation.
∗∗
The unification of quantum physics, particle physics and general relativity is an important
research field and will occupy researchers for many years to come. The aim is to find a

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Vol. VI, page 16 complete description of motion. This is the topic of the final part of this adventure.
∗∗
Finally, the teaching of general relativity, which for many decades has been hidden
behind Greek indices, differential forms and other antididactic approaches, will bene-
fit greatly from future improvements that focus more on the physics and less on the
Ref. 287 formalism.

Could general relativity be different?

“
It’s a good thing we have gravity, or else when
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

birds died they’d just stay right up there.

”
Hunters would be all confused.
Steven Wright

The constant of gravitation provides a limit for the density and the acceleration of objects,
as well as for the power of engines. We based all our deductions on its invariance. Is it
possible that the constant of gravitation G changes from place to place or that it changes
with time? The question is tricky. At first sight, the answer is a loud: ‘Yes, of course! Just
see what happens when the value of G is changed in formulae.’ However, this answer is
Page 101 wrong, as it was wrong for the speed of light c.
 a summary for the l ayman 283

Since the constant of gravitation enters into our definition of gravity and acceleration,
and thus, even if we do not notice it, into the construction of all rulers, all measurement
standards and all measuring set-ups, there is no way to detect whether its value actu-
Challenge 406 e ally varies. No imaginable experiment could detect a variation. Every measurement of
force is, whether we like it or not, a comparison with the limit force. There is no way, in
principle, to check the invariance of a standard. This is even more astonishing because
Page 280 measurements of this type are regularly reported, as in Table 9. But the result of any such
experiment is easy to predict: no change will ever be found.
Could the number of space dimensions be different from 3? This issue is quite in-
volved. For example, three is the smallest number of dimensions for which a vanish-
ing Ricci tensor is compatible with non-vanishing curvature. On the other hand, more
than three dimensions would give deviations from the inverse square ‘law’ of gravitation.
There are no data pointing in this direction.
Could the equations of general relativity be different? During the past century, theo-
reticians have explored many alternative equations. However, almost none of the alterna-
tives proposed so far seem to fit experimental data. Only two candidates are mentioned

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

regularly.
First, the inclusion of torsion in the field equations is one attempt to include particle
Ref. 289 spin in general relativity. The inclusion of torsion in general relativity does not require
new fundamental constants; indeed, the absence of torsion was assumed in the Raychaud-
Ref. 288 huri equation. The use of the extended Raychaudhuri equation, which includes torsion,
might allow one to deduce the full Einstein–Cartan theory from the maximum force
principle. However, all arguments so far suggest that torsion is an unnecessary complica-
tions.
Secondly, one experimental result remains unexplained. The rotation speed of visible
matter far from the centre of galaxies might be due to the existence of dark matter or to

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

some deviation from the inverse square dependence of universal gravity. The latter op-
Ref. 290 tion would imply a modification in the field equations for astronomically large distances.
The dark matter option assumes that we have difficulties observing something, the mod-
ified dynamics option assumes that we missed something in the equations. At present,
most researchers assume the existence of dark matter. But since the nature of dark matter
is not understood, the issue is not fully settled.

“
It was, of course, a lie what you read about my
religious convictions, a lie which is being
systematically repeated. I do not believe in a
personal God and I have never denied this but
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

have expressed it clearly. If something is in me

which can be called religious then it is the
unbounded admiration for the structure of the

”
world so far as our science can reveal it.
Albert Einstein, 24 March 1954.

The limits of general relativity

Despite its success and its fascination, the description of motion presented so far is un-
Challenge 407 e satisfactory; maybe you already have some gut feeling about certain unresolved issues.
First of all, even though the speed of light is the starting point of the whole theory,
 284 11 general rel ativit y in a nu tshell

we still do not know what light actually is. Understanding what light is will be our next
topic.
Secondly, we have seen that everything that has mass falls along geodesics. But a
mountain does not fall. Somehow the matter below prevents it from falling. How? And
where does mass come from anyway? What is matter? General relativity does not pro-
vide any answer; in fact, it does not describe matter at all. Einstein used to say that the
left-hand side of the field equations, describing the curvature of space-time, was granite,
while the right-hand side, describing matter, was sand. Indeed, at this point we still do
not know what matter and mass are. (And we know even less what dark matter is.) As
already remarked, to change the sand into rock we first need quantum physics and then,
in a further step, its unification with relativity. This is the programme for the rest of our
adventure.
We have also seen that matter is necessary to clearly distinguish between space and
time, and in particular, to understand the working of clocks, metre bars and balances.
But one question remains: why are there units of mass, length and time in nature at
all? Understanding why measurements are possible at all will be another of the topics of

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

quantum physics.
We also know too little about the vacuum. We need to understand the magnitude of
the cosmological constant, its time dependence and the number of space-time dimen-
sions. Only then can we answer the simple question: Why is the sky so far away? General
relativity does not help here. We will will find out that the observed smallness of the cos-
mological constant contradicts the simplest version of quantum theory; this is one of the
reasons why we still have quite some height to scale before we reach the top of Motion
Vol. VI, page 54 Mountain.
Finally, we swept another important issue under the rug. General relativity forbids the
existence of point objects, and thus of point particles. But the idea of point particles is

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

one reason that we introduced space points in the first place. What is the final fate of the
idea of space point? Also this issue remains open at this stage.
In short, to describe motion well, we need a more precise description of light, of matter
and of the vacuum. In other words, we need to know more about everything! Otherwise
Vol. V, page 64 we cannot hope to answer questions about mountains, clocks and stars. In particular, we
need to know more about light, matter and vacuum at small scales. We need to under-
stand the microscopic aspects of the world.
At small scales, the curvature of space is negligible. We therefore take a step back-
wards, to situations without gravity, and explore the microscopic details of light, matter
Page 8 and vacuum. This domain is called quantum physics. Figure 1, shown in the preface, gives
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

an impression of what awaits us. And despite the simplification to flat space-time, the ad-
venture is beautiful and intense.
 Appendix A

UNIT S, MEA SUREMENT S AND

C ON STAN T S

M
easurements are comparisons with standards. Standards are based on units.
any different systems of units have been used throughout the world.
ost of these standards confer power to the organization in charge of them.
Such power can be misused; this is the case today, for example in the computer industry,
and was so in the distant past. The solution is the same in both cases: organize an inde-

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

pendent and global standard. For measurement units, this happened in the eighteenth
century: in order to avoid misuse by authoritarian institutions, to eliminate problems
with differing, changing and irreproducible standards, and – this is not a joke – to
simplify tax collection and to make it more just, a group of scientists, politicians and
economists agreed on a set of units. It is called the Système International d’Unités, abbre-
viated SI, and is defined by an international treaty, the ‘Convention du Mètre’. The units
are maintained by an international organization, the ‘Conférence Générale des Poids et
Mesures’, and its daughter organizations, the ‘Commission Internationale des Poids et
Mesures’ and the ‘Bureau International des Poids et Mesures’ (BIPM). All originated in
Ref. 291 the times just before the French revolution.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

SI units
All SI units are built from seven base units, whose official definitions, translated from
French into English, are given below, together with the dates of their formulation:
‘The second is the duration of 9 192 631 770 periods of the radiation corresponding
to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium 133
atom.’ (1967)*
‘The metre is the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time inter-
val of 1/299 792 458 of a second.’ (1983)*
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

‘The kilogram is the unit of mass; it is equal to the mass of the international prototype
of the kilogram.’ (1901)*
‘The ampere is that constant current which, if maintained in two straight parallel con-
ductors of infinite length, of negligible circular cross-section, and placed 1 metre apart in
vacuum, would produce between these conductors a force equal to 2 ⋅ 10−7 newton per
metre of length.’ (1948)*
‘The kelvin, unit of thermodynamic temperature, is the fraction 1/273.16 of the ther-
modynamic temperature of the triple point of water.’ (1967)*
‘The mole is the amount of substance of a system which contains as many elementary
entities as there are atoms in 0.012 kilogram of carbon 12.’ (1971)*
 286 a units, measurements and constants

‘The candela is the luminous intensity, in a given direction, of a source that emits
monochromatic radiation of frequency 540 ⋅ 1012 hertz and has a radiant intensity in that
direction of (1/683) watt per steradian.’ (1979)*
In the near future, it is planned to change the definition of the SI units by basing them
on the cube diagram of page 8, as explained on http://www.bipm.org/en/si/new_si/.
We note that both time and length units are defined as certain properties of a stan-
dard example of motion, namely light. In other words, also the Conférence Générale des
Poids et Mesures makes the point that the observation of motion is a prerequisite for the
definition and construction of time and space. Motion is the fundament of every obser-
vation and of all measurement. By the way, the use of light in the definitions had been
proposed already in 1827 by Jacques Babinet.**
From these basic units, all other units are defined by multiplication and division. Thus,
all SI units have the following properties:
SI units form a system with state-of-the-art precision: all units are defined with a pre-
cision that is higher than the precision of commonly used measurements. Moreover, the

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

precision of the definitions is regularly being improved. The present relative uncertainty
of the definition of the second is around 10−14 , for the metre about 10−10 , for the kilo-
gram about 10−9 , for the ampere 10−7 , for the mole less than 10−6 , for the kelvin 10−6 and
for the candela 10−3 .
SI units form an absolute system: all units are defined in such a way that they can
be reproduced in every suitably equipped laboratory, independently, and with high pre-
cision. This avoids as much as possible any misuse by the standard-setting organization.
(The kilogram, still defined with the help of an artefact, is the last exception to this re-
quirement; extensive research is under way to eliminate this artefact from the definition
– an international race that will take a few more years. There are two approaches: count-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

ing particles, or fixing ħ. The former can be achieved in crystals, e.g., crystals made of
pure silicon, the latter using any formula where ħ appears, such as the formula for the de
Broglie wavelength or that of the Josephson effect.)
SI units form a practical system: the base units are quantities of everyday magni-
tude. Frequently used units have standard names and abbreviations. The complete list
includes the seven base units just given, the supplementary units, the derived units and
the admitted units.
The supplementary SI units are two: the unit for (plane) angle, defined as the ratio
of arc length to radius, is the radian (rad). For solid angle, defined as the ratio of the
subtended area to the square of the radius, the unit is the steradian (sr).
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

* The respective symbols are s, m, kg, A, K, mol and cd. The international prototype of the kilogram is
Vol. I, page 96 a platinum–iridium cylinder kept at the BIPM in Sèvres, in France. For more details on the levels of the
Ref. 292 caesium atom, consult a book on atomic physics. The Celsius scale of temperature θ is defined as: θ/°C =
T/K − 273.15; note the small difference with the number appearing in the definition of the kelvin. SI also
states: ‘When the mole is used, the elementary entities must be specified and may be atoms, molecules, ions,
electrons, other particles, or specified groups of such particles.’ In the definition of the mole, it is understood
that the carbon 12 atoms are unbound, at rest and in their ground state. In the definition of the candela, the
frequency of the light corresponds to 555.5 nm, i.e., green colour, around the wavelength to which the eye
is most sensitive.
** Jacques Babinet (1794–1874), French physicist who published important work in optics.
 a units, measurements and constants 287

The derived units with special names, in their official English spelling, i.e., without
capital letters and accents, are:

Name A b b r e v i at i o n Name A b b r e v i at i o n

hertz Hz = 1/s newton N = kg m/s2

pascal Pa = N/m2 = kg/m s2 joule J = Nm = kg m2 /s2
watt W = kg m2 /s3 coulomb C = As
volt V = kg m2 /As3 farad F = As/V = A2 s4 /kg m2
ohm Ω = V/A = kg m2 /A2 s3 siemens S = 1/Ω
weber Wb = Vs = kg m2 /As2 tesla T = Wb/m2 = kg/As2 = kg/Cs
henry H = Vs/A = kg m2 /A2 s2 degree Celsius °C (see definition of kelvin)
lumen lm = cd sr lux lx = lm/m2 = cd sr/m2
becquerel Bq = 1/s gray Gy = J/kg = m2 /s2
sievert Sv = J/kg = m2 /s2 katal kat = mol/s

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

We note that in all definitions of units, the kilogram only appears to the powers of 1,
Challenge 408 s 0 and −1. Can you try to formulate the reason?
The admitted non-SI units are minute, hour, day (for time), degree 1∘ = π/180 rad,
minute 1󳰀 = π/10 800 rad, second 1󳰀󳰀 = π/648 000 rad (for angles), litre and tonne. All
other units are to be avoided.
All SI units are made more practical by the introduction of standard names and ab-
breviations for the powers of ten, the so-called prefixes:*

Power Name Power Name Power Name Power Name

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

−1
10 1
deca da 10 deci d 1018
Exa E 10−18 atto a
102 hecto h 10−2 centi c 10 21
Zetta Z 10−21 zepto z
103 kilo k 10−3 milli m 1024 Yotta Y 10−24 yocto y
106 Mega M 10−6 micro μ unofficial: Ref. 293
109 Giga G 10−9 nano n 1027 Xenta X 10−27 xenno x
1012 Tera T 10−12 pico p 1030 Wekta W 10−30 weko w
1015 Peta P 10−15 femto f 1033 Vendekta V 10−33 vendeko v
1036 Udekta U 10−36 udeko u
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

* Some of these names are invented (yocto to sound similar to Latin octo ‘eight’, zepto to sound similar
to Latin septem, yotta and zetta to resemble them, exa and peta to sound like the Greek words ἑξάκις and
πεντάκις for ‘six times’ and ‘five times’, the unofficial ones to sound similar to the Greek words for nine,
ten, eleven and twelve); some are from Danish/Norwegian (atto from atten ‘eighteen’, femto from femten
‘fifteen’); some are from Latin (from mille ‘thousand’, from centum ‘hundred’, from decem ‘ten’, from nanus
‘dwarf ’); some are from Italian (from piccolo ‘small’); some are Greek (micro is from μικρός ‘small’, deca/deka
from δέκα ‘ten’, hecto from ἑκατόν ‘hundred’, kilo from χίλιοι ‘thousand’, mega from μέγας ‘large’, giga from
γίγας ‘giant’, tera from τέρας ‘monster’).
Translate: I was caught in such a traffic jam that I needed a microcentury for a picoparsec and that my
Challenge 409 e car’s fuel consumption was two tenths of a square millimetre.
 288 a units, measurements and constants

SI units form a complete system: they cover in a systematic way the full set of ob-
servables of physics. Moreover, they fix the units of measurement for all other sciences
as well.
SI units form a universal system: they can be used in trade, in industry, in commerce,
at home, in education and in research. They could even be used by extraterrestrial civi-
lizations, if they existed.
SI units form a coherent system: the product or quotient of two SI units is also an SI
unit. This means that in principle, the same abbreviation, e.g. ‘SI’, could be used for every
unit.
The SI units are not the only possible set that could fulfil all these requirements, but they
are the only existing system that does so.* In the near future, the BIPM plans to use the
cube of physical constants, shown in Figure 1, to define SI units. This implies fixing the
values of e and k in addition to the already fixed value for c. The only exception will
remain the fixing of a basic time unit with the help of an atomic transition, not with the
constant G, because this constant cannot be measured with high precision.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

The meaning of measurement
Every measurement is a comparison with a standard. Therefore, any measurement re-
Challenge 410 e quires matter to realize the standard (even for a speed standard), and radiation to achieve
the comparison. The concept of measurement thus assumes that matter and radiation ex-
ist and can be clearly separated from each other.
Every measurement is a comparison. Measuring thus implies that space and time exist,
and that they differ from each other.
Every measurement produces a measurement result. Therefore, every measurement
implies the storage of the result. The process of measurement thus implies that the sit-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

uation before and after the measurement can be distinguished. In other terms, every
measurement is an irreversible process.
Every measurement is a process. Thus every measurement takes a certain amount of
time and a certain amount of space.
All these properties of measurements are simple but important. Beware of anybody
who denies them.

Curiosities and fun challenges about units

The second does not correspond to 1/86 400th of the day any more, though it did in the
year 1900; the Earth now takes about 86 400.002 s for a rotation, so that the International
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Earth Rotation Service must regularly introduce a leap second to ensure that the Sun is

* Apart from international units, there are also provincial units. Most provincial units still in use are of
Roman origin. The mile comes from milia passum, which used to be one thousand (double) strides of about
1480 mm each; today a nautical mile, once defined as minute of arc on the Earth’s surface, is defined exactly
as 1852 m. The inch comes from uncia/onzia (a twelfth – now of a foot). The pound (from pondere ‘to
weigh’) is used as a translation of libra – balance – which is the origin of its abbreviation lb. Even the habit
of counting in dozens instead of tens is Roman in origin. These and all other similarly funny units – like
the system in which all units start with ‘f ’, and which uses furlong/fortnight as its unit of velocity – are now
officially defined as multiples of SI units.
 a units, measurements and constants 289

at the highest point in the sky at 12 o’clock sharp.* The time so defined is called Universal
Time Coordinate. The speed of rotation of the Earth also changes irregularly from day to
day due to the weather; the average rotation speed even changes from winter to summer
because of the changes in the polar ice caps; and in addition that average decreases over
time, because of the friction produced by the tides. The rate of insertion of leap seconds
is therefore higher than once every 500 days, and not constant in time.
∗∗
Not using SI units can be expensive. In 1999, the space organisation NASA lost a satellite
on Mars because some software programmers had used provincial units instead of SI
units in part of the code. As a result of using feet instead of meters, the Mars Climate
Orbiter crashed into the planet, instead of orbiting it; the loss was around 100 million
euro.**
∗∗
The most precisely measured quantities in nature are the frequencies of certain millisec-

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

ond pulsars,*** the frequency of certain narrow atomic transitions, and the Rydberg con-
stant of atomic hydrogen, which can all be measured as precisely as the second is defined.
The caesium transition that defines the second has a finite linewidth that limits the achiev-
able precision: the limit is about 14 digits.
∗∗
The least precisely measured of the fundamental constants of physics are the gravitational
constant G and the strong coupling constant αs . Even less precisely known are the age of
Page 298 the universe and its density (see Table 14).

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

∗∗
Variations of quantities are often much easier to measure than their values. For example,
in gravitational wave detectors, the sensitivity achieved in 1992 was Δl/l = 3 ⋅ 10−19 for
Ref. 294 lengths of the order of 1 m. In other words, for a block of about a cubic metre of metal
it is possible to measure length changes about 3000 times smaller than a proton radius.
These set-ups are now being superseded by ring interferometers. Ring interferometers
measuring frequency differences of 10−21 have already been built; and they are still being
Ref. 295 improved.
∗∗
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

The table of SI prefixes covers 72 orders of magnitude. How many additional prefixes will
be needed? Even an extended list will include only a small part of the infinite range of
possibilities. Will the Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures have to go on forever,
Challenge 411 s defining an infinite number of SI prefixes? Why?

* Their website at hpiers.obspm.fr gives more information on the details of these insertions, as does maia.
usno.navy.mil, one of the few useful military websites. See also www.bipm.fr, the site of the BIPM.
** This story revived an old but false urban legend that states that only three countries in the world do not
use SI units: Liberia, the USA and Myanmar.
*** An overview of this fascinating work is given by J. H. Taylor, Pulsar timing and relativistic gravity,
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London A 341, pp. 117–134, 1992.
 290 a units, measurements and constants

∗∗
The French philosopher Voltaire, after meeting Newton, publicized the now famous story
that the connection between the fall of objects and the motion of the Moon was discov-
ered by Newton when he saw an apple falling from a tree. More than a century later,
just before the French Revolution, a committee of scientists decided to take as the unit
of force precisely the force exerted by gravity on a standard apple, and to name it after
the English scientist. After extensive study, it was found that the mass of the standard
apple was 101.9716 g; its weight was called 1 newton. Since then, visitors to the museum
in Sèvres near Paris have been able to admire the standard metre, the standard kilogram
and the standard apple.*

Precision and accuracy of measurements

Measurements are the basis of physics. Every measurement has an error. Errors are due
to lack of precision or to lack of accuracy. Precision means how well a result is reproduced
when the measurement is repeated; accuracy is the degree to which a measurement cor-
responds to the actual value.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Lack of precision is due to accidental or random errors; they are best measured by the
standard deviation, usually abbreviated σ; it is defined through

1 n
σ2 = 󵠈(x − x̄)2 , (293)
n − 1 i=1 i

where x̄ is the average of the measurements xi . (Can you imagine why n − 1 is used in
Challenge 412 s the formula instead of n?)
For most experiments, the distribution of measurement values tends towards a nor-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

mal distribution, also called Gaussian distribution, whenever the number of measure-
ments is increased. The distribution, shown in Figure 273, is described by the expression

(󰑥−󰑥̄)2
N(x) ≈ e− 2󰜎 2 . (294)

The square σ 2 of the standard deviation is also called the variance. For a Gaussian distri-
Challenge 413 e bution of measurement values, 2.35σ is the full width at half maximum.
Lack of accuracy is due to systematic errors; usually these can only be estimated. This
estimate is often added to the random errors to produce a total experimental error, some-
Ref. 297 times also called total uncertainty. The relative error or uncertainty is the ratio between
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

the error and the measured value.

For example, a professional measurement will give a result such as 0.312(6) m. The
number between the parentheses is the standard deviation σ, in units of the last digits.
As above, a Gaussian distribution for the measurement results is assumed. Therefore, a
Challenge 414 e value of 0.312(6) m implies that the actual value is expected to lie

* To be clear, this is a joke; no standard apple exists. It is not a joke however, that owners of several apple
trees in Britain and in the US claim descent, by rerooting, from the original tree under which Newton had
Ref. 296 his insight. DNA tests have even been performed to decide if all these derive from the same tree. The result
was, unsurprisingly, that the tree at MIT, in contrast to the British ones, is a fake.
 a units, measurements and constants 291

N
number of measurements

standard deviation

full width at half maximum

(FWHM)

limit curve for a large number

of measurements: the
Gaussian distribution

x x
average value measured values

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F I G U R E 120 A precision experiment and its measurement distribution. The precision is high if the
width of the distribution is narrow; the accuracy is high if the centre of the distribution agrees with the
actual value.

— within 1σ with 68.3 % probability, thus in this example within 0.312 ± 0.006 m;
— within 2σ with 95.4 % probability, thus in this example within 0.312 ± 0.012 m;
— within 3σ with 99.73 % probability, thus in this example within 0.312 ± 0.018 m;
— within 4σ with 99.9937 % probability, thus in this example within 0.312 ± 0.024 m;
— within 5σ with 99.999 943 % probability, thus in this example within 0.312 ± 0.030 m;

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

— within 6σ with 99.999 999 80 % probability, thus within 0.312 ± 0.036 m;
— within 7σ with 99.999 999 999 74 % probability, thus within 0.312 ± 0.041 m.

Challenge 415 s (Do the latter numbers make sense?)

Note that standard deviations have one digit; you must be a world expert to use two,
and a fool to use more. If no standard deviation is given, a (1) is assumed. As a result,
among professionals, 1 km and 1000 m are not the same length!
What happens to the errors when two measured values A and B are added or sub-
tracted? If the all measurements are independent – or uncorrelated – the standard devi-
ation of the sum and that of difference is given by σ = 󵀆σA2 + σB2 . For both the product
or ratio of two measured and uncorrelated values C and D, the result is ρ = 󵀆ρC2 + ρ2D ,
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

where the ρ terms are the relative standard deviations.

Challenge 416 s Assume you measure that an object moves 1.0 m in 3.0 s: what is the measured speed
value?

Limits to precision
What are the limits to accuracy and precision? There is no way, even in principle, to
measure a length x to a precision higher than about 61 digits, because in nature, the ratio
between the largest and the smallest measurable length is Δx/x > lPl /dhorizon = 10−61 .
Challenge 417 e (Is this ratio valid also for force or for volume?) In the final volume of our text, studies
 292 a units, measurements and constants

Vol. VI, page 89 of clocks and metre bars strengthen this theoretical limit.
But it is not difficult to deduce more stringent practical limits. No imaginable machine
can measure quantities with a higher precision than measuring the diameter of the Earth
within the smallest length ever measured, about 10−19 m; that is about 26 digits of preci-
sion. Using a more realistic limit of a 1000 m sized machine implies a limit of 22 digits.
If, as predicted above, time measurements really achieve 17 digits of precision, then they
are nearing the practical limit, because apart from size, there is an additional practical
restriction: cost. Indeed, an additional digit in measurement precision often means an
additional digit in equipment cost.

Physical constants
In physics, general observations are deduced from more fundamental ones. As a conse-
quence, many measurements can be deduced from more fundamental ones. The most
fundamental measurements are those of the physical constants.
The following tables give the world’s best values of the most important physical con-
stants and particle properties – in SI units and in a few other common units – as pub-

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Ref. 298 lished in the standard references. The values are the world averages of the best measure-
ments made up to the present. As usual, experimental errors, including both random
and estimated systematic errors, are expressed by giving the standard deviation in the
last digits. In fact, behind each of the numbers in the following tables there is a long
Ref. 299 story which is worth telling, but for which there is not enough room here.
Ref. 298 In principle, all quantitative properties of matter can be calculated with quantum the-
ory and the values of certain physical constants. For example, colour, density and elastic
Vol. V, page 251 properties can be predicted using the equations of the standard model of particle physics
and the values of the following basic constants.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

TA B L E 11 Basic physical constants.

Q ua n t i t y Symbol Va l u e i n S I u n i t s U n c e r t. a

Constants that define the SI measurement units

Vacuum speed of lightc c 299 792 458 m/s 0
−7
Vacuum permeability c
μ0 4π ⋅ 10 H/m 0
= 1.256 637 061 435 ... μH/m0
Vacuum permittivityc ε0 = 1/μ0 c 2 8.854 187 817 620 ... pF/m 0
Original Planck constant h 6.626 069 57(52) ⋅ 10−34 Js 4.4 ⋅ 10−8
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Reduced Planck constant, ħ 1.054 571 726(47) ⋅ 10 Js 4.4 ⋅ 10−8

−34

quantum of action
Positron charge e 0.160 217 656 5(35) aC 2.2 ⋅ 10−8
Boltzmann constant k 1.380 6488(13) ⋅ 10−23 J/K 9.1 ⋅ 10−7
Gravitational constant G 6.673 84(80) ⋅ 10−11 Nm2 /kg2 1.2 ⋅ 10−4
Gravitational coupling constantκ = 8πG/c 4 2.076 50(25) ⋅ 10−43 s2 /kg m 1.2 ⋅ 10−4
Fundamental constants (of unknown origin)
Number of space-time dimensions 3+1 0b
a units, measurements and constants 293

TA B L E 11 (Continued) Basic physical constants.

Q ua n t i t y Symbol Va l u e i n S I u n i t s U n c e r t. a
e2
Fine-structure constant d or α= 4πε0 ħc
1/137.035 999 074(44) 3.2 ⋅ 10−10
e.m. coupling constant = дem (me2 c 2 ) = 0.007 297 352 5698(24) 3.2 ⋅ 10−10
Fermi coupling constant d or GF /(ħc)3 1.166 364(5) ⋅ 10−5 GeV−2 4.3 ⋅ 10−6
weak coupling constant αw (MZ ) = дw2 /4π 1/30.1(3) 1 ⋅ 10−2
Weak mixing angle sin2 θW (MS) 0.231 24(24) 1.0 ⋅ 10−3
sin2 θW (on shell) 0.2224(19) 8.7 ⋅ 10−3
= 1 − (mW /mZ )2
Strong coupling constant d αs (MZ ) = дs2 /4π 0.118(3) 25 ⋅ 10−3
0.97428(15) 0.2253(7) 0.00347(16)
CKM quark mixing matrix |V | 󶀪 0.2252(7) 0.97345(16) 0.0410(11) 󶀺
0.00862(26) 0.0403(11) 0.999152(45)
Jarlskog invariant J 2.96(20) ⋅ 10−5

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

0.82 0.55 −0.15 + 0.038i
PMNS neutrino mixing m. P 󶀪−0.36 + 0.020i 0.70 + 0.013i 0.61 󶀺
0.44 + 0.026i −0.45 + 0.017i 0.77
Elementary particle masses (of unknown origin)
Electron mass me 9.109 382 91(40) ⋅ 10−31 kg 4.4 ⋅ 10−8
5.485 799 0946(22) ⋅ 10−4 u 4.0 ⋅ 10−10
0.510 998 928(11) MeV 2.2 ⋅ 10−8
Muon mass mμ 1.883 531 475(96) ⋅ 10−28 kg 5.1 ⋅ 10−8
2.5 ⋅ 10−8

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

0.113 428 9267(29) u
105.658 3715(35) MeV 3.4 ⋅ 10−8
Tau mass mτ 1.776 82(16) GeV/c 2
El. neutrino mass m 󰜈e < 2 eV/c 2
Muon neutrino mass m 󰜈e < 2 eV/c 2
Tau neutrino mass m 󰜈e < 2 eV/c 2
Up quark mass u 1.8 to 3.0 MeV/c 2
Down quark mass d 4.5 to 5.5 MeV/c 2
Strange quark mass s 95(5) MeV/c 2
Charm quark mass c 1.275(25) GeV/c 2
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Bottom quark mass b 4.18(17) GeV/c 2

Top quark mass t 173.5(1.4) GeV/c 2
Photon mass γ < 2 ⋅ 10−54 kg
W boson mass W± 80.385(15) GeV/c 2
Z boson mass Z0 91.1876(21) GeV/c 2
Higgs mass H 126(1) GeV/c 2
Gluon mass g1...8 c. 0 MeV/c 2
Composite particle masses
 294 a units, measurements and constants

TA B L E 11 (Continued) Basic physical constants.

Q ua n t i t y Symbol Va l u e i n S I u n i t s U n c e r t. a

Proton mass mp 1.672 621 777(74) ⋅ 10−27 kg 4.4 ⋅ 10−8

1.007 276 466 812(90) u 8.9 ⋅ 10−11
938.272 046(21) MeV 2.2 ⋅ 10−8
Neutron mass mn 1.674 927 351(74) ⋅ 10−27 kg 4.4 ⋅ 10−8
1.008 664 916 00(43) u 4.2 ⋅ 10−10
939.565 379(21) MeV 2.2 ⋅ 10−8
Atomic mass unit mu = m12 C /12 = 1 u1.660 538 921(73) yg 4.4 ⋅ 10−8

a. Uncertainty: standard deviation of measurement errors.

b. Only measured from to 10−19 m to 1026 m.
c. Defining constant.
d. All coupling constants depend on the 4-momentum transfer, as explained in the section on
Page 124 renormalization. Fine-structure constant is the traditional name for the electromagnetic cou-

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

pling constant дem in the case of a 4-momentum transfer of Q 2 = me2 c 2 , which is the smallest
one possible. At higher momentum transfers it has larger values, e.g., дem (Q 2 = MW c ) ≈ 1/128.
2 2

In contrast, the strong coupling constant has lover values at higher momentum transfers; e.g.,
αs (34 GeV) = 0.14(2).

Why do all these constants have the values they have? For any constant with a dimen-
sion, such as the quantum of action ħ, the numerical value has only historical meaning.
It is 1.054 ⋅ 10−34 Js because of the SI definition of the joule and the second. The question
why the value of a dimensional constant is not larger or smaller therefore always requires
one to understand the origin of some dimensionless number giving the ratio between the

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

constant and the corresponding natural unit that is defined with c, G, ħ and α. More de-
Vol. IV, page 199 tails and the values of the natural units are given later. Understanding the sizes of atoms,
people, trees and stars, the duration of molecular and atomic processes, or the mass of
nuclei and mountains, implies understanding the ratios between these values and the
corresponding natural units. The key to understanding nature is thus the understanding
of all ratios, and thus of all dimensionless constants. The quest of understanding all ra-
tios, including the fine structure constant α itself, is completed only in the final volume
of our adventure.
The basic constants yield the following useful high-precision observations.

TA B L E 12 Derived physical constants.

free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Q ua n t i t y Symbol Va l u e i n S I u n i t s U n c e r t.

Vacuum wave resistance Z0 = 󵀄μ0 /ε0 376.730 313 461 77... Ω 0

Avogadro’s number NA 6.022 141 29(27) ⋅ 1023 4.4 ⋅ 10−8
Loschmidt’s number NL 2.686 7805(24) ⋅ 1023 9.1 ⋅ 10−7
at 273.15 K and 101 325 Pa
Faraday’s constant F = NA e 96 485.3365(21) C/mol 2.2 ⋅ 10−8
Universal gas constant R = NA k 8.314 4621(75) J/mol K 9.1 ⋅ 10−7
Molar volume of an ideal gas V = RT /p 22.413 968(20) l/mol 9.1 ⋅ 10−7
a units, measurements and constants 295

TA B L E 12 (Continued) Derived physical constants.

Q ua n t i t y Symbol Va l u e i n S I u n i t s U n c e r t.

at 273.15 K and 101 325 Pa

Rydberg constant a R∞ = me cα 2 /2h 10 973 731.568 539(55) m−1 5 ⋅ 10−12
Conductance quantum G0 = 2e 2 /h 77.480 917 346(25) μS 3.2 ⋅ 10−10
Magnetic flux quantum φ0 = h/2e 2.067 833 758(46) pWb 2.2 ⋅ 10−8
Josephson frequency ratio 2e/h 483.597 870(11) THz/V 2.2 ⋅ 10−8
Von Klitzing constant h/e 2 = μ0 c/2α 25 812.807 4434(84) Ω 3.2 ⋅ 10−10
Bohr magneton μB = eħ/2me 9.274 009 68(20) yJ/T 2.2 ⋅ 10−8
Classical electron radius re = e 2 /4πε0 me c 2 2.817 940 3267(27) fm 9.7 ⋅ 10−10
Compton wavelength λC = h/me c 2.426 310 2389(16) pm 6.5 ⋅ 10−10
of the electron λc = ħ/me c = re /α 0.386 159 268 00(25) pm 6.5 ⋅ 10−10
Bohr radius a a∞ = re /α 2 52.917 721 092(17) pm 3.2 ⋅ 10−10
Quantum of circulation h/2me 3.636 947 5520(24) ⋅ 10−4 m2 /s 6.5 ⋅ 10−10
1.758 820 088(39) ⋅ 1011 C/kg 2.2 ⋅ 10−8

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Specific positron charge e/me
Cyclotron frequency fc /B = e/2πme 27.992 491 10(62) GHz/T 2.2 ⋅ 10−8
of the electron
Electron magnetic moment μe −9.284 764 30(21) ⋅ 10−24 J/T 2.2 ⋅ 10−8
μe /μB −1.001 159 652 180 76(27) 2.6 ⋅ 10−13
μe /μN −1.838 281 970 90(75) ⋅ 103 4.1 ⋅ 10−10
Electron g-factor дe −2.002 319 304 361 53(53) 2.6 ⋅ 10−13
Muon–electron mass ratio mμ /me 206.768 2843(52) 2.5 ⋅ 10−8
Muon magnetic moment μμ −4.490 448 07(15) ⋅ 10−26 J/T 3.4 ⋅ 10−8

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

muon g-factor дμ −2.002 331 8418(13) 6.3 ⋅ 10−10
Proton–electron mass ratio mp /me 1 836.152 672 45(75) 4.1 ⋅ 10−10
Specific proton charge e/mp 9.578 833 58(21) ⋅ 107 C/kg 2.2 ⋅ 10−8
Proton Compton wavelength λC,p = h/mp c 1.321 409 856 23(94) fm 7.1 ⋅ 10−10
Nuclear magneton μN = eħ/2mp 5.050 783 53(11) ⋅ 10−27 J/T 2.2 ⋅ 10−8
Proton magnetic moment μp 1.410 606 743(33) ⋅ 10−26 J/T 2.4 ⋅ 10−8
μp /μB 1.521 032 210(12) ⋅ 10−3 8.1 ⋅ 10−9
μp /μN 2.792 847 356(23) 8.2 ⋅ 10−9
Proton gyromagnetic ratio γp = 2μ p /ħ 2.675 222 005(63) ⋅ 108 Hz/T 2.4 ⋅ 10−8
8.2 ⋅ 10−9
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Proton g factor дp 5.585 694 713(46)

Neutron–electron mass ratio mn /me 1 838.683 6605(11) 5.8 ⋅ 10−10
Neutron–proton mass ratio mn /mp 1.001 378 419 17(45) 4.5 ⋅ 10−10
Neutron Compton wavelength λC,n = h/mn c 1.319 590 9068(11) fm 8.2 ⋅ 10−10
Neutron magnetic moment μn −0.966 236 47(23) ⋅ 10−26 J/T 2.4 ⋅ 10−7
μn /μB −1.041 875 63(25) ⋅ 10−3 2.4 ⋅ 10−7
μn /μN −1.913 042 72(45) 2.4 ⋅ 10−7
Stefan–Boltzmann constant σ = π2 k 4 /60ħ3 c 2 56.703 73(21) nW/m2 K4 3.6 ⋅ 10−6
Wien’s displacement constant b = λmax T 2.897 7721(26) mmK 9.1 ⋅ 10−7
296 a units, measurements and constants

TA B L E 12 (Continued) Derived physical constants.

Q ua n t i t y Symbol Va l u e i n S I u n i t s U n c e r t.

58.789 254(53) GHz/K 9.1 ⋅ 10−7

Electron volt eV 1.602 176 565(35) ⋅ 10−19 J 2.2 ⋅ 10−8
Bits to entropy conversion const. k ln 2 1023 bit = 0.956 994 5(9) J/K 9.1 ⋅ 10−7
TNT energy content 3.7 to 4.0 MJ/kg 4 ⋅ 10−2

a. For infinite mass of the nucleus.

Some useful properties of our local environment are given in the following table.

TA B L E 13 Astronomical constants.

Q ua n t i t y Symbol Va l u e

Tropical year 1900 a a 31 556 925.974 7 s

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Tropical year 1994 a 31 556 925.2 s
Mean sidereal day d 23h 56󳰀 4.090 53󳰀󳰀
Average distance Earth–Sun b 149 597 870.691(30) km
Astronomical unit b AU 149 597 870 691 m
Light year, based on Julian year b al 9.460 730 472 5808 Pm
Parsec pc 30.856 775 806 Pm = 3.261 634 al
Earth’s mass M♁ 5.973(1) ⋅ 1024 kg
Geocentric gravitational constant GM 3.986 004 418(8) ⋅ 1014 m3 /s2
Earth’s gravitational length l♁ = 2GM/c 2 8.870 056 078(16) mm

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Earth’s equatorial radius c R♁eq 6378.1366(1) km
Earth’s polar radius c R♁p 6356.752(1) km
Equator–pole distance c 10 001.966 km (average)
Earth’s flattening c e♁ 1/298.25642(1)
Earth’s av. density ρ♁ 5.5 Mg/m3
Earth’s age T♁ 4.50(4) Ga = 142(2) Ps
Earth’s normal gravity д 9.806 65 m/s2
Earth’s standard atmospher. pressure p0 101 325 Pa
Moon’s radius Rv 1738 km in direction of Earth
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Moon’s radius Rh 1737.4 km in other two directions

Moon’s mass M 7.35 ⋅ 1022 kg
Moon’s mean distance d d 384 401 km
Moon’s distance at perigee d typically 363 Mm, historical minimum
359 861 km
Moon’s distance at apogee d typically 404 Mm, historical maximum
406 720 km
Moon’s angular size e average 0.5181∘ = 31.08󳰀 , minimum 0.49∘ ,
maximum - shortens line 0.55∘
Moon’s average density ρ 3.3 Mg/m3
 a units, measurements and constants 297

TA B L E 13 (Continued) Astronomical constants.

Q ua n t i t y Symbol Va l u e

Moon’s surface gravity д 1.62 m/s2

Moons’s atmospheric pressure p from 10−10 Pa (night) to 10−7 Pa (day)
Jupiter’s mass M 1.90 ⋅ 1027 kg
Jupiter’s radius, equatorial R 71.398 Mm
Jupiter’s radius, polar R 67.1(1) Mm
Jupiter’s average distance from Sun D 778 412 020 km
Jupiter’s surface gravity д 24.9 m/s2
Jupiter’s atmospheric pressure p from 20 kPa to 200 kPa
Sun’s mass M⊙ 1.988 43(3) ⋅ 1030 kg
Sun’s gravitational length 2GM⊙ /c 2 2.953 250 08(5) km
Sun’s luminosity L⊙ 384.6 YW
Solar equatorial radius R⊙ 695.98(7) Mm
0.53∘ average; minimum on fourth of July

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Sun’s angular size
(aphelion) 1888󳰀󳰀 , maximum on fourth of
January (perihelion) 1952󳰀󳰀
Sun’s average density ρ⊙ 1.4 Mg/m3
Sun’s average distance AU 149 597 870.691(30) km
Sun’s age T⊙ 4.6 Ga
Solar velocity 󰑣⊙g 220(20) km/s
around centre of galaxy
Solar velocity 󰑣⊙b 370.6(5) km/s

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

against cosmic background
Sun’s surface gravity д⊙ 274 m/s2
Sun’s lower photospheric pressure p⊙ 15 kPa
Distance to Milky Way’s centre 8.0(5) kpc = 26.1(1.6) kal
Milky Way’s age 13.6 Ga
Milky Way’s size c. 1021 m or 100 kal
Milky Way’s mass 1012 solar masses, c. 2 ⋅ 1042 kg
Most distant galaxy cluster known SXDF-XCLJ 9.6 ⋅ 109 al
0218-0510
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

a. Defining constant, from vernal equinox to vernal equinox; it was once used to define the sec-
ond. (Remember: π seconds is about a nanocentury.) The value for 1990 is about 0.7 s less, cor-
Challenge 418 s responding to a slowdown of roughly 0.2 ms/a. (Watch out: why?) There is even an empirical
Ref. 300 formula for the change of the length of the year over time.
b. The truly amazing precision in the average distance Earth–Sun of only 30 m results from time
averages of signals sent from Viking orbiters and Mars landers taken over a period of over twenty
years. Note that the International Astronomical Union distinguishes the average distance Earth–
Sun from the astronomical unit itself; the latter is defined as a fixed and exact length. Also the
light year is a unit defined as an exact number by the IAU. For more details, see www.iau.org/
public/measuring.
 298 a units, measurements and constants

c. The shape of the Earth is described most precisely with the World Geodetic System. The last
edition dates from 1984. For an extensive presentation of its background and its details, see the
www.wgs84.com website. The International Geodesic Union refined the data in 2000. The radii
and the flattening given here are those for the ‘mean tide system’. They differ from those of the
‘zero tide system’ and other systems by about 0.7 m. The details constitute a science in itself.
d. Measured centre to centre. To find the precise position of the Moon at a given date, see
the www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/moon_ap_per.html page. For the planets, see the page www.
fourmilab.ch/solar/solar.html and the other pages on the same site.
e. Angles are defined as follows: 1 degree = 1∘ = π/180 rad, 1 (first) minute = 1󳰀 = 1∘ /60, 1 second
(minute) = 1󳰀󳰀 = 1󳰀 /60. The ancient units ‘third minute’ and ‘fourth minute’, each 1/60th of the
preceding, are not in use any more. (‘Minute’ originally means ‘very small’, as it still does in
modern English.)

Some properties of nature at large are listed in the following table. (If you want a chal-
Challenge 419 s lenge, can you determine whether any property of the universe itself is listed?)

TA B L E 14 Cosmological constants.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Q ua n t i t y Symbol Va l u e

Cosmological constant Λ c. 1 ⋅ 10−52 m−2

Age of the universe a
t0 4.333(53) ⋅ 1017 s = 13.8(0.1) ⋅ 109 a
(determined from space-time, via expansion, using general relativity)
Age of the universe a t0 over 3.5(4) ⋅ 1017 s = 11.5(1.5) ⋅ 109 a
(determined from matter, via galaxies and stars, using quantum theory)
Hubble parameter a H0 2.3(2) ⋅ 10−18 s−1 = 0.73(4) ⋅ 10−10 a−1
= h0 ⋅ 100 km/s Mpc = h0 ⋅ 1.0227 ⋅ 10−10 a−1

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

a
Reduced Hubble parameter h0 0.71(4)
Deceleration parameter a
q0 = −(̈a/a)0 /H0 −0.66(10)
2

Universe’s horizon distance a d0 = 3ct0 40.0(6) ⋅ 1026 m = 13.0(2) Gpc

Universe’s topology trivial up to 1026 m
Number of space dimensions 3, for distances up to 1026 m
Critical density ρc = 3H02 /8πG h02 ⋅ 1.878 82(24) ⋅ 10−26 kg/m3
of the universe = 0.95(12) ⋅ 10−26 kg/m3
(Total) density parameter a Ω0 = ρ0 /ρc 1.02(2)
Baryon density parameter a ΩB0 = ρB0 /ρc 0.044(4)
Cold dark matter density parameter ΩCDM0 = ρCDM0 /ρc 0.23(4)
a
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Neutrino density parameter a Ω󰜈0 = ρ󰜈0 /ρc 0.001 to 0.05

Dark energy density parameter a
ΩX0 = ρX0 /ρc 0.73(4)
Dark energy state parameter 󰑤 = pX /ρX −1.0(2)
Baryon mass mb 1.67 ⋅ 10−27 kg
Baryon number density 0.25(1) /m3
Luminous matter density 3.8(2) ⋅ 10−28 kg/m3
Stars in the universe ns 1022±1
Baryons in the universe nb 1081±1
Microwave background temperature b T0 2.725(1) K
 a units, measurements and constants 299

TA B L E 14 (Continued) Cosmological constants.

Q ua n t i t y Symbol Va l u e

Photons in the universe nγ 1089

Photon energy density ργ = π2 k 4 /15T04 4.6 ⋅ 10−31 kg/m3
Photon number density 410.89 /cm3 or 400 /cm3 (T0 /2.7 K)3
Density perturbation amplitude 󵀂S 5.6(1.5) ⋅ 10−6
Gravity wave amplitude 󵀂T < 0.71󵀂S
Mass fluctuations on 8 Mpc σ8 0.84(4)
Scalar index n 0.93(3)
Running of scalar index dn/d ln k −0.03(2)
Planck length lPl = 󵀆 ħG/c 3 1.62 ⋅ 10−35 m
Planck time tPl = 󵀆 ħG/c 5 5.39 ⋅ 10−44 s
Planck mass mPl = 󵀆ħc/G 21.8 μg

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Instants in history a
t0 /tPl 8.7(2.8) ⋅ 1060
Space-time points N0 = (R0 /lPl )3 ⋅ 10244±1
inside the horizon a (t0 /tPl )
Mass inside horizon M 1054±1 kg

a. The index 0 indicates present-day values.

b. The radiation originated when the universe was 380 000 years old and had a temperature of
about 3000 K; the fluctuations ΔT0 which led to galaxy formation are today about 16 ± 4 μK =
Page 224 6(2) ⋅ 10−6 T0 .

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Useful numbers
π 3.14159 26535 89793 23846 26433 83279 50288 41971 69399 375105
e 2.71828 18284 59045 23536 02874 71352 66249 77572 47093 699959
γ 0.57721 56649 01532 86060 65120 90082 40243 10421 59335 939923
Ref. 301
ln 2 0.69314 71805 59945 30941 72321 21458 17656 80755 00134 360255
ln 10 2.30258 50929 94045 68401 79914 54684 36420 76011 01488 628772
󵀂10 3.16227 76601 68379 33199 88935 44432 71853 37195 55139 325216
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net
 CHALLENGE HINT S AND SOLUTIONS

Challenge 1, page 9: Do not hesitate to be demanding and strict. The next edition of the text will
benefit from it.
Challenge 2, page 16: A cone or a hyperboloid also looks straight from all directions, provided
the positioning is correct. One thus needs not only to turn the object, but also to displace it.
The best method to check planarity is to use interference between an arriving and a departing
coherent beam of light. If the fringes are straight, the surface is planar. (How do you ensure the
wave front of the light beam is planar?)

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Challenge 3, page 17: A fraction of infinity is still infinite.
Challenge 4, page 18: The time at which the Moon Io enters the shadow in the second measure-
ment occurs about 1000 s later than predicted from the first measurement. Since the Earth is
about 3 ⋅ 1011 m further away from Jupiter and Io, we get the usual value for the speed of light.
Challenge 5, page 19: To compensate for the aberration, the telescope has to be inclined along
the direction of motion of the Earth; to compensate for parallax, perpendicularly to the motion.
Challenge 6, page 19: The upper diagrams in Figure 4 suggest to use the tangent in equation (1);
the lower diagrams to use the sine; however, both expressions are wrong, as they do not prevent
velocities larger than c to appear. The exact formula, with the square root, results from a relativis-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

tic calculation.
Challenge 7, page 19: The drawing shows it. Observer, Moon and Sun form a triangle. When the
Moon is half full, the angle at the Moon is a right angle. Thus the distance ratio can be determined,
though not easily, as the angle at the observer is very close to a right angle as well.
Challenge 8, page 19: There are Cat’s-eyes on the Moon deposited there during the Apollo and
Page 163 Lunokhod missions. They are used to reflect laser 35 ps light pulses sent there through telescopes.
The timing of the round trip then gives the distance to the Moon. Of course, absolute distance is
not know to high precision, but the variations are. The thickness of the atmosphere is the largest
source of error. See the www.csr.utexas.edu/mlrs and ilrs.gsfc.nasa.gov websites.
Challenge 9, page 20: Fizeau used a mirror about 8.6 km away. As the picture shows, he only
had to count the teeth of his cog-wheel and measure its rotation speed when the light goes in
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

one direction through one tooth and comes back to the next.
Challenge 10, page 21: The shutter time must be shorter than T = l/c, in other words, shorter
than 30 ps; it was a gas shutter, not a solid one. It was triggered by a red light pulse (shown in the
photograph) timed by the pulse to be photographed; for certain materials, such as the used gas,
strong light can lead to bleaching, so that they become transparent. For more details about the
shutter and its neat trigger technique, see the paper by the authors. For even faster shutters, see
also the discussion in volume VI, on page 114.
Challenge 11, page 21: Just take a photograph of a lightning while moving the camera horizon-
tally. You will see that a lightning is made of several discharges; the whole shows that lightning
is much slower than light.
 challenge hints and solu tions 301

F I G U R E 121 The original lines published by Fraunhofer (© Fraunhofer Gesellschaft).

If lightning moved only nearly as fast as light itself, the Doppler effect would change its colour
depending on the angle at which we look at it, compared to its direction of motion. A nearby

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

lightning would change colour from top to bottom.
Challenge 12, page 23: The fastest lamps were subatomic particles, such as muons, which decay
by emitting a photon, thus a tiny flash of light. However, also some stars emit fasts jets of matter,
which move with speeds comparable to that of light.
Challenge 13, page 23: The speed of neutrinos is the same as that of light to 9 decimal digits,
since neutrinos and light were observed to arrive together, within 12 seconds of each other, after
Ref. 39 a trip of 170 000 light years from a supernova explosion.
Challenge 14, page 24: The direction of the arriving beam is hard to measure before it arrives
...Enjoy the exploration.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Challenge 16, page 28: This is best discussed by showing that other possibilities make no sense.
Challenge 17, page 28: The spatial coordinate of the event at which the light is reflected is c(k 2 −
1)T /2; the time coordinate is (k 2 + 1)T /2. Their ratio must be 󰑣. Solving for k gives the result.
Challenge 19, page 31: The motion of radio waves, infrared, ultraviolet and gamma rays is also
unstoppable. Another past suspect, the neutrino, has been found to have mass and to be thus in
principle stoppable. The motion of gravity is also unstoppable.
Challenge 21, page 33: λR /λS = γ.
Challenge 22, page 33: To change from bright red (650 nm) to green (550 nm), 󰑣 = 0.166c is
necessary.
Challenge 23, page 34: People measure the shift of spectral lines, such as the shift of the so-called
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Lyman-α line of hydrogen, that is emitted (or absorbed) when a free electron is captured (or
Vol. IV, page 171 ejected) by a proton. It is one of the famous Fraunhofer lines.
Challenge 24, page 34: The speeds are given by

(z + 1)2 − 1
󰑣/c = (295)
(z + 1)2 + 1
which implies 󰑣(z = −0.1) = 31 Mm/s = 0.1c towards the observer and 󰑣(z = 5) = 284 Mm/s =
0.95c away from the observer.
A red-shift of 6 implies a speed of 0.96c; such speeds appear because, as we will see in the
section of general relativity, far away objects recede from us. And high red-shifts are observed
 302 challenge hints and solu tions

only for objects which are extremely far from Earth, and the faster the further they are away. For
a red-shift of 6 that is a distance of several thousand million light years.
Challenge 25, page 35: No Doppler effect is seen for a distant observer at rest with respect to the
large mass. In other cases there obviously is a Doppler effect, but it is not due to the deflection.
Challenge 26, page 35: Sound speed is not invariant of the speed of observers. As a result, the
Doppler effect for sound even confirms – within measurement differences – that time is the same
for observers moving against each other.
Challenge 29, page 38: Inside colour television tubes (they used higher voltages, typically 30 kV,
than black and white ones did), electrons are described by 󰑣/c ≈ 󵀄2 ⋅ 30/511 or 󰑣 ≈ 0.3c.
Challenge 30, page 38: If you can imagine this, publish it. Readers will be delighted to hear the
story.
Challenge 32, page 38: The connection between observer invariance and limit property seems to
Vol. VI, page 24 be generally valid in nature, as shown in chapter 2. However, a complete and airtight argument
is not yet at hand. If you have one, publish it!
Challenge 35, page 41: If the speed of light is the same for all observers, no observer can pretend
to be more at rest than another (as long as space-time is flat), because there is no observation from

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

electrodynamics, mechanics or another part of physics that allows such a statement.
Challenge 39, page 43: The human value is achieved in particle accelerators; the value in nature
is found in cosmic rays of the highest energies.
Challenge 41, page 44: Redrawing Figure 10 on page 28 for the other observer makes the point.
Challenge 42, page 44: The set of events behaves like a manifold, because it behaves like a four-
dimensional space: it has infinitely many points around any given starting point, and distances
behave as we are used to, limits behave as we are used to. It differs by one added dimension, and
by the sign in the definition of distance; thus, properly speaking, it is a Riemannian manifold.
Challenge 43, page 45: Infinity is obvious, as is openness. Thus the topology equivalence can be

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

shown by imagining that the manifold is made of rubber and wrapped around a sphere.
Challenge 44, page 46: The light cone remains unchanged; thus causal connection as well.
Challenge 47, page 46: In such a case, the division of space-time around an inertial observer into
future, past and elsewhere would not hold any more, and the future could influence the past (as
seen from another observer).
Challenge 53, page 48: To understand the twin paradox, the best way is to draw a space-time
diagram showing how each twin sends a time signal at regular intervals, as seen on his own clock,
to his brother. Some examples are given in Figure 122. These time signals show how much he has
aged. You will see directly that, during the trip, one twin sends fewer signals than the other.
Challenge 54, page 49: The ratio predicted by naive reasoning is (1/2)(6.4/2.2) = 0.13.
Challenge 55, page 50: The time dilation factor for 󰑣 = 0.9952c is 10.2, giving a proper time of
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

0.62 μs; thus the ratio predicted by special relativity is (1/2)(0.62/2.2) = 0.82.
Challenge 57, page 51: Send a light signal from the first clock to the second clock and back. Take
the middle time between the departure and arrival, and then compare it with the time at the
reflection. Repeat this a few times. See also Figure 10.
Challenge 59, page 51: Not with present experimental methods.
Challenge 60, page 52: Hint: think about different directions of sight.
Challenge 62, page 52: Hint: be careful with the definition of ‘rigidity’.
Challenge 64, page 52: While the departing glider passes the gap, the light cannot stay on at any
speed, if the glider is shorter than the gap. This is strange at first sight, because the glider does
challenge hints and solu tions 303

home home
time time
in years in years away
time
in years
away
away away twin
home twin home twin
twin twin
home
twin

turn- turn-
around around turn-
around

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

away
space
home space home space in light-
in light-years in light-years years

F I G U R E 122 The twin paradox: (left and centre) the clock timing for both twins with the signals sent
among the twins in the inertial frame of the home twin, and (right) the description by the away twin, in

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

a frame that, however, is not inertial.

not light the lamp even at high speeds, even though in the frame of the glider there is contact
at both ends. The reason is that in this case there is not enough time to send the signal to the
battery that contact is made, so that the current cannot start flowing.
Assume that current flows with speed u, which is of the order of c. Then, as Dirk Van de
Moortel showed, the lamp will go off if the glider length l and the gap length d obey l/d <
γ(u + 󰑣)/u. See also the cited reference.
For a glider approaching the gap and the lamp, the situation is different: a glider shorter than
the gap can keep the lamp on all the time, as pointed out by S.R. Madhu Rao.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Why are the debates often heated? Some people will (falsely) pretend that the problem is un-
physical; other will say that Maxwell’s equations are needed. Still others will say that the problem
is absurd, because for larger lengths of the glider, the on/off answer depends on the precise speed
value. However, this actually is the case in this situation.
Challenge 65, page 53: Yes, the rope breaks; in accelerated cars, distance changes, as shown later
on in the text.
Challenge 66, page 53: The submarine will sink. The fast submarine will even be heavier, as his
kinetic energy adds to his weight. The contraction effect would make it lighter, as the captain
says, but by a smaller amount. The total weight – counting upwards as positive – is given by
F = −mд(γ − 1/γ).
304 challenge hints and solu tions

Challenge 67, page 53: A relativistic submarine would instantly melt due to friction with the
water. If not, it would fly of the planet because it moves faster than the escape velocity. And
produce several other disasters.
Challenge 68, page 54: The question confuses observation of Lorentz contraction and its mea-
surement. A relativistic pearl necklace does get shorter, but the shortening can only be measured,
not photographed. The measured sizes of the pearls are flattened ellipsoids relativistic speeds. The
observed necklace consists of overlapping spheres.
Challenge 69, page 54: No: think about it!
Challenge 72, page 57: Yes, ageing in a valley is slowed compared to mountain tops. However,
the proper sensation of time is not changed. The reason for the appearance of grey hair is not
known; if the timing is genetic, the proper time at which it happens is the same in either location.
Challenge 73, page 58: There is no way to put an observer at the specified points. Proper velocity
can only be defined for observers, i.e., for entities which can carry a clock. That is not the case
for images.
Challenge 74, page 59: Just use plain geometry to show this.
Challenge 75, page 59: Most interestingly, the horizon can easily move faster than light, if you

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

move your head appropriately, as can the end of the rainbow.
Challenge 77, page 63: The expression does not work for a photon hitting a mirror, for example.
Challenge 78, page 63: Relativity makes the arguments of challenge 175 watertight.
Challenge 83, page 67: The lower collision in Figure 39 shows the result directly, from energy
conservation. For the upper collision the result also follows, if one starts from momentum con-
servation γm󰑣 = ΓMV and energy conservation (дamma + 1)m = ΓM.
Challenge 93, page 72: Just turn the left side of Figure 43 a bit in anti-clockwise direction.
Challenge 94, page 73: In collisions between relativistic charges, part of the energy is radiated
away as light, so that the particles effectively lose energy.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Challenge 95, page 74: Probably not, as all relations among physical quantities are known now.
However, you might check for yourself; one might never know. It is worth to mention that the
maximum force in nature was discovered (in this text) after remaining hidden for over 80 years.
Challenge 97, page 77: Write down the four-vectors U 󳰀 and U and then extract 󰑣 󳰀 as function of
󰑣 and the relative coordinate speed V . Then rename the variables.
Challenge 98, page 77: No example of motion of a massive body has! Only the motion of light
waves has null phase 4-velocity and null group 4-velocity, as explained on page 83.
Challenge 102, page 79: For ultrarelativistic particles, like for massless particles, one has E = pc.
Challenge 103, page 80: Hint: evaluate P1 and P2 in the rest frame of one particle.
Challenge 105, page 80: Use the definition F = dp/dt and the relation KU = 0 = F󰑣 − dE/dt
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

valid for rest-mass preserving forces.

Challenge 107, page 81: The story is told on page 105.
Challenge 111, page 83: This problem is called the Ehrenfest paradox. There are many publica-
tions about it. Enjoy the exploration!
Challenge 112, page 83: Yes, one can see such an object: the searchlight effect and the Doppler
effect do not lead to invisibility. However, part of the object, namely the region rotating away
from the observer, may become very dark.
Challenge 114, page 83: If the rotating particle has a magnetic moment, one can send it through
an inhomogeneous magnetic field and observe whether the magnetic moment changes direction.
 challenge hints and solu tions 305

Challenge 116, page 83: No.

Challenge 117, page 83: For a discussion of relativistic angular momentum and a pretty effect,
see K. Y. Bliokh & F. Nori, Relativistic Hall Effect, Physical Review Letters 108, p. 120403,
2012, preprint at arxiv.org/abs/1112.5618.
Challenge 120, page 84: The relation for the frequency follows from the definition of the phase.
Challenge 123, page 85: Planck invited Einstein to Berlin and checked his answers with him...
Challenge 139, page 93: The energy contained in the fuel must be comparable to the rest mass
of the motorbike, multiplied by c 2 . Since fuel contains much more mass than energy, that gives
a big problem.
Challenge 141, page 93: Constant acceleration and gravity are similar in their effects, as dis-
cussed in the section on general relativity.
Challenge 144, page 95: Yes, it is true.
Challenge 145, page 95: It is flat, like a plane.
Challenge 146, page 95: Despite the acceleration towards the centre of the carousel, no horizon
appears.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Challenge 148, page 96: Yes; however, the effect is minimal and depends on the position of the
Sun. In fact, what is white at one height is not white at another.
Challenge 150, page 97: Locally, light always moves with speed c.
Challenge 151, page 97: Away from Earth, д decreases; it is effectively zero over most of the
distance.
Challenge 154, page 99: Light is necessary to determine distance and to synchronize clocks; thus
there is no way to measure the speed of light from one point to another alone. The reverse motion
needs to be included. However, some statements on the one-way speed of light can still be made
(see math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Relativity/SR/experiments.html). All experiments on the
one-way speed of light performed so far are consistent with an isotropic value that is equal to

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

the two-way velocity. However, no experiment is able to rule out a group of theories in which
the one-way speed of light is anisotropic and thus different from the two-way speed. All theories
from this group have the property that the round-trip speed of light is isotropic in any inertial
frame, but the one-way speed is isotropic only in a preferred ‘ether’ frame. In all of these theories,
in all inertial frames, the effects of slow clock transport exactly compensate the effects of the
anisotropic one-way speed of light. All these theories are experimentally indistinguishable from
special relativity. In practice, therefore, the one-way speed of light has been measured and is
constant. But a small option remains.
The subtleties of the one-way and two-way speed of light have been a point of discussion
for a long time. It has been often argued that a factor different than two, which would lead to a
distinction between the one-way speed of light and the two-way speed of light, cannot be ruled
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

out by experiment, as long as the two-way speed of light remains c for all observers.
Ref. 15 Many experiments on the one-way velocity of light are explained and discussed by Zhang.. He
says in his summary on page 171, that the one-way velocity of light is indeed independent of the
light source; however, no experiment really shows that it is equal to the two-way velocity. More-
Ref. 95 over, almost all so-called ‘one-way’ experiments are in fact still hidden ‘two-way’ experiments
(see his page 150).
Ref. 96 In 2004, Hans Ohanian showed that the question can be settled by discussing how a non-
standard one-way speed of light would affect dynamics. He showed that a non-standard one-way
speed of light would introduce pseudoaccelerations and pseudoforces (similar to the Coriolis
acceleration and force); since these pseudoaccelerations and pseudoforces are not observed, the
one-way speed of light is the same as the two-way speed of light.
306 challenge hints and solu tions

In short, the issues of the one-way speed of light do not need to worry us here.
Challenge 155, page 99: As shown in the cited reference, the limit follows from the condition
lγ3 a ⩽ c 2 .
Challenge 157, page 99: Yes.
Challenge 158, page 100: Yes. Take Δ f Δt ⩾ 1 and substitute Δl = c/Δ f and Δa = c/Δt.
Challenge 160, page 102: Though there are many publications pretending to study the issue,
there are also enough physicists who notice the impossibility. Measuring a variation of the speed
of light is not much far from measuring the one way speed of light: it is not possible. However,
the debates on the topic are heated; the issue will take long to be put to rest.
Challenge 161, page 104: The inverse square law of gravity does not comply with the maximum
speed principle; it is not clear how it changes when one changes to a moving observer.
Challenge 162, page 109: If you hear about a claim to surpass the force or power limit, let me
know.
Challenge 163, page 109: Take a surface moving with the speed of light, or a surface defined
with a precision smaller than the Planck length.
Challenge 164, page 114: Also shadows do not remain parallel on curved surfaces. Forgetting

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

this leads to strange mistakes: many arguments allegedly ‘showing’ that men have never been on
the moon neglect this fact when they discuss the photographs taken there.
Challenge 165, page 116: If you find one, publish it and then send it to me.
Challenge 167, page 121: This is tricky. Simple application of the relativistic transformation rule
for 4-vectors can result in force values above the limit. But in every such case, a horizon has
appeared that prevents the observation of this higher value.
Challenge 168, page 121: If so, publish it; then send it to me.
Challenge 169, page 123: For example, it is possible to imagine a surface that has such an intri-
cate shape that it will pass all atoms of the universe at almost the speed of light. Such a surface is

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

not physical, as it is impossible to imagine observers on all its points that move in that way all at
the same time.
Challenge 171, page 124: New sources cannot appear from nowhere. Any ‘new’ power source
results from the transformation of other radiation found in the universe already before the ap-
pearance.
Challenge 172, page 124: Many do not believe the limits yet; so any proposed counter-example
or any additional paradox is worth a publication.
Challenge 175, page 129: If so, publish it; then send it to me.
Challenge 179, page 131: If so, publish it; then send it to me.
Challenge 181, page 134: They are accelerated upwards.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Challenge 182, page 134: In everyday life, (a) the surface of the Earth can be taken to be flat, (b)
the vertical curvature effects are negligible, and (c) the lateral length effects are negligible.
Challenge 186, page 135: For a powerful bus, the acceleration is 2 m/s2 ; in 100 m of acceleration,
this makes a relative frequency change of 2.2 ⋅ 10−15 .
Challenge 187, page 136: Yes, light absorption and emission are always lossless conversions of
energy into mass.
Challenge 190, page 137: For a beam of light, in both cases the situation is described by an en-
vironment in which masses ‘fall’ against the direction of motion. If the Earth and the train walls
were not visible – for example if they were hidden by mist – there would not be any way to de-
termine by experiment which situation is which. Or again, if an observer would be enclosed in a
challenge hints and solu tions 307

box, he could not distinguish between constant acceleration or constant gravity. (Important: this
impossibility only applies if the observer has negligible size!)
Challenge 194, page 138: Length is time times the speed of light. If time changes with height, so
do lengths.
Challenge 196, page 138: Both fall towards the centre of the Earth. Orbiting particles are also in
free fall; their relative distance changes as well, as explained in the text.
Challenge 199, page 141: Such a graph would need four or even 5 dimensions.
Challenge 200, page 141: The experiments about change of time with height can also be used in
this case.
Challenge 201, page 142: The energy due to the rotation can be neglected compared with all
other energies in the problem.
Challenge 211, page 148: Different nucleons, different nuclei, different atoms and different
molecules have different percentages of binding energies relative to the total mass.
Challenge 213, page 149: In free fall, the bottle and the water remain at rest with respect to each
other.
Challenge 214, page 150: Let the device fall. The elastic rubber then is strong enough to pull the

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

ball into the cup. See M. T. Westra, Einsteins verjaardagscadeau, Nederlands tijdschrift voor
natuurkunde 69, p. 109, April 2003. The original device also had a spring connected in series to
the rubber.
Challenge 215, page 150: Apart from the chairs and tables already mentioned, important anti-
gravity devices are suspenders, belts and plastic bags.
Challenge 217, page 150: The same amount.
Challenge 218, page 150: Yes, in gravity the higher twin ages more. The age difference changes
with height, and reaches zero for infinite height.
Challenge 219, page 150: The mass flow limit is c 3 /4G.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Challenge 220, page 150: No, the conveyer belt can be built into the train.
Challenge 221, page 150: They use a spring scale, and measure the oscillation time. From it they
deduce their mass. (NASA’s bureaucracy calls it a BMMD, a body mass measuring device.)
Challenge 222, page 150: The apple hits the wall after about half an hour.
Challenge 225, page 151: Approaches with curved light paths, or with varying speed of light do
not describe horizons properly.
Challenge 226, page 151: With ħ as smallest angular momentum one get about 100 Tm.
Challenge 227, page 151: No. The diffraction of the beams does not allow it. Also quantum the-
ory makes this impossible; bound states of massless particles, such as photons, are not stable.
Challenge 229, page 153: The orbital radius is 4.2 Earth radii; that makes c. 38 μs every day.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Challenge 230, page 153: To be honest, the experiments are not consistent. They assume that
some other property of nature is constant – such as atomic size – which in fact also depends on
G. More on this issue on page 282.
Challenge 231, page 153: Of course other spatial dimensions could exist which can be detected
only with the help of measurement apparatuses. For example, hidden dimensions could appear
at energies not accessible in everyday life.
Challenge 232, page 153: On this tiny effect, see the text by Ohanian, Ref. 104, on page 147.
Challenge 255, page 168: Since there is no negative mass, gravitoelectric fields cannot be neutral-
ized. In contrast, electric fields can be neutralized around a metallic conductor with a Faraday
cage.
 308 challenge hints and solu tions

Challenge 258, page 169: To find the answer, thinking about the electromagnetic analogy helps.
Challenge 268, page 177: One needs to measure the timing of pulses which cross the Earth at
different gravitational wave detectors on Earth.
Challenge 241, page 158: They did so during a solar eclipse.
Challenge 270, page 177: No. For the same reasons that such a electrostatic field is not possible.
Challenge 273, page 180: No, a line cannot have intrinsic curvature. A torus is indeed intrinsi-
cally curved; it cannot be cut open to yield a flat sheet of paper.
Challenge 294, page 189: The trace of the Einstein tensor is the negative of the Ricci scalar; it is
thus the negative of the trace of the Ricci tensor.
Challenge 298, page 191: The concept of energy makes no sense for the universe, as the concept
is only defined for physical systems, and thus not for the universe itself. See also page 247.
Challenge 305, page 197: Indeed, in general relativity gravitational energy cannot be localized
in space, in contrast to what one expects and requires from an interaction.
Challenge 320, page 202: The European Space Agency is exploring the issue. Join them!
Challenge 316, page 200: Errors in the south-pointing carriage are due to the geometric phase,

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

an effect that appears in any case of parallel transport in three dimensions. It is the same effect
that makes Foucault’s pendulum turn. Parallel transport is sometimes also called Fermi-Walker
Vol. III, page 130 transport. The geometric phase is explained in detail in the volume on optics.
Challenge 323, page 213: There is a good chance that some weak form of Sun jets exist; but a
detection will not be easy. (The question whether the Milky Way has jets was part of this text
since 2006; they have been discovered in 2010.)
Challenge 325, page 217: If you believe that the two amounts differ, you are prisoner of a belief,
namely the belief that your ideas of classical physics and general relativity allow you to extrapolate
these ideas into domains where they are not valid, such as behind a horizon. At every horizon,
quantum effects are so strong that they invalidate such classical extrapolations.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Challenge 326, page 217: A few millimetres.
Challenge 327, page 219: If we assume a diameter of 150 μm and a density of 1000 kg/m3 for
the flour particles, then there are about 566 million particles in one kg of flour. A typical galaxy
contains 1011 stars; that corresponds to 177 kg of flour.
Challenge 328, page 219: Speed is measured with the Doppler effect, usually by looking at the
Lyman-alpha line. Distance is much more difficult to explain. Measuring distances is a science
on its own, depending on whether one measures distances of stars in the galaxy, to other galaxies,
or to quasars. Any book on astronomy or astrophysics will tell more.
Challenge 331, page 227: The rabbit observes that all other rabbits seem to move away from him.
Challenge 338, page 232: Stand in a forest in winter, and try to see the horizon. If the forest is
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

very deep, you hit tree trunks in all directions. If the forest is finite in depth, you have chance to
see the horizon.
Challenge 329, page 219: See the challenge on page 227.
Challenge 355, page 248: The universe does not allow observation from outside. It thus has no
state properties.
Challenge 366, page 256: At the horizon, light cannot climb upwards.
Challenge 390, page 268: This happens in the same way that the static electric field comes out
of a charge. In both cases, the transverse fields do not get out, but the longitudinal fields do.
Quantum theory provides the deeper reason. Real radiation particles, which are responsible for
free, transverse fields, cannot leave a black hole because of the escape velocity. However, virtual
 challenge hints and solu tions 309

particles can, as their speed is not bound by the speed of light. All static, longitudinal fields are
produced by virtual particles. In addition, there is a second reason. Classical field can come out
of a black hole because for an outside observer everything that constitutes the black hole is con-
tinuously falling, and no constituent has actually crossed the horizon. The field sources thus are
not yet out of reach.
Challenge 394, page 269: The description says it all. A visual impression can be found in the
room on black holes in the ‘Deutsches Museum’ in Munich.
Challenge 396, page 269: On the one hand, black holes can occur through collapse of matter.
On the other hand, black holes can be seen as a curved horizon.
Challenge 398, page 270: So far, it seems that all experimental consequences from the analogy
match observations; it thus seems that we can claim that the night sky is a black hole horizon.
Nevertheless, the question is not settled, and some prominent physicists do not like the analogy.
The issue is also related to the question whether nature shows a symmetry between extremely
large and extremely small length scales. This topic is expanded in the last volume of the present
text.
Challenge 402, page 273: Any device that uses mirrors requires electrodynamics; without elec-
trodynamics, mirrors are impossible.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Challenge 404, page 277: The hollow Earth theory is correct if usual distances are consistently
changed according to rhe = REarth
2
/r. This implies a quantum of action that decreases towards the
centre of the hollow sphere. Then there is no way to prefer one description over the other, except
for reasons of simplicity.
Challenge 408, page 287: Mass is a measure of the amount of energy. The ‘square of mass’ makes
no sense.
Challenge 411, page 289: Probably the quantity with the biggest variation is mass, where a prefix
for 1 eV/c2 would be useful, as would be one for the total mass in the universe, which is about
1090 times larger.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Challenge 412, page 290: The formula with n − 1 is a better fit. Why?
Challenge 415, page 291: No! They are much too precise to make sense. They are only given as
an illustration for the behaviour of the Gaussian distribution. Real measurement distributions
are not Gaussian to the precision implied in these numbers.
Challenge 416, page 291: About 0.3 m/s. It is not 0.33 m/s, it is not 0.333 m/s and it is not any
longer strings of threes!
Challenge 419, page 298: No, only properties of parts of the universe are listed. The universe
Vol. VI, page 106 itself has no properties, as shown in the last volume.
Challenge 420, page 337: This could be solved with a trick similar to those used in the irrational-
ity of each of the two terms of the sum, but nobody has found one.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Challenge 421, page 337: There are still many discoveries to be made in modern mathematics,
especially in topology, number theory and algebraic geometry. Mathematics has a good future.
BI BLIO GR APHY

“
A man will turn over half a library to make one

”
book.
Samuel Johnson*

1 Aristotle, On sense and the sensible, section 1, part 1, 350 bce. Cited in Jean-
Paul D umont, Les écoles présocratiques, Folio Essais, Gallimard, p. 157, 1991. Cited on
page 16.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

2 The original Latin text of Descartes’ letter, dated 22 August 1634, can be read online on
gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k20740j/f419.image. Cited on page 17.
3 Anonyme, Demonstration touchant le mouvement de la lumière trouvé par M. Römer de
l’Academie Royale des Sciences, Journal des Scavans pp. 233–236, 1676. An English summary
is found in O. C. Rømer, A demonstration concerning the motion of light, Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society 136, pp. 893–894, 1677. You can read the two papers at
dbhs.wvusd.k12.ca.us/webdocs/Chem-History/Roemer-1677/Roemer-1677.html. Cited on
page 17.
4 F. Tuinstra, Rømer and the finite speed of light, Physics Today 57, pp. 16–17, December
2004. Cited on page 18.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

5 The history of the measurement of the speed of light can be found in chapter 19 of the text
by Francis A. Jenkins & Harvey E. White, Fundamentals of Optics, McGraw-Hill,
New York, 1957. Cited on page 18.
6 On the way to perform such measurements, see Sydney G. Brewer, Do-it-yourself As-
tronomy, Edinburgh University Press, 1988. Kepler himself never measured the distances of
planets to the Sun, but only ratios of planetary distances. The parallax of the Sun from two
points of the Earth is at most 8.79 󳰀󳰀 ; it was first measured in the eighteenth century. Cited
on page 19.
7 Aristarchus of Samos, On the sizes and the distances of the Sun and the Moon, c. 280
bce, in Michael J. Crowe, Theories of the World From Antiquity to the Copernican Rev-
olution, Dover, 1990. Cited on page 19.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

8 J. Frercks, Creativity and technology in experimentation: Fizeau’s terrestrial determina-

tion of the speed of light, Centaurus 42, pp. 249–287, 2000. See also the beautiful website
on reconstrutions of historical science experiments at www.uni-oldenburg.de/histodid/
forschung/nachbauten. Cited on page 20.
9 The way to make pictures of light pulses with an ordinary photographic camera, without
any electronics, is described by M. A. D uguay & A. T. Mat tick, Ultrahigh speed pho-
tography of picosecond light pulses and echoes, Applied Optics 10, pp. 2162–2170, 1971. The
picture on page 21 is taken from it. Cited on page 20.
* Samuel Johnson (1709–1784), famous English poet and intellectual.
biblio graphy 311

10 You can learn the basics of special relativity with the help of the web; the simplest
and clearest introduction is part of the Karlsruhe physics course, downloadable at www.
physikdidaktik.uni-karlsruhe.de. You can also use the physics.syr.edu/research/relativity/
RELATIVITY.html web page as a starting point; the page mentions many of the English-
language relativity resources available on the web. Links in other languages can be found
with search engines. Cited on page 21.
11 Among others, the independence of the speed of light from its frequency has been tested
with the radiation emitted by the famous Crab pulsar, with light emitted by electrons in
the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, and, most impressively, with a bright gamma ray
burst observed in 2009. In this gamma ray burst, after travelling for ten thousand million
years, photons of frequencies that differed by a factor 3 ⋅ 1010 – gamma rays and visible light
– still arrived within less than a second from each other. See A.A. Abd o & al., (Fermi
GBM/LAT collaborations) Testing Einstein’s special relativity with Fermi’s short hard gamma-
ray burst GRB090510, preprint at arxiv.org/abs/0908.1832. The method was already used by
B. E. S chaefer, Severe limits on variations of the speed of light with frequency, Physical
Review Letters 82, pp. 4964–4966, 1999, preprint at arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9810479. Cited
on page 22.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

12 See, e.g., C. Will, Theory and Experiment in Gravitational Physics, revised edition, Cam-
bridge University Press, 1993. See also Ref. 23. Cited on pages 22 and 27.
13 The discussions using binary stars are W. de Sit ter, A proof of the constancy of the speed
of light, Proceedings of the Section of the Sciences – Koninklijke Academie der Weten-
schappen 15, pp. 1297–1298, 1913, W. de Sit ter, On the constancy of the speed of light,
Proceedings of the Section of the Sciences – Koninklijke Academie der Wetenschappen
16, pp. 395–396, 1913, W. de Sit ter, Ein astronomischer Beweis für die Konstanz der
Lichtgeschwindigkeit, Physikalische Zeitschrift 14, p. 429, 1913, W. de Sit ter, Über die
Genauigkeit, innerhalb welcher die Unabhängigkeit der Lichtgeschwindigkeit von der Bewe-
gung der Quelle behauptet werden kann, Physikalische Zeitschrift 14, p. 1267, 1913, For a

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

more recent version, see K. Brecher, Is the speed of light independent of the velocity of the
source?, Physics Letters 39, pp. 1051–1054, Errata 1236, 1977. Cited on page 23.
14 Observations of gamma ray bursts show that the speed of light does not depend on the
lamp speed to within one part in 1020 , as shown by the well-known paper B. E. S chaefer,
Severe limits on variations of the speed of light with frequency, Physical Review Letters 82,
pp. 4964–4966, 1999, preprint at arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9810479. Measuring the light speed
from rapidly moving stars is another possible test; see the previous reference. Some of these
experiments are not completely watertight; a speculation about electrodynamics, due to
Ritz, maintains that the speed of light is c only when measured with respect to the source;
the light from stars, however, passes through the atmosphere, and its speed might thus be
reduced to c.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

The famous experiment with light emitted from rapid pions at CERN is not subject to this
criticism. It is described in T. Alväger, J. M. Bailey, F. J. M. Farley, J. Kjellman
& I. Wallin, Test of the second postulate of relativity in the GeV region, Physics Letters 12,
pp. 260–262, 1964. See also T. Alväger & al., Velocity of high-energy gamma rays, Arkiv
för Fysik 31, pp. 145–157, 1965.
Another precise experiment at extreme speeds is described by G. R. Kalbfleisch,
N. Bagget t, E. C. Fowler & J. Alspector, Experimental comparison of neutrino,
anti-neutrino, and muon velocities, Physical Review Letters 43, pp. 1361–1364, 1979. Cited
on page 23.
15 An overview of experimental results is given in Yuan Z hong Z hang, Special Relativity
312 biblio graphy

and its Experimental Foundations, World Scientific, 1998. Cited on pages 23, 31, 39, 50, 65,
305, and 315.
16 The beginning of the modern theory of relativity is the famous paper by Al-
bert Einstein, Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Körper, Annalen der Physik 17, pp. 891–
921, 1905. It still well worth reading, and every physicist should have done so. The same
can be said of the famous paper, probably written after he heard of Olinto De Pretto’s idea,
found in Albert Einstein, Ist die Trägheit eines Körpers von seinem Energieinhalt ab-
hängig?, Annalen der Physik 18, pp. 639–641, 1905. See also the review Albert Einstein,
Über das Relativitätsprinzip und die aus demselben gezogenen Folgerungen, Jahrbuch der
Radioaktivität und Elektronik 4, pp. 411–462, 1907. These papers are now available in
many languages. A later, unpublished review is available in facsimile and with an English
translation as Albert Einstein, Hanoch Gutfreund, ed., Einstein’s 1912 Manuscript on
the Theory of Relativity, George Braziller, 2004. Cited on pages 23, 26, and 73.
17 Jean van Bl adel, Relativity and Engineering, Springer, 1984. Cited on page 24.
18 Albert Einstein, Mein Weltbild, edited by Carl Selig, Ullstein Verlag, 1998. Cited
on page 25.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

19 Albrecht Fölsing, Albert Einstein – eine Biographie, Suhrkamp p. 237, 1993. Cited on
pages 26 and 41.
20 Einstein’s beautiful introduction, almost without formulae, is Albert Einstein, Über
die spezielle und allgemeine Relativitätstheorie, Vieweg, 1917 and 1997. For a text with all re-
quired mathematics, see Albert Einstein, The Meaning of Relativity, Methuen, 1921 and
1956. The posthumous edition also contains Einstein’s last printed words on the theory, in
the appendix. See also the German text Albert Einstein, Grundzüge der Relativitätsthe-
orie, Springer, 1921 expanded 1954, and republished 2002, which also contains the relevant
mathematics. Cited on page 26.
21 Julian S chwinger, Einstein’s Legacy, Scientific American, 1986. Edwin F. Taylor

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

& John A. Wheeler, Spacetime Physics – Introduction to Special Relativity, second edi-
tion, Freeman, 1992. See also Nick M. J. Wo odhouse, Special Relativity, Springer, 2003.
Cited on pages 26 and 84.
22 Wolf gang R indler, Relativity – Special, General and Cosmological, Oxford University
Press, 2001. A beautiful book by one of the masters of the field. Cited on pages 26 and 82.
23 R. J. Kennedy & E. M. Thorndike, Experimental establishment of the relativity of time,
Physical Review 42, pp. 400–418, 1932. See also H. E. Ives & G. R. Stilwell, An exper-
imental study of the rate of a moving atomic clock, Journal of the Optical Society of Amer-
ica 28, pp. 215–226, 1938, and 31, pp. 369–374, 1941. For a modern, high-precision versions,
see C. Braxmeier, H. Müller, O. Pradl, J. Mlynek, A. Peters & S. S chiller,
New tests of relativity using a cryogenic optical resonator, Physical Review Letters 88,
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

p. 010401, 2002. The newest result is in P. Antonini, M. Okhapkin, E. G öklü

& S. S chiller, Test of constancy of speed of light with rotating cryogenic optical res-
onators, Physical Review A 71, p. 050101, 2005, preprint at arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0504109, and
the subsequent arxiv.org/abs/physics/0510169. See also P. Antonini, M. Okhapkin,
E. G öklü & S. S chiller, Reply to “Comment on ‘Test of constancy of speed of light with
rotating cryogenic optical resonators’ ”, Physical Review A 72, p. 066102, 2005, preprint at
arxiv.org/abs/physics/0602115. Cited on pages 27 and 311.
24 The slowness of the speed of light inside the Sun is due to the frequent scattering of photons
by solar matter. The most serious estimate is by R. Mital as & K. R. Sills, On the photon
diffusion time scale for the Sun, The Astrophysical Journal 401, pp. 759–760, 1992, They give
biblio graphy 313

a photon escape time of 0.17 Ma, an average photon free mean path of 0.9 mm, an average
speed of 0.97 cm/s and a speed at the centre that is ten times smaller. Cited on page 27.
25 L. Vestergaard Hau, S. E. Harris, Z. D u t ton & C. H. Behro ozi, Light speed
reduction to 17 meters per second in an ultracold atomic gas, Nature 397, pp. 594–598, 1999.
See also C. L iu, Z. D u t ton, C. H. Behro ozi & L. Vestergaard Hau, Observa-
tion of coherent optical information storage in an atomic medium using halted light pulses,
Nature 409, pp. 490–493, 2001, and the comment E. A. Cornell, Stopping light in its track,
409, pp. 461–462, 2001. However, despite the claim, the light pulses have not been halted.
Cited on page 27.
26 The method of explaining special relativity by drawing a few lines on paper is due to Her-
mann B ondi, Relativity and Common Sense: A New Approach to Einstein, Dover, New
York, 1980. See also Dierck-Ekkehard L iebscher, Relativitätstheorie mit Zirkel und
Lineal, Akademie-Verlag Berlin, 1991. Cited on page 28.
27 S. R einhardt & al., Test of relativistic time dilation with fast optical clocks at different
velocities, Nature Physics 3, pp. 861–864, 2007. Cited on page 30.
28 Rod S. L akes, Experimental limits on the photon mass and cosmic vector potential, Physi-
cal Review Letters 80, pp. 1826–1829, 1998. A maximum photon mass of 10−47 kg was de-

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

duced from gamma ray bursts in the paper mentioned already above B. E. S chaefer,
Severe limits on variations of the speed of light with frequency, Physical Review Letters 82,
pp. 4964–4966, 1999, preprint at arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9810479. Cited on page 31.
29 F. Tuinstra, De lotgevallen van het dopplereffect, Nederlands tijdschrift voor natu-
urkunde 75, p. 296, August 2009. Cited on page 31.
30 R. W. McG owan & D. M. Giltner, New measurement of the relativistic Doppler shift in
neon, Physical Review Letters 70, pp. 251–254, 1993. Cited on page 33.
31 R. L ambourne, The Doppler effect in astronomy, Physics Education 32, pp. 34–40, 1997,

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Cited on page 35.
32 D. Kiefer & al., Relativistic electron mirrors from nanoscale foils for coherent frequency
upshift to the extreme ultraviolet, Nature Communications 4, p. 1763, 2013. The exploration
of relativistic charge systems promises interesting results and applications in the coming
decade. Cited on page 35.
33 The present record for clock synchronization seems to be 1 ps for two clocks distant 3 km
from each other. See A. Valencia, G. S carcelli & Y. Shih, Distant clock synchroniza-
tion using entangled photon pairs, Applied Physics Letters 85, pp. 2655–2657, 2004, or arxiv.
org/abs/quant-ph/0407204. Cited on page 35.
34 J. Frenkel & T. Kontorowa, Über die Theorie der plastischen Verformung, Physikali-
sche Zeitschrift der Sowietunion 13, p. 1, 1938. F. C. Frank, On the equations of motion of
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

crystal dislocations, Proceedings of the Physical Society A 62, pp. 131–134, 1949. J. Eshelby,
Uniformly moving dislocations, Proceedings of the Physical Society A 62, pp. 307–314, 1949.
See also G. L eibfried & H. Dietze, Zeitschrift für Physik 126, p. 790, 1949. A general
introduction can be found in A. Seeger & P. S chiller, Kinks in dislocation lines and
their effects in internal friction in crystals, Physical Acoustics 3A, W. P. Mason, ed., Aca-
demic Press, 1966. See also the textbooks by Frank R. N. Nabarro, Theory of Crystal
Dislocations, Oxford University Press, 1967, or J. P. Hirth & J. Lothe, Theory of Disloca-
tions, McGraw Hill, 1968. Cited on page 36.
35 This beautiful graph is taken from Z. G. T. Guiragossian, G. B. Rothbart,
M. R. Yearian, R. Gearhart & J. J. Murray, Relative velocity measurements of
314 biblio graphy

electrons and gamma rays at 15 GeV, Physical Review Letters 34, pp. 335–338, 1975. Cited
on page 36.
36 A provocative attempt to explain the lack of women in physics in general is made in Mar-
garet Wertheim, Pythagoras’ Trousers – God, Physics and the Gender Wars, Fourth Es-
tate, 1997. Cited on page 37.
37 To find out more about the best-known crackpots, and their ideas, send an email to
[email protected] with the one-line body ‘subscribe psychoceramics’. Cited on page
37.
38 The accuracy of Galilean mechanics was discussed by Simon Newcomb already in 1882. For
details, see Steven Weinberg, Gravitation and Cosmology, Wiley, 1972. Cited on page
37.
39 The speed of neutrinos is the same as that of light to 9 decimal digits. This is explained
by L eo Stod olsky, The speed of light and the speed of neutrinos, Physics Letters B 201,
p. 353, 1988. An observation of a small mass for the neutrino has been published by the
Japanese Super-Kamiokande collaboration, in Y. Fukuda & al., Evidence for oscillation of
atmospheric neutrinos, Physical Review Letters 81, pp. 1562–1567, 1998. The newer results
published by the Canadian Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, as Q.R. Ahmad & al., Direct

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

evidence for neutrino flavor transformation from neutral-current interactions in the Sudbury
Neutrino Observatory, Physical Review Letters 89, p. 011301, 2002, also confirm that neutri-
nos have a mass in the 1 eV region. Cited on pages 38 and 301.
40 B. Rothenstein & G. Eckstein, Lorentz transformations directly from the speed of
light, American Journal of Physics 63, p. 1150, 1995. See also the comment by E. Kapuścik,
Comment on “Lorentz transformations directly from the speed of light” by B. Rothenstein and
G. Eckstein, American Journal of Physics 65, p. 1210, 1997. Cited on page 39.
41 See e.g. the 1922 lectures by Lorentz at Caltech, published as H. A. Lorentz, Problems of
Modern Physics, edited by H. Bateman, Ginn and Company, page 99, 1927. Cited on page

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

39.
42 Max B orn, Die Relativitätstheorie Einsteins, Springer, 2003, a new, commented edition of
the original text of 1920. Cited on page 40.
43 A. A. Michelson & E. W. Morley, On the relative motion of the Earth and the luminif-
erous ether, American Journal of Science (3rd series) 34, pp. 333–345, 1887. Michelson pub-
lished many other papers on the topic after this one. Cited on page 40.
44 The newest result is Ch. Eisele, A. Yu. Nevsky & S. S chiller, Laboratory test of the
isotropy of light propagation at the 10−17 level, Physics Review Letters 103, p. 090401, 2009.
See also the older experiment at S. S chiller, P. Antonini & M. Okhapkin, A preci-
sion test of the isotropy of the speed of light using rotating cryogenic cavities, arxiv.org/abs/
physics/0510169. See also the institute page at www.exphy.uni-duesseldorf.de/ResearchInst/
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

WelcomeFP.html. Cited on page 40.

45 H. A. Lorentz, De relative beweging van de aarde en dem aether, Amst. Versl. 1, p. 74,
1892, and also H. A. Lorentz, Electromagnetic phenomena in a system moving with any
velocity smaller than that of light, Amst. Proc. 6, p. 809, 1904, or Amst. Versl. 12, p. 986, 1904.
Cited on page 43.
46 A general refutation of such proposals is discussed by S. R. Mainwaring &
G. E. Stedman, Accelerated clock principles, Physical Review A 47, pp. 3611–3619, 1993.
Experiments on muons at CERN in 1968 showed that accelerations of up to 1020 m/s2 have
no effect, as explained by D. H. Perkins, Introduction to High Energy Physics, Addison-
Wesley, 1972, or by J. Bailey & al., Il Nuovo Cimento 9A, p. 369, 1972. Cited on page
biblio graphy 315

44.
47 W. R indler, General relativity before special relativity: an unconventional overview of rel-
ativity theory, American Journal of Physics 62, pp. 887–893, 1994. Cited on page 44.
48 Steven K. Bl au, Would a topology change allow Ms. Bright to travel backward in time?,
American Journal of Physics 66, pp. 179–185, 1998. Cited on page 47.
49 On the ‘proper’ formulation of relativity, see for example D. Hestenes, Proper particle
mechanics, Journal of Mathematical Physics 15, pp. 1768–1777, 1974. See also his numerous
other papers, his book David Hestenes, Spacetime Algebra, Gordon and Breach, 1966,
and his webpage modelingnts.la.asu.edu. A related approach is W. E. Baylis, Relativity in
introductory physics, preprint at arxiv.org/abs/physics/0406158. Cited on page 48.
50 The simple experiment to take a precise clock on a plane, fly it around the world and
then compare it with an identical one left in place was first performed by J. C. Hafele
& R. E. Keating, Around-the-world atomic clocks: predicted relativistic time gains, Sci-
ence 177, pp. 166–167, and Around-the-world atomic clocks: observed relativistic time gains,
pp. 168–170, 14 July 1972. See also Ref. 15. Cited on pages 48 and 137.
51 A readable introduction to the change of time with observers, and to relativity in gen-

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

eral, is Roman U. Sexl & Herbert Kurt S chmidt, Raum-Zeit-Relativität, 2. Au-
flage, Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig, 1991. Cited on page 48.
52 Most famous is the result that moving muons stay younger, as shown for example by
D. H. Frisch & J. B. Smith, Measurement of the relativistic time dilation using μ-mesons,
American Journal of Physics 31, pp. 342–355, 1963. For a full pedagogical treatment of
the twin paradox, see E. Sheld on, Relativistic twins or sextuplets?, European Journal of
Physics 24, pp. 91–99, 2003. Cited on page 48.
53 Paul J. Nahin, Time Machines – Time Travel in Physics, Metaphysics and Science Fiction,
Springer Verlag and AIP Press, second edition, 1999. Cited on page 49.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

54 The first muon experiment was B. Rossi & D. B. Hall, Variation of the rate of decay of
mesotrons with momentum, Physical Review 59, pp. 223–228, 1941. ‘Mesotron’ was the old
name for muon. Cited on page 49.
55 J. Bailey & al., Final report on the CERN muon storage ring including the anomalous
magnetic moment and the electric dipole moment of the muon, and a direct test of relativistic
time dilation, Nuclear Physics B 150, pp. 1–75, 1979. Cited on page 50.
56 Search for ‘fuel’ and ‘relativistic rocket’ on the internet. Cited on page 51.
57 A. Harvey & E. S chucking, A small puzzle from 1905, Physics Today, pp. 34–36,
March 2005. Cited on page 50.
58 W. R indler, Length contraction paradox, American Journal of Physics 29, pp. 365–366,
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

1961. For a variation without gravity, see R. Shaw, Length contraction paradox, American
Journal of Physics 30, p. 72, 1962. Cited on page 52.
59 H. van L intel & C. Gruber, The rod and hole paradox re-examined, European Journal
of Physics 26, pp. 19–23, 2005. Cited on page 52.
60 See the clear discussion by C. Iyer & G. M. Prabhu, Differing observations on the land-
ing of the rod into the slot, American Journal of Physics 74, pp. 998–1001, 2006, preprint at
arxiv.org/abs/0809.1740. Cited on page 52.
61 This situation is discussed by G. P. Sastry, Is length contraction paradoxical?, American
Journal of Physics 55, 1987, pp. 943–946. This paper also contains an extensive literature list
covering variants of length contraction paradoxes. Cited on page 52.
316 biblio graphy

62 S. P. B oughn, The case of the identically accelerated twins, American Journal of Physics
57, pp. 791–793, 1989. Cited on pages 53 and 57.
63 J. M. Supplee, Relativistic buoyancy, American Journal of Physics 57 1, pp. 75–77, January
1989. See also G. E. A. Matsas, Relativistic Arquimedes law for fast moving bodies and the
general-relativistic resolution of the ‘submarine paradox’, Physical Review D 68, p. 027701,
2003, or arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0305106. Cited on page 53.
64 The distinction was first published by J. Terrell, Invisibility of Lorentz contraction, Phys-
ical Review 116, pp. 1041–1045, 1959, and R. Penrose, The apparent shape of a relativis-
tically moving sphere, Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 55, pp. 137–139,
1959. Cited on page 54.
65 G. R. Rybicki, Speed limit on walking, American Journal of Physics 59, pp. 368–369, 1991.
Cited on page 57.
66 The first examples of such astronomical observations were provided by A.R. Whitney &
al., Quasars revisited: rapid time variations observed via very-long-baseline interferometry,
Science 173, pp. 225–230, 1971, and by M.H. Cohen & al., The small-scale structure of ra-
dio galaxies and quasi-stellar sources at 3.8 centimetres, Astrophysical Journal 170, pp. 207–
217, 1971. See also T. J. Pearson, S. C. Unwin, M. H. Cohen, R. P. L infield,

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

A. C. S. R eadhead, G. A. Seielstad, R. S. Simon & R. C. Walker, Superlumi-
nal expansion of quasar 3C 273, Nature 290, pp. 365–368, 1981. An overview is given in
J. A. Z ensus & T. J. Pearson, editors, Superluminal radio sources, Cambridge Univer-
sity Press, 1987. Another measurement, using very long baseline interferometry with radio
waves on jets emitted from a binary star (thus not a quasar), was shown on the cover of
Nature: I. F. Mirabel & L. F. Rodríguez, A superluminal source in the galaxy, Nature
371, pp. 46–48, 1994. A more recent example was reported in Science News 152, p. 357, 6
December 1997.
Pedagogical explanations are given by D. C. Gabuzda, The use of quasars in teaching
introductory special relativity, American Journal of Physics 55, pp. 214–215, 1987, and by

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Ref. 110 on pages 89-92. Cited on page 59.
67 O. M. Bil aniuk & E. C. Sudarshan, Particles beyond the light barrier, Physics
Today 22, pp. 43–51, 1969, and O. M. P. Bil aniuk, V. K. Deshpande &
E. C. G. Sudarshan, ‘Meta’ relativity, American Journal of Physics 30, pp. 718–723,
1962. See also E. R ecami, editor, Tachyons, Monopoles and Related Topics, North-Holland,
Amsterdam, 1978. Cited on page 60.
68 J. P. Costell a, B. H. J. McKell ar, A. A. R awlinson & G. J. Stephenson, The
Thomas rotation, American Journal of Physics 69, pp. 837–847, 2001. Cited on page 61.
69 Planck wrote this in a letter in 1908. Cited on page 62.
70 See for example S. S. Costa & G. E. A. Matsas, Temperature and relativity, preprint
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

available at arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/9505045. Cited on page 62.

71 R. C. Tolman & G. N. L ewis, The principle of relativity and non-Newtonian mechanics,
Philosophical Magazine 18, pp. 510–523, 1909, and R. C. Tolman, Non-Newtonian me-
chanics: the mass of a moving body, Philosophical Magazine 23, pp. 375–380, 1912. Cited on
page 63.
72 S. R ainville, J. K. Thompson, E. G. Myers, J. M. Brown, M. S. Dewey,
E. G. Kessler, R. D. Desl at tes, H. G. B örner, M. Jentschel, P. Mu t ti &
D. E. Pritchard, World year of physics: a direct test of E = mc 2 , Nature 438, pp. 1096–
1097, 2005. Cited on page 69.
73 This information is due to a private communication by Frank DiFilippo; part of the story
biblio graphy 317

is given in F. DiFilippo, V. Natarajan, K. R. B oyce & D. E. Pritchard, Accurate

atomic masses for fundamental metrology, Physical Review Letters 73, pp. 1481–1484, 1994.
These measurements were performed with Penning traps; a review of the possibilities they
offer is given by R. C. Thompson, Precision measurement aspects of ion traps, Measure-
ment Science and Technology 1, pp. 93–105, 1990. The most important experimenters in
the field of single particle levitation were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1989. One of the No-
bel Prize lectures can be found in W. Paul, Electromagnetic traps for neutral and charged
particles, Reviews of Modern Physics 62, pp. 531–540, 1990. Cited on page 69.
74 J. L. Synge, Relativity: The Special Theory, North-Holland, 1956, pp. 208–213. More about
antiparticles in special relativity can be found in J. P. Costell a, B. H. J. McKell ar &
A. A. R awlinson, Classical antiparticles, American Journal of Physics 65, pp. 835–841,
1997. See also Ref. 92. Cited on page 71.
75 A. Papapetrou, Drehimpuls- und Schwerpunktsatz in der relativistischen Mechanik, Prak-
tika Acad. Athenes 14, p. 540, 1939, and A. Papapetrou, Drehimpuls- und Schwer-
punktsatz in der Diracschen Theorie, Praktika Acad. Athenes 15, p. 404, 1940. See also
M. H. L. Pryce, The mass-centre in the restricted theory of relativity and its connexion with
the quantum theory of elementary particles, Proceedings of the Royal Society in London, A

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

195, pp. 62–81, 1948. Cited on page 72.
76 Umberto Barto cci, Albert Einstein e Olinto De Pretto: la vera storia della formula più
famosa del mondo, Ultreja, 1998. Cited on page 73.
77 The references preceding Einstein’s E = c 2 m are: S. Tolver Preston, Physics of the
Ether, E. & F.N. Spon, 1875, J. H. Poincaré, La théorie de Lorentz et le principe de
réaction, Archives néerlandaises des sciences exactes et naturelles 5, pp. 252–278, 1900,
O. De Pret to, Ipotesi dell’etere nella vita dell’universo, Reale Istituto Veneto di Scienze,
Lettere ed Arti tomo LXIII, parte 2, pp. 439–500, Febbraio 1904, F. Hasenöhrl, Berichte
der Wiener Akademie 113, p. 1039, 1904, F. Hasenöhrl, Zur Theorie der Strahlung in be-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

wegten Körpern, Annalen der Physik 15, pp. 344–370, 1904, F. Hasenöhrl, Zur Theorie
der Strahlung in bewegten Körpern – Berichtigung, Annalen der Physik 16, pp. 589–592, 1905.
Hasenöhrl died in 1915, De Pretto in 1921. All these papers were published before the fam-
ous paper by Albert Einstein, Ist die Trägheit eines Körpers von seinem Energieinhalt
abhängig?, Annalen der Physik 18, pp. 639–641, 1905. Cited on page 73.
78 For a clear overview of the various sign conventions in general relativity, see the front cover
of the text by Misner, Thorne and Wheeler, Ref. 87. We use the gravitational sign conven-
tions of the text by Ohanian and Ruffini, Ref. 104. Cited on page 76.
79 A jewel among the textbooks on special relativity is the booklet by Ulrich E. S chröder,
Spezielle Relativitätstheorie, Verlag Harri Deutsch, 1981. Cited on pages 77 and 80.
80 G. Stephenson & C. W. Kilmister, Special Relativity for Physicists, Longmans, Lon-
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

don, 1965. See also W. N. Mat thews, Relativistic velocity and acceleration transforma-
tions from thought experiments, American Journal of Physics 73, pp. 45–51, 2005, and the
subsequent J. M. L év y, A simple derivation of teh Lorentz transformation and of the ac-
companying velocity and acceleration changes, American Journal of Physics 75, pp. 615–618,
2007. Cited on page 78.
81 A readable article showing a photocopy of a letter by Einstein making this point is
L ev B. Okun, The concept of mass, Physics Today, pp. 31–36, June 1989. The topic is not
without controversy, as the letters by readers following that article show; they are found in
Physics Today, pp. 13–14 and pp. 115–117, May 1990. The topic is still a source of debates.
Cited on page 80.
318 biblio graphy

82 Christian Møller, The Theory of Relativity, Clarendon Press, 1952, 1972. This standard
textbook has been translated in several languages. Cited on page 80.
83 The famous no-interaction theorem states that there is no way to find a Lagrangian that only
depends on particle variables, is Lorentz invariant and contains particle interactions. It was
shown by D. G. Currie, T. F. Jordan & E. C. G. Sudarshan, Relativistic invariance
and Hamiltonian theories of interacting particles, Review of Modern Physics 35, pp. 350–375,
1963. Cited on page 81.
84 P. Ehrenfest, Gleichförmige Rotation starrer Körper und Relativitätstheorie, Physikalis-
che Zeitschrift 10, pp. 918–928, 1909. Ehrenfest (incorrectly) suggested that this meant
that relativity cannot be correct. A good modern summary of the issue can be found in
M. L. Ruggiero, The relative space: space measurements on a rotating platform, arxiv.org/
abs/gr-qc/0309020. Cited on page 82.
85 R. J. Low, When moving clocks run fast, European Journal of Physics 16, pp. 228–229, 1995.
Cited on pages 88 and 89.
86 E. A. Deslo ge & R. J. Philpot t, Uniformly accelerated reference frames in special rela-
tivity, American Journal of Physics 55, pp. 252–261, 1987. Cited on pages 90 and 91.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

87 The impossibility of defining rigid coordinate frames for non-uniformly accelerating ob-
servers is discussed by Charles Misner, Kip Thorne & John A. Wheeler, Gravi-
tation, Freeman, p. 168, 1973. Cited on pages 91 and 317.
88 R. H. G o od, Uniformly accelerated reference frame and twin paradox, American Journal
of Physics 50, pp. 232–238, 1982. Cited on pages 92 and 96.
89 J. D. Hamilton, The uniformly accelerated reference frame, American Journal of Physics
46, pp. 83–89, 1978. Cited on page 92.
90 The best and cheapest mathematical formula collection remains the one by K. Rot tmann,
Mathematische Formelsammlung, BI Hochschultaschenbücher, 1960. Cited on page 92.
91 C. G. Adler & R. W. Brehme, Relativistic solutions to a falling body in a uniform gravi-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

tation field, American Journal of Physics 59, pp. 209–213, 1991. Cited on page 93.
92 See for example the excellent lecture notes by D. J. R aymond, A radically modern ap-
proach to freshman physics, on the www.physics.nmt.edu/~raymond/teaching.html website.
Cited on pages 93 and 317.
93 Edward A. Deslo ge, The gravitational red-shift in a uniform field, American Journal of
Physics 58, pp. 856–858, 1990. Cited on page 96.
94 L. Mishra, The relativistic acceleration addition theorem, Classical and Quantum Gravity
11, pp. L97–L102, 1994. Cited on page 97.
95 One of the latest of these debatable experiments is T. P. Krisher, L. Maleki,
G. F. Lu tes, L. E. Primas, R. T. Lo gan, J. D. Anderson & C. M. Will, Test of
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

the isotropy of the one-way speed of light using hydrogen-maser frequency standards, Physi-
cal Review D 42, pp. 731–734, 1990. Cited on pages 99 and 305.
96 H. C. Ohanian, The role of dynamics in the synchronization problem, American Journal
of Physics 72, pp. 141–148, 2004. Cited on pages 99 and 305.
97 Edwin F. Taylor & A. P. French, Limitation on proper length in special relativity,
American Journal of Physics 51, pp. 889–893, 1983. Cited on page 99.
98 Clear statements against a varying speed of light are made by Michael Duff in several of
his publications. See, for example, M. J. D uff, Comment on time-variation of fundamental
constants, arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0208093. An opposite point of view has been proposed by
Moffat and by Magueijo. Cited on page 101.
 biblio graphy 319

99 The quote is form a letter of Gibbs to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, in which
he thanks the Academy for their prize. The letter was read in a session of the Academy and
thus became part of the proceedings: J. W. Gibbs, Proceedings of the American Academy
of Arts and Sciences, 16, p. 420, 1881. Cited on page 105.
100 It seems that the first published statement of the principle was in the year 2000 edition of
this text, in the chapter on gravitation and relativity. The present author discovered the max-
imum force principle in 1998, when searching for a way to derive the results of the last part
Vol. VI, page 53 of this adventure that would be so simple that it would convince even a secondary-school
student. The reference is Christoph S chiller, Motion Mountain – The Adventure of
Physics, found at www.motionmountain.net. The idea of a maximum force was also pro-
posed by Gary Gibbons in 2002 (see reference below). Nowadays Gary Gibbons is more
cautious than me about whether the maximum force can be seen as an actual physical prin-
ciple (despite the title of his paper). The approach of a maximum force was discussed in var-
ious usenet discussion groups in the early twenty-first century. These discussion showed
that the idea of a maximum force (and a maximum power) were known to some people,
but that before Gibbons and me only few had put it in writing. Also this physics discovery
was thus made much too late. In short, only the idea to raise maximum force or power to

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

a principle seems to be original; it was published first in the reference following this one
and then in C. S chiller, General relativity and cosmology derived from principle of max-
imum power or force, International Journal of Theoretical Physics 44, pp. 1629–1647, 2005,
preprint at arxiv.org/abs/physics/0607090. Cited on page 105.
101 G. W. Gibbons, The maximum tension principle in general relativity, Foundations of
Physics 32, pp. 1891–1901, 2002, or arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0210109. Gary Gibbons explains
that the maximum force follows from general relativity; he does not make a statement
about the converse. See also R. Beig, G. W. Gibbons & R. M. S choen, Gravitating op-
posites attract, Classical and Quantum Gravity 26, p. 225013, 2009, preprint at arxiv.org/
abs/09071103, and L. Kostro & B. L ange, Is c 4 /G the greatest possible force in nature?,

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Physics Essays 12, pp. 182–189, 1999. See also C. Massa, Does the gravitational constant
increase?, Astrophysics and Space Science 232, pp. 143–148, 1995. Cited on pages 105, 115,
and 145.
102 See the fundamental paper by A. DiSessa, Momentum flow as an alternative perspective
in elementary mechanics, 48, p. 365, 1980, and A. DiSessa, Erratum: “Momentum flow
as an alternative perspective in elementary mechanics” [Am. J. Phys. 48, 365 (1980)], 48,
p. 784, 1980. Also the excellent physics textbook by Friedrich Herrmann, The Karl-
sruhe Physics Course, makes this point extensively; it is free to download in English, Span-
ish, Russian, Italian and Chinese at www.physikdidaktik.uni-karlsruhe.de/index_en.html.
Cited on page 107.
103 C. S chiller, Maximum force and minimum distance: physics in limit statements, preprint
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

at arxiv.org/abs/physics/0309118; it is also part of the sixth volume of this text, which is

freely downloadable at www.motionmountain.net. Cited on pages 107, 110, 120, and 129.
104 H. C. Ohanian & R emo Ruffini, Gravitation and Spacetime, W.W. Norton & Co., 1994.
Another textbook that talks about the power limit is Ian R. Kenyon, General Relativity,
Oxford University Press, 1990. The maximum power is also discussed in L. Kostro, The
quantity c 5 /G interpreted as the greatest possible power in nature, Physics Essays 13, pp. 143–
154, 2000. Cited on pages 109, 119, 121, 123, 127, 128, 307, 317, and 327.
105 An overview of the literature on analog model of general relativity can be found on Matt
Visser’s website www.physics.wustl.edu/~visser/Analog/bibliography.html. Cited on page
109.
320 biblio graphy

106 See for example Wolf gang R indler, Relativity – Special, General and Cosmological, Ox-
ford University Press, 2001, p. 70 ff, or R ay d’Inverno, Introducing Einstein’s Relativity,
Clarendon Press, 1992, p. 36 ff. Cited on page 111.
107 See for example A. Ashtekar, S. Fairhust & B. Krishnan, Isolated horizons: Hamil-
tonian evolution and the first law, arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0005083. Cited on page 111.
108 T. Jacobson, Thermodynamics of spacetime: the Einstein equation of state, Physical Review
Letters 75, pp. 1260–1263, 1995 or arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/9504004. Cited on pages 112 and 113.
109 See for example Ekkehart Kröner, Kontinuumstheorie der Versetzungen und
Eigenspannungen, Springer, 1958, volume 5 of the series ‘Ergebnisse der angewandten
Mathematik’. Kröner shows the similarity between the equations, methods and results of
solid-state continuum physics and those of general relativity, including the Ricci formalism.
Cited on pages 116 and 202.
110 See the excellent book Edwin F. Taylor & John A. Wheeler, Spacetime Physics – In-
troduction to Special Relativity, second edition, Freeman, 1992. Cited on pages 116 and 316.
111 This counter-example was suggested by Steve Carlip. Cited on page 119.
112 E. R. Caianiello, Lettere al Nuovo Cimento 41, p. 370, 1984. Cited on page 120.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

113 A notable exception is the physics teching group in Karlsruhe, who has always taught
force in the correct way. See F. Herrmann, Mengenartige Größen im Physikunterricht,
Physikalische Blätter 54, pp. 830–832, September 1998. See also the lecture notes on general
introductory physics on the website www.physikdidaktik.uni-karlsruhe.de/skripten. Cited
on page 125.
114 R. Penrose, Naked singularities, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 224,
pp. 125–134, 1973. Cited on page 127.
115 G. Huisken & T. Ilmanen, The Riemannian Penrose inequality, International Mathe-
matics Research Notices 59, pp. 1045–1058, 1997. S. A. Hay ward, Inequalities relating
area, energy, surface gravity and charge of black holes, Physical Review Letters 81, pp. 4557–

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

4559, 1998. Cited on page 127.
116 C. Will, Was Einstein Right? – Putting General Relativity to the Test, Oxford University
Press, 1993. See also his paper arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/9811036. Cited on page 127.
117 The measurement results by the WMAP satellite are summarized on the website map.
gsfc.nasa.gov/m_mm.html; the papers are available at lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/product/map/
current/map_bibliography.cfm. Cited on page 129.
118 The simplest historical source is Albert Einstein, Sitzungsberichte der Preussischen
Akademie der Wissenschaften II pp. 844–846, 1915. It is the first explanation of the general
theory of relativity, in only three pages. The theory is then explained in detail in the famous
article Albert Einstein, Die Grundlage der allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie, Annalen der
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Physik 49, pp. 769–822, 1916. The historic references can be found in German and English
in John Stachel, ed., The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volumes 1–9, Princeton
University Press, 1987–2004.
Below is a selection of English-language textbooks for deeper study, in ascending order
of depth and difficulty:

— An entertaining book without any formulae, but nevertheless accurate and detailed, is
the paperback by Igor Novikov, Black Holes and the Universe, Cambridge University
Press, 1990.
— Almost no formulae, but loads of insight, are found in the enthusiastic text by
John A. Wheeler, A Journey into Gravity and Spacetime, W.H. Freeman, 1990.
biblio graphy 321

— An excellent presentation is Edwin F. Taylor & John A. Wheeler, Exploring

Black Holes: Introduction to General Relativity, Addison Wesley Longman, 2000.
— Beauty, simplicity and shortness are the characteristics of Malcolm Ludvigsen,
General Relativity, a Geometric Approach, Cambridge University Press, 1999.
— Good explanation is the strength of Bernard S chu tz, Gravity From the Ground Up,
Cambridge University Press, 2003.
— A good overview of experiments and theory is given in James Foster &
J. D. Nightingale, A Short Course in General Relativity, Springer Verlag, 2nd
edition, 1998.
— A pretty text is Sam L illey, Discovering Relativity for Yourself, Cambridge University
Press, 1981.
— A modern text is by R ay d’Inverno, Introducing Einstein’s Relativity, Clarendon
Press, 1992. It includes an extended description of black holes and gravitational radi-
ation, and regularly refers to present research.
— A beautiful, informative and highly recommended text is H. C. Ohanian &
R emo Ruffini, Gravitation and Spacetime, W.W. Norton & Co., 1994.
— A well written and modern book, with emphasis on the theory, by one of the great mas-
ters of the field is Wolf gang R indler, Relativity – Special, General and Cosmologi-

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

cal, Oxford University Press, 2001.
— A classic is Steven Weinberg, Gravitation and Cosmology, Wiley, 1972.
— The passion of general relativity can be experienced also in John Kl auder, ed., Magic
without Magic: John Archibald Wheeler – A Collection of Essays in Honour of His Sixtieth
Birthday, W.H. Freeman & Co., 1972.
— An extensive text is Kip S. Thorne, Black Holes and Time Warps – Einstein’s Outra-
geous Legacy, W.W. Norton, 1994.
— The most mathematical – and toughest – text is Robert M. Wald, General Relativity,
University of Chicago Press, 1984.
— Much information about general relativity is available on the internet. As a good starting

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

point for US-American material, see the math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/ website.

There is still a need for a large and modern textbook on general relativity, with colour ma-
terial, that combines experimental and theoretical aspects. For texts in other languages, see
the next reference. Cited on pages 133, 158, 159, 195, and 196.
119 A beautiful German teaching text is the classic G. Falk & W. Ruppel, Mechanik, Rela-
tivität, Gravitation – ein Lehrbuch, Springer Verlag, third edition, 1983.
A practical and elegant booklet is Ulrich E. S chröder, Gravitation – Einführung
in die allgemeine Relativitätstheorie, Verlag Harri Deutsch, Frankfurt am Main, 2001.
A modern reference is Torsten Fliessbach, Allgemeine Relativitätstheorie,
Akademischer Spektrum Verlag, 1998.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Excellent is Hubert G oenner, Einführung in die spezielle und allgemeine Relativität-

stheorie, Akademischer Spektrum Verlag, 1996.
In Italian, there is the beautiful, informative, but expensive H. C. Ohanian &
R emo Ruffini, Gravitazione e spazio-tempo, Zanichelli, 1997. It is highly recommended.
A modern update of that book would be without equals. Cited on pages 133, 158, 159, 174,
175, 196, and 325.
120 P. Mohazzabi & J. H. Shea, High altitude free fall, American Journal of Physics 64,
pp. 1242–1246, 1996. As a note, due to a technical failure Kittinger had his hand in (near) vac-
uum during his ascent, without incurring any permanent damage. On the consequences of
human exposure to vacuum, see the www.sff.net/people/geoffrey.landis/vacuum.html web-
322 biblio graphy

site. Cited on page 134.

121 This story is told by W. G. Unruh, Time, gravity, and quantum mechanics, preprint avail-
able at arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/9312027. Cited on page 134.
122 H. B ondi, Gravitation, European Journal of Physics 14, pp. 1–6, 1993. Cited on page 135.
123 J. W. Brault, Princeton University Ph.D. thesis, 1962. See also J. L. Snider, Physical Re-
view Letters 28, pp. 853–856, 1972, and for the star Sirius see J.L. Greenstein & al.,
Astrophysical Journal 169, p. 563, 1971. Cited on pages 137 and 280.
124 See the detailed text by Jeffrey Crelinsten, Einstein’s Jury – The Race to Test Relativity,
Princeton University Press, 2006, which covers all researchers involved in the years from
1905 to 1930. Cited on page 137.
125 The famous paper is R. V. Pound & G. A. R ebka, Apparent weight of photons, Phys-
ical Review Letters 4, pp. 337–341, 1960. A higher-precision version was published by
R. V. Pound & J. L. Snider, Physical Review Letters 13, p. 539, 1964, and R. V. Pound
& J. L. Snider, Physical Review B 140, p. 788, 1965. Cited on pages 137 and 280.
126 R.F.C. Vessot & al., Test of relativistic gravitation with a space-borne hydrogen maser,
Physical Review Letters 45, pp. 2081–2084, 1980. The experiment was performed in 1976;

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

there are more than a dozen co-authors involved in this work, which involved shooting a
maser into space with a scout missile to a height of c. 10 000 km. Cited on page 137.
127 L. Briatore & S. L eschiu t ta, Evidence for Earth gravitational shift by direct atomic-
time-scale comparison, Il Nuovo Cimento 37B, pp. 219–231, 1977. Cited on page 137.
128 More information about tides can be found in E. P. Cl ancy, The Tides, Doubleday, New
York, 1969. Cited on page 139.
129 The expeditions had gone to two small islands, namely to Sobral, north of Brazil, and to
Principe, in the gulf of Guinea. The results of the expedition appeared in The Times be-
fore they appeared in a scientific journal. Today this would be called unprofessional. The
results were published as F. W. Dyson, A. S. Eddington & C. Davidson, Philosoph-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

ical Transactions of the Royal Society (London) 220A, p. 291, 1920, and Memoirs of the
Royal Astronomical Society 62, p. 291, 1920. Cited on page 140.
130 D. Kennefick, Testing relativity from the 1919 eclipse – a question of bias, Physics Today
pp. 37–42, March 2009. This excellent article discusses the measurement errors in great
detail. The urban legend that the star shiftswere so small on the negatives that they implied
large measurement errors is wrong – it might be due to a lack of respect on the part of some
physicists for the abilities of astronomers. The 1979 reanalysis of the measurement confirm
that such small shifts, smaller than the star image diameter, are reliably measurable. In fact,
the 1979 reanalysis of the data produced a smaller error bar than the 1919 analysis. Cited
on page 140.
131 A good source for images of space-time is the text by G. F. R. Ellis & R. Williams, Flat
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

and Curved Space-times, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1988. Cited on page 141.
132 J. Droste, Het veld van een enkel centrum in Einstein’s theorie der zwaartekracht, en de
beweging van een stoffelijk punt, Verslag gew. Vergad. Wiss. Amsterdam 25, pp. 163–180,
1916. Cited on page 142.
133 The name black hole was introduced in 1967 at a pulsar conference, as described in his
autobiography by John A. Wheeler, Geons, Black Holes, and Quantum Foam: A Life
in Physics, W.W. Norton, 1998, pp. 296–297: ‘In my talk, I argued that we should consider
the possibility that at the center of a pulsar is a gravitationally completely collapsed object.
I remarked that one couldn’t keep saying “gravitationally completely collapsed object”
over and over. One needed a shorter descriptive phrase. “How about black hole?” asked
biblio graphy 323

someone in the audience. I had been searching for just the right term for months, mulling
it over in bed, in the bathtub, in my car, whenever I had quiet moments. Suddenly, this
name seemed exactly right. When I gave a more formal ... lecture ... a few weeks later on,
on December 29, 1967, I used the term, and then included it into the written version of
the lecture published in the spring of 1968 ... I decided to be casual about the term “black
hole”, dropping it into the lecture and the written version as if it were an old familiar friend.
Would it catch on? Indeed it did. By now every schoolchild has heard the term.’
The widespread use of the term began with the article by R. Ruffini &
J. A. Wheeler, Introducing the black hole, Physics Today 24, pp. 30–41, January 1971.
In his autobiography, Wheeler also writes that the expression ‘black hole has no hair’
was criticized as ‘obscene’ by Feynman. This is a bizarre comment, given that Feynman
used to write his papers in topless bars. Cited on pages 143, 253, 254, and 260.
134 L. B. Kreuzer, Experimental measurement of the equivalence of active and passive gravita-
tional mass, Physical Review 169, pp. 1007–1012, 1968. With a clever experiment, he showed
that the gravitational masses of fluorine and of bromine are equal. Cited on page 143.
135 A good and accessible book on the topic is David Bl air & Geoff McNamara, Ripples
on a cosmic sea, Allen & Unwin, 1997. Cited on page 143.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

136 That bodies fall along geodesics, independently of their mass, the so-called weak equiva-
lence principle, has been checked by many experiments, down to the 10−13 level. The most
precise experiments use so-called torsion balances. See, for example, the website of the Eőt-
Wash group at www.npl.washington.edu/eotwash/experiments/experiments.html. Cited on
page 147.
137 So far, the experiments confirm that electrostatic and (strong) nuclear energy fall like mat-
ter to within one part in 108 , and weak (nuclear) energy to within a few per cent. This is
summarized in Ref. 141. Cited on page 148.
138 J. S oldner, Berliner Astronomisches Jahrbuch auf das Jahr 1804, 1801, p. 161. Cited on
page 148.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

139 See for example K. D. Olum, Superluminal travel requires negative energies, Physical Re-
view Letters 81, pp. 3567–3570, 1998, or M. Alcubierre, The warp drive: hyper-fast travel
within general relativity, Classical and Quantum Gravity 11, pp. L73–L77, 1994. See also
Chris Van Den Broeck, A warp drive with more reasonable total energy requirements,
Classical and Quantum Gravity 16, pp. 3973–3979, 1999. Cited on page 151.
140 See the Astronomical Almanac, and its Explanatory Supplement, H.M. Printing Office, Lon-
don and U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, 1992. For the information about
various time coordinates used in the world, such as barycentric coordinate time, the time
at the barycentre of the solar system, see also the tycho.usno.navy.mil/systime.html web
page. It also contains a good bibliography. Cited on page 152.
141 An overview is given in C. Will, Theory and Experiment in Gravitational Physics, chapter
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

14.3, Cambridge University Press, revised edition, 1993. (Despite being a standard reference,
his view the role of tides and the role of gravitational energy within the principle of equiv-
alence has been criticised by other researchers.) See also C. Will, Was Einstein Right? –
Putting General Relativity to the Test, Oxford University Press, 1993. See also his paper arxiv.
org/abs/gr-qc/9811036. Cited on pages 152, 158, and 323.
142 The calculation omits several smaller effects, such as rotation of the Earth and red-shift.
For the main effect, see Edwin F. Taylor, ‘The boundaries of nature: special and general
relativity and quantum mechanics, a second course in physics’ – Edwin F. Taylor’s acceptance
speech for the 1998 Oersted Medal presented by the American Association of Physics Teachers,
6 January 1998, American Journal of Physics 66, pp. 369–376, 1998. Cited on page 153.
324 biblio graphy

143 A. G. L indh, Did Popper solve Hume’s problem?, Nature 366, pp. 105–106, 11 November
1993, Cited on page 153.
144 P. Kaaret, S. Piraino, P. F. Bloser, E. C. Ford, J. E. Grindl ay, A. Santangelo,
A. P. Smale & W. Z hang, Strong Field Gravity and X-Ray Observations of 4U1820-30,
Astrophysical Journal 520, pp. L37–L40, 1999, or at arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9905236. The
beautiful graphics at the research.physics.uiuc.edu/CTA/movies/spm website illustrate this
star system. Cited on page 153.
145 R. J. Nemiroff, Visual distortions near a black hole and a neutron star, American Journal
of Physics 61, pp. 619–632, 1993. Cited on page 153.
146 The equality was first tested with precision by R. von Eöt vös, Annalen der Physik &
Chemie 59, p. 354, 1896, and by R. von Eöt vös, V. Pekár, E. Fekete, Beiträge
zum Gesetz der Proportionalität von Trägheit und Gravität, Annalen der Physik 4, Leipzig
68, pp. 11–66, 1922. Eötvös found agreement to 5 parts in 109 . More experiments were per-
formed by P. G. Roll, R. Krotkow & R. H. Dicke, The equivalence of inertial and pas-
sive gravitational mass, Annals of Physics (NY) 26, pp. 442–517, 1964, one of the most inter-
esting and entertaining research articles in experimental physics, and by V. B. Braginsky
& V. I. Panov, Soviet Physics – JETP 34, pp. 463–466, 1971. Modern results, with errors

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

less than one part in 1012 , are by Y. Su & al., New tests of the universality of free fall, Physical
Review D50, pp. 3614–3636, 1994. Several future experiments have been proposed to test
the equality in space to less than one part in 1016 . Cited on pages 154 and 280.
147 Nigel Calder, Einstein’s Universe, Viking, 1979. Weizmann and Einstein once crossed
the Atlantic on the same ship. Cited on page 156.
148 The Thirring effect was predicted in H. Thirring, Über die Wirkung rotierender ferner
Massen in der Einsteinschen Gravitationstheorie, Physikalische Zeitschrift 19, pp. 33–39,
1918, and in H. Thirring, Berichtigung zu meiner Arbeit: “Über die Wirkung rotierender
Massen in der Einsteinschen Gravitationstheorie”, Physikalische Zeitschrift 22, p. 29, 1921.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

The Thirring–Lense effect was predicted in J. L ense & H. Thirring, Über den Einfluß
der Eigenrotation der Zentralkörper auf die Bewegung der Planeten und Monde nach der
Einsteinschen Gravitationstheorie, Physikalische Zeitschrift 19, pp. 156–163, 1918. See also
Ref. 171. Cited on page 164.
149 The work is based on the LAGEOS and LAGEOS II satellites and is told in I. Ciufolini,
The 1995–99 measurements of the Thirring–Lense effect using laser-ranged satellites, Classical
and Quantum Gravity 17, pp. 2369–2380, 2000. See also I. Ciufolini & E. C. Pavlis,
A confirmation of the general relativistic prediction of the Lense–Thirring effect, Nature 431,
pp. 958–960, 2004. See, however, the next reference. Cited on pages 165 and 280.
150 See the interesting, detailed and disturbing discussion by L. Iorio, On some critical issues
of the LAGEOS-based tests of the Lense–Thirring effect, Journal of Modern Physics 2, pp. 210–
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

218, 2011, preprint available at arxiv.org/abs/1104.4464. Cited on pages 165 and 280.
151 On the Gravity Probe B satellite experiment, see the web page einstein.stanford.edu/
highlights/status1.html and the papers cited there. Cited on page 165.
152 The detection of the Thirring–Lense effect in binary pulsars is presented in
R. D. Bl andford, Lense–Thirring precession of radio pulsars, Journal of Astrophysics
and Astronomy 16, pp. 191–206, 1995. Cited on page 165.
153 G. Holzmüller, Zeitschrift für Mathematik und Physik 15, p. 69, 1870, F. Tisserand,
Comptes Rendus 75, p. 760, 1872, and Comptes Rendus 110, p. 313, 1890. Cited on page
166.
biblio graphy 325

154 B. Mashho on, Gravitoelectromagnetism: a brief review, arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0311030, and

B. Mashho on, Gravitoelectromagnetism, arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0011014. See also its exten-
sive reference list on gravitomagnetism. Cited on page 166.
155 A. Tartaglia & M. L. Ruggiero, Gravito-electromagnetism versus electromagnetism,
European Journal of Physics 25, pp. 203–210, 2004. Cited on page 166.
156 D. Bedford & P. Krumm, On relativistic gravitation, American Journal of Physics 53,
pp. 889–890, 1985, and P. Krumm & D. Bedford, The gravitational Poynting vector and
energy transfer, American Journal of Physics 55, pp. 362–363, 1987. Cited on pages 167
and 174.
157 M. Kramer & al., Tests of general relativity from timing the double pulsar, preprint at arxiv.
org/abs/astro-ph/0609417. Cited on pages 169 and 280.
158 This is told in John A. Wheeler, A Journey into Gravity and Spacetime, W.H. Freeman,
1990. Cited on page 169.
159 See, for example, K. T. McD onald, Answer to question #49. Why c for gravita-
tional waves?, American Journal of Physics 65, pp. 591–592, 1997, and section III of
V. B. Braginsky, C. M. Caves & K. S. Thorne, Laboratory experiments to test rela-
tivistic gravity, Physical Review D 15, pp. 2047–2068, 1992. Cited on page 171.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

160 A proposal to measure the speed of gravity is by S. M. Kopeikin, Testing the relativistic ef-
fect of the propagation of gravity by Very Long Baseline Interferometry, Astrophysical Journal
556, pp. L1–L5, 2001, and the experimental data is E. B. Formalont & S. M. Kopeikin,
The measurement of the light deflection from Jupiter: experimental results, Astrophysical
Journal 598, pp. 704–711, 2003. See also S. M. Kopeikin, The post-Newtonian treatment
of the VLBI experiment on September 8, 2002, Physics Letters A 312, pp. 147–157, 2003,
or arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0212121. Several arguments against the claim were published, such
as C. M. Will, Propagation speed of gravity and the relativistic time delay, arxiv.org/abs/
astro-ph/0301145, and S. Samuel, On the speed of gravity and the 󰑣/c corrections to the
Shapiro time delay, arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0304006. The discussion went on, as shown in

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

S. M. Kopeikin & E. B. Formalont, Aberration and the fundamental speed of gravity
in the Jovian deflection experiment, Foundations of Physics 36, pp. 1244–1285, 2006, preprint
at arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0311063. Both sides claim to be right: the experiment claims to de-
duce the speed of gravity from the lack of a tangential component of the light deflection by
the gravity of Jupiter, and the critical side claims that the speed of gravity does not enter in
this measurement. If we compare the situation with analogous systems in transparent flu-
ids or solids, which also show no tangential deflection component, we conclude that neither
the measurement nor the proposal allow us to deduce information on the speed of gravity.
A similar conclusion, but based on other arguments, is found on physics.wustl.edu/cmw/
SpeedofGravity.html. Cited on pages 172 and 177.
161 For an introduction to gravitational waves, see B. F. S chu tz, Gravitational waves on the
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

back of an envelope, American Journal of Physics 52, pp. 412–419, 1984. Cited on page 172.
162 The quadrupole formula is explained clearly in the text by Goenner. See Ref. 119. Cited on
page 174.
163 The beautiful summary by Daniel Kleppner, The gem of general relativity, Physics To-
day 46, pp. 9–11, April 1993, appeared half a year before the authors of the cited work, Joseph
Taylor and Russel Hulse, received the Nobel Prize for the discovery of millisecond pulsars.
A more detailed review article is J. H. Taylor, Pulsar timing and relativistic gravity, Philo-
sophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London A 341, pp. 117–134, 1992. The original
paper is J. H. Taylor & J. M. Weisberg, Further experimental tests of relativistic grav-
ity using the binary pulsar PSR 1913+16, Astrophysical Journal 345, pp. 434–450, 1989. See
326 biblio graphy

also J. M. Weisberg, J. H. Taylor & L. A. Fowler, Pulsar PSR 1913+16 sendet Grav-
itationswellen, Spektrum der Wissenschaft, pp. 53–61, December 1981. Cited on page 175.
164 D. R. Lorimer, Binary and millisecond pulsars, in www.livingreviews.org/lrr-2005-7, and
J. M. Weisberg & J. H. Taylor, The relativistic binary pulsar B1913+16: thirty years of
observations and analysis, pp. 25–31, in F. A. R asio & I. H. Stairs, editors, Binary Radio
Pulsars, Proceedings of a meeting held at the Aspen Center for Physics, USA, 12 Janaury -
16 January 2004, volume 328 of ASP Conference Series, Astronomical Society of the Pacific,
2005. Cited on page 175.
165 W. B. B onnor & M. S. Piper, The gravitational wave rocket, Classical and Quantum
Gravity 14, pp. 2895–2904, 1997, or arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/9702005. Cited on page 177.
166 L. L erner, A simple calculation of the deflection of light in a Schwarzschild gravitational
field, American Journal of Physics 65, pp. 1194–1196, 1997. Cited on page 157.
167 A. Einstein, Über den Einfluß der Schwerkraft auf die Ausbreitung des Lichtes, Annalen
der Physik 35, p. 898, 1911. Cited on page 158.
168 I. I. Shapiro, & al., Fourth test of general relativity, Physical Review Letters 13, pp. 789–
792, 1964. Cited on page 159.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

169 I. I. Shapiro, & al., Fourth test of general relativity: preliminary results, Physical Review
Letters 20, pp. 1265–1269, 1968. Cited on page 159.
170 J. H. Taylor, Pulsar timing and relativistic gravity, Proceedings of the Royal Society, Lon-
don A 341, pp. 117–134, 1992. Cited on pages 159 and 161.
171 W. de Sit ter, On Einstein’s theory of gravitation and its astronomical consequences,
Monthly Notes of the Royal Astrononmical Society 77, pp. 155–184, p. 418E, 1916. For a dis-
cussion of De Sitter precession and Thirring–Lense precession, see also B. R. Holstein,
Gyroscope precession in general relativity, American Journal of Physics 69, pp. 1248–1256,
2001. Cited on page 324.
172 B. Bertot ti, I. Ciufolini & P. L. Bender, New test of general relativity: measurement

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

of De Sitter geodetic precession rate for lunar perigee, Physical Review Letters 58, pp. 1062–
1065, 1987. Later it was confirmed by I.I. Shapiro & al., Measurement of the De Sitter
precession of the moon: a relativistic three body effect, Physical Review Letters 61, pp. 2643–
2646, 1988. Cited on pages 162 and 280.
173 Wolf gang R indler, Essential Relativity, Springer, revised second edition, 1977. Cited
on page 180.
174 This is told (without the riddle solution) on p. 67, in Wolf gang Pauli, Relativitätstheo-
rie, Springer Verlag, Berlin, 2000, the edited reprint of a famous text originally published
in 1921. The reference is H. Vermeil, Notiz über das mittlere Krümmungsmaß einer n-fach
ausgedehnten Riemannschen Mannigfalktigkeit, Göttinger Nachrichten, mathematische–
physikalische Klasse p. 334, 1917. Cited on page 181.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

175 M. Santander, L. M. Nieto & N. A. Cordero, A curvature based derivation of the

Schwarzschild metric, American Journal of Physics 65, pp. 1200–1209, 1997. Cited on pages
184 and 187.
176 Michael H. S offel, Relativity in Astronomy, Celestial Mechanics and Geodesy, Springer
Verlag, 1989. Cited on page 185.
177 R ichard P. Feynman, Fernand o B. Morinigo, William G. Wagner &
Brian Hatfield, Feynman Lectures on Gravitation, Westview Press, 1995. Cited on
page 186.
178 J. C. Baez & E. F. Bunn, The meaning of Einstein’s equation, American Journal of Physics
73, pp. 644–652, 2005. Cited on page 188.
biblio graphy 327

179 Y. Wang & M. Tegmark, New dark energy constraints from supernovae, microwave back-
ground and galaxy clustering, Physical Review Letters 92, p. 241302, 2004, or arxiv.org/
astro-ph/0403292. Cited on page 192.
180 Arguments for the emptiness of general covariance are given by John D. Norton, Gen-
eral covariance and the foundations of general relativity, Reports on Progress in Physics 56,
pp. 791–858, 1993. The opposite point, including the discussion of ‘absolute elements’, is
made in the book by J. L. Anderson, Principles of Relativity Physics, chapter 4, Academic
Press, 1967. Cited on page 192.
181 For a good introduction to mathematical physics, see the famous three-women text in
two volumes by Yvonne Cho quet-Bruhat, Cecile DeWit t-Morette & Mar-
garet Dill ard-Bleick, Analysis, Manifolds, and Physics, North-Holland, 1996 and
2001. The first edition of this classic appeared in 1977. Cited on page 194.
182 C. G. Torre & I. M. Anderson, Symmetries of the Einstein equations, Physical Review
Letters 70, pp. 3525–3529, 1993, or arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/9302033. Cited on page 195.
183 H. Nicol ai, Gravitational billiards, dualities and hidden symmetries, arxiv.org//abs/gr-qc/
0506031. Cited on page 196.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

184 See for example R.A. Knop & al., New constraints on ΩM , ΩΛ , and 󰑤 from an independent
set of eleven high-redshift supernovae observed with HST, Astrophysical Journal 598, pp. 102–
137, 2003. Cited on page 196.
185 The original paper is R. Arnowit t, S. Deser & C. Misner, Coordinate invariance and
energy expressions in general relativity, Physical Review 122, pp. 997–1006, 1961. Cited on
page 196.
186 See for example H. L. Bray, Black holes, geometric flows, and the Penrose inequality in gen-
eral relativity, Notices of the AMS 49, pp. 1372–1381, 2002. Cited on page 196.
187 See for example the paper by K. Dalton, Gravity, geometry and equivalence, preprint to
be found at arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/9601004, and L. L andau & E. L if shitz, The Classical

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Theory of Fields, Pergamon, 4th edition, 1975, p. 241. Cited on page 197.
188 A recent overview on the experimental tests of the universality of free fall is that by
R. J. Hughes, The equivalence principle, Contemporary Physics 4, pp. 177–191, 1993. Cited
on page 199.
189 The equivalence of the various definitions of the Riemann tensor is explained in most texts
on general relativity; see Ref. 104. Cited on page 200.
190 K. Tangen, Can the Pioneer anomaly have a gravitational origin?, arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/
0602089. Cited on page 201.
191 H. Dit tus & C. L ämmerzahl, Die Pioneer-Anomalie, Physik Journal 5, pp. 25–31, Jan-
uary 2006. Cited on page 201.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

192 Black hole analogues appear in acoustics, fluids and several other fields. This is an ongo-
ing research topic. See, for example, M. Novello, S. Perez Bergliaffa, J. Salim,
V. De Lorenci & R. Klippert, Analog black holes in flowing dielectrics, preprint
at arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0201061, T. G. Philbin, C. Kuklewicz, S. Robertson,
S. Hill, F. Konig & U. L eonhardt, Fiber-optical analog of the event horizon, Sci-
ence 319, pp. 1367–1379, 2008, O. L ahav, A. Itah, A. Blumkin, C. G ord on &
J. Steinhauer, A sonic black hole in a density-inverted Bose–Einstein condensate, arxiv.
org/abs/0906.1337. Cited on page 202.
193 This famous quote is the first sentence of the final chapter, the ‘Beschluß’, of Im-
manuel Kant, Kritik der praktischen Vernunft, 1797. Cited on page 204.
328 biblio graphy

194 About the myths around the stars and the constellations, see the text by G. Fasching,
Sternbilder und ihre Mythen, Springer Verlag, 1993. On the internet there are also the beau-
tiful www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/ and www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/sow.
html websites. Cited on page 204.
195 A. Mellinger, A color all-sky panorama of the Milky Way, preprint at arxiv.org/abs/0908.
4360. Cited on page 205.
196 Dirk Lorenzen, Geheimnivolles Universum – Europas Astronomen entschleiern das
Weltall, Kosmos, 2002. See also the beautiful website of the European Southern Observa-
tory at www.eso.org. Cited on page 207.
197 Aetius, Opinions, III, I, 6. See Jean-Paul D umont, Les écoles présocratiques, Folio Es-
sais, Gallimard, 1991, p. 445. Cited on page 204.
198 P. Jetzer, Gravitational microlensing, Naturwissenschaften 86, pp. 201–211, 1999. Measure-
ments using orbital speeds around the Galaxy gives agree with this value. Cited on pages
207 and 214.
199 A beautiful introduction to modern astronomy was Paolo Maffei, I mostri del cielo,
Mondadori Editore, 1976. Cited on page 213.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

200 See for example A. N. Cox, ed., Allen’s Astrophysical Quantities, AIP Press and Springer
Verlag, 2000. An overview of optical observations is given by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
at skyserver.sdss.org. More details about the universe can be found in the beautiful text
by W. J. Kaufmann & R. A. Fredman, Universe, fifth edition, W.H. Freeman & Co.,
1999. The most recent discoveries are best followed on the sci.esa.int and hubble.nasa.gov
websites. Cited on page 213.
201 D. R. Lorimer, A. J. Faulkner, A. G. Lyne, R. N. Manchester, M. Kramer,
M. A. McL aughlin, G. Hobbs, A. Possenti, I. H. Stairs, F. Camilo,
M. Burgay, N. D’Amico, A. Corongiu & F. Crawford, The Parkes multibeam
pulsar survey: VI. Discovery and timing of 142 pulsars and a Galactic population analysis,

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society preprint at arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/
0607640. Cited on page 214.
202 D. Figer, An upper limit to the masses of stars, Nature 434, pp. 192–194, 2005. Cited on
page 215.
203 G. Basri, The discovery of brown dwarfs, Scientific American 282, pp. 77–83, April 2001.
Cited on page 215.
204 See the well-written paper by P. M. Wo ods & C. Thompson, Soft gamma repeaters and
anomalous X-ray pulsars: magnetar candidates, preprint at arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0406133.
Cited on page 215.
205 B. M. Gaensler, N. M. McClure-Griffiths, M. S. Oey, M. Haverkorn,
J. M. Dickey & A. J. Green, A stellar wind bubble coincident with the anomalous X-ray
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

pulsar 1E 1048.1-5937: are magnetars formed from massive progenitors?, The Astrophysical
Journal (Letters) 620, pp. L95–L98, 2005, or arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0501563. Cited on page
215.
206 Opposition to the cosmological principle is rare, as experimental data generally supports
it. Local deviations are discussed by various cosmologists; the issue is still open. See, for
example, D. Wiltshire, Gravitational energy and cosmic acceleration, preprint at arxiv.
org/abs/0712.3982, and D. Wiltshire, Dark energy without dark energy, preprint at arxiv.
org/abs/0712.3984. Cited on page 219.
207 C. Wirtz, Scientia 38, p. 303, 1925, and K. Lundmark, The motions and the distances of
the spiral nebulae, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 85, pp. 865–894, 1925.
biblio graphy 329

See also G. Stromberg, Analysis of radial velocities of globular clusters and non-galactic
nebulae, Astrophysical Journal 61, pp. 353–362, 1925. Cited on page 219.
208 G. Gamow, The origin of the elements and the separation of galaxies, Physical Review 74,
p. 505, 1948. Cited on page 220.
209 A. G. D oroshkevich, & I. D. Novikov, Dokl. Akad. Nauk. SSSR 154, p. 809, 1964. It
appeared translated into English a few months later. The story of the prediction was told by
Penzias in his Nobel lecture. Cited on page 221.
210 Arno A. Penzias & Robert W. Wilson, A measurement of excess antenna tempera-
ture at 4080 Mcs, Astrophysical Journal 142, pp. 419–421, 1965. Cited on page 221.
211 See for example, D. Prialnik, An Introduction to the Theory of Stellar Structure and Evolu-
tion, Cambridge University Press, 2000. Cited on page 222.
212 Star masses are explored in D. Figier, An upper limit to the masses of stars, Nature 434,
pp. 192–194, 2005. Cited on page 223.
213 Macrobius, Somnium Scipionis, XIV, 19. See Jean-Paul D umont, Les écoles présocra-
tiques, Folio Essais, Gallimard, 1991, p. 61. Cited on page 223.
214 On the remote history of the universe, see the excellent texts by G. B örner, The Early Uni-

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

verse – Facts & Fiction, Springer Verlag, 3rd edition, 1993, or Barry Parker, Creation –
The Story of the Origin and the Evolution of the Universe, Plenum Press, 1988. For an excel-
lent popular text, see M. Longair, Our Evolving Universe, Cambridge University Press,
1996. Cited on page 224.
215 The first oxygen seems to have appeared in the atmosphere, produced by microorganisms,
2.32 thousand million years ago. See A. Becker & al., Dating the rise of atmospheric oxy-
gen, Nature 427, pp. 117–120, 2003. Cited on page 225.
216 Gabriele Walker, Snowball Earth – The Story of the Great Global Catastrophe That
Spawned Life as We Know It, Crown Publishing, 2003. Cited on page 225.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

217 K. Knie, Spuren einer Sternexplosion, Physik in unserer Zeit 36, p. 8, 2005. The first
step of this connection is found in K. Knie, G. Korschinek, T. Faestermann,
E. A. D orfi, G. Rugel & A. Wallner, 60 Fe anomaly in a deep-sea manganese crust
and implications for a nearby supernova source, Physics Review Letters 93, p. 171103, 2004,
the second step in N. D. Marsh & H. Svensmark, Low cloud properties influenced
by cosmic rays, Physics Review Letters 85, pp. 5004–5007, 2000, and the third step in
P. B. de Meno cal, Plio-Pleistocene African climate, Science 270, pp. 53–59, 1995. Cited
on page 226.
218 A. Friedman, Über die Krümmung des Raumes, Zeitschrift für Physik 10, pp. 377–386,
1922, and A. Friedmann, Über die Möglichkeit einer Welt mit konstanter negativer Krüm-
mung des Raumes, Zeitschrift für Physik 21, pp. 326–332, 1924. (In the Latin transliteration,
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

the author aquired a second ‘n’ in his second paper.) Cited on page 227.
219 H. Knu tsen, Darkness at night, European Journal of Physics 18, pp. 295–302, 1997. Cited
on pages 232 and 233.
220 See for example P.D. Peşić, Brightness at night, American Journal of Physics 66, pp. 1013–
1015, 1998. Cited on pages 233 and 234.
221 Paul Wesson, Olbers’ paradox and the spectral intensity of extra-galactic background light,
Astrophysical Journal 367, p. 399, 1991. Cited on page 233.
222 Steven Weinberg, Gravitation and Cosmology, John Wiley, 1972. An excellent book
written with a strong personal touch and stressing most of all the relation with experimen-
tal data. It does not develop a strong feeling for space-time curvature, and does not address
330 biblio graphy

the basic problems of space and time in general relativity. Excellent for learning how to ac-
tually calculate things, but less for the aims of our mountain ascent. Cited on pages 234
and 272.
223 Supernova searches are being performed by many research groups at the largest optical
and X-ray telescopes. A famous example is the Supernova Cosmology project described at
supernova.lbl.gov. Cited on page 235.
224 The experiments are discussed in detail in the excellent review by D. Giulini &
N. Straumann, Das Rätsel der kosmischen Vakuumenergiedichte und die beschleu-
nigte Expansion des Universums, Physikalische Blätter 556, pp. 41–48, 2000. See also
N. Straumann, The mystery of the cosmic vacuum energy density and the accelerated
expansion of the universe, European Journal of Physics 20, pp. 419–427, 1999. Cited on
pages 235 and 281.
225 A. Harvey & E. S chucking, Einstein’s mistake and the cosmological contant, American
Journal of Physics 68, pp. 723–727, 2000. Cited on page 236.
226 The author of the bible explains rain in this way, as can be deduced from its very first page,
Genesis 1: 6-7. Cited on page 237.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

227 Up to his death, Fred Hoyle defended his belief that the universe is static; see
G. Burbid ge, F. Hoyle & J. V. Narlikar, A different approach to cosmology, Physics
Today 52, pp. 38–44, 1999. This team has also written a book with the same title, published
in 2000 by Cambridge University Press. Cited on pages 237 and 238.
228 Stephen W. Hawking & G. F. R. Ellis, The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time, Cam-
bridge University Press, Cambridge, 1973. Among other things, this reference text discusses
the singularities of space-time, and their necessity in the history of the universe. Cited on
pages 238, 274, and 333.
229 Augustine, Confessions, 398, writes in Book XI: ‘My answer to those who ask ‘What was
god doing before he made Heaven and Earth?’ is not ‘He was preparing Hell for people who

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

pry into mysteries’. This frivolous retort has been made before now, so we are told, in order
to evade the point of the question. But it is one thing to make fun of the questioner and
another to find the answer. So I shall refrain from giving this reply. [...] Before God made
heaven and earth, he did not make anything at all. [...] But if before Heaven and Earth there
was no time, why is it demanded what you [god] did then? For there was no “then” when
there was no time.’ (Book XI, chapter 12 and 13). Cited on page 239.
230 Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time – From the Big Bang to Black Holes, 1988.
Reading this bestseller is almost a must for any physicist, as it is a frequent topic at dinner
parties. Cited on page 239.
231 Star details are explained in many texts on stellar structure and evolution. See for example
Rud olf Kippenhahn & Alfred Weigert, Stellar Structure and Evolution, Springer,
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

1990. Cited on page 242.

232 J. Pelt, R. Kayser, S. R ef sdal & T. S chramm, The light curve and the time delay of
QSO 0957+561, Astronomy and Astrophysics 305, p. 97, 1996. Cited on page 243.
233 F. Zwicky, Nebulae as gravitational lenses, Physical Review Letters 51, p. 290, and
F. Zwicky, On the probability to detect nebulae which act as gravitational lenses, p. 679,
1937. The negative view by Einstein is found in A. Einstein, Lens-like action of a star by
the deviatioin of light in the gravitational field, Science 84, pp. 506–507, 1936. A review on
gravitational lensing can even be found online, in the paper by J. Wambsganss, Gravita-
tional lensing in astronomy, Living Reviews in Relativity 1-12, pp. 1–80, 1998, to be found
on the www.livingreviews.org/Articles/Volume1/1998-12wamb website.
biblio graphy 331

There is also the book by P. S chneider, J. Ehlers & E. E. Falco, Gravitational

Lenses, Springer Verlag, Berlin, 1992. Cited on page 243.
234 M. L achièze-R ey & J. -P. Luminet, Cosmic topology, Physics Reports 254, pp. 135–
214, 1995. See also B. F. Roukema, The topology of the universe, arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/
0010185 preprint. Cited on page 245.
235 Thanks to Steve Carlip for clarifying this point. Cited on page 246.
236 G. F. R. Ellis & T. Rothman, Lost horizons, American Journal of Physics 61, pp. 883–
893, 1993. Cited on page 246.
237 A. Gu th, Die Geburt des Kosmos aus dem Nichts – Die Theorie des inflationären Univer-
sums, Droemer Knaur, 1999. Cited on page 247.
238 Entropy values for the universe have been discussed by Ilya Prigo gine, Is Future
Given?, World Scientific, 2003. This was his last book. For a different approach, see
G. A. Mena Marugán & S. Carneiro, Holography and the large number hypothesis,
arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0111034. This paper also repeats the often heard statement that the uni-
verse has an entropy that is much smaller than the theoretical maximum. The maximum is
often estimated to be in the range of 10100 k to 10120 k. Other authors give 1084 k. In 1974,

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Roger Penrose also made statements about the entropy of the universe. However, it is more
correct to state that the entropy of the universe is not a useful quantity, because the universe
is not a physical system. Cited on page 248.
239 C. L. Bennet, M. S. Turner & M. White, The cosmic rosetta stone, Physics Today 50,
pp. 32–38, November 1997. The cosmic background radiation differs from black hole radia-
tion by less than 0.005 %. Cited on page 249.
240 The lack of expansion in the solar system is explained in detail in E. F. Bunn &
D. W. Ho gg, The kinematic origin of the cosmological redshift, American Journal of
Physics 77, pp. 688–694, 2009. Cited on page 249.
241 A pretty article explaining how one can make experiments to find out how the hu-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

man body senses rotation even when blindfolded and earphoned is described by M. -
L. Mit telstaedt & H. Mit telstaedt, The effect of centrifugal force on the percep-
tion of rotation about a vertical axis, Naturwissenschaften 84, pp. 366–369, 1997. Cited on
page 250.
242 No dependence of inertial mass on the distribution of surrounding mass has ever been
found in experiments. See, for example, R. H. Dicke, Experimental tests of Mach’s prin-
ciple, 7, pp. 359–360, 1961. Cited on page 250.
243 The present status is given in the conference proceedings by Julian Barbour &
Herbert Pfister, eds., Mach’s Principle: From Newton’s Bucket to Quantum Gravity,
Birkhäuser, 1995. Various formulations of Mach’s principle – in fact, 21 different ones – are
compared on page 530.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

In a related development, in 1953, Dennis Sciama published a paper in which he ar-

gues that inertia of a particle is due to the gravitational attraction of all other matter
in the universe. The paper is widely quoted, but makes no new statements on the issue.
See D. W. S ciama, On the origin of inertia, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical
Society 113, pp. 34–42, 1953. Cited on page 250.
244 Information on the rotation of the universe is given in A. Ko gu t, G. Hinshaw &
A. J. Banday, Limits to global rotation and shear from the COBE DMR four-year sky maps,
Physical Review D 55, pp. 1901–1905, 1997. Earlier information is found in J. D. Barrow,
R. Juszkiewicz & D. H. S onoda, Universal rotation: how large can it be?, Monthly No-
tices of the Royal Astronomical Society 213, pp. 917–943, 1985. See also J. D. Barrow,
332 biblio graphy

R. Juszkiewicz & D. H. S onoda, Structure of the cosmic microwave background, Na-

ture 309, pp. 397–402, 1983, or E. F. Bunn, P. G. Fereira & J. Silk, How anisotropic is
the universe?, Physical Review Letters 77, pp. 2883–2886, 1996. Cited on page 251.
245 The issue has been discussed within linearized gravity by R ichard Tolman, in his text-
book Relativity, Thermodynamics, and Cosmology, Clarendon Press, 1934, on pp. 272–290.
The exact problem has been solved by A. Peres, Null electromagnetic fields in gen-
eral relativity theory, Physical Review 118, pp. 1105–1110, 1960, and by W. B. B onnor,
The gravitational field of light, Commun. Math. Phys. 13, pp. 163–174, 1969. See also
N. V. Mitskievic & K. K. Kumaradt ya, The gravitational field of a spinning pencil
of light, Journal of Mathematical Physics 30, pp. 1095–1099, 1989, and P. C. Aichelburg
& R. U. Sexl, On the gravitational field of a spinning particle, General Relativity and Grav-
itation 2, pp. 303–312, 1971. Cited on page 251.
246 See the delightful popular account by Igor Novikov, Black Holes and the Universe,
Cambridge University Press, 1990. The consequences of light decay were studied by
M. Bronstein, Die Ausdehnung des Weltalls, Physikalische Zeitschrift der Sowjetunion
3, pp. 73–82, 1933. Cited on pages 252 and 258.
247 C. L. Carilli, K. M. Menten, J. T. Sto cke, E. Perlman, R. Vermeulen,

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

F. Briggs, A. G. de Bruyn, J. Conway & C. P. Mo ore, Astronomical constraints
on the cosmic evolution of the fine structure constant and possible quantum dimensions,
Physical Review Letters 85, pp. 5511–5514, 25 December 2000. Cited on page 252.
248 The observations of black holes at the centre of galaxies and elsewhere are summarised by
R. Bl andford & N. Gehrels, Revisiting the black hole, Physics Today 52, pp. 40–46,
June 1999. Cited on pages 253, 264, and 265.
249 An excellent and entertaining book on black holes, without any formulae, but nevertheless
accurate and detailed, is the paperback by Igor Novikov, Black Holes and the Universe,
Cambridge University Press, 1990. See also Edwin F. Taylor & John A. Wheeler,

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Exploring Black Holes: Introduction to General Relativity, Addison Wesley Longman 2000.
For a historical introduction, see the paper by R. Ruffini, The physics of gravitationally
collapsed objects, pp. 59–118, in Neutron Stars, Black Holes and Binary X-Ray Sources, Pro-
ceedings of the Annual Meeting, San Francisco, Calif., February 28, 1974, Reidel Publishing,
1975. Cited on page 253.
250 J. Michell, On the means of discovering the distance, magnitude, etc of the fixed stars,
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society London 74, p. 35, 1784, reprinted in
S. Det weiler, Black Holes – Selected Reprints, American Association of Physics Teach-
ers, 1982. Cited on page 253.
251 The beautiful paper is R. Oppenheimer & H. Snyder, On continued gravitational con-
traction, Physical Review 56, pp. 455–459, 1939. Cited on page 256.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

252 R. P. Kerr, Gravitational field of a spinning mass as an example of algebraically special met-
rics, Physical Review Letters 11, pp. 237–238, 1963. Cited on page 260.
253 E. T. Newman, E. Couch, R. Chinnapared, A. Exton, A. Prakash &
R. Torrence, Metric of a rotating, charged mass, Journal of Mathematical Physics 6,
pp. 918–919, 1965. Cited on page 260.
254 For a summary, see P. O. Mazur, Black hole uniqueness theorems, pp. 130–157, in
M. A. H. MacCallum, editor, General Relativity and Gravitation, Cambridge Univer-
sity Press, 1987, or the update at arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0101012. See also D. C. Robinson,
Four decades of black hole uniqueness theorems, available at www.mth.kcl.ac.uk/staff/
dc_robinson/blackholes.pdf Cited on page 260.
biblio graphy 333

255 H. P. Künzle & A. K. M. Maso od-ul-Al am, Spherically symmetric static SU(2)
Einstein-Yang-Mills fields, Journal of Mathematical Physics 31, pp. 928–935, 1990. Cited on
page 260.
256 An example of research that shows the tendency of gravitational radiation to produce spher-
ical shapes when black holes collide is L. R ezzoll a, R. P. Maced o & J. L. Jaramillo,
Understanding the “anti kick” in the merger of binary black holes, Physical Review Letters 104,
p. 221101, 2010. Cited on pages 261 and 281.
257 R. Penrose & R. M. Floyd, Extraction of rotational energy from a black hole, Nature
229, pp. 177–179, 1971. Cited on page 262.
258 The mass–energy relation for a rotating black hole is due to D. Christod oulou, Re-
versible and irreversible transformations in black hole physics, Physical Review Letters
25, pp. 1596–1597, 1970. For a general, charged and rotating black hole it is due to
D. Christod oulou & R. Ruffini, Reversible transformations of a charged black hole,
Physical Review D 4, pp. 3552–3555, 1971. Cited on page 263.
259 J. D. Bekenstein, Black holes and entropy, Physical Review D7, pp. 2333–2346, 1973.
Cited on page 263.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

260 On the topic of black holes in the early universe, there are only speculative research papers,
as found, for example, on arxiv.org. The issue is not settled yet. Cited on page 264.
261 For information about black holes formation via star collapse, see the Wikipedia article at
en.wikipedia.org/wikie/Stellar_black_hole. Cited on page 264.
262 Frederick L amb, APS meeting 1998 press conference: Binary star 4U1820-30, 20 000
light years from Earth, Physics News Update, April 27, 1998. Cited on page 265.
263 The first direct evidence for matter falling into a black hole was published in early 2001 by
NASA astronomers led by Joseph Dolan. Cited on page 265.
264 For a readable summary of the Penrose–Hawking singularity theorems, see J. Natàrio,

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Relativity and singularities – a short introduction for mathematicians, preprint at arxiv.org/
abs/math.DG/0603190. Details can be found in Ref. 228. Cited on page 265.
265 For an overview of cosmic censorship, see T. P. Singh, Gravitational collapse, black
holes and naked singularities, arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/9805066, or R. M. Wald, Gravitational
collapse and cosmic censorship, arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/9710068. The original idea is due to
R. Penrose, Gravitational collapse: the role of general relativity, Rivista del Nuovo Ci-
mento 1, pp. 252–276, 1969. Cited on page 266.
266 The paradox is discussed in M. A. Abramowicz, Black holes and the centrifugal
force paradox, Scientific American 266, pp. 74–81, March 1993, and in the comment by
D. N. Page, Relative alternatives, Scientific American 266, p. 5, August 1993. See also
M. A. Abramowicz & E. Szuszkiewicz, The wall of death, American Journal of
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Physics 61, pp. 982–991, 1993, and M. A. Abramowicz & J. P. L asota, On traveling
round without feeling it and uncurving curves, American Journal of Physics 54, pp. 936–939,
1986. Cited on page 268.
267 J. Ehlers, Introduction – Survey of Problems, pp. 1–10, in J. Ehlers, editor, Sistemi gravi-
tazionali isolati in relatività generale, Rendiconti della scuola internazionale di fisica “Enrico
Fermi”, LXVIIo corso, Società Italiana di Fisica/North Holland, 1979. Cited on page 269.
268 G. J. Stoney, On the physical units of nature, Philosophical Magazine 11, pp. 381–391, 1881.
Cited on page 273.
269 The geometrodynamic clock is discussed in D. E. Brahm & R. P. Gruber, Limitations
of the geometrodynamic clock, General Relativity and Gravitation 24, pp. 297–303, 1992. The
334 biblio graphy

clock itself was introduced by R. F. Marzke, in his Ph.D. thesis The theory of measurement
in general relativity, 1959, with John Wheeler as thesis adviser. Cited on page 273.
270 R. Gero ch, Einstein algebras, Commun. Math. Phys. 26, pp. 271–275, 1972. Cited on page
274.
271 A. Macd onald, Einstein’s hole argument, American Journal of Physics 69, pp. 223–225,
2001. Cited on page 275.
272 Roman U. Sexl, Die Hohlwelttheorie, Der mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Unter-
richt 368, pp. 453–460, 1983. Roman U. Sexl, Universal conventionalism and space-time.,
General Relativity and Gravitation 1, pp. 159–180, 1970. See also Roman U. Sexl, Die
Hohlwelttheorie, in Arthur S charmann & Herbert S chramm, editors, Physik, The-
orie, Experiment, Geschichte, Didaktik – Festschrift für Wilfried Kuhn zum 60. Geburtstag am
6. Mai 1983, Aulis Verlag Deubner, 1984, pp. 241–258. Cited on page 276.
273 T. Damour, Experimental tests of relativistic gravity, arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/9904057. It is the
latest in a series of his papers on the topic; the first was T. Damour, Was Einstein 100 %
right?, arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/9412064. Cited on pages 279 and 280.
274 H. Dit tus, F. Everit t, C. L ämmerzahl & G. S chäfer, Die Gravitation im Test,

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Physikalische Blätter 55, pp. 39–46, 1999. Cited on pages 279 and 280.
275 See S. Bässler & al., Improved test of the equivalence principle for gravitational selfenergy,
Physical Review Letters 83, pp. 3585–3588, 1999. See also C. M. Will, Gravitational radi-
ation and the validity of general relativity, Physics Today 52, p. 38, October 1999. Cited on
page 280.
276 The inverse square dependence has been checked down to 60 μm, as reported by
E. Adelberger, B. Heckel & C. D. Hoyle, Testing the gravitational inverse-square
law, Physics World 18, pp. 41–45, 2005. Cited on page 280.
277 For theories competing with general relativity, see for example the extensive and excellent

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

review by C. M. Will, The confrontation between general relativity and experiment, Living
Reviews of Relativity 2001-2014, electronic version at www.livingreviews.org/lrr-2001-4, up-
date at www.livingreviews.org/lrr-2006-3 and preprint at arxiv.org/abs/1403.7377. For ex-
ample, the absence of the Nordtvedt effect, a hypothetical 28-day oscillation in the Earth–
Moon distance, which was looked for by laser ranging experiments without any result,
eliminated several competing theories. This effect, predicted by Kenneth Nordtvedt, would
only appear if the gravitational energy in the Earth–Moon system would fall in a different
way than the Earth and the Moon themselves. For a summary of the measurements, see
J. Müller, M. S chneider, M. S offel & H. Ruder, Testing Einstein’s theory of grav-
ity by analyzing lunar laser ranging data, Astrophysical Journal Letters 382, pp. L101–L103,
1991. Cited on page 280.
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

278 Almost everything of importance in general relativity is published in the free and excel-
lent internet-based research journal Living Reviews in Relativity, to be found at the www.
livingreviews.org website. The other important journal in the field is Classical and Quan-
tum Gravity. In astrophysics, the central publication is Astronomy & Astrophysics. Cited on
page 281.
279 The study of chaos in Einstein’s field equations is just beginning. See, e.g., L. B ombelli,
F. Lombard o & M. Castagnino, Chaos in Robertson-Walker cosmology, arxiv.org/abs/
gr-qc/9707051. Cited on page 281.
280 The ESA satellite called ‘Planck’ has measured the polarization of the cosmic microwave
background. This will provide more details on galaxy formation. Cited on page 281.
biblio graphy 335

281 A good introduction to the topic of gamma-ray bursts is S. Klose, J. Greiner &
D. Hartmann, Kosmische Gammastrahlenausbrüche – Beobachtungen und Modelle, Teil
I und II, Sterne und Weltraum March and April 2001. Cited on page 281.
282 The field solution database is built around the work of A. Karlhede, which allows one to
distinguish between solutions with a limited amount of mathematical computation. Cited
on page 282.
283 For a review on inflation and early universe, see D. Baumann, TASI lectures on inflation,
preprint at arxiv.org/abs/0907.5424. Cited on page 282.
284 Beautiful simulated images of wormholes are available, for example on the wonderful web-
site www.tempolimit-lichtgeschwindigkeit.de. However, quantum effects forbid their exis-
tence, so that no such image is included here. A basic approach is the one by T. Diemer
& M. Hadley, Charge and the topology of spacetime, Classical and Quantum Gravity 16,
pp. 3567–3577, 1999, or arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/9905069 and M. Hadley, Spin half in classi-
cal general relativity, Classical and Quantum Gravity 17, pp. 4187–4194, 2000, or arxiv.org/
abs/gr-qc/0004029. Cited on page 282.
285 An important formulation of relativity is A. Ashtekar, New variables for classical and
quantum gravity, Physical Review Letters 57, pp. 2244–2247, 1986. Cited on page 282.

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286 A well written text on the connections between the big bang and particle physics is by
I. L. Rozental, Big Bang – Big Bounce, How Particles and Fields Drive Cosmic Evolution,
Springer, 1988. For another connection, see M. Nagano & A. A. Watson, Observations
and implications of the ultrahigh energy cosmic rays, Reviews of Modern Physics 72, pp. 689–
732, 2000. Cited on page 282.
287 Teaching will benefit in particular from new formulations, from concentration on princi-
ples and their consequences, as has happened in special relativity, from simpler descrip-
tions at the weak field level, and from future research in the theory of general relativity. The
newer textbooks cited above are all steps in these directions. Cited on page 282.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

288 G. E. Prince & M. Jerie, Generalising Raychaudhuri’s equation, in Differential Geome-
try and Its Applications, Proc. Conf., Opava (Czech Republic), August 27-31, 2001, Silesian
University, Opava, 2001, pp. 235–242. Cited on page 283.
289 Torsion is presented in R. T. Hammond, New fields in general relativity, Contemporary
Physics 36, pp. 103–114, 1995. Cited on page 283.
290 A well-known approach is that by Bekenstein; he proposes a modification of general relativ-
ity that modifies univesal, 1/r 2 gravity at galactic distances. This is done in order to explain
the hundreds of measured galactic rotation curves that seem to require such a modification.
(This approach is called modified Newtonian dynamics or MOND.) An introduction is given
by Jacob D. Bekenstein, The modified Newtonian dynamics – MOND – and its implica-
tions for new physics, Contemporary Physics 47, pp. 387–403, 2006, preprint at arxiv.org/
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

abs/astro-ph/0701848v2. Cited on page 283.

291 Le Système International d’Unités, Bureau International des Poids et Mesures, Pavillon de
Breteuil, Parc de Saint Cloud, 92310 Sèvres, France. All new developments concerning SI
units are published in the journal Metrologia, edited by the same body. Showing the slow
pace of an old institution, the BIPM launched a website only in 1998; it is now reachable at
www.bipm.fr. See also the www.utc.fr/~tthomass/Themes/Unites/index.html website; this
includes the biographies of people who gave their names to various units. The site of its
British equivalent, www.npl.co.uk/npl/reference, is much better; it provides many details
as well as the English-language version of the SI unit definitions. Cited on page 285.
292 The bible in the field of time measurement is the two-volume work by J. Vanier &
336 biblio graphy

C. Aud oin, The Quantum Physics of Atomic Frequency Standards, Adam Hilge, 1989. A
popular account is Tony Jones, Splitting the Second, Institute of Physics Publishing, 2000.
The site opdaf1.obspm.fr/www/lexique.html gives a glossary of terms used in the field.
For precision length measurements, the tools of choice are special lasers, such as mode-
locked lasers and frequency combs. There is a huge literature on these topics. Equally large
is the literature on precision electric current measurements; there is a race going on for the
best way to do this: counting charges or measuring magnetic forces. The issue is still open.
On mass and atomic mass measurements, see page 69. On high-precision temperature mea-
surements, see Volume I, on page 502. Cited on page 286.
293 The unofficial prefixes were first proposed in the 1990s by Jeff K. Aronson of the University
of Oxford, and might come into general usage in the future. Cited on page 287.
294 See the review by L. Ju, D. G. Bl air & C. Z hao, The detection of gravitational waves,
Reports on Progress in Physics 63, pp. 1317–1427, 2000. Cited on page 289.
295 See the clear and extensive paper by G. E. Stedman, Ring laser tests of fundamental physics
and geophysics, Reports on Progress in Physics 60, pp. 615–688, 1997. Cited on page 289.
296 J. Short, Newton’s apples fall from grace, New Scientist 2098, p. 5, 6 September 1997. More
details can be found in R. G. Keesing, The history of Newton’s apple tree, Contemporary

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Physics 39, pp. 377–391, 1998. Cited on page 290.
297 The various concepts are even the topic of a separate international standard, ISO 5725, with
the title Accuracy and precision of measurement methods and results. A good introduction is
John R. Taylor, An Introduction to Error Analysis: the Study of Uncertainties in Physical
Measurements, 2nd edition, University Science Books, Sausalito, 1997. Cited on page 290.
298 P. J. Mohr & B. N. Taylor, CODATA recommended values of the fundamental physical
constants: 1998, Reviews of Modern Physics 59, p. 351, 2000. This is the set of constants re-
sulting from an international adjustment and recommended for international use by the
Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA), a body in the International

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Council of Scientific Unions, which brings together the International Union of Pure and
Applied Physics (IUPAP), the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC)
and other organizations. The website of IUPAC is www.iupac.org. Cited on page 292.
299 Some of the stories can be found in the text by N. W. Wise, The Values of Precision,
Princeton University Press, 1994. The field of high-precision measurements, from which
the results on these pages stem, is a world on its own. A beautiful introduction to it
is J. D. Fairbanks, B. S. Deaver, C. W. Everit t & P. F. Michaelson, eds., Near
Zero: Frontiers of Physics, Freeman, 1988. Cited on page 292.
300 The details are given in the well-known astronomical reference, P. Kenneth Seidelmann,
Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Almanac, 1992. Cited on page 297.
301 For information about the number π, and about some other mathematical constants, the
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

website oldweb.cecm.sfu.ca/pi/pi.html provides the most extensive information and refer-

ences. It also has a link to the many other sites on the topic, including the overview at
mathworld.wolfram.com/Pi.html. Simple formulae for π are
∞
n 2n
π+3= 󵠈 (296)
n=1 󶀡 n 󶀱
2n

or the beautiful formula discovered in 1996 by Bailey, Borwein and Plouffe

∞
1 4 2 1 1
π=󵠈 󶀤
n 8n + 1
− − − 󶀴 . (297)
n=0 16 8n + 4 8n + 5 8n +6
 biblio graphy 337

The mentioned site also explains the newly discovered methods for calculating specific bi-
nary digits of π without having to calculate all the preceding ones. The known digits of π
pass all tests of randomness, as the mathworld.wolfram.com/PiDigits.html website explains.
However, this property, called normality, has never been proven; it is the biggest open ques-
tion about π. It is possible that the theory of chaotic dynamics will lead to a solution of this
puzzle in the coming years.
Another method to calculate π and other constants was discovered and published by
D. V. Chudnovsky & G. V. Chudnovsky, The computation of classical constants, Pro-
ceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) 86, pp. 8178–8182, 1989. The Chud-
nowsky brothers have built a supercomputer in Gregory’s apartment for about 70 000 euros,
and for many years held the record for calculating the largest number of digits of π. They
have battled for decades with Kanada Yasumasa, who held the record in 2000, calculated on
an industrial supercomputer. However, the record number of (consecutive) digits in 2010
was calculated in 123 days on a simple desktop PC by Fabrice Bellard, using a Chudnovsky
formula. Bellard calculated over 2.7 million million digits, as told on bellard.org. New for-
mulae to calculate π are still occasionally discovered.
For the calculation of Euler’s constant γ see also D. W. DeTemple, A quicker conver-
gence to Euler’s constant, The Mathematical Intelligencer, pp. 468–470, May 1993.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Note that little is known about the basic properties of some numbers; for example, it is
Challenge 420 r still not known whether π + e is a rational number or not! (It is believed that it is not.) Do
Challenge 421 s you want to become a mathematician? Cited on page 299.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net
C R E DI T S

Many people who have kept their gift of curiosity alive have helped to make this project come
true. Most of all, Saverio Pascazio has been – present or not – a constant reference for this project.
Fernand Mayné, Anna Koolen, Ata Masafumi, Roberto Crespi, Serge Pahaut, Luca Bombelli, Her-
man Elswijk, Marcel Krijn, Marc de Jong, Martin van der Mark, Kim Jalink, my parents Peter
and Isabella Schiller, Mike van Wijk, Renate Georgi, Paul Tegelaar, Barbara and Edgar Augel, M.
Jamil, Ron Murdock, Carol Pritchard, Richard Hoffman, Stephan Schiller and, most of all, my
wife Britta have all provided valuable advice and encouragement.

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Many people have helped with the project and the collection of material. In particular, I
thank Steve Carlip, Corrado Massa, Tom Helmond, Gary Gibbons, Heinrich Neumaier and Pe-
ter Brown for interesting discussions on maximum force. Most useful was the help of Mikael Jo-
hansson, Bruno Barberi Gnecco, Lothar Beyer, the numerous improvements by Bert Sierra, the
detailed suggestions by Claudio Farinati, the many improvements by Eric Sheldon, the detailed
suggestions by Andrew Young, the continuous help and advice of Jonatan Kelu, the corrections
of Elmar Bartel, and in particular the extensive, passionate and conscientious help of Adrian
Kubala.
Important material was provided by Bert Peeters, Anna Wierzbicka, William Beaty, Jim Carr,
John Merrit, John Baez, Frank DiFilippo, Jonathan Scott, Jon Thaler, Luca Bombelli, Douglas

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Singleton, George McQuarry, Tilman Hausherr, Brian Oberquell, Peer Zalm, Martin van der
Mark, Vladimir Surdin, Julia Simon, Antonio Fermani, Don Page, Stephen Haley, Peter Mayr,
Allan Hayes, Norbert Dragon, Igor Ivanov, Doug Renselle, Wim de Muynck, Steve Carlip, Tom
Bruce, Ryan Budney, Gary Ruben, Chris Hillman, Olivier Glassey, Jochen Greiner, squark, Mar-
tin Hardcastle, Mark Biggar, Pavel Kuzin, Douglas Brebner, Luciano Lombardi, Franco Bagnoli,
Lukas Fabian Moser, Dejan Corovic, Paul Vannoni, John Haber, Saverio Pascazio, Klaus Finken-
zeller, Leo Volin, Jeff Aronson, Roggie Boone, Lawrence Tuppen, Quentin David Jones, Arnaldo
Uguzzoni, Frans van Nieuwpoort, Alan Mahoney, Britta Schiller, Petr Danecek, Ingo Thies, Vi-
taliy Solomatin, Carl Offner, Nuno Proença, Elena Colazingari, Paula Henderson, Daniel Darre,
Wolfgang Rankl, John Heumann, Joseph Kiss, Martha Weiss, Antonio González, Antonio Mar-
tos, André Slabber, Ferdinand Bautista, Zoltán Gácsi, Pat Furrie, Michael Reppisch, Enrico Pasi,
Thomas Köppe, Martin Rivas, Herman Beeksma, Tom Helmond, John Brandes, Vlad Tarko, Na-
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

dia Murillo, Ciprian Dobra, Romano Perini, Harald van Lintel, Andrea Conti, François Belfort,
Dirk Van de Moortel, Heinrich Neumaier, Jarosław Królikowski, John Dahlman, Fathi Namouni,
Paul Townsend, Sergei Emelin, Freeman Dyson, S.R. Madhu Rao, David Parks, Jürgen Janek,
Daniel Huber, Alfons Buchmann, William Purves, Pietro Redondi, Sergei Kopeikin, Damoon
Saghian, Zach Joseph Espiritu, plus a number of people who wanted to remain unnamed.
The software tools were refined with extensive help on fonts and typesetting by Michael Zedler
and Achim Blumensath and with the repeated and valuable support of Donald Arseneau; help
came also from Ulrike Fischer, Piet van Oostrum, Gerben Wierda, Klaus Böhncke, Craig Upright,
Herbert Voss, Andrew Trevorrow, Danie Els, Heiko Oberdiek, Sebastian Rahtz, Don Story, Vin-
cent Darley, Johan Linde, Joseph Hertzlinger, Rick Zaccone, John Warkentin, Ulrich Diez, Uwe
credits 339

Siart, Will Robertson, Joseph Wright, Enrico Gregorio, Rolf Niepraschk and Alexander Grahn.
I also thank the lawmakers and the taxpayers in Germany, who, in contrast to most other
countries in the world, allow residents to use the local university libraries.
The typesetting and book design is due to the professional consulting of Ulrich Dirr. The
typography was much improved with the help of Johannes Küster and his Minion Math font.
The design of the book and its website also owe much to the suggestions and support of my wife
Britta.
Since May 2007, the electronic edition and distribution of the Motion Mountain text is
generously supported by the Klaus Tschira Foundation.

Film credits
The beautiful animation of a dice flying at relativistic speed, on page 56, is copyright and courtesy
by Ute Kraus. It can be found on her splendid website www.tempolimit-lichtgeschwindigkeit.de,
which provides many other films of relativistic motions and the related publications. The beauti-
ful animation of an observer accelerating in a desert, on page 88, is copyright Anthony Searle and
Australian National University, and courtesy of Craig Savage. It is from the wonderful website at

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

www.anu.edu.au/Physics/Savage/TEE. Also the equally beautiful animation of an observer accel-
erating between houses, on page 90, is copyright Anthony Searle and Australian National Univer-
sity, and courtesy of Craig Savage. It is from the equally wonderful website at www.anu.edu.au/
Physics/Searle. The spectacular animation on page 254 is courtesy and copyright of the European
Southern Observatory ESO and found on its website www.eso.org/public/news/eso0846/.

Image credits
The photograph of the east side of the Langtang Lirung peak in the Nepalese Himalayas, shown
on the front cover, is courtesy and copyright by Dave Thompson and used to be on his web-

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

site www.daveontrek.co.uk. The photograph of the night sky on page 15 is copyright and cour-
tesy of Anthony Ayiomamitis; it is found on his wonderful website www.perseus.gr. The photo-
graph of the reconstruction of Fizeau’s experiment on page 20 is copyright by AG Didaktik und
Geschichte der Physik, Universität Oldenburg, and courtesy of Jan Frercks, Peter von Heering
and Daniel Osewold. The photograph of a light pulse on page 21 is courtesy and copyright of
Tom Mattick. On page 24 the photographs of electrical devices are courtesy Miele and EasyGlide.
On page 29, the lithium images are courtesy and copyright of the TSR relativity team at the
Max Planck Gesellschaft. On page 32 the Doppler images are copyright and courtesy of Maurice
Gavin and NASA. On page 33, the Doppler sonar system images are copyright and courtesy of
Wikimedia, Hörmann AG and Medison. On page 34, the wave graphic is copyright Pbroks13
and courtesy Wikimedia. On page 40, the image of the historical Michelson experiment is cour-
tesy and copyright of the Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam, and the images of the modern
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

high-precision experiment are copyright and courtesy of Stephan Schiller. The relativistic views
on page 54 and 56 are courtesy and copyright of Daniel Weiskopf. The relativistic images of the
travel through the simplified Stonehenge on page 55 are copyright of Nicolai Mokros and cour-
tesy of Norbert Dragon. On page 66, the photograph of the HARP experiment is courtesy and
copyright of CERN. On page 66, the photographs about the bubble chamber are courtesy and
copyright of CERN. The stalactite photograph on page 105 is courtesy and copyright of Richard
Cindric and found on the website www.kcgrotto.org; the photograph of Saturn is courtesy NASA.
On page 146, the volcano photograph is copyright and courtesy of Marco Fulle and found on the
wonderful website www.stromboli.net. On page 176, the VIRGO photographs are courtesy and
copyright of INFN. On page 163, the photographs about lunar reflectors are copyright and cour-
340 credits

tesy NASA and Wikimedia; the photograph of the Nice observatory is courtesy and copyright
of Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur. The figures of galaxies on pages 207, 205, 208, 208, 206, 212,
209, 235, 244 and 245 are courtesy of NASA. The photo of the night sky on page 205 is copyright
and courtesy of Axel Mellinger; more details on the story of this incredible image is found on
his website at home.arcor.de/axel.mellinger. The picture of the universe on page 206 is courtesy
of Thomas Jarret, IPAC and Caltech, and is found on the spider.ipac.caltech.edu/staff/jarret/lss/
index.html website. The photograph of the molecular cloud on page 209 is courtesy and copy-
right of the European Southern Observatory ESO; it was also featured on the antwrp.gsfc.nasa.
gov/apod/ap030202.html website. On page 210, the photopgraphs of the Very Large Telescopes
are copyright and courtesy of ESO. On page 211, the photographs of the XMM-Newton satel-
lite and of the Planck satellite are copyright and courtesy of ESA and found on the fascinting
website www.esa.int. The Hubble diagram on page 220 is courtesy of Saul Perlmutter and the Su-
pernova Cosmology Project. The maps of the universe on page 218 and the Hertzsprung–Russell
diagram on page 222 are courtesy and copyright of Richard Powell, and taken from his websites
www.anzwers.org/free/universe and www.atlasoftheuniverse.com. On page 223, the photograph
of M15 is copyright and courtesy of ESA and NASA. The photograph on page 233 is courtesy
and copyright of Wally Pacholka and found on the wonderful website www.twanlight.org that
collects pictures of the world at night. On page 235, the Planck data map is courtesy and copy-

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

right of Planck/ESA. The simulated view of a black hole on page 255 is copyright and courtesy of
Ute Kraus and can be found on her splendid website www.tempolimit-lichtgeschwindigkeit.de.
On page 276, the image of the hollow Earth theory is courtesy of Helmut Diel and was drawn by
Isolde Diel. On page 301, the drawing of the Fraunhofer lines is copyright and courtesy of Fraun-
hofer Gesellschaft. The photograph on the back cover, of a basilisk running over water, is courtesy
and copyright by the Belgian group TERRA vzw and found on their website www.terravzw.org. All
drawings are copyright by Christoph Schiller. If you suspect that your copyright is not correctly
given or obtained, this has not been done on purpose; please contact me in this case.

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net
 NAME I NDEX

A A B Biggar, Mark 338

Abramowicz Abdo, A.A. 311 Babinet, Jacques Bilaniuk, O.M. 316
Abramowicz, M.A. 333 life 286 Birkhoff 194
Adelberger, E. 334 Bachem, Albert 137 Bladel, Jean van 312
Adenauer, Konrad 125 Baez, John 326, 338 Blair, David 323, 336

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Adler, C.G. 318 Baggett, N. 311 Blandford, R. 332
Aetius 204, 328 Bagnoli, Franco 338 Blandford, R.D. 324
Ahmad, Q.R. 314 Bailey, J. 314, 315 Blau, Steven 47, 315
Aichelburg, P.C. 332 Bailey, J.M. 311 Bliokh, K.Y. 305
Alanus de Insulis 253 Banday, A.J. 331 Bloser, P.F. 324
Alcubierre, M. 323 Barberi Gnecco, Bruno 338 Blumensath, Achim 338
Allen, Woody 216 Barbour, Julian 331 Blumkin, A. 327
Alspector, J. 311 Barrow, J.D. 331 Bohr, Niels 25
Alväger, T. 311 Bartel, Elmar 338 Bombelli, Luca 334, 338
Anderson, I.M. 195, 327 Bartocci, Umberto 73, 317 Bondi, Hermann 313, 322

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Anderson, J.D. 318 Basri, G. 328 Bonnor, W.B. 177, 326, 332
Anderson, J.L. 327 Bateman, H. 314 Boone, Roggie 338
Antonini, P. 312, 314 Baumann, D. 335 Born, Max 314
Arago, François 40 Bautista, Ferdinand 338 Boughn, S.P. 316
Aristarchus of Samos 310 Baylis, W.E. 315 Boyce, K.R. 317
life 19 Beaty, William 338 Brace, Dewitt 40
Aristotle 310 Becker, A. 329 Bradley, James 18
Arnowitt, Richard 196, 327 Bedford, D. 325 Braginsky, V.B. 324, 325
Aronson, Jeff K. 336, 338 Beeckman, Isaac 17 Brahm, D.E. 333
Arseneau, Donald 338 Beeksma, Herman 338 Brandes, John 338
Ashtekar, A. 320, 335 Behroozi, C.H. 313 Brault, J.W. 322
Astrophysikalisches Institut Beig, R. 319 Braxmeier, C. 312
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Potsdam 40, 339 Bekenstein, Jacob 263, 333, 335 Bray, H.L. 327
Ata Masafumi 338 Belfort, François 338 Brebner, Douglas 338
Audoin, C. 336 Bellard, Fabrice 337 Brecher, K. 311
Augel, Barbara 338 Bender, P.L. 326 Brehme, R.W. 318
Augel, Edgar 338 Bennet, C.L. 331 Brewer, Sydney G. 310
Augustine 330 Bergliaffa, S. Perez 327 Briatore, L. 137, 322
Augustine of Hippo 238 Bertotti, B. 326 Briggs, F. 332
Australian National Bessel, Friedrich Wilhelm 232 Broeck, Chris Van Den 323
University 88, 90, 339 Besso, Michele 73 Bronstein, Matvey 252, 332
Ayiomamitis, Anthony 17, 339 Beyer, Lothar 338 Brown, J.M. 316
 342 name index

Brown, Peter 338 Costella, J.P. 316, 317 Dragon, Norbert 54, 55, 338,
Bruce, Tom 338 Couch, E. 332 339
Bruyn, A.G. de 332 Cox, A.N. 328 Droste, J. 322
Buchmann, Alfons 338 Crawford, F. 328 Droste, Johannes 142
Budney, Ryan 338 Crelinsten, Jeffrey 322 Duff, M.J. 318
Bunn, E.F. 326, 331, 332 Crespi, Roberto 338 Duguay, M.A. 310
Burbidge, G. 330 Crowe, Michael J. 310 Dumont, Jean-Paul 310, 328,
Burgay, M. 328 Currie, D.G. 318 329
Bäßler, S. 334 Dutton, Z. 313
Böhncke, Klaus 338 D Dyson, F.W. 322
Börner, G. 329 D’Amico, N. 328 Dyson, Freeman 338
B Börner, H.G. 316 Dahlman, John 338
Dalton, K. 327 E
C Damour, Thibault 280, 334 EasyGlide 24, 339
Brown Caianiello, E.R. 320 Danecek, Petr 338 Eckstein, G. 314
Calder, Nigel 324 Darley, Vincent 338 Eddington, A.S. 322
Caltech 206, 340 Darre, Daniel 338 Ehlers, J. 331, 333
Camilo, F. 328 Davidson, C. 322 Ehlers, Jürgen 269

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Carilli, C.L. 332 Deaver, B.S. 336 Ehrenfest, P. 318
Carlip, Steve 320, 331, 338 Democritus of Abdera 95 Eichenwald, Alexander 40
Carneiro, S. 331 Descartes, René 17 Einstein, Albert 23, 26, 27, 44,
Carr, Jim 338 Deser, Stanley 196, 327 61, 69, 73, 133, 137, 140, 149,
Carter, Brandon 260 Deshpande, V.K. 316 156, 192, 194, 226, 274, 275,
Cassini, Giovanni 17 Deslattes, R.D. 316 281, 283, 284, 312, 317, 320,
Castagnino, M. 334 Desloge, E.A. 318 326, 330
Caves, C.M. 325 Desloge, Edward A. 318 life 25
CERN 66, 339 DeTemple, D.W. 337 Einstein, Eduard 140
Cheseaux, Jean Philippe Loÿs Detweiler, S. 332 Eisele, Ch. 314

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

de 232 Dewey, M.S. 316 Ellis, George 274, 322, 330, 331
Chinnapared, R. 332 DeWitt-Morette, Cecile 327 Els, Danie 338
Choquet-Bruhat, Yvonne 327 Dicke, R.H. 324, 331 Elswijk, Herman B. 338
Christodoulou, D. 333 Dickey, J.M. 328 Emelin, Sergei 338
Chudnovsky, D.V. 337 Diehl, Helmut 276 Empedocles 16
Chudnovsky, G.V. 337 Diel, Helmut 340 Eötvös, Roland von 154, 324
Cindric, Richard 105, 339 Diel, Isolde 340 ESA 211, 223, 340
Ciufolini, Ignazio 165, 324, 326 Diemer, T. 335 Eshelby, J. 313
Clancy, E.P. 322 Dietze, H. 313 ESO 209, 210, 339, 340
Clausius, Rudolph 247, 248 Diez, Ulrich 338 Espiritu, Zach Joseph 338
Cohen, M.H. 316 DiFilippo, Frank 317, 338 Euler, Leonhard 181
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Colazingari, Elena 338 Dillard-Bleick, Margaret 327 European Southern

Columbus 250 Dirr, Ulrich 339 Observatory 339, 340
Conti, Andrea 338 DiSessa, A. 319 Everitt, C.W. 336
Conway, J. 332 Dittus, H. 327, 334 Everitt, F. 334
Copernicus, Nicolaus 19 Dobra, Ciprian 338 Ewing, Anne 254
Cordero, N.A. 326 Dolan, Joseph 333 Exton, A. 332
Cornell, E.A. 313 Doppler, Christian
Corongiu, A. 328 life 31 F
Corovic, Dejan 338 Dorfi, E.A. 329 Faestermann, T. 329
Costa, S.S. 316 Doroshkevich, A.G. 221, 329 Fairbanks, J.D. 336
 name index 343

Fairhust, S. 320 life 183 Haverkorn, M. 328

Falco, E.E. 331 Gavin, Maurice 32, 339 Hawking, Stephen 127, 239,
Falk, G. 321 Gearhart, R. 313 263, 265, 274, 330
Farinati, Claudio 338 Gehrels, N. 332 Hawking, Stephen W. 330
Farley, F.J.M. 311 Georgi, Renate 338 Hayes, Allan 338
Fasching, G. 328 Geroch, Robert 274, 334 Hayward, S.A. 320
Faulkner, A.J. 328 Gibbons, Gary 121, 145, 319, Heckel, B. 334
Fekete, E. 324 338 Heering, Peter von 339
Fereira, P.G. 332 Gibbs, J. Willard 105, 319 Helmond, Tom 338
Fermani, Antonio 338 Gide, André 187 Henderson, Paula 338
Feynman, Richard P. 326 Giltner, D.M. 313 Hentig, Hartmut von 7
F Figer, D. 328
Figier, D. 329
Giulini, D. 330
Glassey, Olivier 338
Heracles 207
Heraclitus of Ephesus 223
Finkenzeller, Klaus 338 Goenner, Hubert 174, 321 Herrmann, F. 320
Fairhust Fischer, Ulrike 338 González, Antonio 338 Herrmann, Friedrich 319
Fitzgerald, George 43 Good, R.H. 318 Herschel, John 233
Fizeau, Hippolyte 20, 40 Gordon, C. 327 Hertz, Heinrich 106
Fließbach, Torsten 321 Gould, Andrew 158 Hertzlinger, Joseph 338

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Floyd, R.M. 333 Grahn, Alexander 339 Hesiod 219
Ford, E.C. 324 Grebe, Leonhard 137 Hestenes, David 315
Formalont, E.B. 325 Green, A.J. 328 Heumann, John 338
Foster, James 321 Greenstein, J.L. 322 Hilbert, David 188, 195
Fowler, E.C. 311 Gregorio, Enrico 339 Hill, S. 327
Fowler, L.A. 326 Greiner, Jochen 335, 338 Hillman, Chris 338
Frank, F.C. 313 Grindlay, J.E. 324 Hinshaw, G. 331
Fraunhofer Gesellschaft 301, Gruber, Christian 52, 315 Hipparchus 19
340 Gruber, R.P. 333 Hirth, J.P. 313
Fredman, R.A. 328 Guiragossian, Z.G.T. 313 Hobbs, G. 328

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

French, A.P. 318 Gutfreund, Hanoch 312 Hoek, Martin 40
Frenkel, J. 313 Guth, Alan 247, 331 Hogg, D.W. 331
Frercks, Jan 20, 310, 339 Gácsi, Zoltán 338 Holstein, B.R. 326
Fresnel, Augustin 40 Göklü, E. 312 Holzmüller, G. 166, 324
Friedmann, Aleksander 329 Horace, in full Quintus
life 227 H Horatius Flaccus 133
Frisch, D.H. 315 Haber, John 338 Houtermans, Friedrich 221
Fukuda, Y. 314 Hadley, M. 335 Hoyle, C.D. 334
Fulle, Marco 146, 339 Hafele, J.C. 137, 315 Hoyle, Fred 237, 330
Furrie, Pat 338 Haley, Stephen 338 Hubble, Edwin
Fölsing, Albrecht 312 Hall, D.B. 315 life 219
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Halley, Edmund 18 Huber, Daniel 338

G Hamilton, J.D. 318 Hughes, R.J. 327
Gabuzda, D.C. 316 Hammond, R.T. 335 Huisken, G. 320
Gaensler, B.M. 328 Hardcastle, Martin 338 Hulse, Russel 325
Galilei, Galileo 17 Harris, S.E. 313 Huygens, Christiaan 17, 18
Gallisard de Marignac, Jean Hartmann, D. 335 Hörmann AG 33, 339
Charles 74 Harvey, A. 315, 330
Gamow, George 329 Hasenöhrl, Friedrich 73, 317 I
life 220 Hatfield, Brian 326 Ilmanen, T. 320
Gauß, Carl-Friedrich Hausherr, Tilman 338 INFN 176, 339
 344 name index

Inverno, Ray d’ 320, 321 Kerr, Roy 260, 332 Lambourne, R. 313
Iorio, L. 324 Kessler, E.G. 316 Landau, L. 327
IPAC 206, 340 Kiefer, D. 313 Lange, B. 319
Israel, Werner 260 Kilmister, C.W. 317 Langevin, Paul 73
Itah, A. 327 Kippenhahn, Rudolf 330 Laplace, Pierre 253
Ivanov, Igor 338 Kiss, Joseph 338 Lasota, J.P. 333
Ives, H.E. 312 Kittinger 321 Laue, Max von 82
Iyer, C. 315 Kittinger, Joseph 133, 138 Leibfried, G. 313
Kjellman, J. 311 Lemaître, Georges A.
J Klauder, John 321 life 227
Jacobson, T. 320 Klaus Tschira Foundation 339 Lense, Josef 164, 324
I Jalink, Kim 338
Jamil, M. 338
Kleppner, Daniel 325
Klippert, R. 327
Leonhardt, U. 327
Lerner, L. 326
Janek, Jürgen 338 Klose, S. 335 Leschiutta, S. 137, 322
Inverno Jaramillo, J.L. 333 Knie, K. 329 Leucippus of Elea 95
Jarret, Thomas 206, 340 Knop, R.A. 327 Levi-Civita, Tullio 188
Jenkins, Francis A. 310 Knutsen, H. 329 Lewis, G.N. 316
Jentschel, M. 316 Kogut, A. 331 Liebscher, Dierck-Ekkehard

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Jerie, M. 335 Konig, F. 327 313
Jetzer, P. 328 Kontorowa, T. 313 Lifshitz, E. 327
Johansson, Mikael 338 Koolen, Anna 338 Lille, Alain de 253
Johnson, Samuel Kopeikin, Sergei 325, 338 Lilley, Sam 321
life 310 Korschinek, G. 329 Linde, Johan 338
Jones, Quentin David 338 Kostro, L. 319 Lindh, A.G. 324
Jones, Tony 336 Kramer, M. 325, 328 Linfield, R.P. 316
Jong, Marc de 338 Kraus, Ute 54, 56, 255, 339, 340 Lintel, Harald van 52, 315, 338
Jordan, T.F. 318 Kreuzer, L.B. 143, 323 Liu, C. 313
Ju, L. 336 Krijn, Marcel 338 Lodge, Oliver 40

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Juszkiewicz, R. 331, 332 Krikalyov, Sergei 48 Logan, R.T. 318
Krisher, T.P. 318 Lombardi, Luciano 338
K Krishnan, B. 320 Lombardo, F. 334
Köppe, Thomas 338 Krotkow, R. 324 Longair, M. 329
Kaaret, P. 324 Krumm, P. 325 Lorenci, V. De 327
Kalbfleisch, G.R. 311 Królikowski, Jarosław 338 Lorentz, Hendrik Antoon 43,
Kalckar, Jørgen 169 Kröner, Ekkehart 202, 320 314
Kanada Yasumasa 337 Kubala, Adrian 338 life 39
Kant, Immanuel 204, 219, 327 Kuklewicz, C. 327 Lorenzen, Dirk 328
life 204 Kumaradtya, K.K. 332 Lorimer, D.R. 326, 328
Kapuścik, E. 314 Kuzin, Pavel 338 Lothe, J. 313
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Karlhede, A. 335 Künzle, H.P. 333 Low, R.J. 318

Kaufmann, W.J. 328 Küster, Johannes 339 Ludvigsen, Malcolm 321
Kayser, R. 330 Luke, Lucky 36
Keating, Richard E. 137, 315 L Luminet, J.-P. 331
Keesing, R.G. 336 Lachièze-Rey, M. 331 Lundmark, Knut 219, 328
Kelu, Jonatan 338 Lahav, O. 327 Lutes, G.F. 318
Kennedy, R.J. 312 Lakes, Rod S. 313 Lyne, A.G. 328
Kennefick, D. 322 Lamb, Frederick 153, 333 Lämmerzahl, C. 327, 334
Kenyon, Ian R. 319 Lambert, Johann Lévy, J.M. 317
Kepler, Johannes 232 life 183
 name index 345

M Miele 24, 339 Nietzsche, Friedrich 116

MacCallum, M.A.H. 332 Minkowski, Hermann 44 Nieuwpoort, Frans van 338
Macdonald, A. 334 life 44 Nightingale, J.D. 321
Macedo, R.P. 333 Mirabel, I.F. 316 Nordström, Gunnar 260
Mach, Ernst 250 Mishra, L. 97, 318 Nordtvedt, Kenneth 334
Macrobius 329 Misner, Charles 196, 318, 327 Nori, F. 305
Madhu, Rao S.M. 303, 338 Mitalas, R. 312 Norton, John D. 327
Maeterlink, Maurice Mitskievic, N.V. 332 Novello, M. 327
life 249 Mittelstaedt, H. 331 Novikov, Igor 221, 320, 329,
Maffei, Paolo 328 Mittelstaedt, M.-L. 331 332
Mahoney, Alan 338 Mlynek, J. 312
M Mainwaring, S.R. 314
Maleki, L. 318
Mohazzabi, P. 321
Mohr, P.J. 336
O
Oberdiek, Heiko 338
Manchester, R.N. 328 Mokros, Nicolai 54, 55, 339 Oberquell, Brian 338
MacCallum Mark, Martin van der 338 Moore, C.P. 332 Observatoire de la Côte
Marsh, N.D. 329 Moore, Henry 181 d’Azur 163, 340
Martos, Antonio 338 Moortel, Dirk Van de 303, 338 Oey, M.S. 328
Marzke, R.F. 334 Morinigo, Fernando B. 326 Offner, Carl 338

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Mashhoon, B. 324, 325 Morley, Edward 40, 314 Ohanian, Hans 305, 318, 319,
Mason, W.P. 313 Moser, Lukas Fabian 338 321
Masood-ul-Alam, A.K.M. 333 Murdock, Ron 338 Okhapkin, M. 312, 314
Massa, Corrado 319, 338 Murillo, Nadia 338 Okun, Lev B. 317
Matsas, G.E.A. 316 Murray, J.J. 313 Olbers, Wilhelm
Matthews, W.N. 317 Musil, Rober 231 life 232
Mattick, Tom 21, 310, 339 Mutti, P. 316 Olum, K.D. 323
Max Planck Gesellschaft 29, Muynck, Wim de 338 Oostrum, Piet van 338
339 Myers, E.G. 316 Oppenheimer, Robert 332
Maxwell, James Clerk 43 Møller, Christian 318 life 256

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Mayné, Fernand 338 Müller, H. 312 Osewold, Daniel 339
Mayr, Peter 338 Müller, J. 334 Osserman, Bob 245
Mazur, P.O. 260, 332 Ovidius, in full Publius
McClure-Griffiths, N.M. 328 N Ovidius Naro 22
McDonald, K.T. 325 Nabarro, Frank R.N. 313
McGowan, R.W. 313 Nagano, M. 335 P
McKellar, B.H.J. 316, 317 Nahin, Paul J. 315 Pacholka, Wally 233, 340
McLaughlin, M.A. 328 Namouni, Fathi 338 Page, Don 333, 338
McNamara, Geoff 323 Narlikar, J.V. 330 Pahaut, Serge 338
McQuarry, George 338 NASA 32, 163, 223, 339, 340 Panov, V.I. 324
Medison 33, 339 Natarajan, V. 317 Papapetrou, A. 317
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Mellinger, Axel 205, 328, 340 Natàrio, J. 333 Parker, Barry 329
Mena Marugán, G.A. 331 Nemiroff, R.J. 324 Parks, David 338
Menocal, P.B. de 329 Neumaier, Heinrich 338 Pascazio, Saverio 338
Menten, K.M. 332 Nevsky, A.Yu. 314 Pasi, Enrico 338
Merrit, John 338 Newcomb, Simon 314 Paul, W. 317
Michaelson, P.F. 336 Newman, E.T. 332 Pauli, Wolfgang 61, 326
Michell, John 253, 332 Newton 290 Pavlis, E.C. 324
Michelson, Albert Abraham Nicolai, H. 327 Pbroks13 34, 339
40, 109, 314 Niepraschk, Rolf 339 Pearson, T.J. 316
life 40 Nieto, L.M. 326 Peeters, Bert 338
 346 name index

Pekár, V. 324 Rainville, S. 316 S

Pelt, Jaan 243, 330 Rankl, Wolfgang 338 Saghian, Damoon 338
Penrose, Roger 127, 262, 265, Rasio, F.A. 326 Sagnac, Georges 40
316, 320, 331, 333 Rawlinson, A.A. 316, 317 Salim, J. 327
Penzias, Arno 221, 329 Raymond, D.J. 318 Samuel, S. 325
Peres, A. 332 Readhead, A.C.S. 316 Santander, M. 326
Perini, Romano 338 Rebka, G.A. 137, 322 Santangelo, A. 324
Perkins, D.H. 314 Recami, E. 316 Sastry, G.P. 315
Perlman, E. 332 Rector, T.A. 217 Savage, Craig 54, 339
Perlmutter, Saul 220, 231, 340 Redondi, Pietro 338 Scarcelli, G. 313
Perot, Alfred 137 Refsdal, S. 330 Schaefer, B.E. 311, 313
P Peşić, P.D. 329
Peters, A. 312
Reinhardt, S. 313
Reissner, Hans 260
Scharmann, Arthur 334
Schiller, Britta 338, 339
Pfister, Herbert 331 Renselle, Doug 338 Schiller, Christoph 319, 340
Pekár Philbin, T.G. 327 Reppisch, Michael 338 Schiller, Isabella 338
Philpott, R.J. 318 Rezzolla, L. 333 Schiller, Peter 313, 338
Piper, M.S. 177, 326 Ricci-Cubastro, Gregorio Schiller, Stephan 40, 312, 314,
Piraino, S. 324 life 188 338, 339

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Planck, Max 25, 61, 62, 79, 85, Riemann, Bernhard Schmidt, Herbert Kurt 315
107 life 200 Schneider, M. 334
Planck/ESA 235, 340 Rindler, Wolfgang 312, 315, Schneider, P. 331
Plato 237 320, 321, 326 Schoen, R.M. 319
Poincaré, Henri 41, 43, 73, 133, Ritz 311 Schramm, Herbert 334
151, 317 Rivas, Martin 338 Schramm, T. 330
life 26 Robertson, H.P. 227 Schröder, Ulrich E. 317, 321
Possenti, A. 328 Robertson, S. 327 Schucking, E. 315, 330
Pound, R.V. 137, 322 Robertson, Will 339 Schutz, Bernard 321, 325
Powell, Richard 218, 222, 340 Robinson, D.C. 260, 332 Schwarzschild, Karl 137, 187

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Prabhu, G.M. 315 Rodríguez, L.F. 316 life 142
Pradl, O. 312 Roll, P.G. 324 Schweiker, H. 217
Prakash, A. 332 Rømer, Ole C. 310 Schwinger, Julian 312
Preston, S. Tolver 317 life 17 Schäfer, G. 334
Preston, Tolver 74 Rossi, B. 315 Sciama, Dennis 331
Pretto, O. De 317 Rothbart, G.B. 313 Scott, Jonathan 338
Pretto, Olinto De 73, 312 Rothenstein, B. 314 Searle, Anthony 53, 88, 90, 339
Prialnik, D. 329 Rothman, T. 331 Seeger, A. 313
Prigogine, Ilya 331 Rottmann, K. 318 Seidelmann, P. Kenneth 336
Primas, L.E. 318 Roukema, B.F. 331 Seielstad, G.A. 316
Prince, G.E. 335 Rozental, I.L. 335 Selig, Carl 312
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Pritchard, Carol 338 Ruben, Gary 338 Seneca, Lucius Annaeus 130,
Pritchard, D.E. 316, 317 Ruder, Hanns 54, 334 271
Pritchard, David 69 Ruffini, Remo 260, 319, 321, Sexl, Roman 276, 315, 332, 334
Proença, Nuno 338 323, 332, 333 Shapiro, I.I. 326
Pryce, M.H.L. 317 Rugel, G. 329 Shapiro, Irwin 159, 326
Purves, William 338 Ruggiero, M.L. 318, 325 Shaw, R. 315
Pythagoras of Samos 314 Ruppel, W. 321 Shea, J.H. 321
Russell, Bertrand 84 Sheldon, Eric 315, 338
R Rybicki, G.R. 316 Shih, Y. 313
Rahtz, Sebastian 338 Röntgen, Wilhelm 40 Short, J. 336
 name index 347

Siart, Uwe 338 Tartaglia, A. 325 Vestergaard Hau, L. 313

Sierra, Bert 338 Taylor, B.N. 336 Voigt, Woldemar
Silk, J. 332 Taylor, Edwin F. 312, 318, 320, life 43
Sills, K.R. 312 321, 323, 332 Volin, Leo 338
Simon, Julia 338 Taylor, John R. 336 Voltaire 290
Simon, R.S. 316 Taylor, Joseph 175, 289, 325, Voss, Herbert 338
Singh, T.P. 333 326
Singleton, Douglas 338 Tegelaar, Paul 338 W
Sitter, W. de 326 Tegmark, M. 327 Wagner, William G. 326
Sitter, Willem de 230, 311 Terrell, J. 316 Wald, Robert M. 321, 333
Sitter, Willem de 23, 40 Thaler, Jon 338 Walker, A.G. 227
S life 162
Slabber, André 338
Thies, Ingo 338
Thirring, Hans 164, 324
Walker, Gabriele 329
Walker, R.C. 316
Smale, A.P. 324 Thomas, Llewellyn 61 Wallin, I. 311
Siart Smith, J.B. 315 Thompson, C. 328 Wallner, A. 329
Snider, J.L. 322 Thompson, Dave 339 Wambsganss, J. 330
Snyder, Hartland 256, 332 Thompson, J.K. 316 Wang, Y. 327
Soffel, Michael H. 326, 334 Thompson, R.C. 317 Warkentin, John 338

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

Soldner, Johann 148, 157, 158, Thorndike, E.M. 312 Watson, A.A. 335
323 Thorne, Kip 318, 321, 325 Weigert, Alfred 330
Solomatin, Vitaliy 338 Tisserand, F. 324 Weinberg, Steven 314, 321, 329
Sonoda, D.H. 331, 332 Tisserand, Félix 166 Weisberg, J.M. 325, 326
Stachel, John 320 Tolman, Richard 316, 332 Weiskopf, Daniel 54, 56, 339
Stairs, I.H. 326, 328 Torre, C.G. 195, 327 Weiss, Martha 338
Stark, Johannes Torrence, R. 332 Weizmann, Chaim 156
life 32 Townsend, Paul 338 Wertheim, Margaret 314
Stedman, G.E. 314, 336 Trevorrow, Andrew 338 Wesson, Paul 233, 329
Steinhauer, J. 327 Trout, Kilgore 246 Westra, M.T. 307

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Stephenson, G. 317 Tschira, Klaus 339 Wheeler, John 254, 260, 273,
Stephenson, G.J. 316 TSR relativity team 29, 339 312, 318, 320–323, 325, 332,
Stilwell, G.R. 312 Tuinstra, F. 310, 313 334
Stocke, J.T. 332 Tuppen, Lawrence 338 life 254
Stodolsky, Leo 314 Turner, M.S. 331 White, Harvey E. 310
Stoney, G.J. 333 White, M. 331
Story, Don 338 U Whitney, A.R. 316
Straumann, N. 330 Uguzzoni, Arnaldo 338 Wierda, Gerben 338
Stromberg, Gustaf 219, 329 Ulfbeck, Ole 169 Wierzbicka, Anna 338
Strutt Rayleigh, John 40 Unruh, William 134, 322 Wijk, Mike van 338
Su, Y. 324 Unwin, S.C. 316 Wikimedia 33, 163, 241, 339,
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Sudarshan, George 316, 318 Upright, Craig 338 340

Supplee, J.M. 316 Will, C.M. 311, 318, 320, 323,
Surdin, Vladimir 338 V 325, 334
Svensmark, H. 329 Valencia, A. 313 Williams, R. 322
Synge, J.L. 317 Vanier, J. 335 Wilson, Harold 40
Szuszkiewicz, E. 333 Vannoni, Paul 338 Wilson, Robert 221, 329
Vergilius, Publius 154 Wiltshire, D. 328
T Vermeil, H. 181, 326 Wirtz, Carl 219, 328
Tangen, K. 327 Vermeulen, R. 332 Wise, N.W. 336
Tarko, Vlad 338 Vessot, R.F.C. 137, 322 Woodhouse, Nick M.J. 312
 348 name index

Woods, P.M. 328 Z Zeus 207

Wright, Joseph 339 Zaccone, Rick 338 Zhang Yuan Zhong 311
Wright, Steven 282 Zalm, Peer 338 Zhang, W. 153, 324
Zedler, Michael 338 Zhao, C. 336
Y Zeeman, Pieter 39 Zwicky, Fritz 243, 330
Yearian, M.R. 313 Zel’dovich, Yakov 221
Young, Andrew 338 Zensus, J.A. 316

W
Woods

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net
SUBJECT I NDEX

Symbols air 240 Augustine of Hippo 238

3-vector 74 cannot fill universe 237 average curvature 188
4-acceleration 77 Aldebaran 242 Avogadro’s number 294
4-angular momentum 83 Alluvium 226 azoicum 225
4-coordinates 44, 74 Alnilam 242

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

4-jerk 77 Alnitak 242 B
4-momentum 78 alpha decay 220 β-rays 16
4-vector 74, 76 Altair 242 B1938+666 244
4-velocity 76 ampere background 45
definition 285 background radiation 221,
A Andromeda nebula 204, 219 226, 237
α-rays 16 angular momentum as a bags, plastic 307
a (year) 226 tensor 83 barycentric coordinate time
aberration 18, 53 annihilation 237 323
acausality 46 antigravity device, patent for barycentric dynamical time

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

accelerating frames 90 150 152
acceleration 314 antimatter 68, 72, 199, 237 baryon number density 298
and force 80 aphelion 297 base units 285
comoving 78 apogee 296 becquerel 287
proper 78 Apollo 162, 300 Beetle 181
uniform 91 apparent lifetime 50 beginning of the universe 219
acceleration composition apple trees 290 beginning of time 219
theorem 97 apple, standard 290 Bellatrix 242
accretion 264 apples 155 Betelgeuse 242
accretion discs 213 Archaeozoicum 225 big bang 221, 232, 237, 238
accuracy 290 archean 225 big bang was not a singularity
limits to 291 arms, human 249 127
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

action 84 artefact for measurement billiards 65

action, quantum of, ħ units 286 binary pulsars 152, 161
physics and 8 Ashtekar variables 282 BIPM 285, 286, 288
active galactic nuclei 253 astronomical unit 297 bird appearance 225
ADM mass 196 atmospheric pressure 296 bits to entropy conversion 296
aether and general relativity atom formation 224 black hole 177, 241, 253, 254,
115, 141 atomic 289 256, 322
age 230 atomic mass unit 294 see also Schwarzschild
age of universe 73 atomism is wrong 95 radius
agoraphobics 229 atto 287 horizon 253
 350 subject index

illustration of 255 Poids et Mesures 285 CL0024+1654 244

black hole collisions 265 burst classical electron radius 295
black hole halo 269 gamma ray 22 claustrophobics 229
black hole radiation 331 burst, gamma ray 311 clock paradox 48
black hole, analogous to bus clock synchronization of 28,
universe? 270 best seat in 57 35
black hole, entropy of 263 buses 135 clocks 137, 272
black hole, extremal 261 cloud 259
black hole, Kerr 260 C clouds in the universe 212
black hole, primordial 264 Caenozoicum 226 CODATA 336
black hole, rotating 261 Cambrian 225 collapsars 256
B black hole, Schwarzschild 260
black hole, stellar 264
candela
definition 286
collapse 264
collision 70
black holes 105, 143, 321 Canopus 242 colour shift 32
black black holes do not exist 267 capture of light 260 coloured constellation 242
black holes, intermediate 264 capture, gravitational 259 comets 214
black holes, micro 264 Carboniferous 225 Commission Internationale
black holes, primordial 264 caress 81 des Poids et Mesures 285

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

black holes, stellar 264 cat’s eye composition theorem for
black holes, supermassive 264 see also retroreflectors accelerations 97
black paint 233 Cat’s-eye, lunar 163 Compton wavelength 295
black vortex 261 cathode ray tube 38 conductance quantum 295
black-body radiation 240 cathode rays 16 Conférence Générale des
blue shift 31 causality 46 Poids et Mesures 285, 289
body and maximum speed 46 conformal group 87
rigid 82, 99 cause and effect 45 conformal invariance 87
solid 99 cenozoic 226 conformal transformations 86
Bohr magneton 295 censorship, cosmic 127 Conférence Générale des

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Bohr radius 295 centi 287 Poids et Mesures 286
Boltzmann constant 62, 292 centre of mass 72 conic sections 161
Boltzmann constant k centrifugal effect 268 connection
physics and 8 Čerenkov radiation 27, 177 causal 46
bomb 68 CERN 311, 314 constant
boost see Lorentz boost, 43, chair as time machine 49 cosmological see
110 challenge classification 9 cosmological constant
boosts change constants
concatenation of 61 quantum of, precise value table of astronomical 296
boosts and the force limit 119 292 table of basic physical 292
bottom quark mass 293 channel rays 16 table of cosmological 298
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

boxes 99 charge table of derived physical

bradyons 71 elementary e, physics and 294
Brans–Dicke ‘theory’ 202 8 constellations 204
brick tower, infinitely high 118 positron or electron, value container 45
brown dwarf 243 of 292 contraction 189, 201
brown dwarfs 215, 242 charm quark mass 293 Convention du Mètre 285
brute force approach 117 chemical mass defect 69 conveyor belt 135
bucket experiment, Newton’s chocolate 233 corkscrew 173
250 Christoffel symbols of the cosmic background radiation
Bureau International des second kind 199 232, 237, 331
 subject index 351

cosmic censorship 127, 266, deci 287 mass 296

333 degree Celsius 287 normal gravity 296
cosmic radiation 49 degree, angle unit 287 radius 296
cosmic rays 73 density perturbations 224 Earth formation 225
cosmological constant 189, density, proper 191 Earth’s rotation 288
192, 196, 236, 281, 298 dependence on 1/r 2 280 Earth, hollow 276
cosmological principle 219 detection of gravitational Earth, ring around 213
cosmonauts 41, 134, 148, 150 waves 175 eccentricity 161
coulomb 287 Devonian 225 eccentrics 276
coupling, principle of diet 69 ecliptic 19
minimal 193 diffeomorphism invariance effects
C courage 27
covariance, principle of
195, 271, 274, 276
diffraction 198
acausal 46
Ehrenfest paradox 304
general 192 dilations 86 Ehrenfest’s paradox 82
cosmic crackpots 37, 314 Diluvium 226 Einstein
creation 240 dimension error 50
Cretaceous 225 fourth 45 Einstein algebra 274
critical mass density 228 dimensionless 294 Einstein tensor 189

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

curvature 140, 143, 181 dinosaurs 225 Einstein’s field equations
see also space-time dislocations 36 see field equations
Gaussian 181 dispersion relation 173 Einstein–Cartan theory 283
intrinsic 181 distance elasticity 143
curvature, average 182 rod 90 electricity, start of 226
curvature, extrinsic 179 distribution, Gaussian 290 electrodynamics 273
curvature, Gaussian 180 distribution, normal 290 electromagnetism 81
curvature, intrinsic 179 DNA 290 electron 16
curvature, near mass 187 donate g-factor 295
curvature, sectional 184 for this free pdf 9 magnetic moment 295

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

cyclotron frequency 295 door sensors 33 mass 293
Cygnus X-1 264 Doppler effect 31, 53, 96 electron size 100
rotational 83 electron volt
D transversal 33 value 296
dark Doppler red-shift 242 elementary particles, size of
speed of the 57 Doppler shift 100
dark energy see cosmological rotational 83 ellipse 161
constant, 68, 216, 279, 281 down quark mass 293 energy 67
dark matter 68, 216, 243, 265, Draconis, Gamma 19 concentrated 68
278, 281, 283 duality dark see cosmological
dark matter problem 236 space-time 277 constant
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

darkness 59 dust 191 kinetic 68

darkness of night sky 234 no free 68
day E no undiscovered 68
sidereal 296 Earth potential 80
time unit 287 age 296 relativistic kinetic 79
de Broglie wavelength 286 average density 296 relativistic potential 80
death 19 equatorial radius 296 energy density, negative 194
deca 287 flattening 296 energy is bounded 80
decay of photons 252 gravitational length 296 energy of the universe 247
deceleration parameter 229 length contraction 51 energy–mass equivalence
 352 subject index

67–69 fence 44 gamma ray bursts 311

energy–momentum 4-vector Fermi coupling constant 293 gamma-ray bursters 253
79 Fermi-Walker transport 308 gamma-ray bursts 214, 245,
energy–momentum tensor Ferrari 51 335
113, 190 fine-structure constant 293, gas constant, universal 294
engines, maximum power of 294 Gaussian curvature 181
108 first law of black hole Gaussian distribution 290
Enlightenment 204 mechanics 111 Gedanken experiment 117
entropy 248 first law of horizon mechanics general covariance 195
relativistic transformation 111 general relativity 26, 133
of 62 flatness see also field equations
E entropy of black hole 263
Eocene 226
measurement of 16
flatness, asymptotic 196
general relativity in one
paragraph 185
equivalence principle 193, 280 flow of time 275 general relativity in ten points
energy–momentum
ergosphere 261, 262 food-excrement mass 278
error difference 69 general relativity, accuracy of
Einstein’s 50 force 197 279
in measurements 290 definition 80, 107 general relativity, first half 143

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

relative 290 maximum see force limit, general relativity, second half
systematic 290 maximum 148
total 290 minimum in nature general relativity, statements
escape velocity 253 130–131 of 145
ether, also called luminiferous Planck see force limit, genius 25, 145
ether 314 maximum geocaching 153
European Space Agency 308 force limit 106 Geocentric gravitational
event horizon 94 force, maximum 104 constant 296
event space 44 hidden 125 geodesic 107
evolution 73 force, maximum, conditions geodesic deviation 200

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

evolution, marginal 228 116 geodesic effect 162, 280
Exa 287 force, perfect 278 geodesic, lightlike 145
excess radius 182 Foucault pendulum 165 geodesic, timelike 145
excrements 69 fourth dimension 44, 45 geometric phase 308
explosion 238 frame dragging 159, 165, 168 geometrodynamic clock 273
extrasolar planets 243 frame of reference 90 Giga 287
extrinsic curvature 179 frame-dragging 165 globular clusters 214
Fraunhofer lines 137, 301 gluon 293
F free fall, permanent 256 gods 191, 248
fall 154 full width at half maximum Gondwana 225
fall, permanent 256 290 GPS, global positioning
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

farad 287 fungi 225 system 152

Faraday’s constant 294 future light cone 46 grass 44
faster than light 151 grass, appearance of 226
velocity 81 G gravitation
faster than light motion γ-rays 16 see also general relativity,
in collisions 71 galaxies and black holes 253 quantum gravity
faster than light motion galaxy 206, 250 gravitation as braking
observed in an accelerated galaxy formation 224 mechanism 108
frame 97 Galilean satellites 17 gravitational and inertial
femto 287 gamma ray burst 22, 311 mass identity 193
 subject index 353

gravitational constant 292 HARP 66 imaginary mass 71

as limit value 128 hecto 287 impact 71
gravitational constant G Helios II satellite 20 impact parameter 158
see also force limit, helium 16, 224, 237 impact parameters 259
maximum, see also power, henry 287 in all directions 251
upper limit hertz 287 incandescence 240
physics and 8 Hertzsprung–Russell diagram indeterminacy relation
gravitational constant is 221 relativistic 100
constant 127 Higgs mass 293 inertial 41
gravitational coupling hole argument 274 inertial frame 90
constant 292 hole paradox 274 inertial frame of reference 41
G gravitational Doppler effect
137
hollow Earth hypothesis 276
Hollywood films 86
infinite number of SI prefixes
289
gravitational energy 191, 197 Holocene 226 inflation 224, 246, 247, 282
gravitational gravitational field 166 Homo sapiens appears 226 after the big bang 247
gravitational lensing 243, 265 Homo sapiens sapiens 226 inflaton field 247
gravitational radiation 321 horizon 220, 255, 257, 304 infrared rays 16
gravitational red-shift 137, 243 see also black hole initial conditions 224, 239

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

gravitational wave detectors as mixtures of space and interaction, is gravity an 197
177 particles 95 interferometers 289
gravitational waves 169 importance of 95–96 intermediate black holes 265
gravitational waves, detection in special relativity 93–96 International Astronomical
of 175 is a surface 94 Union 297
gravitational waves, speed of is black 94 International Commission on
171, 177 moving faster than light 59 Stratigraphy 227
gravitodynamics 171 of a black hole 253 International Earth Rotation
gravitomagnetic field 167 horizon and acceleration 117 Service 288
gravitomagnetism 280 horizon force 110 International Geodesic Union

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

gravity 81, 125, 134 horizons 104 298
gravity see gravitation horizons as limit systems 278 intrinsic 179
Gravity Probe B 165 horsepower, maximum value invariance
gravity wave emission delay of 108 conformal 88
280 hour 287 of the speed of light 22–24
gravity waves 169 Hubble constant 219 invariance of the speed of
gravity waves, spin of 171 Hubble parameter 298 light 28
gray 287 hurry 86 invariants of curvature tensor
grey hair 57 hydrogen fusion 224 201
group hyperbola 161 inversion 86
conformal 87 hyperbolas 258 inversion symmetry 88
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

group 4-velocity 84 hyperbolic cosine 92 Io 17

GUT epoch 224 hyperbolic secant 94 irreducible mass 263
gyromagnetic ratio 268 hyperbolic sine 92 irreducible radius 263
hyperbolic tangent 94 isotropic 182
H hypernova 213 IUPAC 336
hadrons 224 hypersurfaces 88 IUPAP 336
hair, grey 57
hand 71 I J
hand in vacuum 321 Icarus 161, 280 Jarlskog invariant 293
harmonic wave 83 ice age 226 jets 213
 354 subject index

jewel textbook 317 light cone 74 mammals 226

Josephson effect 286 light deflection 280 mammals, appearance of 225
Josephson frequency ratio 295 light pulses, circling each man, wise old 84
joule 287 other 151 manifold
Jupiter 197 light source of events 44
Jupiter’s atmospheric pressure moving 22 manifolds
297 light speed see also space, space-time
Jupiter’s mass 297 finite 233 markers are bad for learning 8
Jupiter’s surface gravity 297 light year 296, 297 Mars 161, 289
Jurassic 225 light, faster than 151 maser 137
light, moving 198 mass 64
J K
k-calculus 29
lightlike 46, 74
lightlike geodesics 199
centre of 72
imaginary 71
kaleidoscope 246 lightning mass as concentrated energy
jewel kelvin speed of 21 68
definition 285 lightning, colour of 301 mass change, maximum 108
Kepler’s relation 174 limit concept 267 mass defect
kilo 287 limit size of physical system measurement of chemical

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

kilogram 127 69
definition 285 limits mass ratio
kilogram, prototype 280 to precision see precision, muon–electron 295
kiss 81 291 neutron–electron 295
Klitzing, von – constant 295 Linux 20 neutron–proton 295
liquid 190 proton–electron 295
L litre 287 mass, equality of inertial and
LAGEOS 324 Lorentz boosts 87 gravitational 154
LAGEOS satellites 165 Lorentz factor 43 mass, gravitational 141
Lagrangian 148 Lorentz symmetry mass, inertial 141

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Large Electron Positron ring see Lorentz invariance mass, spherical 187
36 Lorentz transformations of mass, total, in general
larger 67 space and time 43 relativity 196
laser distance measurement Loschmidt’s number 294 mass–energy equivalence
of Moon 310 lottery 46 67–69
Laurasia 225 loudspeaker 23 mass-defect
law of cosmic laziness 84 lumen 287 nuclear 69
learning lunar retroreflector 163 material systems 101
best method for 8 Lunokhod 162, 300 matter domination 224
without markers 8 lux 287 matter, metastable 256
length contraction 30, 44, 52, Lyman-α 301 mattress 141, 169, 170, 172–174
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

53, 315 maximal ageing 86

LEP 36 M maximum force
life appearance 225 M31 204 see force limit, maximum
light M51 208 hidden 125
acceleration of 30 Mach’s principle 193, 250 late discovery 125
longitudinal polarization Magellanic clouds 205 maximum speed
31 magnetar 215 see speed of light c
massive 31 magnetic flux quantum 295 measurement
the unstoppable 31 magneton, nuclear 295 comparison 288
weighing of 69 magnitude of a 4-vector 74 definition 285, 288
 subject index 355

irreversibility 288 mole N

meaning 288 definition 285 naked singularities 266
precision see precision molecule 151 nano 287
process 288 momenergy 79 NASA 289
measurement error momentum 78 natural unit 294
definition 290 relativistic 65 necklace of pearls 54
measuring space and time 273 MOND 335 negative 180
mechanics Moon 280 Neogene 226
not possible in relativity 81 angular size 296 neutrino 38, 224, 301, 314
relativistic 63 density 296 masses 293
Mega 287 distance 296 PMNS mixing matrix 293
M megaparsec 219
Megrez 242
mass 296
radius 296
neutron
Compton wavelength 295
memory 46 Moon formation 225 magnetic moment 295
measurement mesozoic 225 Moon’s mean distance 296 neutron mass 294
Messier object listing 204 Moon’s surface gravity 297 New Galactic Catalogue 208
meteorites 214 Moon, laser distance newton 287
metre measurement 310 NGC 205 208

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

definition 285 Moons’s atmospheric pressure night sky, darkness of 234
metre bars 272 297 no 271
metric 76, 85 moons, Galilean 17 no-interaction theorem 318
metric connection 199 motion 134 Nordtvedt effect 128, 334
micro 287 hyperbolic 92 normality 337
microscopic motion 281 ideal 16 North Pole 139, 239
microwave background is fundamental 286 nova 213, 221
temperature 298 relativistic 101 nuclear magneton 295
mile 288 superluminal 59 nuclei 224
milk 20, 207 undisturbed 16 nucleosynthesis 224

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

Milky Way 204 motion and measurement null 46
rotation 35 units 286 null geodesics 199
Milky Way’s age 297 motion does not exist 45 null vector 83
Milky Way’s mass 297 Motion Mountain null vectors 74, 77
Milky Way’s size 297 aims of book series 7 number
milli 287 supporting the project 9 imaginary 71
minimum force motor nutshell
in nature 130–131 electric 23 general relativity in a 278
Minion Math font 339 motorbike 92, 99
Minkowski space-time 44 mountain 71 O
Mintaka 242 multiverse objects
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

minute 287, 298 is gibberish 249 real 71

Miocene 226 is nonsense 249 virtual 71
mirror muon observer
relativistic 35 g-factor 295 accelerated 88
mixing matrix muon magnetic moment 295 comoving 78
CKM quark 293 muon mass 293 odometer 75
PMNS neutrino 293 muons 314, 315 ohm 287
modified Newtonian music record 59 Olbers 233
dynamics 335 Mössbauer effect 137 Olbers’ paradox 232
molar volume 294 Oligocene 226
 356 subject index

one-way speed of light 98 phase 4-velocity 84 power, maximum 104

orbits 198 phase of wave 84 power, maximum in nature
order photon 269
partial 46 mass 31 power, maximum, conditions
Ordovician 225 number density 299 116
Orion 71, 242 photon decay 252 power–force 4-vector 81
oscilloscope 59 photon mass 293 Poynting vector 174
Oxford 278 photon sphere 260 PPN, parametrized
oxygen, appearance in physics post-Newtonian
atmosphere 329 map of 8 formalism 152
pico 287 precession 162
O P
π = 3.141592... 82, 336
Pioneer anomaly 201
Planck area, corrected 131
precision 37, 290
limits to 291
paint, black 233 Planck constant prefixes 287, 336
one-way Paleocene 226 value of 292 prefixes, SI 287
Paleogene 226 Planck force 108 present 46
paleozoic 225 Planck force c 4 /4G primates, appearance of 226
Pangaea 225 see force limit, maximum Principe, island of 322

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

parabola 161, 258 Planck length 273 principle
paradox, Olbers’ 232 see also Planck scales, of least action 101
parallax 19 Planck energy of maximum force see
parallel transport 308 Planck speed c see speed of force limit, maximum
parallelism light c principle of equivalence 134
is relative 52 Planck value principle of general
parity invariance 101 see natural units, see covariance 192
parsec 219, 296 Planck units principle of general relativity
particle Planck’s natural length unit 192
ultrarelativistic 79 273 principle of least action 84

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

pascal 287 plane gravity wave 173 principle of maximal ageing
past light cone 46 planet formation 225 86
pearl necklace paradox 54 plants appear 225 principle of minimal coupling
Penning traps 69 plasma 213 192
Penrose inequality 127 Pleiades star cluster 225 principle of relativity 41
Penrose–Hawking singularity Pleistocene 226 principle, correspondence 193
theorems 265, 333 Pliocene 226 principle, equivalence 193
periastron 161 point particles, size of 267 Procyon 242
periastron shift 161 polders 39 proper distance 75
perigee 296 pool proper force 81
perihelion 161, 297 game of 65 proper length 51
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perihelion shift 280 positive 180 proper time 45, 74, 76

permanent free fall 256 positron charge proper velocity 48
permeability, vacuum 292 value of 292 proterozoic 225
Permian 225 positron charge, specific 295 proton
permittivity, vacuum 292 post-Newtonian formalism Compton wavelength 295
person 68 152 g factor 295
perturbation calculations 272 potential energy in relativity gyromagnetic ratio 295
Peta 287 80 magnetic moment 295
phase power 80 specific charge 295
geometric 308 power paradox 123 proton mass 294
 subject index 357

prototype kilogram 280 relativistic correction 43 satellite experiments 281

PSR 1913+16 169, 174 relativistic kinematics 41 Saturn 105
PSR J0737-3039 169 relativistic mass 80 scale factor 86, 227, 234
pulsar 207 relativistic velocity 76 scale symmetry 195
frame dragging and 165 relativity Schwarzschild black hole
pulsars 174, 280 breakdown of special 102 see black hole
general see general Schwarzschild black holes 258
Q relativity Schwarzschild metric 142, 257
Q0957+561 243 of parallelism 52 Schwarzschild radius 143, 254
quadrupole 173 special see special relativity, see also black hole
quadrupole radiation 173 21 Schwarzschild solution 187
P quantum of action 85
precise value 292
relativity, alternatives to 282
relativity, limits of 283
science fiction 68
scissors 58
quantum of circulation 295 relativity, special 16 search engines 311
prototype quantum physics 273, 284 rest 133, 134 searchlight effect 53
quark rest energy 69 second 287, 298
mixing matrix 293 rest mass 80 definition 285
quarks 224 retroreflectors semimajor axis 161

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

quasar 59 see also cat’s eye shadow 16
quasar jets 73 reversible 263 shadows 59
quasars 222, 253, 264 Ricci scalar 186, 188, 189 and radiation 16
Quaternary 226 Ricci tensor 113, 188 speed of 22, 36, 57
Riemann curvature tensor 199 shadows not parallel 306
R Riemann tensor 200 shape and relativity 52
radar 33 Riemann-Christoffel shape of universe 245
radian 286 curvature tensor 199 shear modulus
radiation 16 Riemannian manifold 200 definition 115
speed of 101 Riemannian space-times 45 shear stress, theoretical 115

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

rainbow 304 Rigel 242 ships
random errors 290 rigid bodies do not exist in and the speed of light 18
rapidity 39 nature 99 SI prefixes 289
ray days 16 rigid coordinate system 91 SI units 285, 292
rays 16 rigidity and relativity 52 definition 285
reaction ring interferometers 289 prefixes 287
chemical 69 Robertson–Walker solutions supplementary 286
recombination 224 227 siemens 287
rectilinear 92 rocket 262 sievert 287
red-shift 31, 252 rod distance 90 Silurian 225
red-shift mechanisms 252 rope attempt 117 singularities 127, 194, 330
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

red-shift number 34 rosetta 258 singularities, dressed 266

red-shift tests 280 rosetta paths 260 singularities, naked 266
reflection 198 rotation of the Earth 288 Sirius 242, 322
refraction 198 Rydberg constant 295 size limit 126
refraction, vacuum index of size of electron 100
158 S sky
Regulus 242 sailing darkness at night 231–234
Reissner–Nordström black and the speed of light 18 sky, darkness of night 234
holes 260 Saiph 242 Sloan Digital Sky Survey 328
relativistic contraction 43 satellite 197 slow motion 73
 358 subject index

snooker 65 value 20 pressure 297

snowboarder speed of light, one-way 305 Sun’s luminosity 297
relativistic 52 speed of shadows 59 Sun’s mass 297
Sobral, island of 322 speed of sound Sun’s motion around galaxy
solid bodies 99 values 99 207
solid body speed, perfect 278 Sun’s surface gravity 297
acceleration and length spin and classical wave superluminal motion 59
limit 99 properties 173 superluminal speed 246
sound waves 33 spin of a wave 171 supermassive black holes 264
south-pointing carriage 200 spin of gravity waves 171 supernova 213
space spin–orbit coupling 162 supernovae 221
S absolute 41
space and time, differences
spin–spin coupling 162
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this free pdf 9
between 271 this free pdf 9 surface gravity of black hole
snooker space of life 271 squark 338 255
space-time see also curvature, stalactite 105 surface, physical 123
44, 148 stalagmite 20 suspenders 307
space-time distance 74 standard apple 290 synchronization of clocks 28,

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

space-time interval 44, 74 standard deviation 290 35
spacelike 46, 75 star classes 242 Système International
spacelike convention 76 star speed measurement 33 d’Unités (SI) 285
special conformal stardust 226
transformations 86 Stark effect 32 T
special relativity 16, 21, 26 stars 224 tachyon 60, 71
breakdown of 102 double 22 tachyon mass 71
definition 101 start of physics 226 tachyons 71
in four sentences 101 state of universe 248 Tarantula nebula 205
speed static limit 261 tau mass 293

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

of light c Stefan–Boltzmann constant tax collection 285
physics and 8 295 tea 68
perfect 17, 101 stellar black hole 264 teaching
speed limit steradian 286 best method for 9
is the speed of light 24 stone 86 teaching of general relativity
speed of dark 57 stones 71, 145, 146, 256 282
speed of darkness 59 stopping time, minimum 118 teleportation 63
speed of gravitational waves straightness telescope
172, 177 measurement of 16 largest 207
speed of light strain 142 on satellites 207
and sailing 18 strange quark mass 293 telescopes 206
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and ships 18 stretch factor 43 temperature

as limit speed 24 strong coupling constant 293 relativistic 62
conjectures with variable strong field effects 280 relativistic transformation
101 submarine of 61
finite 233 relativistic 53 tennis
invariance 22–24 Sun 204, 225, 242 and speed of light 22–24
invariance of 28, 88 distance of 19 relativistic 35
meaning ‘in vacuum’ 28 edge colours 35 tensor of curvature 182
one-way 98, 99 Sun’s age 297 tensor trace 185
two-way 98, 99 Sun’s lower photospheric tensors 188
 subject index 359

Tera 287 Triassic 225 effect

terrestrial dynamical time 152 tropical year 296 unstoppable motion
Tertiary 226 tunnel 59 i.e., light 31
tesla 287 twin paradox 48 up quark mass 293
Thames 18 two-way speed of light 98 UTC 152
theorem, no-interaction 318
theory of relativity 26 U V
thermodynamic equilibrium udeko 287 vacuum see also space, 88, 274
256 Udekta 287 vacuum cleaner 23
thermodynamics ultrarelativistic particle 79 vacuum curvature 189
second principle of 47 ultraviolet rays 16 vacuum dragging 168
T Thirring effect 164
Thirring–Lense effect 162, 165,
umbrellas 18
uncertainty
vacuum permeability 292
vacuum permittivity 292
259 relative 290 vacuum wave resistance 294
Tera Thomas precession 61, 164 total 290 vacuum, hand in 321
tidal effects 139, 184, 200, 259 understand 272 vanishing 180
tides 177, 322 unit variance 290
time 46 astronomical 296 Čerenkov radiation 27

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

absolute 41 units 285 Vavilov–Čerenkov radiation
proper 84 non-SI 288 177
time delay 280 provincial 288, 289 velocity
time dilation 29, 30, 43, 50 units, SI angular 83
muon experiment 49 definition 285 faster than light 81
time dilation factor 29 universal gravity 168 proper 48
time independence of G 280 universal gravity, deviation relative 81
time machine 49 from 236 velocity composition formula
Time magazine 140 universal time coordinate 152, 39
time travel to the future 49 289 velocity measurements 88

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014

timelike 46, 75 universe 251 velocity of light
timelike convention 76 air-filled 237 one-way 99
timelike curves, closed 274 finite age 220 two-way 99
TNT energy content 296 slow motion in 73 velocity of light, one-way 305
tonne, or ton 287 transparency of 237 velocity, perfect 278
toothbrush 266 water-filled 237 velocity, proper 304
top quark mass 293 universe – a black hole? 270 velocity, relative - undefined
topology of the universe 245 universe’s shape 245 186
torque 168 universe’s topology 245 vendeko 287
torsion 197, 283 universe, believed 216 Vendekta 287
torsion balances 323 universe, energy of 247 Venus 161
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train 135 universe, full 217 virtual particles 308

relativistic circular 83 universe, observable 216 Volkswagen 181
trains 135 universe, state of 248 volt 287
transformation UNIX 20 vortex, black 261
conformal 54 Unix 20
scaling 86 Unruh effect see W
translation 87 Fulling–Davies–Unruh W boson mass 293
travel into the past 47 effect walking
tree 71, 96, 136, 290 Unruh radiation see Olympic 57
trees appear 225 Fulling–Davies–Unruh water
 360 subject index

cannot fill universe 237 Wien’s displacement constant Xenta 287

watt 287 295
wave 4-vector 83 wind 18 Y
wavelength window frame 58 yocto 287
de Broglie 286 wise old man 84 Yotta 287
waves in relativity 83 WMAP 129 youth
weak energy condition 151 women 37, 260 effect 48–50
weak equivalence principle World Geodetic System 298 youth, gaining 147
323 world-line 45, 46 Yucatan impact 226
weak mixing angle 293 wristwatch time 45, 142
weber 287 written texts 226 Z
W weighing light 69
weight 154
wrong 26 Z boson mass 293
zepto 287
weko 287 X Zetta 287
watt Wekta 287 X-rays 16
white dwarfs 215, 242 xenno 287

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics

copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–June 2014
free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net
MOTION MOUNTAIN
The Adventure of Physics – Vol. II
Relativity

What is the most fantastic voyage possible?

Are shadows faster than light?
Can light be accelerated?
How does empty space bend and how do we measure it?
How stiff is empty space?
What are black holes?
What can we see and discover with the best telescopes?
What is the history of the universe?
What are the maximum force and power values in nature?

Answering these and other questions on motion,

this series gives an entertaining and mind-twisting
introduction into modern physics – one that is
surprising and challenging on every page.
Starting from everyday life, the adventure provides
an overview of modern results in mechanics,
heat, electromagnetism, relativity,
quantum physics and unification.

Christoph Schiller, PhD Université Libre de Bruxelles,

is a physicist and physics popularizer. He wrote this
book for his children and for all students, teachers and
readers interested in physics, the science of motion.

Pdf file available free of charge at

www.motionmountain.net