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Understanding Einstein's Theories of Relativity

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Understanding Einstein's Theories of Relativity

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UNDERSTANDING

EINSTEIN'S
THEORIES OF
RELATIVITY
Man's New Perspective on the Cosmos

StanGibilisco
With 158 Illustrations
DOVER CLASSICS OF SCIENCE AND
MATHEMATICS
Experiments in Topology, Stephen Barr. (25933-1)
Famous Problems of Geometry and How to Solve Them, Benjamin Bold.
(24297-8)
The Historical Roots of Elementary Mathematics, Lucas N. H. Bunt et al.

(25563-8)
A Short History of Technology: From the Earliest Times to a.d. 1900,
T K. Derry and Trevor I. Williams. (27472-1)

Sidelights on Relativity, Albert Einstein. (2451 1-X)

The Great Physicists from Galileo to Einstein, George Gamow. (25767-3)

Entertaining Science Experiments wrm Everyday Objects, Martin Gardner.

(24201-3)
Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science, Martin Gardner. (20394-8)

An Illustrated Guide to Linear Programming, Saul I. Gass. (26258-8)

The Geometry of Art and Life, Matila Ghyka. (23542-4)
Understanding Einstein's Theorjes of Relativity: Man's New Perspective on
the Cosmos, Stan Gibilisco. (26659-1)
De Magnete, William Gilbert. (26761-X)
Mathematics in the Time of the Pharaohs, Richard J. Gillings. (24315-X)

Gossamer Odyssey: The Triumph of Human-Powered Flight, Morton

Grosser. (26645-1)
On the Sensations of Tone, Hermann Helmholtz. (60753-4)
The Strange Story of the Quantum, Banesh Hoffmann. (20518-5)
Alchemy, E. J. Holmyard. (26298-7)
Essentials for Scientific and Technical Writers, Hardy Hoover. (24060-6)

The Science of Soap Films and Soap Bubbles, Cyril Isenberg. (26960-4)

Physics and Philosophy, Sir James Jeans. (24117-3)

Science and Music, Sir James Jeans. (61964-8)
From Sundials to Atomic Clocks: Their Theory and Construction, James
Jespersen and Jane Fitz-Randolph. (24265-X)
Ancients and Moderns, Richard Foster Jones. (24414-8)
The Science of Measurement, Herbert Arthur Klein. (258394)
Practical Statistics Simply Explained, Russell Langley. (227294)
Earth, the Sapphire Planet, Uri Lanham. (40677-6)
Visual Illusions: Their Causes, Characteristics and Applications,
M. Luckiesh. (21530-X)
The Exact Sciences in Antiquity, O. Neugebauer. (22332-9)

(continued on back flap)

Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2012

http://archive.org/details/understandingeinOOstan
Professor Albert Einstein ( Brown Brothers).
Understanding Einstein's

Theories of Relativity
Man's New Perspective on the Cosmos

BY STAN GIBILISCO

DOVER PUBLICATIONS, INC, New York

This Dover edition, first publishedin 1991, is an unabridged, corrected republication of

the work originally published by TAB BOOKS Inc., Blue Ridge Summit, Pa., 1983. The
author has updated the list of "Suggested Additional Reading" for this edition.

Original edition edited by Roland Phelps

Manufactured in the United States of America

Dover Publications, Inc.
31 East 2nd Street
Mineola, N.Y. 11501

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Gibilisco, Stan.
Understanding Einstein's theories of relativity man's new perspective on the
:

cosmos / by Stan Gibilisco.

p. cm.
Reprint. Originally published: Blue Ridge Summit, Pa. Tab Books, cl983.
:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-486-26659-1 (pbk.)
1. Relativity (Physics) —
Popular works. 2. Space and time —
Popular works.
I. Title.
QC173.57.G5 1991
530. l'l— dc20 90-20570
CIP
ccpJ |>))

Contents
Introduction VII

1 The Speed of Light Is the Speed of Time

— —
The Fundamental Axiom of Relativity Reference Frames Light Speed Ether Theory — — Indirect
— —
Observations Theoretically Faster than Light Seeing Back in Time What Is Light? — — Particle
— —
Theory Wave Theory Matter Is Energy Time Is Distance —
2 What Does "Simultaneous" Mean? 21
Time Stations —Clocks in Space — Very Far Ago —The Effect of Motion- -Motion of a Viewer — Moving
Light Sources — Red and Blue Shift — Expanding Space—Cosmic Time
3 Time Distortion 38
Time Distortion as a Result of Motion —A
Light-Beam Clock: Special Relativity Point of View —
— —
Calculating the Time-Distortion Factor The General Case The Twin Paradox The Rotation —
— — —
Paradox Standards of Motion The General Theory Addition of Velocities Time Dimensions —
4 Distortion of Space and Mass 58
Velocity-Corrected Space-Time — Moving Rods — Moving Disks — Three Spatial Dimensions
Mesons — Inertial Mass — Motion —Conservation
In Momentum — A Contradiction — Mass Versus Vel-
of
ocity

5 Journeys to the Stars 70

Space Ship Design — —
High Speed- -A Trip to Alpha Centauri Time Travel Backward Time Travel
for
Difficulties with Interstellar Travel- Telecommunications —
Star Hopping —
Have We Been Visited?
—
Close Encounters Project Ozma- "Hyperspace" Communication
6 Dimensions and Hyperspace 87
What Is — — —
a Dimension? The Cartesian System Polar Coordinates Two-Space The Distance For- —
— —
mula for Plane Geometry Euclidean or Non-Euclidean? Euclidean and Non-Euclidean Three-
— — —
Space The Hypersphere The Four-Cube Time as the Fourth Dimension Escaping from a Cell —
Intersecting Spaces — —
How We See Lesser Spaces More than Four Dimensions Interior Angles of a—
Triangle— Refraction — — —
Geodetic Lines Coordinates in "Spherical" Universes Coordinates in "Non-
Spherical" Universes —
Distance Through Progressively More Dimensions

7 The Theory of General Relativity 118

Centrifugal Force — Alone in — A Universe Two— Acceleration and Gravitation — Inside
the Universe of
theBall — Distortion of Time and Space Caused by Acceleration — Resolving the Twin Paradox —The
Rotational Acceleration Field — Rotating Coordinates — Points of View Are Equally Valid —One-to-One
All
Correspondences — Acceleration Distorts Space — Deflection a Photon with Circular Motion —The
of
Principle of Equivalence— Light from the Stars — The Perihelion of Mercury — Red Shift Caused by
Gravitation —Gravity Waves — The Unified Field Theory — Space Really Curved?
Is

8 Anomalies in Space 154

The Death of a Star —
Gravitational Collapse— An Outside View —
Gravitational Radius Versus
— —
Mass How Common Are Black Holes?— Gravitational Shock Waves Strange Binary Stars Quasi- —
Stellar Radio Sources — —
Collapsars and Space Travel Collapsars and Time Travel Black-Hole —
—
Universes Is Our Universe a Black Hole?

9 The Structure and Evolution of the Universe 174

The Universe — —
Ptolemy Copernicus, Tycho, and Kepler Galileo and Newton Orbital Geometry
of —
— —
According to Newton Newton's Absolute Space and Time The Advent of Modern Cosmology
— —
Distance Measurements in the Cosmos Slipher, de Sitter, and Hubble The Steady-State Theory
—
The Beginning of Time The End of Time

The Speed of Light

Is the Speed of Time

THE LATE PART OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, terfrom what point of view it is measured. In free
INphysics was an unpopular was regarded
field. It space, this speed is about 186,000 miles, or

as a science that had reached total maturity; 300,000 kilometers, per second. At such a speed, a
everything there was to know about it had been ray of light travels from the sun to the earth in about
discovered. It wasn't a challenge anymore. With no eight minutes. The light of the moon takes only a
hope for further adventure, physics was dead— an littlemore than one second to get to our planet.
intellectual graveyard. The significant consideration is that this speed
Then, in the early years of this century, some is always the same. It would appear identical

brilliant scientists revolutionized physics and as- whether we measured it on the earth the moon the
, ,

tronomy by disproving the accepted Newtonian sun, on board a space vessel, or in an intense
principles. At this time, the new science of cosmol- gravitational field.
ogy was born. Suddenly, it seemed that hardly What caused Einstein to postulate this? Per-
anything was known about the subject. The most haps it was his stubborn belief in an orderly uni-

famous of these pioneers was Albert Einstein, and verse; perhaps he thought such a principle was
his model of the universe became known as the mathematically elegant because of its simplicity.
theory of relativity. Whatever his reason, he set out to discover,
mathematically, in the privacy of his own mind,
THE FUNDAMENTAL AXIOM OF RELATIVITY things that have affected the course of human his-
The premise on which Einstein's entire theory is tory to an extent previously unparalleled.
based is that the speed of light, and all elec- As an example of this principle, imagine that
tromagnetic radiation, is always the same, no mat- we are on board a hovering spaceship somewhere
o ©-
Earth
— 7
f
1

1
Moon
e

To sun

o ©
Earth
— 1 km /sec

|
©
Moon
I

To sun

Fig. 1-1. Measuring the speed of light from different moving points of view always gives the same result. At A, the ship is

hovering above the earth; at B, it is moving away from the earth toward the moon at 1 kilometer per second.

between the earth and the moon, as shown in Fig. kilometers per second, exactly 1 kilometer per

1-1A. Suppose an earth-based space station shoots second less than previously. Since we are retreat-
a laser beam out toward us. Imagine further that we ing from the source, such a conclusion appears
are equipped with very complex and sophisticated logical, but no — it is not any slower— it is exactly
apparatus that enables us to measure the speed of the same. Turning toward the sun and then the
this beam with extreme accuracy. We measure the moon, we find that the light arriving from them is
speed of the arriving laser beam and find it to be still coming in at exactly 299,792.50 kilometers per

299 ,792 .50 kilometers per second We measure the

. second. Why should this be?
speed of the light arriving from the sun and find that This effect has been experimentally verified
it is also 299,792.50 kilometers per second. We now that we have equipment capable of measuring
measure the speed of the moonlight, and obtain, the speed of light very accurately. It is no longer
once again, the same value. just a theory. In the early twentieth century, there
Now, suppose we ignite our engines and ac- was no positive certainty about the truth of Ein-
celerate our vessel to a velocity of 1 kilometer per stein's fundamental axiom. Now, we know it is true.
second directly away from the earth, as shown in
Fig. 1-1B. Focusing our speed-measuring equip-
REFERENCE FRAMES
ment on the laser beam from the earth-based ob- An observer's perception of the universe depends
servatory, we measure the speed of the arriving on his point of view, or reference frame. A refer-
light. You might expect it to be 299,791.50 ence frame may be stationary, moving at a given
speed in a given direction or accelerating
, at a given base it on yourself; you are moving away from it,

rate in a given direction. However, in order to make and it is moving away from you (Fig. 1-2A).
any sense, motion (or lack of motion) must be mea- But, now suppose that you fire the gun at
sured with respect to another object. We cannot intervals, in the exact same direction, each time
simply say that something is moving at x meters per causing some recoil. For convenience, imagine that
second; we have to specify a reference frame to the gun is fired at exact one-second intervals. Now,
define motion. you can suppose that each bullet gives you a little

Consider the simple example of a universe more push, causing you to accelerate in bursts, in
with only one object. That is, suppose there is a the opposite direction from that of the stream of
continuum that is absolutely empty except for one bullets. This is shown by Fig. 1-2B. What reference
piece of matter. Imagine that you are that object, frame can we use to determine whether or not your
floating in the total blackness of an otherwise unoc- body is, in fact, accelerating? A good choice would
cupied universe. How can you say whether you are be the first bullet. If you measure your speed with
moving or rotating or stationary? All you can respect to the first bullet, you will find that your
perhaps surmise is that, since there appear to be no speed increases slightly each time you fire the gun.
forces pulling in any direction on your body, you are Your velocity will always be 1,000 meters per sec-
not accelerating. Otherwise, you have nothing with ond away from the most recently fired bullet; com-
which you can compare your reference frame Mo- . pared to earlier and earlier bullets, your speed will
tion is without meaning. be greater and greater.
Now, imagine that you are equipped with a gun Under these circumstances, the only objects
of some kind, still floating in the otherwise empty available for ascertaining your motion in the uni-
universe; suppose this gun has large, heavy bullets verse are the bullets, unless you assume (post-
that generate considerable recoil when the gun is ulate) that you are the absolute standard of refer-
fired . Suppose this gun propels its bullets at a speed ence in your universe. This might be a good as-
of 1,000 meters per second. sumption. It is certainly tempting to postulate this
After firing the gun one time, you can reason- in an effort to make matters simple. Unfortunately,
ably conclude that its bullet is traveling through the doing this leads to an inability to explain certain
void away from you at 1,000 meters per second. effects.
Has its recoil effect set you in motion? This you Remember that the gun always fires each bul-
cannot say, since the only other object you have to let with a speed of exactly 1 ,000 meters per second
compare your motion with is the bullet. No absolute If you consider yourself as always stationary, then
reference frame exists. It is just as logical to base all bullets fired from the gun should always move
the motion in this universe on the bullet as it is to through the void away from you at exactly that

Fig. 1 -2. A from a gun at 1 ,000 meters per second

bullet is fired in an otherwise unoccupied universe. At A, a single bullet is

fired; at B, several bullets are fired in succession.

Fig. 1 -3. The first attempt to measure the speed of light. As far as the experimenters could tell, the speed of light was infinitely
fast.

speed. This should be true no matter how many as material objects, are limited to this speed. There
times you fire the gun. However, more distant is no known way to transfer information via any
bullets appear to move faster; the earlier a bullet medium that goes faster.
was fired (that is, the more bullets you shoot after a How we measure the speed of a light
can
given bullet), the greater its velocity will be. It beam? The earliest attempts were conducted long
would be very difficult to explain why the firing of ago between experimenters with lanterns. Their
the gun would cause an entire stream of distant method is illustrated by Fig. 1-3. By prior agree-
bullets to speed up! And all by the same amount! ment, they arranged to have one man uncover his
The examples just given are somewhat un- lantern, and the other man was to uncover his lan-
realistic, since of course, we do not exist in an tern as soon as he saw the light from the first. The
otherwise empty continuum. Our universe has first man would then ascertain the period between
trillions of objects. They are all moving with re- the time he uncovered his lantern and the moment
spect to each other in an infinite combination of he saw the light from the second. This experiment
velocities. Finding any one object to call "at rest" is was conducted over distances as large as practica-
simultaneously trivial and impossible. Every object ble, such as between two hilltops. Needless to say,
is, of course, stationary with respect to its own the only significant delay in transit was the result of
reference frame, and in motion relative to most the imperfection of the reflexes of the second man.
other objects. Relativity theory asserts that ever}' Later attempts to measure the speed of light
point of view is as good as every other; there is no proved more fruitful. It is now possible to measure
absolute standard of motion in the universe. the speed of light with fair accuracy using equip-
ment found in a high-school physics or electronics
LIGHT SPEED laboratory. Figure 1-4 shows the basic arrange-
The idea that the universe has no absolute standard ment.
for motion is consistent with the fundamental axiom The light source, consisting of a neon lamp
of relativity. No frame of reference has any advan- capable of being modulated at a rapid rate , is driven
tage with respect to the speed of light or abso- by a series of pulses with waveforms similar to
lute motion. All points of view in the universe are thosein Fig. 1-5A. The light from the bulb is colli-

equivalent. mated by means of a lens and the resulting beam is

All electromagnetic radiation travels with the aimed at a mirror several meters away. The mirror
same velocity as light. Relativity theory goes reflects the beam back to the photoelectric cell,
further, to state that speeds greater than light are which is oriented so that it receives some light

not possible, and that all forces and effects, as well directly from the bulb as well as the light reflected
from the mirror. The photoelectric cell is con- the speed of light would be affected by motion.
nected to an oscilloscope as shown in Fig. 1-4. They knew that the speed of sound was affected by
The oscilloscope displays two series of pulses motion, and they theorized that light must also be
as shown in Fig. 1-5B. One series is the result of influenced. They postulated that light, in order to
the light arriving directly from the bulb, a few travel, must be carried by a medium of some kind,
inches away; the other is the result of the light just like sound. This idea became known as the ether
reflected off the mirror. The latter beam has theory— the medium for light propagation must be
traveled a considerable distance. By adjusting the present everywhere, even in a total vacuum.
orientation of the photoelectric cell, lens and bulb Perhaps this ether was the key to the absolute
so that both pulses are of equal amplitude on the motion standard for the universe. If light traveled

scope, the time delay can be measured. Then, with constant speed in the ether, then we ought to
knowing the difference between the distances be able to determine, by measuring the speed of
traveled by the light beams causing the two sets of light in various directions, the speed of the earth
pulses, the speed of light can be calculated. Such a with respect to this ether. Such was the reasoning
method is satisfactory for measurement to within a at the time.
few percent.
Once the technology had been obtained to dis- ETHER THEORY
cover that light did not, in fact, travel instantane- We know that sound travels by conduction, with a
ously from place to place (as had been previously fixed speed, through the atmosphere. If a source of
thought), scientists naturally wondered whether sound waves is stationary relative to the surround-

Bulb
Collimating lens

Mirror

r
Pulse Scope
generator

Fig. 1 -4. A more modern, but elementary, method of measuring the speed of light. The path distance is d. This apparatus can
be set up in a high-school physics lab.
Fig. 1 -5. At A, the output of the pulse generator of Fig. 1 -4. At B, the resulting display on the oscilloscope. The speed of light is

the distance d divided by the delay time

ing air, then the speed of sound is the same in all possible effect of the motion of the earth relative to
directions away from the source (Fig. 1-6A). If the the other. Light from a distant star was measured at
source motion relative to the surrounding air,
is in two times: first, when was moving toward
the earth
then the sound travels move rapidly away from the the star in its orbit around the sun, and six months
source in the direction opposite its motion, and later, when the earth was moving away from the
more slowly in the direction of its motion (Fig. star. It was hoped that this and other experiments
1-6B). The speed of sound is constant with respect would provide a clue as to the absolute motion of the
to the air, regardless of the motion of its source. earth with respect to the universe as a whole; for, of
Would the same be true of light? Experiments were course, the ether should be at rest with respect to
carried out to see. the universe, constituting an absolute standard of
Figure 1-7 shows one setup to measure the motion.

6
V;
----CCCCCCCCih))))W>

Fig. 1 -6. Sound waves emanating from a stationary object (A), in this case a motorboat, and a moving object (B). At A, v, = v2 .

but at B, v, > v 2 where velocities are measured relative to

,
the sound source.

Even experiment
1

to detect the motion of the between A and B , so that we , at C can watch

, the ray
earth with respect to the conductive ether turned of light as it moves across the space between sta-
out negative. Scientists developed elaborate expla- tions A and B. In this case, the beam will seem to
nations to preserve the idea that there might after complete the transit in 1.414 seconds, not one sec-
all be some kind of conductive medium in the uni- ond. The beam will appear to move more and more
verse, but it simply was not consistent with ob- slowly as it gets further and further from station A.
served fact. The main objective of the ether theory The reason for this apparent paradox is that the
was determine an absolute standard of motion for
to image of the ray of light, projected onto the in-

the universe; by defying all experimental efforts to terstellar dust, must travel greater and greater dis-
find such a standard, the ether theory was eventu- tances to our observation point at station C. This
ally scrapped. Some other explanation for the con- image itself can, after all, travel only at the speed of
stancy of the speed of light propagation had to be 1 ight . Upon first leaving station A , the image travels
found 300,000 kilometers, or one light second. By the
time it reaches station B, the ray of light is 300,000
INDIRECT OBSERVATIONS x VlTkilometers, or 1.414 light seconds, from us;
Under certain circumstances, the speed of light the image consequently requires 1.414 seconds to
may not appear constant. However, such instances arrive at our observation point. We see the beam
always involve measurement from a remote point, leaving A as it is really just arriving at station B, and
rather than in the vicinity of the light beam itself. we see it reach B \r2, or 1 .414 seconds after that ,

One such set of parameters is shown in Fig. 1-8. Suppose that the light beam is now diverted
Imagine that there are three space stations just a little, so it misses station B and goes on into
arranged as illustrated, at the vertices of a right space. As the light beam travels past B, it will
equilateral triangle. A laser beam is fired from sta- appear to move more and more slowly. If we move
tion A toward station B. Since the distance sep- station B out to greater and greater distances, the
arating A from B is 300,000 kilometers, light will discrepancy between the actual and observed
complete the trip in one second . If we place a mirror transit time will get greater and greater. The dis-
at station B and orient it so the light beam is re- crepancy will approach a factor of 2 as the distance
flected back to A, an observer at A will measure a is increased without limit, so that if the distance is

two-second delay and conclude that light travels at very great, the beam will appear to take nearly
300,000 kilometers per second. twice as long to travel the path, as compared to its

But, suppose we are observing this from sta- actual transit time.
tion C Imagine
. that there is a lot of interstellar dust Figure 1-9 shows an extreme example. Here,
stations A and B are 100 light seconds, or require a bit over 199 seconds to make the trip over
30,000,000 kilometers, apart. We see the light ray a distance that is actually 100 light seconds!
leave station A when it has traveled one light sec- If we reverse this situation— that is, shoot the

ond toward B. The beam actually gets to station B beam from station B to station A— the beam will
99 seconds after that. But the image will not arrive appear to travel almost infinitely fast. This is illus-
at our observation station until a little more than trated by Fig. 1-10. In this situation, the apparent
100 seconds later still. Thus the beam will seem to transit time will be only 0.995 seconds. We see the

Light
J

from
'
distant
1 star

o 1

Light
--A'
f c
Earth € Or Sun from
distant
star

V 1

o 1

N» ' t
Sun -o- Q> Earth

Fig. 1 -7. Experiment for determining the effect, if any, of the ether on the apparent speed of light. At A, the light from a star is put
through speed-measuring equipment as the earth is moving away from the star. At B, the test is repeated six months later,

when the earth is moving toward the star.

300,000 km (1 It sec).

300,000
km 300,000 x V2
km

Fig. 1-8. The projected image of a light beam may not always appear equal to c.

«
h 30,000,000 km
Km (iuo
(100 It
it sec
sec)

©•
00.000
300,000 ©
km

T Obs.
point

Fig. 1-9. A more extreme example of the apparent speed change of a projected light beam.
1K
30,000,000 km (100 It sec)
^

300,000
km
©

T Obs.
point

Fig. 1-10. Apparent speed increase of a projected light beam traveling on an approaching path.

beam leave station B after it has actually arrived at ity . This may allow us to exceed the speed of light in
A! The image of the ray travels almost the same a certain theoretical sense. If we hold the two rods

path through space as the ray itself. so they cross a few feet in front of us (A), and then
These examples may at first seem to violate, slowly move them toward a parallel orientation, the
or invalidate, the fundamental axiom of relativity. intersection point of the two rods will move away
To keep the theory consistent, we must amend the from us at an ever-increasing rate (B). If the rods
axiom to state that the speed of light is always are long enough the point of intersection will
, move
constant, no matter what the reference frame from away in an asymptotic manner, whereupon the in-

which it is measured, as long as we measure its tersection will suddenly disappear as the rods be-
speed directly (such as with the method of Fig. 1-4). come parallel. At some time just prior to the rods

If we measure the speed of an image, we will not becoming parallel, the velocity of this intersection
necessarily get an accurate indication, since the point will surpass the speed of light. This is neces-
image itself can travel only at the speed of light and, sary in order that the point can travel an infinite

thus needs a certain amount of time to reach us. distance in a finite amount of time.

Of course, such a model is impractical for sev-

THEORETICALLY FASTER THAN LIGHT eral reasons. Such rods cannot be constructed;
A consequence of the fundamental axiom of relativ- there is no such thing as a total lack of elasticity , and
ity is, as we shall see in later chapters, the fact that the length necessary to achieve the extreme speed
we cannot get any material object to travel at the would be ridiculous. But even if we could obtain

speed of light. No matter how much energy is ex- such rods , how do we know that the impulse of their
pended to accelerate a piece of matter, the resulting changing orientation can travel faster than light?
speed always be slower than the speed of light.
will Might the rods actually bend because such speed
No matter how powerful our spacecraft engines simply cannot happen? The fundamental axiom of
ever get, we will never be able to travel at the relativity would seem to say that this would in fact

speed of light. The speed of light is the fastest be the case. Even the effect of changing orientation
possible velocity in our universe. should obey this law. Unfortunately there is no
A statement such as this will surely invite experimental way to determine this.

attempts to disprove it. One of the most popular We can substitute beams of light for the rods,
arguments, or models, used to try to invalidate this and perhaps conduct the experiment in a realistic

is shown in Fig. 1-11. Suppose we have two rigid way. Light always goes in a straight line, and it is a
rods, immensely long, with absolutely no elastic- trivial task to change the direction of a collimated

10
light source. Figure 1-12 illustrates how we might two seconds, the beams will be parallel out to

attempt to generate speeds faster than light, if only 600.000 kilometers; after ten seconds, out to
for a theoretical point of intersection. While this 3,000,000 kilometers, and so on. The crossing
point is not a material thing, it does exist in the point will be limited in its speed because of this
sense that, at the point, light is shining from both distortion. This is a rase where the light actually
sources, and this is true of no other point in space. does not go in a straight line because of the change
Suppose, then, that these beams cross at a in direction of the sources.
certain angle and we suddenly orient the beams so Still another example, once again involving
that they are parallel. In theory, the intersection objects that cannot really exist but are useful to
point should move away with extreme speed. In imagine for illustrative purposes, is the rope-and-
fact . the point will move away in a manner shown by pulley model. Imagine that we string a pulley sys-
Fig. 1-13. After, say, one second, the beams will be tem between the earth and the moon, as shown in

parallel out to a distance of 300,000 kilometers, but the diagram of Fig. 1-14. Suppose that this rope is

will remain in their original positions at greater completely inelastic, so it will not stretch no matter
distances. The light requires time to travel, and how long it we pull on one end of the rope, will
is. If

until the light emitted by the lasers at their new the other end move back immediately, or will there
positions reaches a certain place in space, the rays be a time delay?
will appear as they were before the change . After The moon is approximately 400,000 kilome-

Fig. 1-11. A theoretical attempt to generate speeds faster than light using two extremely long, stiff rods.

11
Fig. 1 -1 2. A practical means of attempting to generate speeds in excess of c. Point P may eventually achieve such speeds, it is
hoped.

Fig. 1-13. What actually happens in the experiment of Fig. 1 -12. At A, the initial situation is shown; at B, after a short interval of
time; at C, after a longer time.

12
ters from earth. The impulse must therefore travel
800,000 kilometers. This is roughly 2.7 light sec-
onds. Relativity theory asserts that the retraction
will be delayed by this amount of time because the
impulse— the fact that the rope was pulled— can
itself only move at the speed of light.

How can the speed of light be so absolute?

Relativity theory simply postulates that it is. A
second axiom mandates that nothing can go faster
than light: not material objects, not gravity, not
electric or magnetic forces, nor even facts or ideas!
In this sense the speed of light
, is the speed of time
We now have two postulates, asserted as ab-
solute truths without proof. We have experimen-
tally verified the fundamental axiom of relativity
since Einstein first proposed it; there may still

come the time when a contradiction is derived from

the axiom, but as yet this has not happened In order .

to develop a scientific theory, we must have such

absolutes, and then make deductions based on
them. Of course, we should not indiscriminately
postulate something just because it sounds good;
doing this would certainly result in logical con-
tradictions somewhere. If we run across a con-
tradiction in a theory, it means the theory is incon-
sistent and, we had better change the set of axioms
As yet, this has not occurred in the theory of rel-
ativity.

SEEING BACK IN TIME

What if we could violate this second axiom some-
how, and go at speeds faster than light? What might
we be able to do? Here is one example.
Imagine that we have extremely powerful
telescopes, and very sensitive radio receiving
equipment, on board a spacecraft that can travel
twice the speed of Suppose we get on board
light.

that ship and travel a distance of two light years

directly away from the earth at the maximum speed
of 2c. By doing this, we will be able to "catch up" to
light that left the earth before we did. We will not
only catch up to the light that left the earth, but we
will also catch up to all the electromagnetic radia-
Fig. 1-14. The rope-and-pulley experiment. A non-elastic tion that was emitted, such as from television and
rope is strung between the earth and the moon, a total radio broadcasting stations. Moving at 2c for a dis-
round-trip distance of 800,000 kilometers. Then one end of
the rope is pulled, and the other end retracts. The speed of tance of two light years, we could catch up to the
the impulse is measured. light that left the earth a year before we left.

13
Focusing our super telescope on the home like it is composed of particles. In certain other
planet, we would be able to see events in the past; ways, it behaves like a wave. These two models of
we might even glimpse ourselves getting out of our electromagnetic energy, both with merit, make it

house and heading for the car togo to the drug store difficult for us to say exactly what light is, just as
to get some aspirin for that terrible headache. With atomic theory makes it quite a task to explain
our radio receiving equipment, we might listen to exactly what matter is. Here, we will briefly de-
last year's football games all over again. With tele- scribe what we can observe about electromagnetic
we could have a complete replay. But, these
vision, energy, consistent with these two models.
would be no tape recordings; we would be seeing
the actual events and listening to the actual signals!
There is a certain intuitive uneasiness in PARTICLE THEORY
imagining things like this. We could actually broad- Scientists first developed the idea that light might
cast a message ourselves, and then go listen to it
consist of discrete corpuscles in the time of Isaac
and perhaps watch our actions. It would be like Newton. Today, we notice that light behaves as a
existing in two places at the same time. stream of particles, known as quanta or photons,
Continuing further out into space at the speed which represent the smallest possible packet of
of 2c, we could listen to the very first wireless electromagnetic energy. As such, they are indivisi-
broadcasts; after that we would no longer hear ble. You can't have part of a photon.
anything on the airwaves because the first experi- To illustrate quantized light, imagine the ex-
mental broadcasts had not yet reached us. In periment of Fig. 1-15. Suppose you shine a flash-
theory with a powerful enough telescope
, , we could light onto a wall for exactly one second. The light
watch our grandparents playing in their yards; we striking the wall may consist of, say, one joule of
could watch the Revolutionary War; we might even energy if the bulb emits one watt of light. Now.
find out how man evolved. imagine that you shine the light for only 0.5 sec-
But relativity theory denies all this . It can only onds; then only 0.5 joules of energy is intercepted
remain in our imaginations. We'll never do it. We by the wall. Suppose you keep cutting the length of
cannot travel any faster than light, at least in our time in half: You switch the light on for V* second, Vfe

universe. Perhaps there are other universes, and second, and so on, halving the amount of energy
mathematically there may be ways to get around again and again. Theoretically, you can keep doing
this second axiom of relativity in an indirect way.
this forever, neglecting of course the limits im-
We will have more to say about this in later chap-
posed by your reflexes and the nature of the physi-
ters. cal apparatus. You can always divide a positive,
nonzero number by two, and get another positive,
WHAT IS LIGHT? nonzero number.
We have seen that light, and all electromagnetic According to the corpuscular theory of light,
energy as well as electric and magnetic fields, however, you cannot continue this process forever.
travel at a constant speed through the universe and , After a certain number of repetitions, you will reach
that this speed in vacuum is the same as measured a point where just a few photons, perhaps eight of
from all non-accelerating reference points. But them, strike the wall. On the next flash, half as
what is electromagnetic energy? How do we ex- long, four photons will hit the wall, and then two,
plain its propagation? Scientists have developed and finally only one. What after that? You cannot
two models to explain the behavior of elec- have half a photon!
tromagnetic propagation, and these theories are On the next flash of the light, all we can say is
commonly called the "particle theory" and the that we might get a photon and we might not, and
"wave theory." These are self-explanatory' terms. that the probability is 50 percent that we will. On
Light displays certain properties that make it seem the next flash, the probability is 25 percent that a

14
photon will strike the wall; after that, 12.5 percent, also actually observed that a beam of light puts
and so on. Of course, there might be extraordinary physical pressure on any object it shines upon.
occurrences where we get two photons that happen The amount of energy carried by a single
to be emitted almost simultaneously, but the point photon can vary. A photon of red light carries less
is that we will never, ever get part of a photon. energy than a photon of green light, which in turn
Of course, no one has ever done this particular carries less energy than a photon of violet light.
experiment and gotten these results. But scientists Knowing the amount of energy carried by a photon,
have seen that certain atomic reactions produce we can determine the kind of energy. Figure 1-16
energy by-products in discrete amounts. They have illustrates the relation between the energy in a

K*«, •
"* S '•*••
»* .7 » •
V '
•'• '-o

Photon stream

I
Photons

I
Fig. 1-15. Quantized light beams from a hypothetical flashlight. At A, the beam at a given instant. At B, a brief flash is caught in
mid-flight. At C, an extremely short flash produces only two photons.

15
Fig. 1-16. The energy in a single photon of visible light depends on the color.

single photon and the color of the light beam re- energy, all the photons carry the same amount of
sulting from a barrage of these photons. energy and, it is not possible to have any quantity of
A single photon carries only a minute amount energy not a multiple of this amount.
of energy. Mathematically, this energy is on the The photons comprising any electromagnetic
order of quintillionths of a joule for visible light, energy travel, of course, at the speed of light. The
septillionths or octillionths of a joule for radio sig- particle theory of light is very convenient for
nals, and perhaps a few trillionths of a joule for answering the question, "Why does light travel at

X-rays. But for a given type of electromagnetic finite speed and not infinitely fast?" But when we

16
ask, "Why the particular speed of just under photons carrying greater amounts of energy (such
300,000 kilometers per second in a vacuum?" the as blue light) should travel faster than photons with
particle theory is not of much use. Intuitively, the less energy (such as red light); but they all move in

particle theory might tempt us to believe that a vacuum at the same speed. The photons with

Barrier
with two
slits

1
pfc*^**^

Light beam Screen

***»&&

Fig. 1-17. Interference patterns are produced when monochromatic light is passed through two narrow slits This shows that
light has wave-like properties.

17
more energy have more mass. In that sense, they
are heavier, and cause greater pressure when they
10 3 _ Longwave radio
strike a barrier.
Mathematically, the relation between the
AM broadcast
mass of a photon and the energy it carries is given
10 2 -
by the formula:
Shortwave radio
E = mc 2
10 1
-
where E is the energy and m is the mass, in joules
FM broadcast and grams respectively. The constant in this equa-
10° - tion is c, the speed of light.

WAVE THEORY
10- 1
- Uhf radio Electromagnetic energy shows wave-like behavior
under the right conditions. This can be easily
Microwave radio demonstrated by passing a beam of light through
E 10- 2 - two narrow slits spaced very close to each other.
The resulting interference pattern gives strong
evidence to the idea that light is a wave (Fig. 1-17).
C 10- 3 -
Light waves, like ripples on a pond, tend to bend
CD
> around sharp corners and diffract through narrow
CO
slits. In fact, "ripple tanks" are used quite often to
10- 4 -
demonstrate wave behavior.
The wave theory of light gives rise to the

10- s - thought that there must be some kind of conductive

medium to carry electromagnetic energy. This
Infrared
theory is not, however, consistent with other ob-
10- 6 - served facts. How do waves travel through a total
Visible light void? Apparently the simple existence of electric
and magnetic forces is sufficient; the idea that there
10- 7 - Ultraviolet must be some kind of medium to carry these forces
is a notion that appeals to our intuition but need not
necessarily be a fact.
10 8 - Near X rays All waves result from oscillations. Elec-
tromagnetic waves are caused by the vibration of
electrically charged particles. Wave motion dis-
10- 9 - Far X rays plays two properties, frequency (represented by f)

and wavelength (represented by the Greek letter

lambda A). These two properties of a wave are
10-io -
related to each other by the constant factor c:

c = Af.
10" 11 -

where k is specified in meters, f in oscillations per

Fig. 1-18. The electromagnetic spectrum from a wavelength
second, and c meters per second.
in
of 1,000 meters to 10 trillionths of a meter. (This is a
logarithmic scale.) Radio signals have a wavelength that can be

18
measured in meters; visible light waves must be of light c defines the relation of matter and energy
. ,

measured millionths of meters, or microns; they

in The total amount of matter/energy in the uni-
are often also measured in units of 10"'" meters, verse may or may not be constant. If the amount is
known as Angstrom units. Electromagnetic radia- changing, it may enter or leave our universe in
tion can occur at any wavelength. Figure 1-18 either form. Some older models of the universe
shows the electromagnetic spectrum, and the consider it to be finite but , surrounded by a void that
wavelengths of various kinds of electromagnetic extends on without end; the universe therefore
energy continuously releases energy into this void, its ul-

Electromagnetic waves travel more slowly in timate fate being a cold, dark end. Some more
substances such as water, as compared to their modern models provide for the continuous addition

speed in a Hence the speed of light,

perfect vacuum. of matter, beingformed everywhere from nothing.
c, is less in such substances. Moreover, the speed Some cosmologists believe that the total amount of
of light in these substances varies with the matter/energy in our universe is finite, but the
wavelength! This puzzling effect mandates a further universe has no boundaries and yet is folded over
refinement of the fundamental axiom: We must re- onto itself so that the unpleasant slow death by
strict our measurement of the speed of light to the continuous energy loss is avoided. We will examine
same medium, and the same wavelength if the these pictures of our universe in Chapter 9.

medium is not a vacuum, in order for c to be con-

stant under all conditions. In all discussion hence- TIME IS DISTANCE
forth, we will be considering the medium to be a The constant c also provides us with a means of
perfect void, eliminating these complications. defining time in terms of spatial separation, and
The wave theory and the particle theory of vice-versa. The relation is simply:
light are quite different models for the same
phenomenon, and this might lead you to wonder d = tc

whether scientists really know what light is . In fact,

where d represents distance and t represents time
about all we can say to answer that question is that
According to this definition, we can define a
light is energy . Itsome properties of both a
displays span of 300,000 kilometers as being a manifestation
particle and a wave. Sometimes the particle model of time equivalent to one second we can also define
,

provides a better explanation of observed data, and one second as a spatial separation of 300,000
sometimes the wave model seems more descrip- kilometers. This concept allows us to visualize
tive.
time as a fourth dimension, through which our uni-
verse is hurtling with velocity c towards the future!
MATTER IS ENERGY This model can be used to good advantage for illus-

Einstein's equation, E = mc 2 , gives us one of the trating certain space-time effects.

most important results of relativity theory. Matter Figure 1-19 shows how a two-dimensional
and energy are actually different manifestations of continuum would move through a third time dimen-
the same thing. We may very well say, then, that sion with speed c. Any two events that occur
light is matter! Matter can be converted into 300,000 kilometers apart — regardless of the
energy; the most common example of this is the orientation of the line connecting them— are sepa-
atomic bomb. As yet, we haven't found a way to rated by a time difference of one second. The con-
convert energy back into matter, but perhaps some verse is also true; any two events one second apart
day this will also amount of
be possible. To find the in time are also precisely 300,000 kilometers apart
energy that can theoretically be derived from a in distance.
given mass, we multiply the mass by the constant The model of Fig. 1-19 will be used in greater
2
factor c To determine the mass equivalent of a
. measure when we discuss polydimensional ge-
given amount of energy we divide by c 2 The speed
, . ometry. Imagining our universe to be moving

19
Fig. 1-19. Space-time model for a plane continuum. The plane moves upwards at speed c, along the time axis. Any two points
separated by distance d are one second, or 300,000 kilometers, apart, regardless of the actual positions of the points.

through a fourth time dimension, at velocity c, is reducing the whole idea to a tautology— nothing
only a mathematical illustration, showing that the more than a mathematical construction— the model
speed of time and the speed of light can be consid- clearly demonstrates, as we shall later see, very
ered equivalent. Although this has the effect of real effects.

20
Chapter 2

(e
g [> ))

What Does
"Simultaneous" Mean?
WHEN WEweSAYsupposedly
TWO EVENTS OCCUR SIMULTANE-
ously, mean that they hap-
Suppose that your watch keeps time very
accurately— say to within a few millionths of a sec-
pen at the same time. This concept could hardly be ond per week, or better. If you set your watch from
simpler in the everyday world; and yet, on the a location near WWV in Colorado, and then hop on a
grander scale of interplanetary and interstellar plane for Australia, you will find, when you get
space, this simple idea becomes complicated. there, that your watch apparently does not meet its
Under certain conditions it becomes totally mean- claimed specifications for accuracy. You might tune
ingless. in WWV on your portable shortwave radio, and
check the time setting. Strange; the tone seems to
TIME STATIONS start just a little bit too late. Not much, to be sure,
You have no doubt heard the expression, "Syn- but just enough to be noticeable But you shouldn't
.
,

chronize your watches!" You can set them to read notice a millionth of a second . You check again . Still

exactly alike; with the new digital watches, you can late.
adjust two of them so they agree within the limit of Of course, the reason for the discrepancy is
your reflexes— a few hundredths of a second. You that it takes the radio waves from WWV, at the

might set them by the National Bureau of Standards speed of light, about 1/15 of a second to get from
time station, WWV. If your reflexes are quick Colorado to Australia. Your watch and areWWV
enough, you can set two watches so closely that both very accurate. But, they do not agree in Aus-
they both change from "59" to "00" seconds at the tralia, while they do in Colorado. Which instrument

same instant the tone occurs to indicate the start of is wrong in Australia? They can't both be right. Are

a new minute. Or, at least, as closely as your eyes they perhaps both wrong?
and ears can tell. The answer to this apparent paradox lies in the

21
fact that simultaneity depends on physical location. fore Ground Control would hear it.

To define two events as being simultaneous, we Suppose the Apollo astronauts had left a very
must specify three locations or positions: those of large clock on the moon, large enough to be seen
both events, and that of an observer. In the above from the earth through a powerful telescope. Or
example, one event occurs in Colorado, and the suppose they had set up a time broadcasting station
other event and the observer are in Australia. For- on the moon. Further, imagine that they set this
merly, all three were in Colorado. timepiece by tuning in the signals from WWV or
You might wonder which time source, the some other earth-based time station (depending on
watch or WWV, is really correct in Australia. As- which part of the earth was facing the moon at the
tronomically, your watch is the correct reference in time). Of course, these timepieces would agree on
Australia. A time station in Australia would agree the moon; but they would differ on the earth by 2.5
with your watch and not with WWV. There are seconds. They would disagree by intermediate
several very accurate time stations around the amounts in the space between the planets. The
world; an Australian station and WWV would agree closer to the moon an observer was located, the
only at observation points located equally distant more nearly the clocks would agree.
from both stations. On the earth, the two stations On the earth, the moon-based clock (call it

would seem everywhere on a circle run-

to agree clock M) would be 2.5 seconds behind the earth-
ning slantwise around the globe. If two time sta- based clock (clock E). What about other points in

tions were set up on either pole, they would seem space? Figure 2-1 shows this situation.
to agree only on the equator, for example. At a point midway between the earth and the
In actual fact, there are time stations in Col- moon, clock M would seem to be behind clock E by
orado, Hawaii, Japan, the USSR, and other places 1.25 seconds. At all points along a line connecting
around the world. With this many stations, there is the earth and the moon , but on the side opposite the
noplace on the earth's surface where they all agree. moon (such as point P4) the clocks would appear to
,

Yet, they all claim to be almost exact— to within be 2.5 seconds apart, just as on the earth. At all

billionths of trillionths of a second! They are as- points where the moon eclipses the earth, such as
tronomically "synchronized," and yet there isn't a P5, the clocks would seem to agree, just as on the
single place on earth where you would find them so moon. At a point in space such as P6, the clock
by observation! You would find discrepancies of readings would depend on the relative distances of
hundredths, not billionths, of a second. P6 to Earth and P6 to Moon. But, at no point would
the clocks disagree by more than 2.5 seconds At no .

CLOCKS IN SPACE point would clock M ever seem to be ahead of clock

The moon is about 400,000 kilometers (km) from E.
the earth. At 300,000 km per second, light takes Now, suppose we changed the clock settings,
approximately 1 .25 seconds to go from the earth to so they become in agreement as viewed from some
the moon. A round trip takes 2.5 seconds. Of point exactly midway between the earth and the
course, this is true of radio waves and all other moon. This is illustrated by Fig. 2-2. The clocks
electromagnetic radiation also. Perhaps you re- would seem to agree anyplace where the distances
member listening to the conversations of the Apollo to the two planets are the same; this set of points is

astronauts with NASA. Did you notice strange gaps a plane.

in the conversation?These delays were the result Now, on the earth, or at any point where the
of the 2.5-second round-trip lagbetween the earth earth eclipses the moon, clock E will be ahead of
and the moon. After Ground Control finished a clock M by 1.25 seconds. On the moon, or any-
sentence the astronauts would hear it 1 .25 seconds
, where the moon eclipses the earth, clock E will be
later. If they replied (what would seem to them) behind clock M by 1.25 seconds. At other points in
immediately, it would be another 1.25 seconds be- space, the clocks will differ by intermediate

22
E: 11 59 59 88 E: 11:59:59 26
P5 • pb
M 11 59 59 88 M 12000051

__ P6 P3
E 12 00.00 63
P3 •
M 11:59 59 38 E 1 1 59 59 02 E 12 00 00 00
M 1159 59 02 M: 12 00 00 00
E: ?
P6 •
E i
P7# M ?

(P2j E 12 00 00 63
V_X M 11 59.59 38
Earth

E 11 59 59 50
P4 # M 1159 57 00

Fig. 2-1 . Two clocks, E (on the earth) and M (on the moon) are E 11 59:58 88
on the moon. They disagree by 2.5
P4 •
set to agree precisely M 1159 57 63
seconds on the earth (P2), and by 1 .25 seconds at the mid-
way point between the two planets (P3). At P4, they differ by Fig. 2-2.Here, clocks E and M are set to agree at the midway
the same amount as on earth, although their actual readings point, P3,between the earth and the moon. Their reading are
are slightly behind those on earth At P5, they agree, but are a as shown. The readings will appear to agree at any point on a
little behind the readings on the moon. At P6, their readings plane equidistant from the earth and the moon; in this illustra-
will depend on the relative distances to earth and moon. tion the plane cuts through the page at the dotted line.

amounts, but never will the readings differ by more these clocks to agree on Earth but then on Venus or ,

than 1.25 seconds. Mars their readings will all differ by minutes. Fur-
All this may seem a bit complicated and thermore, as the planets revolve around the sun at
"messy." Isn't there any way we can get rid of this their respective speeds, the difference between the
kind of time discrepancy? The answer is, unfortu- readings will change. Before long, they'll have to be
nately, no. The speed of electromagnetic radiation readjusted to agree on the earth again! How can we
is the fastest possible speed; no means of detecting say what time it is when we have such a state of
the clock readings, except by observing them or flux?
listening to time broadcasts, exists. The more Perhaps there is still hope. What if we set the
clocks we attempt to synchronize, the worse this clocks on Venus, Earth and Mars so they agree at a
problem gets. It will take sophisticated computers point or points equidistant from all three planets?
to synchronize events when man becomes an in- Such a point might move around as the planets
terplanetary traveler! revolve around the sun, but at least there will be
Suppose that we have three clocks: one on such a point at all times. Figure 2-3 shows this
Earth, one on Venus, and one on Mars. We may set arrangement.

23
Since the planets all follow orbits that lie al- there will be no point consistently equidistant from
most in the same plane, known as the plane of the them all. This is a simple result of 3-dimensional
ecliptic, the clocks may agree at many points above geometry. In this case we cannot synchronize the
and below the ecliptic as well as a point within the clocks in any convenient way. It is an utterly hope-
plane (Fig. 2-3B). When an observer is far enough less task; we have all these clocks, accurate to
above or below the plane of the ecliptic, the clocks within billionths of a second, and no way to tell what
will seem to agree at all times; or, at least, they will time it is. Simultaneity has no meaning in 3-
be very close to perfect synchronization. dimensional interplanetary space. Just like up or
Do you think we've finally come up with a down or north or south, simultaneity does not exist
solution to the problem of time synchronization? in space.
Well, we have not. Suppose we scatter clocks all Actually, the discrepancy of time among dif-

over the place: on Venus, Earth, Mars, the Moon, ferent points exists over very small distances as
and a few asteroids and comets that follow lopsided well as large distances. Instead of seconds or
orbits not within the plane of the ecliptic. Suppose minutes, the discrepancy over small distances is

we launch a few satellites, with clocks aboard, too small to notice— trillionths of a second or less.
around the sun in weird slanted and retrograde But, in fact, precise simultaneity does not exist,
orbits . If there are four or more of these , in general never has and never will unless the
, whole universe
should collapse down to a single point. But who
would know it then?

N7
d >>Mars
VERY FAR AGO

o Venus
^ a—— v d
-f P1
It's

little
a cool night as you
lake cottage
and the mosquitoes aren't You
.
walk out on the dock
Cool and clear. The stars are out
. lie down flat
at your

on your

:o:
/
»
Vd
V
back on the dock and gaze into the sky The
new, so its light
,

does not interfere with star view-

. moon is

* Earth ing.

P2 Some of those stars are relatively nearby, if

you can call distances of hundreds of trillions of

/Tn miles "nearby." The closest star, besides the sun,
\
is so far away that light takes over four years to get
/ I
\
to us after it has burst forth from the fiery surface.
/ \
x
Some of the stars you see are hundreds or
d/ d'
x
d thousands of light years from your eyes! There's
'
I
one; its light left its surface, replete with sunspots

/
Mars Moscow in the Russian winter. Or did it? Did we
Venus © ;OX not say simultaneity loses its meaning in space?
Then how can we say with certainty that two
~
Earth
i-^ events— Napoleon's retreat and the departure of
the photons from some star— took place at the same
time? Because we're seeing the past right now! As
Fig. 2-3. At A, P1 is equidistant from Venus, Earth and Mars,
far as we can tell, those photons leave when we see
and so the clocks on the three planets agree at P 1 At B, P2 is .

one of many points above and below the ecliptic equidistant them. What other means do we have to detect the
from the three planets, and so the clocks agree at P2. light leaving the star, until we see it? As we look at

24
years away. Light impacts on your retinas now.
Star
Suppose you could have been on that star, or near it
\ Light leaving star: Ret. Year as those same photons were just leaving it? If you
I
/
^ O N— Light arriving could look through an immensely powerful tele-
"/ |
from Earth left: Ref. Year -10 scope back to our earth, what would you see? You
would see the earth as it was 20 years ago. Figure
2-4 illustrates why. Light left the star 10 years ago,
or 10 years before we would see it, according to
some distant observer; but at that time, the light
arriving at the star from earth would already be 10
years old.
Your eyes are getting well adjusted to the
darkness now, and more detail is becoming visible
in the sky. Suddenly, all the lights in your cottage,
and all those in other houses around the lake, wink

10 out. A power failure! How could you be so lucky? It

light
is now totally dark except for the canopy of stars
overhead. Your eyes will be able to reach their
years
maximum degree of sensitivity. The Milky Way,
our galaxy, slants across the black dome. Off to the
side is a barely perceptible fuzz ball . It is so dim that
you have to look slightly away from it in order to be
certain it is there. Is it a small cloud? You pull out
your field glasses from their case, and take a
"closer" look. It has a somewhat oval shape. It is

the Great Nebula in Andromeda, a different galaxy

from our own. It is too far away to see any individual
stars through your low-powered field glasses. The
Great Nebula in Andromeda is two million light
years from us.
You were alive 10 years ago. Napoleon's de-
feat took place a longtime in the past, but only a few
times your lifespan. These time periods are com-
prehensible. But two million years is not. Light was
leaving the Andromeda galaxy at a time when no
1 Light arriving
historical records were kept; a distant observer
f from star: Ref. Year +10
would see the photons leave that galaxy at a time
# Light leaving Earth: Ref. Year 10
when man looked considerably different or perhaps
,

Earth even yet That observer,

did not exist. to be sure,
would not see our bustling civilization of today.
Fig. 2-4. As light leaves a distant star, images are just arriving
This kind of thing nudges at the limits of the imagi-
from earth. These images are 10 years old; it will be 10 more
years before the light from the star reaches earth. nation. It is almost tempting to believe that our
astronomers are wrong, that that galaxy is really
that star, it is the early nineteenth century at this just a small object within the solar system, maybe a
very moment. few light hours away.
You gaze at another, closer star, just 10 light The discrepancy of simultaneity is great in

25
intergalactic space. Some galaxies are hundreds of clocks tick 999 times. These situations are illus-

millions, or billions, of light years distant. The trated by Fig. 2-5 A and B.
difference in time between some galaxies is greater You may wonder how this can be how can time ;

than the lifespan of the average star. The farthest be "stretched" one way from one viewpoint and the
galaxies we can see are several billion light years opposite way from another viewpoint? Remember,
away from our own Milky Way. though, that the ship is in motion away from the
earth, and that the discrepancy in time is always
THE EFFECT OF MOTION getting larger. After the ship has gone 300,000 km,
Spatial separation affects the concept of simul- the discrepancy in simultaneity one full second
is

taneity; so does relative motion. The effects of greater than it was before, both from the viewpoint
motion can occur as a form of Doppler effect, or as of earthbound observers, and from the vantage
relativistic time compression. We will examine point of the space traveler.
time compression in Chapter 3. For now we will Imagine now that the astronaut completes his
look only at the Doppler effect of motion on time trip, say an excursion around the far side of the
perception. moon, and begins his return journey. Now he is

The Doppler effect of motion on simultaneity approaching us at 300 km/sec. You can probably
arises from the same cause as the Doppler effect on guess what will happen: the sense of time "stretch-
frequency Suppose
. we have a communications link ing" will be reversed. Now, we on earth will hear
set up with a spacecraft, and the ship is traveling his clock tick 1,000 times while ours ticks only 999
away from us at 300 kilometers per second (km/ times. He will measure 1,000 seconds by our clock
sec). Imagine that this ship has the ubiquitous time and 999 seconds by his. At such a fantastic speed,
standard on board, ticking away the seconds with his complete round trip from the earth to the moon
relentless accuracy. Since this ship is far away, its and back would take a meager 2 ,500 seconds or just ,

time readings will not agree with those of our over 41 minutes! (His trajectory error margin
earth-based standards. However, the disagreement would surely be very small at such a speed. One
will be changing constantly; it will be increasing tiny mistake and he might careen toward the sun or ,

because the ship is getting farther and farther away into the everlasting cold of interstellar space.)
from us. This will cause the seconds to appear If we observe a space ship in motion and it is

"stretched out" as we listen to the broadcasts from not moving directly toward or away from us, but
the space vessel. instead is traveling a diagonal course, Doppler
At a speed of 300 km/sec, the ship will move compression will result only from that component
300,000 km— one light second— farther away every of the vessel's velocity that is either straight toward
1,000 seconds. We
count 1,000 ticks of our
will or away from us. Figure 2-6 shows an example of
earth-based time stations during that period, but this. The ship moves on a course as shown at 300
only 999 ticks from the clock on the spacecraft. The km/sec. However, its velocity along a line straight
1,000th tick will have traveled 300,000 km as we away from us is always less than 300 km/sec As the .

hear the 999th one, and will be passing the point ship progresses along this path, the angle 6 gets
where the ship was when we heard the first tick. smaller and smaller, and its radial velocity gets
The seconds will be ,000/999 as long according to
1 , closer and closer to the actual speed of the vessel.
the ship's clock, as they are on earth. This is ap- Let's examine the degree of Doppler compression
proximately a tenth of one percent longer. at the instant shown by Figure 2-6.
From the viewpoint of an astronaut aboard the In order to find the component of the ship's

space ship, the situation will seem exactly re- velocity in a direction straight away from the obser-
versed. To him, the seconds from the earth-based vation point, we need to find the value of d in a
time standards will seem 0.1 percent longer. He triangle as shown. The velocity component will be
will hear his clock tick 1,000 times as the earth 300d km/sec.

26
r^y
Observer

o o Y—Earth
j
X

inn nnn km
_
Y
H^^

Y X
Observer

— —-
/ —
Earth -»- Earth ^^
© vJ V ^J
" 300,000 Kill

Fig 2-5. At A. we are on earth watching a ship move away at 300 km /sec. After 1 ,000 seconds, the ship is 300,000 km (one
lightsecond) farther away, and signals from the vessel take one additional second to get to us. At B, we are aboard the ship;
from this viewpoint, we may consider the earth to be retreating from us; signals from earth must go 300,000 km farther at time Y
than at time X. The sense of time "stretching" is thus opposite for the two vantage points.

From elementary trigonometry, we can see light, or 0.001c. Recall that, at 300 km/sec, the ship
that: on round trip of the moon caused a time "stretch"
its

ofone part in 1,000; an earthbound observer would

d/1 = cos 30° = 0.866
detect 999 ticks of the spacecraft clock in a period of
and thus the component of the ship's velocity in line 1,000 seconds by his own clock. This is a Doppler
away from us is: compression of one part in 1,000, or 0.1 percent. In
fact, the percentage of Doppler shift for speeds less
300 x 0.866 = 260 km/sec than about 0.1c is approximately:

When the ship is at point A, its velocity in line

Shift (%) = lOOv/c,
away from us is zero: it is traveling a path exactly
sideways with respect to our observation point. At
where v is the speed of the object toward you and c ,

B, it 260 km/sec, as we have just calculated. As

is
is the speed of light. (Speeds away from you are
the ship gets farther and farther away, and 6 ap-
considered negative in the above formula.)
proaches zero degrees, the velocity in line away
In Figure 2-6, at point B, the Doppler shift is
from us will approach 300 km/sec.
thus:
How much Doppler shift does a given speed of
approach or retreat actually cause? For speeds
Shift (%) = 100 x -260/300,000
relatively small in comparison with the speed of
= -0.0867%
light c, say 0.1c or less, this is simple to determine.
The speed of light is 300,000 km/sec; at a speed of We will observe not only a change in the rate of
300 km/sec, we are going just 1/1,000 of the speed of time progression by -0.0867%, but we will also

27
notice a downward change in the frequency of the 9 = arcsec (300/1,000)
radio signal used to convey the time information. = 90°- arctan (300/1,000)
Suppose the time signal is being broadcast at a = 90° - 16.7° = 73.3°
frequency of 1 ,000 kHz. We would actually receive
Consequently its velocity component in a di-
it at a frequency somewhat lower than this. The
rection straight away from us is:
frequency shift would be:

300 x cos (73.3°) km/sec

Shift = -0.0867% x 1,000 kHz
= 300 x 0.29 = 86.2 km/sec
= -0.000867 x 1,000 kHz
= -0.867 kHz The percentage of shift is thus:

at the observation point, to 999.133 kHz. Shift (%) = 100 x -86.2/300,000

examine the situation more closely as the
Let's = -0.0287%
ship moves from point A to point B Suppose point A
.

is 1,000 km from the observation point. Then, by The frequency of the signal is therefore 1,000-
simple trigonometry, point B is 1,733 km from 0.287 kHz, or 999.713 kHz.
point A and 2,000 km from the observation point. We can calculate the frequency of the signal for
We will evaluate the amount of Doppler shift as- any point in this same way. Figure 2-8 shows the
suming the ship starts at point A and moves along relationship between the apparent frequency of the
its path at 300 km/sec, as shown in Figure 2-7. signal at the observation point versus the number of
After one second, the ship has reached a point seconds after the ship has passed point A. The
where 6 — 73.3 degrees: apparent frequency will approach 999 kHz a change ,

Observation
point

K
!
X <

'
A
y e = 30° jr\ y
B 300 km /sec

Fig. 2-6. Calculation of in-line velocity of a ship moving along path AB. The actual velocity, 300 km /sec, is in the same
proportion to the in-line velocity as the ratio 1 1d. (Units of distance are purely arbitrary.) The value of d is calculated by simple

trigonometry.

28
Observation
point

'
RX \
1,000
\
\
km \
\
\
| \
\
_#v
r.
t = t = 5.78
= 0° 6 = 30°
Shift = 0% Shift = -0.0867%
t = 1

8 = 73.3°
Shift == -0.0287%

Fig. 2-7. As the ship moves along its path, passing a minimum distance of 1 ,000 km from the observation point, the Doppler
shift increases as t increases and 6 decreases. When the ship is moving in a directly lateral direction, at point A, there is no
shift. At t = 1, some shift is evident. At point B (t = 5.78), the shift has nearly reached its maximum value.

of -0.1 percent, as the ship gets far away along its very same thing: a simple result of spatial separa-
path. tion or a change thereof.
When the speed of an object reaches about 10 However, lateral motion— neither towards
percent of the speed of light, or 0.1c, another nor away from an observer— can also affect simul-
phenomenon becomes significant in the amount of taneity. This effect, which we will now examine, is,

frequency shift (and time compression) that we ob- like the others, a natural result of the constancy of
serve. We will discuss this effect, the relativistic the speed of light for all reference frames.
compression of time, in Chapter 3. The preceding
formulas are sufficiently accurate for speeds less MOTION OF A VIEWER
than about 0.1c. Simultaneity can be affected not only by relative
We have now seen that motion towards or position or a change in relative position; it also
away from an observer has an effect on simultaneity depends on whether or not an observer is moving
by causing Doppler stretching of time We have also . with respect to a particular set of events, and on the
seen that relative position has its own effect. As a nature of this motion.
matter of fact, these two phenomena are really the First, let us see what happens with sound

29
1.0

0.8
N
I
-*
CT>
O)
en
0.6
>
o
.O
CO
N
I
0.4

O
c
CD

O"
CD
0.2

0.0

4 6 8 10
Time t, seconds
past point A

Fig. 2-8. Apparent frequency of a 1,000-kHz signal source on board the moving ship of Fig. 2-7 as a function of time. The
frequency, as measured from the observation point, starts at 1,000 kHz and drops toward 999 kHz.

waves, which travel through a fixed medium, the the same moment as they look at their timepieces.
atmosphere. Suppose we have two ocean vessels, The sound traveling outward at the same speed and
,

called A and B, launched in opposite directions from covering the same distance .will arrive at both ships
some center point C at equal speed. Imagine that simultaneously in the sense that the captains will
the two ships are launched from point C at the same agree on that fact. This is illustrated by Fig. 2-9A.
time Then the distances
. AC and BC are always the Now, if a strong, steady wind begins blowing
same, but constantly increasing. Let us also sup- (B), the sound, traveling at a fixed airspeed, will
pose that there is no wind, and that C is stationary (a travel more rapidly towards one ship than towards
buoy, perhaps, or an island). Imagine that the cap- the other. If the wind blows from C to A, the sound
tains of the two vessels have set their watches to will get to ship A before it gets to ship B. Thus the
agree precisely. captain of A will say the horn blew earlier. Sound
Now, if someone blows a horn at point C, of moves at a definite speed with respect to a sur-
course the captains of the two ships will hear it at rounding medium, no matter what the speed of the

30
source. However, with light it is not that simple. with respect to the background of stars in the uni-
In the vacuum of space, there no fixed is verse. When the light flash occurs, the light will
medium in which light travels. According to the travel outward from C in all directions at equal
theory of relativity the speed of light
. is always the speed; so it will overtake both A and B at the same
same, wherever in the universe it is measured. time according to the captains of the respective
This is true whether a point is "moving" or "still" vessels. If the two vessels are equipped with radio
with respect to the surrounding environment. transmitters that send out bursts of signal at the
Let us now imagine that the ships are space instant the light flash arrives, these signals will
vessels, and that point C is a space station situated arrive back at station C simultaneously The . signals
somewhere out in the interstellar void. Suppose will also arrive simultaneously at any observation
that C emanates a light flash rather than a noise. station located equally distant from A and B, such as
Prior to the departure of the ships from station C, station D, assuming that station is not in motion
the captains synchronize their timepieces. The with respect to C. As we have already seen, the
ships are then launched in exactly opposite direc- signals will not arrive "in sync" at a station such as
tions from C, at thesame moment and at the same E which, while not in motion with respect to C, is
speed. This is shown in Fig. 2-10A. not thesame distance from vessels A and B.
It does not matter whether C is moving or not Suppose now that this entire scenario is not

Ship A C Ship B

I
) 3 ) ) ^ )3 )

-AC BC

Wind
Ship A c Ship B

C C C C C C CHO }}>})}}

AC- bc.

Fig. 2-9. Propagation of sound waves from a stationary point C towards two ocean vessels A and B. When there is no wind (A),
the sound arrives simultaneously; when there is a wind (B), the sound gets to one ship before the other. Distances AC and BC
are equal at all times.

31
/
/ \
S P
A / C
U^

vx X
x
\ /
//
/
!

V^
i

t
E

To F

I
To F

/
© 1 ^ a v*
^

Ship C Ship
• .. p \
V
/

A
•s \
\
B

/
/

/ \
Apparent
1 \
N
_. / Center

0^ / \
^~-
Sh.p p>'^- .-^// Ship

w ThV 7

\ /'

M/' ^ Ship
G

Fig. 2-10. At A, two ships are moving away from a stationary center point at equal speed, having been launched at the same
time. A pulse of sent from point C (curved dotted lines) intercepts the ships, whereupon they send radio signals (straight
light
dotted lines). At B, the situation as observed from a distant point in lateral motion. At C, as observed from various moving ships.
See text for discussion.

32
stationary with respect to our observation station, traveling in a certain path and location such that the
but is instead moving through space in the same effects of relative position and velocity just cancel
direction ship A is traveling. This might appear to each other out, making the signals from A and B
be the case from a ship F, moving in a path parallel appear simultaneous. From a probabilistic stand-

to the path of ship B (but not necessarily at the same point, this is not likely, even though an infinite
speed as B) Or, possibly we are on a distant planet,
. number of such paths theoretically exist. We now
and C is itself in motion relative to the planet. have seen three different ways that simultaneity
Imagine that F is very far away from this scenario of can be affected.
points A, B and C — many times the distance
AB— so that all three points are geometrically al-
MOVING LIGHT SOURCES
most equidistant from us at all times (Fig. 2-10B). There is another way to look at the influence of

Angles ACF and BCF are almost precisely 90 de- lateral motion on simultaneity. Perhaps you are
grees. confused by the previous example. A different il-

Now, the two signals sent out by ships A and B lustration of this effect is given in Fig. 2-11. At A,
will not reach us, at F, simultaneously. Why? It we have an observer at a point C, midway between
cannot be because the distance AF is significantly two hovering vessels A and B. Suppose distances
different from BF. To illustrate the reason for this AC and BC are the same, and A, B and C all lie along
non-simultaneity, suppose we can watch the light the same line. The operators of ships A and B send
pulse travel from C outward, maybe because of light flashes toward C, and we at point C see them at
interstellar dust. the same instant; we therefore consider the flashes
The light burstfrom C would appear to be a to be simultaneous.
circle getting bigger and bigger around C. This But, suppose now that we are not on the
circle would grow outward from a center point lo- stationary outpost C, but nstea d on a i moving ves-
cated where C was when the light first left C. Since sel D, traveling along line ACB from A towards B,
C is moving, however, this center point will not be as shown. We will therefore pass very close to C.
C; station C will be retreating from this point as Imagine that observers at C, as they see the two
shown in Fig. 2-10B. The circle will overtake ship flashes simultaneously, also see us aboard D whiz-
B first, and then ship A. Since the radio signals zing right by. Will we, on vessel D, see both of the
travel to us from the ships at the same speed the light flashes at the same instant we pass C? You will
image of the light "circle" does, we will hear the probably guess that the answer is no; if so, you are
signal from B exactly as the edge of the circle correct. Why?
crosses B. We will hear the signal from A just as the In the relativistic sense, the situation from
light circle overtakes A. Of course, the faster our aboard vessel D can be thought of in either of two
relative speed with respect to these three points A, ways. First, we can consider A, B and C to be fixed
B and C, the greater the time difference will be. and ourselves moving from A towards B; second,
A spacecraft G, mo ving on a direct line toward we may imagine that D is standing still and A, B and
C perpendicular to line ACB, will observe the sig- C are in motion (Fig. 2-11B). This second model is

nals from A and Bsame instant. A ship H,

at the probably the better way of looking at things in order
moving away from C along the same path, will also to understand why the flashes will not occur simul-
observe the signals simult aneou sly. If P represents taneously at I).
the plane perpendicular to ACB through C then any , In order for the light beams to arrive "in sync"
ship traveling in a path confined to plane P will see at D just as D is passing C, the beams would have
the signals as being "in sync." This is shown in Fig. had to cover equal distances; C is exactly midway
2-10C. between A and B The two beams would have had to
.

Most ships not in P will see the signals as "out cover equal distances from our point of view, which
of sync." It is possible that a spacecraft might be is from D. However, light doesn't travel infinitely

33
Fig. 2-1 1 . At A, ship D is moving along a line from station A to station B, passing station C. From C, two light flashes originating
at A and B arrive simultaneously. From D, they do not appear simultaneous (as shown in Fig. 2-1 1B); the flashes seem to
emanate from A' and B', not equidistant from D.

fast. It requires some time to get from A to D and that the light from C comes in the form of a continu-
from B to D. If the flashes were to arrive at D ous, monochromatic beam of light, such as a laser,
simultaneously as D is at the midpoint, they would perhaps in the yellow part of the visible spectrum. If

have had to leave their sources when A was farther our retreat from C is fast enough, this beam will
away than B. Thus they would have had to travel seem to change color, although it will still appear to
different distances in the same amount of time. But arrive at the same speed c. The color will first

this is not possible; the speed of light is absolute! change to orange; speeding up the vessel suffi-

We must conclude, then, that the light flashes ciently will cause it to we speed up
appear red. As
will not arrive simultaneously at D (our vantage even more, the beam move into the
will eventually

point) asit passes C. An observer at C would think infrared part of the spectrum and become invisible
,

so; he would see us pass him as the flashes both If we speed the ship up enough, we might be able to

occur. But we aboard D would see things differ- receive the beam from C on a radio! This would, of
ently. course, require extreme speed.
Now, as we slow our vessel and prepare to
RED AND BLUE SHIFT return to the space station C, the beam will once
Motion toward or away from a light source does not again become visible: first red, then orange, then
change the apparent speed of the light arriving from yellow as we come to a halt As we begin to acceler-
.

the source. That is, if we could measure the speed ate toward C, the frequency of the beam will in-
of a beam arriving at our space ship, that beam crease, moving upward through the colors of the
would appear to come in at the same speed, c, rainbow until it fades off into the far violet. Then it
whether our motion were toward or away from the will again be invisible. If we move fast enough
source, and regardless of our speed relative to it. toward C, the beam may enter the X band and
Suppose we are on board ship A as it moves become hazardous!
away from station C in Fig. 2-10. Further suppose These effects are called "red" and "blue"

34
shift— decreases and increases, respectively, in Rates of time progression are being stretched by
frequency, caused by high speeds away from or Doppler shift, and the time frame itself depends on
toward a source of electromagnetic radiation. On relative location. Time, in the cosmic sense, has
the scale of the interstellar and intergalactic uni- little meaning within our universe.
verse, such relative motion iscommon. The
quite
red and blue shifts are Doppler effects, the same COSMIC TIME
effect that is responsible for the disagreement in We have seen that , because of the effects of relative
the number of ticks counted by the earth-bound and position and motion on time, there cannot be a
spacecraft observers on the lunar trip discussed universal sense of simultaneity in our universe. Is
earlier. Red and blue shifts of light, and other elec- there any possible way around this uncomfortable
tromagnetic waves, result from constantly chang- situation? Perhaps, at least in theory.
ing spatial separation, and the resulting alteration You will recall that there is no place on the
in frequency. Each cycle of the electromagnetic earth's surface where time stations in Japan,
field may be regarded as one "tick" of a clock. Hawaii, the U.S. mainland, the USSR, and other
countries will all agree. If the installations could be
EXPANDING SPACE physically transported to the same location while
All the stars in the universe produce a certain still running, they would all be "in sync." But,
spectrum. If we put the light of any star through a separated as they are, no point on the planet's
prism to spread it out into a rainbow, there will be surface is equally distant from them all.

certain spots (frequencies) in the spectrum where However, if we could go to the center of the
no light is emitted. These lines are called absorp- earth, we would be at a location equidistant from all
tion lines, because the atoms of certain elements these time stations; the distance to each station
cause some discrete frequencies not to be radiated. would be the radius of the planet. Then we would
This pattern of absorption lines is the same for all observe all the clocks as synchronized. The trick
stars, and is easy to identify. would be to dig the hole and to get the radio signals
,

Sometimes this pattern of dark lines is shifted to travel through thousands of miles of solid and
upward or downward in frequency. An upward or molten compressed rock and metal. Certainly,
blue shift means that the object is moving toward there would be practical difficulties. But, in theory,
us; a downward or red shift means it is moving this presents a solution.
away. Most stars and galaxies are not stationary What about clocks launched into various ran-
with respect to us, and so they display some spec- dom orbits and hovering positions in space? In our
tral shift for that component of their motion that is in three-dimensional universe, there is nowhere we
a direct line with us. can go and be equally separated from all the clocks.
The spectra of very far-off galaxies display a might happen but the
In certain rare instances this , ,

predominantly red shift, indicating, presumably, motion of the timepieces would soon upset things.
that they are moving away from us. The more dis- Imagine that we could travel into four di-

tant a galaxy, in general, the greater the amount of mensions—that there is another spatial dimension
red shift. This phenomenon, to be discussed in outside our three-dimensional continuum. In such a
more detail in Chapter 7, has led modern astrono- "four-space" or "hyperspace," which is admittedly
mers to believe that the whole universe is expand- impossible to visualize, we would be able to hold
ing. four straight rods together in such a way that each
What does this mean with regard to simul- would be perpedicular to the other three. We will
taneity? It means that not only is there a discrep- discuss the properties of hyperspace in Chapter 6;
ancy in time among the galaxies of the universe, for now, let's just imagine that it exists. To facili-

amounting to millions or billions of years; the mag- tate visualizing the situation, consider our universe
nitude of this discrepancy is constantly changing! as a plane, as shown in Fig. 2-12. This is the result

35
of "removing" one dimension, so that hyperspace larly through or near the center of the cluster of
can be visualized as a three-dimensional space. clocks, we can find points where the distances to all
While we cannot find any point in this plane the clocks are nearly equal . The farther away from
where all the clocks will agree, we can get them to the plane we move along L, the more nearly equal
register pretty closely if we travel to a point in the distances to all the clocks become, and thus the
hyperspace far enough above or below the plane. more closely they will agree.
On line L, passing through the plane perpendicu- In four dimensions, the situation is just like

Clocks

Our
Universe

Fig. 2-12. When our universe is reduced to a plane for visualization of four-dimensional space, we can envision line L, passing
through our universe at a right angle. If L passes near the center of a cluster of clocks, then points on L very far away from our
universe will be almost equidistant from all the clocks.

36
line L would make a good place from which to
measure cosmic time over a large area of the uni-
verse.
The universe, in the model of Fig. 2-12, ap-
Clocks pears as a plane when we remove one dimension for
visualization. But it does not necessarily have to be
flat. Perhaps the universe is curved with respect to

hyperspace! This possibility has been pondered by

cosmologists for several decades, and there is

some good theoretical evidence that our universe is

in fact a "hypersphere"— a set of points in four-

space, all at some fixed radial distance from an
epicenter P. Reduced by one dimension for visuali-
zation, the hypersphere appears as a sphere, on the
surface of which we exist (Fig. 2-13).
In this illustration, it is not difficult to see that

Our
the center P of the hypersphere represents a point

Universe equidistant from every point in our universe. From

such a point, all the clocks in all the strange orbits
would agree — not approximately, but exactly.
Fig. 2-13.Our universe may be a four-dimensional sphere, as From this epicenter, the distance to every point on
shown in this dimensionally-reduced picture. From the epi-
center P, all points in the universe are equidistant. Thus all the hypersphere surface is equal to the radius of the
the clocks, no matter where they may be, will be in perfect hypersphere. Such a point, P, is the perfect place
agreement. for a cosmic time reference. It is a theoretical
reference only, since present technology provides
this. The trick would be sending the clock signals us with no clues as to how we might get there.
through four-space so we could check the readings, We have seen that simultaneity has no mean-
and getting ourselves into four-space by means of ing in three-space because of spatial separation and
some kind of "hyperdrive." However, no matter motion effects. However, extremely high speeds
how far out along line L we go, the clocks will produce a further effect on the rate of elapsed time.
always disagree just a little. If we get very faraway, This effect, known as relativistic time distortion,
the disagreement caused by distance variation has intrigued and baffled astronomers and laymen
might be less than the inaccuracy of the clocks ever since Einstein predicted it in the early twen-
themselves. Still, theoretically, perfection is not tieth century. Since, then, relativistic time distor-
possible. tion has been observed by scientists using very
There is a certain imprecision about this idea. accurate clocks and speed measuring devices.
For clock separations of millions of light years, we At speeds which are a sizable fraction of c,

would have to go outward along L for fantastic time goes at a slower rate. Let's find out why, and
distances in order to get the clocks to agree closely what ramifications it may have for future space
Nevertheless, a point at an extreme distance on travelers.

37
Chapter 3

((
<\ © p»

Time Distortion
WE HAVE SEEN THAT THE APPARENT RATE OF
time can be changed by Doppler effects
and attains high speed, something happens
clock inside. If this clock is synchronized with re-
to the

when an object is moving toward or away from us. spect to an earth-based time standard at the begin-
But, at sufficiently high speeds— an appreciable ning of the vessel's trip, and assuming the ship
fraction of c— another kind of time distortion oc- travels at high enough speed over a large enough
curs. This phenomenon is known as relativistic time distance , we will find that the ship's clock is running
distortion or time dilation slow at the conclusion of the journey. The differ-

Although relativistic time distortion does not ence may be on the order of seconds, minutes,
become noticeable until extreme speeds are hours, days or years. What has happened to the
reached, it occurs in theory at any speed, even as clock on the ship? If we were to conduct an experi-
you walk down the street. This effect totally de- ment like this without knowing about relativistic
stroys the meaning of simultaneity, even on a cos- time distortion , we might conclude that the clock on
mic scale, among objects not perfectly at rest with the ship was malfunctioning, possibly because of
respect to each other. the intense g force caused by the acceleration. But,
any kind of time-measuring device, be it a wrist-
TIME DISTORTION AS A RESULT OF MOTION watch, wind-up alarm clock, digital electric clock,
Suppose we have a spacecraft capable of attaining or cesium time standard, would show the same
extreme speed, of such a nature that it can be discrepancy.
measured in meaningful fractions of the speed of Using atomic clocks capable of detecting the
light, such as 0.3c. Imagine that we put a clock on tiniest moments, scientists have already verified
board this vessel . When the vessel is put into space that this kind of time dilation occurs, and it takes

38
place in the proportions that are predicted by Ein- phistication needed to fly a space ship at speeds
stein's equations. Imagine the astonishment of sci- near the speed of light, but it may someday be
entists had they discovered this phenomenon with- possible. Then we will have to make allowances,
out expecting it! Imagine the bewilderment and not only for Doppler time distortion, but for
confusion as they tried to explain the reason for the relativistic effects as well.
inaccuracy of their precision instrument!
Relativistic time distortion occurs in greater A LIGHT-BEAM CLOCK: SPECIAL RELATIVITY
and greater measure as the speed between two To demonstrate the reason for relativistic time
objects increases. If the speed is great enough, we distortion, we may imagine a simple sort of clock
may have a distortion factor of 2, 3, or 100. mechanism based on the constancy of the speed of
Theoretically, there is no limit to how large the light. Imagine, as illustrated by Fig. 3-1, a space
factor can get; a thousand years could be com- ship with two mirrors placed laterally on opposite
pressed down into one second. The time-distortion walls so that they exactly face one another. If we
factor increases without bound as the relative speed somehow introduce a light beam in between these
between two objects approaches the speed of light. two mirrors so that it strikes at a perfect right
At the speed of light, according to the equations, angle, we can imagine that the beam will careen
time comes to a complete halt . The speed of light is back and forth between the two mirrors forever. Of
the speed of time. course, there are practical difficulties with this
Present technology has not attained the so- idea; there is no such thing as a perfect reflector,

Fig. 3-1 . may be illustrated by imagining a space ship 300 meters across, with mirrors on opposite
Relativistic time distortion
walls. A bounces back and forth between the mirrors (A); but when the ship is in motion, the light must take a
burst of light
slightly diagonal path because the ship moves forward as the beam moves across (B). If the speed is very great (C), the beam
must travel a path considerably longer than when the ship is at rest.

39
and the slightest deviation from perfect orientation according to a stationary observer.
of the mirrors would sooner or later guide the beam It turns out that we can never get an object to
off to one side, so that, in a few microseconds, it travel at the speed of light; we shall see why in the
would strike the bare wall instead of the mirror. next chapter. To do such a thing would require an
But, let us imagine perfect reflectors that are infinite amount of energy. But, we are free to
exactly parallel. imagine what would happen if we could attain
Each time the burst of light impacts against speeds of this sort: Time inside the vessel would
one or the other mirror, we can consider our clock literally stop!

to have "ticked" once. If the space ship is 300 POINT OF VIEW

meters wide, so that the mirrors are spaced at that
We have mentioned the word "stationary" several
distance, the "ticks" will occur at intervals of a
times. What does this term actually mean? In the
mill ionth of a second or one microsecond (This is a
preceding discussions, we might assume "sta-
, .

pretty big space ship!)

tionary" to mean "on the earth," and then assume
Suppose, now, that we set this vessel in mo- that the vessel was in motion with respect to our
tion (Fig. 3-1B) . If its speed is just a small fraction planet . But we learned long ago that the earth is not
of c, the light beam will travel from one mirror to the center of the universe.
the other almost instantaneously. However, the Actually, defining the term "stationary" is not
ship will have moved just a bit in this tiny moment. at all an easy task. Perhaps we can define it as a
In order to bounce back and forth between the two non-accelerating point. Maybe an object is "sta-
mirrors, the beam must travel a path that is slightly
tionary" if it is not accelerating. But then, how do
diagonal, or "zig-zagged." Thus, the beam will re-
we explain that two non-accelerating points can be
quire a bit more than one microsecond
go across, to
moving with respect to each other?
according to an outside, stationary observer. From Maybe any non-accelerating point can be con-
the viewpoint of a passenger aboard the ship, the
sidered as a valid reference frame according to
burst of light will travel directly across, just as it
relativity theory. According to Newtonian physics,
does when the ship 300
is at rest, over a distance of
an object is accelerating whenever an outside force
meters. Therefore, while an external observer is acting on it. This rules out just about every object
sees an increase in the time required for the beam in the universe. The earth is being acted upon by
to travel across, a passenger will not.
the gravitation of the sun; the sun is being pulled
If the vessel is accelerated to a speed that toward the center of our galaxy; our galaxy is itself
represents a sizable fraction of c, the beam will rotating around a center point in a cluster of
appear to travel quite a lot more than 300 meters in galaxies, and is therefore affected by the gravity of
order to cross the ship (Fig. 3-1C) according to an other galaxies. And, our "local cluster" is being
outside, stationary observer. As the speed of the tugged at by other clusters of galaxies! There is no
ship gets close to c, the beam will appear to require object in the universe that is not affected by some
more and more distance to get across. But, to a gravitational field, and thus, there is no unacceler-
passenger on the ship, the situation will never ated object.
change; it will always appear just the same as it did Perhaps we ought to define the earth as sta-
when the ship was at rest. tionary and let that be the basis for consideration of
,

If the ship could somehow attain the velocity of all events! But this is not very convenient in deep
light, the beam would not be able to get across the space. Besides, such an attitude is medieval in our
ship at all, as seen from a stationary reference time.
point. It would have to travel faster than c to do so, Actually, we can define motion only in relative

and this is not possible. Inside a vessel moving at terms. We will look at acceleration later; for now,
speed c, the beam of light could do no more than we can only say that a vessel is moving at a certain

travel right along parallel to the walls of the ship, velocity with respect to some other object, or with

40
respect to the earth, or with respect to the sun. curs regardless of the direction of the motion. In
"Stationary" is a relative, not an absolute, prop- Fig. 3-3, we have two different situations; at A, two
erty. In the examples shown by Fig. 3-1, we con- ships are passing each other on parallel courses but
sider the outside observer to be "stationary
."
But it in opposite directions, and at B, the ships are mov-
could just as well be the space ship that is fixed, and ing directly toward each other. In both cases, the
the observer that is in motion. relative speed between the ships is the same, and
Imagine, then, that we have two ships, as consequently the magnitudes of the relativistic
shown in Fig. 3-2, moving with respect to each time-distortion factors are the same. Doppler ef-
other in deep space. Suppose that both ships are fects will still occur, of course, in addition to

equipped with mirror light-beam clocks, such as we relativistic distortion. In the example at A, there
have already seen, and that both ships are identical will be a blue shift first and then a red shift as the

and are 300 meters across. Of course, according to vessels pass. This will cause first a decrease, and
either passenger, the clock on his own vessel will then an increase, in the observed time distortion.

seem to be "ticking" at one-microsecond intervals. At B, the blue shift will lessen the effect of rel-
But, to either passenger, the other ship will appear ativistic distortion, and in fact will override it,

to be whizzing by Either point of view

. is as good as making the rate of the time seem to increase. The
the other, and thus either observer will perceive Doppler effect in these examples makes the situa-
the "clock" on the other vessel as "ticking" more tion complicated; however, while Doppler shifts

slowly than his own. The greater the relative speed are the result of changes in spatial separation, the
between the two space ships, the larger the time relativistic effect is an actual reduction in the rate of

rate difference will be. time.

Relativistic time distortion or "stretching" oc- Figure 3-4 shows an arrangement where no

Fig 3-2. Two different representations of two space vessels traveling along parallel courses, but in opposite directions At A,
we take the point of view of the top ship; at B, we see the situation from the reference frame of the bottom ship.

41
Fig. 3-3. Relative, or observed, speed may occur in any direction. At A, we take the point of view of the top ship as the vessels
travel along parallel paths in opposite directions. At B, we take the point of view of the ship on the left, as the vessels move on a

collision course. The amount of time distortion depends only on the observed velocity.

Doppler shifts take place, allowing us to observe very fast. The faster the speed of the ship, the
only the relativistic distortion. One ship simply greater this distance becomes. Let usnow calculate
travels in a circle around the other. An observer in exactlyhow much extra distance the beam must
the center vessel sees the orbiting ship moving cover when the speed of the ship is 0.5c— half the
with a certain tangential velocity, and this move- speed of light.

ment causes relativistic time distortion. But, the Refer to Fig. 3-5. The diameter of the ship, d,
distance between the vessels remains constant. is 300 meters. The path actually taken by the burst
If the orbiting ship were started from some of light asit goes across the ship is shown by x; it is

point in its circular path, accelerated to a high this distance in meters that we wish to find As the
, , .

speed, and then brought back to a stop at its original beam of light travels x meters, the ship moves
starting position, we would find that the clocks forward over a distance of y meters.
aboard the two vessels were in greater disagree- Since the velocity of the vessel is 0.5c in the
ment than at the start. If the clocks were syn- forward direction, we know that y = x/2, because
chronized from the point of view of the center ves- the ship must travel exactly half as far as the light
sel at the start of the acceleration, they would beam. Remember, c is always a constant! Notice
disagree at the conclusion of the acceleration. The that x, y, and d, as they have been illustrated in Fig.

longer the orbiting ship was in motion, or the faster 3-5, lie along the sides of a right triangle. (The
its speed, the greater the difference in the clock angle between sides y and d is 90 degrees since the
,

readings. This is not the Doppler effect, since the mirrors are positioned laterally on opposite sides of
radial velocity of the vessels is always zero; they the ship.) Recalling the Pythagorean theorem for a
never get any closer together or farther apart. right triangle, we know that:

CALCULATING THE TIME-DISTORTION FACTOR y

2
+ d
2
= x
2

As we have seen, the light beam must travel extra

distance to get across the ship when the ship moves But, since y = x/2, we can reduce this equa-

42
^-1"CI
/ \ \
/ \
/ \
/ \ X

t t
-L >
The top vessel in this diagram moves in a circle of very large radius r around the bottom vessel Since the two ships are
Fig. 3-4.
always the same distance from each other, we observe no Doppler effect, but we still see relativistic time distortion.

2
tion to one variable, d being a constant value of 300 Solving, we first subtract x /4 from each side,
meters: giving:

— + 90,000 = x" 90,000 =

3x ,

d = 300 meters
v = 0.5c

Fig. 3-5 Geometric representation of a ship in motion at half the speed of light (0.5c) As the ship moves over a distance of y
meters, the light beam travels from one mirror to the other, over a distance of x meters. The diameter of the ship, d, is 300
meters.

43
Multiplying through by 4/3 and taking the shows the geometry for this derivation. We will
square root gives: take the diameter of the vessel to be d, a constant; it
does not matter what the actual size of the ship is.
V 120,000 = x = 346 The path taken by the light burst is again given by x,
and the forward progress of the ship is again given
The beam of light must travel 46 meters by y. Let the velocity in the forward direction be v.
farther to get across the ship when the ship moves The ratio y/x will be the same as the ratio v/c
at 0.5c. The light therefore takes 346/300 as long to The beam of light always travels at speed c, of
go from one side of the vessel to the other, accord- course, and the distances are proportional to the
ing to an outside, stationary observer. This ob- constant speeds. If the ship is not moving with
server may be in another ship, on a planet, or respect to the observation point then v/c , = , and y
floating around in a space suit. = making y/x =
0, 0. If the ship moves with an
Since the speed of light is a constant, the light observed velocity of, say, 0.5c, then v/c = 0.5 and
beam will seem 346/300 microsecond or
to require ,
y/x = 0.5. As the speed of the ship increases, both x
1.15 microsecond, to get across the ship as seen and y become larger and larger without limit. At a
from the external "stationary" point of view But to
, .
speed very close to c both x and y will be very large
,

a passenger on the ship, the situation is just the distances, and they will be almost the same, since
same as it is when the ship is not moving, or when it the right triangle formed by x, y, and d is very long.
moves with any constant velocity; the passenger The beam would seem, at such a speed, to travel
will always see the beam go straight across, and across the vessel very slowly, its actual path being
require just one microsecond to do it. The speed of almost parallel to the path of the ship. As v ap-
light will appear the same to him as it does to proaches the ratio y/x gets closer and closer to 1
: ,

external observers: 300,000 kilometers, or 300, we say that:

000,000 meters, per second.
lim (y/x) 1

THE GENERAL CASE V -» c

While we have looked at one example for a specific This means that y/x can be as close to 1 as we
forward speed (0.5c), and the derivation of the want to imagine, but it is never equal to 1, nor is it
time-distortion factor is not very complicated, it is ever larger.
convenient to solve for a general velocity v, and a Of course, it becomes meaningless to speak of
general fraction v/c of the speed of light Figure 3-6 . the ratio y/x if v = c, since apparently, both x and y

Fig. 3-6. Geometric representation of the derivation of the time-distortion formula for a generalized speed v.

44
become infinite at the speed of light. As we shall Finally taking the square root, gives us the

later see. no material object can be put in motion time-distortion factor:

with speed c anyway. But, even if this were possi-
1
ble, the burst of lightwould never move away from x/d =
the first mirror; the paths x and y would be identi- V 1 - v7c 2
cal, and the ship would continue on forever without
any apparent lateral movement of the beam.
By "plugging" various values of v into this

Knowing the velocity v of the vessel, we im- equation, we can see that the time-distortion factor
may be as small as 1 (when v is zero) and can grow
mediately know the ratio v/c, and hence the ratio
larger without limit (as v approaches c). This is a
y/x, since the two are equal:
function, and can be graphed to show relativistic
y/x = v/c time distortion as a function of speed. Figure 3-7
illustrates this.
Solving the above for y in terms of x gives:
If we suppose that v = c, we get zero in the

y = x(v/c) denominator of the equation. From Fig. 3-7, it ap-

pears tempting to assume that the time-distortion
From Fig. 3-6, we can see (as in the case of factor becomes infinite when v = c. But mathemat-
Fig. 3-5) that: ically, the value 1/0 has no meaning at all. The
time-distortion factor is thus undefined at the speed
y
2
+ d
2
= x
2

of light.

Substituting in this equation for y in terms of x,

We can, however, consider the inverse of the
time-distortion factor as derived above. This is
we obtain:
done by just reversing our question, so that we ask,
2
x (v /c
2 2
) + d
2
= x
2
"How many microseconds will we, as external ob-

This is more conveniently solved if we rear-

range it to:

2
- v7c 2
= 2
ttt!" i
— 1

1~~
1
II
|
- ......

x (1 ) d
-_- - __
_ ._
---
Kjl pH nil I4H
To find the time-distortion factor, we need the
|Hf:::::::::::::r: 'mm iTrnrtl
answer to the question, "How many times farther 3' ==E==~^E^ = E =E
must the light beam travel when the ship is moving, C-r S-:
=:
-T --C r- JF-
: :

as compared to when it is not moving?" Another

way to put this is as follows: "How does the ap- (| [ j
:-:-^S-:
t± _.._T
1

D .

j_,
-

parent distance traveled by the beam compare from X !

L
tj __:
the external viewpoint and the passenger's refer-
2-
ence frame?" Mathematically, the time-distortion
factor is given by x/d. The above equation is easily
2
solved for this ratio by first dividing through by x ,

r
which gives:

d /x
2 2
1 - v7c 2 ILL)
f"*-
1- Si;, ,--!!•!! = ;:£:
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
Then by inverting both sides we obtain:
v/C
1

1
x7d 2 = Fig. 3-7. The relativistic time-distortion factor as a function of
1 - v7c 2 observed velocity v in fractions of c.

45
servers, see go by on the ship, when our own clock "stretched" is incomprehensible. They would
registers one microsecond?" Or, "What part of the rather accept it as an illusion or as the figment of a
,

way across the ship will the light beam travel in clever mathematician's imagination. However, this
order to cover distance d?" This ratio is d/x, and is effect has been observed, and we cannot deny the
given by: results of experiments.
It is possible to apply the idea of time distor-
d/x = V 1 - v7c 2 tion to get a strange paradox, called the Twin
Paradox or Clock Paradox To resolve this paradox.

This function is the reciprocal of the function we need to be a little more precise with our defini-
illustrated by Fig. 3-7; it ranges from a value of d/x tions regarding points of view. Let us look at the
= 1 when v = to d/x = when v = c. Figure 3-8 paradox, which at first seems quite insurmount-
shows this curve as a function of speed. Either able, and then explain the logical faults that lead up
interpretation, x/d or d/x, is equally good as far as to it.

scientific accuracy is concerned. In the next chap- Figure 3-9 shows two vessels launched from a ,

ter, we will see that the representation x/d is better space station in opposite directions at equal speed.
suited for expressing the mass of a moving object, Let us call the vessels by the names of their passen-

and the representation d/x is better when consid- gers, Mike and Joe. Both ships leave the station at
ering the spatial length of a moving object. the same time (simultaneity has meaning, luckily,

08- /
^V Joe

X
6- r
T3

/
£$? Station

A]
T /
02-
-

J
W Mike
I 1 1 I

02 04 6 08
t)

v/C
C

/
Fig. 3-8. The reciprocal of the time-distortion function in Fig.

3-7. This allows us to obtain a meaningful value for the

time-distortion factor when v = c.

Fig. 3-9. Two space ships, piloted by Mike and Joe, are
launched from the space station in opposite directions. The
THE TWIN PARADOX two ships travel "mirror-image" courses. Here, we take the
point of view of the space station. When the vessels return,
The preceding illustrations of relativistic time dis-
their clocks lag the space station clock by one minute be-
tortion are applications of the special theory of cause of relativistic time distortion. At the moment shown,
relativity. To some, the idea that time can be both ships move with speed v.

46
when everybody is in the same place), travel at
equal speeds for equal distances in opposite direc-
tions, turn around, and return, arriving back at the
space station together. Mike's trip is a "mirror
image" of Joe's. Suppose both Mike and Joe attain

great speeds and travel for considerable distances

before turning around and coming back. Imagine
that Mike's clock, Joe's clock, and the station clock
are all synchronized at the start of the journey, but
because of the time distortion, Mike's and Joe's
clocks end up a full minute behind the station clock
at the end of the trip!
This sort of situation could happen in any of an
infinite number of different ways Perhaps Mike and
.

Joe accelerate and decelerate slowly, and stay out

for a long time Maybe they accelerate and deceler-
.

ate rapidly, and are gone for just a few minutes. A

time discrepancy of one minute may be the result of
a little distortion for quite a while, or the result of a
lot of distortion for only a short while, or any in-
between combination.
It should be obvious that Mike's clock and Joe's
clock, while not in agreement with the clock on the
station, are at least synchronized with each other.
They are both one minute behind the station clock.
But, we have tacitly taken the reference point of the
Fig. 3-10. The same situation as that of Fig 3-9, from the
space station for this observation. What if we take
vantage point of Joe. The space station moves with speed v
the viewpoint of Joe instead? Suddenly, things get away from Joe; Mike moves with a greater speed w, the
messy. relativistic sum of v + v.

According to Joe, the space station is in mo-

tion, and Mike is in even greater motion. This is in one room cannot agree on what their clocks say?
shown by Fig. 3-10. Thus, according to the pre- A person eavesdropping on their conversation
ceding derivations, the space station clock should would think they had gone mad Joe would say . . .

seem to run more slowly to Joe than his own clock. one thing, Mike would say another, and the scien-
In fact, since the space station appears to take the tists on board the space station would disagree with

same journey (but in the opposite direction) with them both. Can you imagine their conversation?
respect to Joe as Joe does relative to it, Joe should This kind of contradiction is clearly unaccept-
find the station clock a minute behind his own on the able if the theory of relativity is not to be reduced to
return journey! And Mike's clock will be behind by nonsense. There is another kind of paradox that
another minute— two minutes behind Joe's! arises from the same fault in reasoning in applying
Taking the position of Mike, by exactly the the special theory of relativity. This paradox is

same reasoning, he should see the station clock called the Rotation Paradox.
lagging his own clock by one minute and Joe's clock ,

lagging by two minutes! This is an utterly ridiculous THE ROTATION PARADOX

situation. Since we have essentially said that all points of view
How do we explain that three people together in the universe are equivalent, this should certainly

47
Fig. 3-1 1 . The rotating vantage point of earth. This is a North polar view. The star, located at the celestial equator, rotates
around a circle of radius 45 light years.

hold true for a rotating reference frame. In fact, our Consider a star directly above the equator, 45
own earth is Our planet is revolving
rotating. light years away from us— not very far on a galactic
around the sun, which is in tum going around the scale. In one day, this star travels all the way
center of the galaxy; our own Milky Way is revolv- around a circle with a radius of 45 light years! This
ing around the gravitational center of the "local is obviously much greater than the speed of light in ;

group" of galaxies, and this cluster is probably re- a year this star moves a distance of 45 light years,
volving around some other, even more obscure, times 365 days per year, times 2-n or 6.28. That's
center. 103,149 light years in a year (Fig. 3-11), or
From a rotating point of view external objects
, 103,149c! Most stars are much farther than 45 light

are all revolving around an observer. The farther years away from us, and distant galaxies — well, we
away these objects are, the greater their rotational can see that something is definitely wrong with this

velocity becomes. When we look at objects such as line of reasoning.

stars, their rotational speeds can be truly over- Both the Twin Paradox and the Rotation
whelming! Paradox are resolved by more accurately specifying

48
what does, and does not, constitute an unbiased distortion may be caused by the acceleration that
reference frame in our universe. Mike's and Joe's occurs because of "pushing," such as on a space
space ships, and the rotating earth, clearly do not ship, and it can also happen as a result of gravita-
qualify. tional fields.

STANDARDS OF MOTION THE GENERAL THEORY

There must, then, be certain reference frames in Gravitation causes time to move more slowly. This
our universe that are "better" than others. We dis- is true of any kind of g force. The greater the
cussed earlier that "non-accelerating" points of intensity of the force, the greater the time distor-
vnw might be preferable to "accelerating" ones, tion. We see this effect when we observe the spec-
but then had trouble with the definition of "acceler- tral lines of stars having extremely great density.
ation." We can refine this definition. The gravitational fields at the surfaces of such stars
If the net gravitation on an object is zero— that is so great that the resulting time distortion causes
is, a passenger on that object would be weight- a noticeable red shift. This has been observed by
less—that object is in an inertial reference frame. astronomers, lending support to the general theory
The space station is such an object (as long as it is of relativity.
not one of the rotating kind designed to produce Considering Mike and Joe once more and their ,

artificial gravity). To be an "unbiased" point of round-trip journey, it is clear that Fig. 3-9 is a valid
view, an object must be inertial. It must also be representation of the situation, and that Fig. 3-10 is

non-rotating. To ascertain rotation, we must rely not . It is also clear that we should consider the earth
on the existence of other objects in the universe, to be rotating with respect to the general universe,
such as the distant stars and galaxies. and not the other way around, as in Fig. 3-11. Mike
In the case of the Twin Paradox, Mike and Joe and Joe experience identical amounts of accelera-
are on ships that are not inertial objects, since they tion, and therefore their clocks will both be dis-
must be accelerated and decelerated to achieve placed by exactly the same amount with respect to
their respective speeds. This acceleration is de- the clock on the space station.
tected by the presence of g force, which Mike and Gravitational fields actually cause a change in
Joe will experience during periods of non-inertial the shape of space, causing light to travel in a
motion. The rotating earth causes an outward g curved path instead of a straight line. The notion
force (it used to be called "centrifugal force") that light must always go in straight lines is no
everywhere except at its exact center, and thus our longer applicable; light always takes the shortest
planet is not an inertial object from our vantage path it can, but if space is itself bent, it cannot
point on the surface. Besides the outward force possibly go straight. A more detailed look at the
caused by rotation, we are affected by a much theory of general relativity will be given in Chapter
greater inward force, called gravity; this force, too, 7. Until then, we must put off further discussion of
has its effect, as we shall see in Chapter 7. time distortion.
Any non-inertial reference frame can be con-
sidered as a "stationary" point for a set of events. ADDITION OF VELOCITIES
Actually, there is no such thing as ^perfectly inertial The special theory of relativity is useful for math-
point of view, because of the maze of rotational ematically evaluating the addition of large ve-
vectors in our universe. But, in a localized region, locities. For velocities small by comparison with
we can consider such points to exist. the speed of light, we may simply add them to-
These two paradoxes, then, arise from false gether. Figure 3-12 illustrates this principle. Mike
applications of the principles of special relativity. and Joe are both traveling away from the space
To clarify this, we explain time distortion in terms station. Suppose that observers at the station see
of acceleration rather than linear motion. Time Mike retreating with velocity u, very slow com-

49
pared to the speed of light, and imagine that Mike add in a different way. Actually, all velocities add
sees Joe moving away from him with speed v, also according to the principles of relativity, but small
very slow by comparison with the speed of light. velocities can be summed together for all practical
Since Mike and Joe are moving along the same purposes.
line— that is, Mike, Joe and the station are on col- The relativistic addition of velocities can be
linear points at all times— observers on the station explained by considering time distortion. Given a
will see Joe retreating at speed w = u + v. This is velocity v, recall that the relativistic time distortion
quite elementary. is given by:
But what
, if both u and v are sizable fractions of
1
the speed of light? What if u = 0.7c and v = 0.9c? x/d
The principles of special relativity are violated if we V 1 - v7c 2
simply add the speeds; this would give us w = 0.7c
+ 0.9c = 1.6c. But speeds in excess of the speed of Suppose Mike retreats from the space statior
light are not possible. Extremely large velocities at speed u = 0.866c, so that the time-distortior
factor, which we call x for simplicity, is equal to \

(Fig. 3-13). Imagine that Mike sees Joe moving

away from him at v = 0.943c, so the time-distortioi
factor, y, is equal to 3. (We neglect the effects o
Doppler shift caused by the increasing distana
between the vessels.) You can use the formula foi

time distortion to verify that, for velocities u and \

as given, the distortion factors x and y are 2 and 3

respectively.
Station personnel will see Mike's clock mov(
half as fast as their own, and Mike will see Joe's
clock going one-third the rate of his own. Thus, i

follows that the personnel in the station should se<

Joe's clock moving at a rate one-sixth of theirs
while they watch six seconds go by they see Mike's ,

clock move three seconds, and while Mike sees hi;

three seconds elapse, he will see Joe's clock ad
vance by one second. We are not concerned wit!
the synchronization of the clocks, but only witl
their rates.
The time-dilation factor z between the statior

and Joe is thus 6. Using the time-distortion formul;

in reverse, we can calculate the speed of Joe's

vessel relative to the station, as follows. Starting

with:

z =6 =
Fig. 3-1 2. Addition of velocities according to ordinary physics, V l - w7c 2
where speeds are small compared to c. Mike moves with
speed u relative to the space station, and Joe moves with Manipulating the variables, we obtain w =
speed v from the point of view of Mike. Then the space station
sees Joe move with speed w = u + v. Mike, Joe and the 0.986c for the speed of Joe's ship.
station always lie on the same line in this example. In general, it is apparent that, for relativistic

50
Station Mike Joe

o
&
Station Mike
v = 943c

Joe

• u w = 0.986c

&
Station Mike Joe

speeds. At A, observers on the station see Mike moving with speed u = 0.866c At B,
Fig. 3-1 3. Relativistic addition of collinear
Mike oberves Joe moving with speed v = 0.943c At C, the station sees Joe retreating with speed w = 0.986c, which is less than
the impossible speed we would get if we add u and v according to ordinary physics

addition of speeds, the time-distortion factors mul-

tiply. This is shown by Fig. 3-14. We have z = xy,
and given the time-distortion factors:

x =
V 1 - uVc? V 1 - v7c 2

and the equation:

z = xy =
V 1 - wVc'

we can calculate the relativistic sum of u and v,

obtaining:

w = c V 1 - (1 - uVc2) (1 - v7c 2)

Now, it is apparent that the speed of light

really is a maximum limiting velocity. The value
under the radical in the above formula cannot ex-
ceed 1, even if u = c and v = c. We may get Fig. 3-14. In the relativistic addition of collinear speeds,
extremely large values of xy; it can increase with- time-distortion factorsmultiply. The time-distortion factor
between Mike and the station is x, and the time-distortion
out limit. But, no matter how large xy becomes, we factor between Mike and Joe is y. The time-distortion factor z
cannot exceed c. between the station and Joe is thus equal to xy.

51
Fig. 3-15.Moving objects in space-time. At A, object P is stationary relative to the origin of the (r,s) plane. At B, object Q is in
motion, thus tracing out a "world line" running diagonally through space-time. At C, R represents a photon of light. It moves
across the (r,s) plane away from the origin at the same speed c as the plane moves through time; thus R follows a path that
subtends a 45-degree angle with respect to the plane as well as the t axis. At D, a hypothetical object S moving through the (r,s)
plane with speed greater than c Its path subtends an angle of less than 45 degrees with respect to the universe plane.

52
/
G k
45 c
X 45°

53
It may appear strange that the relativistic ad- world line with an angle of less than 45 degrees to
dition of c with any other speed will give c; we even the plane. This is shown at D. As the speed be-
have the result that c + c = c! We'll never get a comes greater and greater, the line becomes more
chance to test this result, unfortunately, at least by nearly parallel to the orientation of the universe
means of any kind of propulsion system that we can plane. It will never become exactly parallel, how-
currently imagine. But the equation leads to some ever, since this would represent a speed of infinity
interesting sorts of speculation about the nature of Imagining that the t axis has a certain direction
time and space. Perhaps there are other universes, in a multi-dimensional time continuum, it is in-

traveling at the speed of light with respect to our teresting to imagine another universe, traveling
own. Or perhaps faster! along another time axis t\ which is not parallel to t.

Speeds in excess of the speed of light would

TIME DIMENSIONS mathematically be possible between two such uni-
The reason we cannot accelerate a material object verses. One such situation is illustrated in Fig.
to, or beyond, the speed of light is that its mass 3-16. Objects P and Q, traveling in the two uni-
increases without limit as we approach c; thus an verses as nearly the speed of light, could have a
infinite amount of energy would be necessary to relative velocity of more than c as measured in the

push a mass to that speed. We will look at the totality of the space-time continuum.
dynamics of relativity in the next chapter. Although How can time travel in different directions? All
we cannot hope to ever construct a space vessel we know of time is that it seems to move from the
that will travel faster than light— at least not in our "past" to the "future," along a time line with the
own three dimensions— it is interesting to imagine "present" indicated by a continuously moving point.
other universes that might create speeds in excess We never really consider seriously the possibility
of c. that time itself may have more than just one dimen-
Figure 3-15 is a geometric representation of sion, that there might be other time lines, repre-
the space-time continuum, with one spatial dimen- senting universes totally separated from ours. We
sion removed to make the situation imaginable . The haven't seen any evidence of such other universes,
universe thus appears as a plane. The time axis, t, and for good reason; Even one of them were to if

runs through the origin of a Cartesian (r,s) coordi- would either be

collide with ours, the intersection
nate system in the universe plane. We may take any an infinitesimally thin membrane, or else would
inertial point to be the origin of the (r,s) plane. exist for just a single, mathematical time point!
Any point that is stationary with respect to the Suppose we have two universes moving along
origin, such as point P, traces out a line in the time axes that are perpendicular to each other.
space-time continuum that is parallel to the time Figure 3-17 illustrates the geometry of such a situ-

line t, as shown at A. An object moving at speed ation. Since the two time axes are mutually perpen-
0.5c, such as point Q, follows a diagonal path as dicular, it is mathematically convenient to refer to
illustrated at B; the universe plane is moving with them as the t a nd t i axes, where i is the imaginary
speed c along the t axis from "past" to "future," and number unit — V 1. If each graduation on the t axis
Q is moving inside the universe plane as well. A represents one second and each graduation on the t i
ray, or photon, of light, such as point R, emanating axis represents i seconds, then we see the two
from the origin will follow a path that subtends a universe planes moving along their axes at the rate
45-degree angle to the t axis, as shown at C. Since of one graduation per second. Figure 3-17A shows
the speed of light cannot be exceeded in the uni- an arbitrary time at which we consider the plane
verse plane, we cannot have a "world line" at any (r,s) to pass through t = and the plane (r',s') to
angle smaller than 45 degrees to this plane. pass through tt = 0. After four seconds from our
But, suppose such a speed could, somehow, vantage point in "hyper-time-space," the two uni-
exist. It can be mathematically represented by a verse planes occupy the positions t = 4 and t i =4 i.

54
t' t

s
y^!><<^

""""-^

^7^ ^^^ s \
r

/
/
/
v\1/
> 45°
/}V\

<45° \ ^^^ /^r

^x^^^-^ 7
,s
/*
^^^^--Z^^^^^

"*"-
— V-"***""'
r

Fig. 3-16. Two universe planes (r,s) and (r',s'), moving through space-time along non-parallel time axes t and t'. Object P in
plane (r,s) moves with speed less than c, and so it subtends an angle of less than 45 degrees relative to the t axis. Point Q in
plane (r',s') moves with speed less than c, forming an angle smaller than 45 degrees to the t' axis. (We assume that P and Q
pass through the origins of their universe planes, making such angle measurements meaningful.) However, the paths of P and
Q subtend an angle of more than 45 degrees with respect to each other, and so their relative speed is greater than c.

55
H 1
t \ I
- t/
,

"Mike and Joe

Mike
t = 4
\
Z
\ c \ 2
\
\
\
\
H 1
H X = 4/
t/

Joe

Fig. 3-17. Two universe planes (r,s) and (r',s') moving along perpendicular time axes. Mike and Joe are at the origins of the (r,s)

and (r',s') planes, respectively. Their relative speed is equal to c V 2, as described in the text.

56
Imagine that Mike exists in the universe plane This is consistent with the model of Fig. 3-17.
(r,s), which travels along the t axis, and Joe exists While this is purely a mathematical illustra-

in the universe plane (r',s'), which moves along the tion, andbased on intuitive concepts, we cannot
is

t i axis. Suppose that Mike and Joe are located at the rule out the existence of other "time dimensions."
origins of the two universe planes. Then Mike is Our universe has three spatial dimensions; there is

moving with speed c along the t axis and Joe is good cosmological evidence (as we will see in the
moving with speed c along the t i axis. last two chapters) that space may have four or more
By vector addition of these two speeds, which dimensions. Why could there not be several, or
take place at right angles, we might be tempted to even infinitely many, dimensions of time as well?
conclude that Mike and Joe are moving apart in Even if we can't actually observe or detect uni-
"hyper-time-space" with a speed of c \/~2. verses in other time dimensions, it is interesting to
We can put the value c Vz into the time- imagine them— if for no other reason than simply
distortion formula and see what happens. How the intuitive respite they give us, the escape they
many seconds t' will Joe experience relative to the provide from the absolute limitation of the speed of
viewpoint of Mike, as Mike sees one second pass? light.
We use the formula for the reciprocal of the time-
distortion factor to obtain this result:

t' = V 1 - v7c 2
= V 1 - (c V^2)7c 2
V 1 - 2c7c 2 = V 1- 2 = \r^\ = i

57
Chapter 4

((
<\ © p ))

Distortion

of Space and Mass

LARGE VELOCITIES CAUSE CHANGES IN THE SIZE velocity of light. Moving points trace slanted lines
and mass of moving objects, as well as in the in this space-time model. The greater the velocity
apparent rate of time progression. When an object of a point in the spatial continuum, the smaller the
attains relativistic speeds, it gets heavier, and it angle created by its space-time line with respect to
becomes shortened or "squashed" along the axis of the continuum, and the larger the angle with re-
its motion. As the speed of an object approaches the spect to the time or , t , axis In the case of photons of
.

speed of light, the mass increases without limit; radiant energy, traveling with the speed of light,
."
mathematically we say that it "approaches infinity the angle subtended by their space-time lines is 45
The spatial length drops toward zero. These effects degrees with respect to the spatial continuum, as
are observable; for example, the increase in the well as the t axis (Fig. 3-15). Space-time lines
mass of particles in an atom smasher increases their cannot subtend an angle smaller than 45 degrees
striking force. Why do these distortions of space with respect to the spatial continuum, or greater
and mass take place? In this chapter, we will inves- than 45 degrees with respect to the t axis, because
tigate models to explain these effects. these angles would represent speeds in excess of
the speed of light. That is not possible.
VELOCITY-CORRECTED SPACE-TIME The space-time geometric model can still have
From the previous chapter, you will recall that we such lines in theory; all we need to do is draw them.
can generate dimensionally reduced models of But such lines do not have a correspondent in real-

space-time, where time is treated as a geometric ity, according to the theory' of relativity. This is

dimension, along which the spatial universe travels somewhat inelegant by mathematical standards; we
away from the "past" and toward the "future" at the do not have a one-to-one correspondence between

58
lines in the space-time model and true velocities in For simplification, we have illustrated time-

the universe. We can, however, generate a space- lines using just dimension but the actual
one spatial ,

time continuum in which such a one-to-one relation situation involves three spatial dimensions. Let us

exists. Figure 4-1 shows one method of doing this. refer to this modified space-time representation,
At A, we are given an object moving with a such as is shown by Fig. 4-1B, as a "velocity-
certain velocity v, shown in the space-time con- corrected" space-time illustration, since it (unlike
tinuum of Fig. 3-15 (but further reduced dimension- the representation at A) incorporates the time-
ally, so that the spatial continuum is just a line). distortion factor. With this new model any geomet-
,

This object has a space-time line with a certain ric line corresponds to the motion of some object.
slope angle, say 30 degrees, relative to the t axis. Even if the line is perpendicular to the t axis, it has a
The geometric slope of this line, considering the correspondent. If an object travels at the speed of
time t as the independent variable, is equal to the light, then v = c and:

tangent of 30 degrees Letting the slope be called k

1
then: k' = = 1/0

k = tan 30° = 0.577

vT
In one second, this object travels 0.577 x
300,000 km, so its velocity is 0.577c. For an object
traveling at some fractional speed v/c, the slope of
the line representing the object in space-time is

equal to v/c, according to the model of Fig. 4-1 A.

We see that the greatest possible slope for the
space-time line of any objectis 1. Greater slopes

would represent speeds greater than that of light.

But suppose we simply multiply the slope of the line
by the time-distortion factor. Then, rather than v/c
we obtain a slope of:

v/c
k' =
VI - v7c 2

The object moving at 0.577c is then rep-

resented by a line with a geometric slope of:

0.577
k' = = 0.707
Vl - 0.577
2

and hence it subtends an angle of: t

6 = tan
1
k' = tan^
1
(0.707) = 35.3°

This is relative to the t axis. In general, the

slope k' of a space-time line using this modified
representation is greater than the slope k in the
system depicted by Fig. 4-1 A: Fig 4-1 Space-time representation of a moving object. At A,
.

an object moving at 0.577c along a one-dimensional con-

tinuum (the x axis) traces a line with slope k = 0.577. At B, we
multiply the slope by the time-distortion factor, obtaining a
VT^i? new slope k' = 0.707.

59
This means that the space-time line subtends a !

90-degree angle with respect to the t axis. This is i

equivalent to saying that the speed of light is infi-

nitely fast, and that a photon traverses the entire

spatial continuum within one instant.
o
MOVING RODS
Of course, real objects are not just points; they take
up a certain amount of space. In a one-dimensional
spatial continuum, such as the x axis in Fig. 4-1, a
d
t

«
mmmmmm
real objectwould have some length. Motion could i 1

occur any speed up to the

in either direction, at
a&>*
speed of light. Speeds greater than the speed of
light would not be possible according to the mod- O V|P^
^^
ified space-time model, since c is represented as
infinite speed in that model.
Figure 4-2 shows a rod, moving along the x
d
axis in a space-time universe having one spatial
dimension. The rod describes a band through 1
,

space-time, and this band is slanted at a certain

f
angle with respect to the t axis. The greater the
speed of the rod, the greater the angle with respect
to the t axis, until, at the speed of light, the rod
e
it"
!
Fig. 4-3. At A, a rod of lengthd is at rest along the x axis. It
traces out a band in space-time as shown. At B, a rod of
length d moves along the x axis, tracing out a band of width d',
narrower than d. At C, a rod moving in velocity-corrected
space-time at almost the speed of light traces out a band of
width d' much smaller than d.

describes a geometric line corresponding to the

position of the x axis at one particular instant.
Suppose this rod has length d when it is at rest

When the rod is not moving, it describes a band,

then, with width d, exactly parallel to the t axis

(Fig. 4-3A). moving with appreciable

If the rod is

speed, the band becomes slanted, and its width

decreases (Fig. 4-3B), although it is still the same
width if measured parallel to the x axis. If the rod
moves very fast, so that it generates a space-time
Fig. 4-2. A moving rod traces out a band in space-time. The
band almost perpendicular to the t axis (Fig. 4-3C),
greater the speed of the rod along the x axis, the greater the
slope of the band, and the narrower the band becomes. the width of the band is much less than d. If the rod

60
were to move at the speed of light , the band would v = 9c
become a line with zero width.
>
Considered in the velocity-corrected space-
time universe, the rod really
having a width that depends on the velocity of the
rod along the x axis. The apparent length of the rod
is the cross-sectional measure
isn't a rod, but a band,

of the band, which

(£-
267
gets smaller and smaller as the speed of the rod gets 7\
greater.
As a specific example, suppose the rod moves
along the x axis at a speed of 0.9c. Then the band
consists of
between, both lines having
two parallel lines
a
and all

geometric slope
the region in
of:
1
T
unit

k' =
VI -
0.9

0.9'
= 2.1 1 /e

Fig. 4-4. Calculating the width d' of the band traced out by a
rod of length d.
This is an angle of 6 = 64 degrees relative to
the t axis, as shown in Fig. 4-4. If the length of the
lows us to see how a disk becomes distorted when
rod at rest, d, is equal to 1 unit .then the width of the
set in motion. Suppose we have a disk of diameter
band, d', is given by:
d, at rest in the space-time system, as shown in Fig.

= sin (90° - 4-5A. The disk describes a cylinder and all the
d' B)
= - = = region inside; and the center of the disk (or, for that
sin (90° 64°) sin (26°) 0.44
matter, any fixed point on the disk) describes a line
This can be seen from the geometric illustra- parallel to the t axis and perpendicular to the (x,y)
tion of Figure 4-4. At 0.9c, the time-distortion fac- plane.
tor is 2.1, and thus the width of the band in space- Imagine now that the disk is set in motion. Its
time is shortened by a factor equal to the time- motion may or may not describe a straight line in
distortion factor. Dividing the at-rest length of the the (x,y) plane, and this path, if it is a straight line,
rod , 1 unit by 2 1
, . , we obtain its in-motion apparent need not be exactly along either axis. Let's say the
length of 0.44 units This relation holds true for any
. disk moves at uniform speed in a straight line L,
speed of the rod passing through the origin (x,y) = (0,0) of the spa-
In these examples, the rod can move only tial continuum at t = according to our clocks This .

along its axis, and since there is only one spatial situation is illustrated by Fig. 4-5B.
dimension, we cannot say what would happen in If the disk moves rather slowly, then the
directions other than the direction of motion of the space-time representation will be a cylinder that is

rod. What would happen to a rod moving in a direc- almost perpendicular to the (x,y) plane. But, if the
tion not parallel to its own extension? Let us extend speed of the disk becomes very great, the cylinder
the model into a space-time universe of two spatial will be decidedly slanted. If the disk moves with a
dimensions, such as is shown in Fig. 3-15. But we speed almost equal to the speed of light, the cy-
will use the velocity-corrected model such that any , linder will lie almost parallel to the (x,y) plane.
geometric line in space-time corresponds to some The greater the speed of the disk, the more
point moving with uniform velocity. flattened the cylinder will become. Although its

cross section will always appear to be a disk if cut by

MOVING DISKS a plane parallel to the (x,y) plane, a direct cross
Extending the model to two spatial dimensions al- section will not be disk-shaped, but elliptical. In the

61
spatial universe, to the speed v/c multiplied by the
time-distortion factor, or:

v/c
k' -
VI - v7c 2

As v approaches c, k' increases without bound,

approaching a slope perpendicular to the t axis.
We can see from Fig. 4-5 that the cylinder
becomes oblate, or "flattened," when the disk
moves very fast. The cross section is thus not
disk-shaped but elliptical The greater the speed of
, .

the disk, the more oblate the ellipse becomes. If the

disk has diameter d at rest, then the ellipse will
have a major-axis length equal to d (Fig. 4-6) re-
gardless of the motion, but the minor-axis measure
will depend on the speed.
To a stationary observer, the disk does not
appear circular when it is moving with great speed.
Instead, the observer sees the orthogonal cross
section of the space-time cylinder. Along the direc-
tion of its motion, the disk appears shortened. At a

Fig. 4-5. A disk traces out a cylinder in space-time. At A, the

disk is stationary, and the cylinder is circular. At B, the disk is
in motion along line L, tracing out a slanted cylinder. A direct
cross section of the slanted cylinder yields an ellipse, illus-
I
trating the spatial distortion caused by great speeds.

event the disk were to attain the speed of light, the

disk would
instant, and
become
its
a strip in the (x.y) plane at
cross section would be a rod or line
some O
segment.
The slope of the cylinder, denoted by k', in this

system is its inclination relative to the t axis. If

"~ V
represents the angular measure in degrees, then: I I
k' = tan

Alternatively, if <j> is the angle measure in

degrees with respect to the (x,y) plane, then:

k' = tan (90° - </>)

©
, Fig. 4-6. Actual distortion of a disk in two-space. At A, the disk
lhe value ot k corresponds, just as in the
js at rest; at B it js in motion w tn a relativists velocity v,
j

previous examples involving a one-dimensional causing its length to appear shortened.

62
right angle to its direction of motion, the disk ap- scend into the atmosphere, they collide with air

pears to have the same diameter, d, that it has at molecules. When a cosmic particle hits an air

rest. When we examine an angular cross section of molecule in the upper atmosphere, a new particle,

the disk, it seems somewhat contracted, but not as called a meson, is produced. The lifespan of a
much as directly along the line of motion.
Any two-dimensional object will display this
shortening effect along its axis of motion when
moving at relativistically significant speeds. The
factor by which the length "compressed" is equal
is

to the time-distortion factor. Thus, an object with a

length d at rest would appear to have a length, when
moving at velocity v, of:

2
d' = d VI - 2
v /c

THREE SPATIAL DIMENSIONS

The diagrams of velocity-corrected space-time be-
come impossible to construct when the spatial con-
tinuum has three dimensions but it is not difficult to
,

see that the effect of high speed will be the same as

it is in one or two spatial dimensions. Consider the

example of a rapidly (Fig. 4-7). The

moving sphere
object appears to be spherical when it is at rest (A)
but at relativistic speeds it becomes oblate along

the axis of its motion, attaining a shape somewhat

like the familiar candy-coated chocolates of our
childhood days (B). As the speed of the sphere
approaches the speed of light, the sphere gets so
flattened that it is almost a disk (C). This effect of
spatial distortion occurs only along the axis of mo-
tion, and not perpendicular to it. It is as if we were
viewing moving objects through a truncated prism,
or reflected in a mirror such as you may have seen in
amusement centers, distorting one dimension but
not the others.

MESONS
We may explain distance, or spatial, distortion in

another way, as a direct corollary of the phenom-

enon of time distortion. This is demonstrated by
particles from outer space, known as mesons.
Fast-moving protons, as well as some nuclei
Fig. 4-7. Distortion of a sphere in space. At A, the sphere is
from various heavier atoms, enter the upper atmo-
stationary. At B, it moves at relativistic speed along the x axis,
sphere of our planet from all directions as they causing it to appear oblate or "flattened." At C, the speed is

arrive from the far reaches of space. As they de- nearly equal to c, and the sphere is almost a disk.

63
meson is extremely short— they last only about in space-time when moving at relativistic ve-
10~ 8 second— a hundredth of a microsecond. locities, and from "broadside" when we are at rest.
Even if these mesons were to travel at the The situation is no different than the effect of
speed of light, they would get only about 3 meters watching a yardstick as it is turned to our line of
before decaying. All mesons are generated many vision.
miles above the surface of the earth; cosmic parti- Have a friend stand a hundred feet away from
cles cannot penetrate very far into the air before you holding a yardstick exactly sideways to the
, line
they hit a molecule. So we should think that we connecting himself with you. You see a certain
would never see any mesons at sea level; they apparent length. If he rotates the yardstick, it ap-
should all decay far up in the atmosphere. And yet, pears to get physically shorter, because you are
we do see mesons on the ground! How can this be? looking at it from a different angle. But the
We may explain this apparent paradox by con- yardstick is not really any shorter, although you
sidering that mesons travel at almost the speed of might be led to think so by your observations.
light. In fact, they move with a speed so great that Length is as we see it.
the time-distortion factor is very large This causes
. Relativistic distortion of distance occurs in the
the distance from the upper atmosphere to the same way, except that it is a four-dimensional
ground to appear very small. If we could ride on a space-time effect, so it is more perplexing. In the
meson, the journey from the stratosphere to the space-time universe, distances are only what we
ground would appear to be only a few centimeters. measure or perceive them to be. We can define
There would be no problem getting to sea level distances only if we take a measurement!
from high above the surface, well within the time
8
limitation of 10" second! INERTIAL MASS
This example provides us with another way to When considering the relativistic effect of velocity
explain the apparent compression of distances at on the mass of a moving object, it is important that
relativistic speeds. The mesons "live" for only a we understand the distinction between inertial
very short time, but as we stand on the ground and mass and weight. Suppose an object has an inertial
observe them, their speed is so tremendous that mass of 28.5 grams. Then, when we put this object
their lifespan is extremely prolonged because of on a scale in the gravitational field of the earth, we
relativistic time distortion. If we could somehow will find that it has a weight of one ounce. But the
shrink ourselves to sub-atomic size and ride on a same mass on Mars would weigh 0.37 ounces; on
meson, we would perceive our "ship" as having a Jupiter, it would weigh about 2-'/2 ounces. Its iner-
8
lifespan of 10" second, but this would be plenty of tial mass, however, would always be the same. Any
time to reach the ground before the meson decayed, object has inertial mass, and this mass is indepen-
since the distance would be greatly reduced be- dent of the gravitational field intensity, while the
cause of the speed. From the point of view of ob- weight depends on the gravitation as well as the
servers on the ground, the lifespan of a meson mass. When an object is put in motion, its inertial

seems to be prolonged; from the vantage point of mass increases, and this effect is what we shall now
the meson itself, we can only explain the facts by discuss.
incorporating a distance-compression factor. Spa- We generally measure the weight of an object
tial distortion, then, takes place because it must, if using a scale, which usually operates by means of a
we are to believe what we observe! stretching spring, or perhaps a balance. A scale
We should keep in mind that distances are only requires a gravitational field in order to function.
as great or small as they appear. The distance from But inertial mass can be measured in the absence of
the stratosphere to sea level does not actually gravitation, using an oscillating-spring device such
change, of course, if we happen to get aboard a as the one shown in Fig. 4-8. The object is placed in
fast-moving vessel . We see distances from a "slant" the container between two elastic springs, mounted

64
Fig. 4-8. Spring scale for determining inertial mass, independent of gravitational fields

to fixed supports. The mass is then a function of the of oscillation. When the ship is at rest with respect
frequency of oscillation of the container, once it has to us, we observe the oscillation period, and find
been set in motion by pulling it to one side. The that it is equal to one cycle per second. That is to

more massive the object placed in the container, the say, it takes one second for the object to complete
lower the frequency of oscillation will be. (You can one trip back and forth.
build this kind of "mass scale" yourself, using two Now, if we put another object in the scale, with
heavy-duty door springs.) Objects having a small twice the mass of the first object, the period of
inertial mass will cause the frequency of oscillation oscillation will double, becoming two seconds
to be high, but as the inertial mass gets greater, the rather than one second (Fig. 4-9B). If we triple the
frequency gets progressively lower. This effect mass of the object in the scale, the period will
does not depend on the existence of a surrounding increase to three seconds; in general, if we put an
gravitational field, and thus it is a true measure of object that is n times as massive as the original
inertial mass. The principle of operation is, in fact, object into the scale, the period will be n seconds.
reliant on inertial resistance. Thus the period of oscillation is directly propor-
tional to the mass in the scale. The relation is also
IN MOTION linear; doubling the mass doubles the period of
Imagine that we put a spring scale of this sort on oscillation.
board a space ship, as shown in Fig. 4-9, and put an If the ship is set in motion, with the original
object in the container and set the object oscillating. mass in the scale, time distortion will cause the
Suppose also that we are always able to watch the oscillation period to seem longer. Suppose the
object oscillating, so we can measure the frequency speed of the ship is 0.866c, such that the time-

65
CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM
According to the laws of classical mechanics, the
momentum p of a moving object of mass m, travel-
ing with velocity v, is:

p = mv

One of the fundamental laws of physics states

that when two bodies collide, the total momentum
is the same after the collision as before. A simple

example of this principle is shown in Fig. 4-10.

Suppose we have two spheres of gum or wax or
some other absorbent material, so that when the
two bodies collide, they will remain together rather
than bouncing apart . A collision wherein the objects
"stick" together is called an inelastic collision.
Suppose that both objects have identical mass m. At
A, we see one sphere approaching the other with
speed v; the sphere on the right appears to be
standing still from our point of view The sphere on
.

the left therefore has momentum mv, and the

stationary sphere, on the right, has zero momen-
Fig. 4-9. At A, a spring scale with mass m aboard a stationary tum. The total momentum is thus equal to mv + 0,
ship. The oscillation periodis one second. At B, the ship is still or simply mv.
stationary, but the mass is doubled, resulting in a period of
oscillation twice as long. At C, the ship is put in motion with the
When
the two spheres collide and stick to-
original mass aboard. The oscillation period appears to have gether, asshown in Fig. 4-10B, they will have a
doubled. Has the mass increased to 2m? According to total mass of 2m. The law of conservation of
relativity theory, the answer is yes.
momentum thus dictates that the new speed must
be equal to v/2, so the total momentum can remain
distortion factor is equal to 2 (Fig. 4-9C). Then we
equal to mv:
will observe an oscillation period of two seconds;
the mass will appear to move only half as rapidly as p = mv = (2m) (v/2)
when the vessel is at rest.
How are we to distinguish, as we watch the In this illustration, we have taken the vantage
ship go by, between time distortion and mass in- point of the sphere on the right. But we might
crease? We cannot. We might be led to believe that equally well be situated in a position stationary' to
the mass of the object had doubled if we did not the other mass; this is shown in Fig. 4-11. In this

know about time distortion. But perhaps time dis- case the mass on the right appears to approach with
,

tortion and mass increase are actually equivalent! velocity -v towards the mass on the left, as shown
If the mass of a moving object really does at when the spheres
A; collide, the new mass is 2m
increase at relativistic speeds, then we should and the new velocity is -v/2, so that the total
somehow be able to verify this change in mass. To momentum remains constant:
watch the oscillation of a spring scale, and see that = _mv =
p (2m) (-v/2)
the period of oscillation increases as the speed
increases, is only a theoretical observation. There This is shown in Fig. 4-11B. We may take any
must be a more definitive way to determine if the reference frame, moving at any in any direction
mass actually is larger. speed with respect to either sphere, and the law of

66
-V
o m-

P. ..
= rnv P righth =
.

v/2
©
P = (2m)(v/2)
fina|
= mv

Fig. 4-10. Collision of two inelastic objects, as seen from the viewpoint of the sphere on the right. When the spheres collide,
they move with a speed equal to half the original speed of the approaching mass.

conservation of momentum will always hold. law of conservation of momentum never be vio-
developing a relativistic model for the
In lated. If we postulate this, thenwe will find that
dynamics of inelastic collisions— the "non-bounce" great speeds must cause a change in the mass of an
kind we have just seen — we shall require that the object. We will now show why the notion of con-

P. =0 p right„. = - mv

o v/2

P w == (2m)(-v/2)
-mv

Fig. 4-11. The same collision as shown at Fig. 4-10, but seen from the vantage point of the sphere on the left.

67
stancy of mass must be discarded in favor of the law Now, let us take a viewpoint midway in be-
of conservation of momentum. When objects attain tween the two spheres, so that they appear to ap-
relativistic speeds, the two concepts no longer are proach us from opposite directionsat equal speed.
logically consistent. Figure 4-12C shows the situation from the point of
view of a space vessel, moving between the two
A CONTRADICTION spheres in such a way as to
make it appear that both
To show how the concept of the constancy of mass spheres are approaching from opposite directions at
is not compatible with the law of conservation of equal speed.
momentum, let us say for the time being that mass What velocity must the ship attain in order for
is independent of velocity. Then, no matter what this to be the case? If you guess 0.45c, you are
speed an object may attain, its inertial mass will wrong. Recall from Chapter 3 that if the speeds are
always be equal to its rest mass. to be equal, then the time-distortion factors must
In Fig. 4-12, we illustrate a collision between also be equal.
two objects moving at great speed. Let us first view An observer at the sphere on the right will see
the situation from the point of view of the sphere on a certain amount of time distortion on the ship; the
the right. The sphere on the left approaches with observer on the ship will see the same amount of
great speed, say 0.9c, as shown at A. Both spheres time distortion for the sphere on the left. The rela-
have equal massm and since we have assumed that
, tive speed of the two spheres is 0.9c, which gives a
the mass is independent of the velocity, we may time-distortion factor of:
compute the speed of the two spheres after the
collision in the following way: 1
= 2.29

p = 0.9cm + (before) Vl - 0.9

p = (0.45c) (2m) (after)

Let us call the time-distortion factor between
That is, the new speed, following the inelastic the ship and the sphere on the right by the name
collision, is 0.45c, just half the initial speed of the "y ," and the time-distortion factor between the ship
sphere on the left (Fig. 4-12B). and the left-hand sphere by the name "z." Then y =

sphere on the left approaches the sphere on the right at a speed of 0.9c. We take the viewpoint of the sphere
Fig. 4-1 2. At A, the
on the At B, after the collision, the new speed is half the original speed of the sphere on the left, or 45c. At C, we take the
right.
point of view of a space ship, traveling between the spheres at such a speed as to make the spheres look like they are
approaching with equal speed, but from opposite directions. This example shows how the idea of conservation of momentum
implies that the mass must change with velocity.

68
z, because the spheres approach the ship at equal m
speed. Also, x = yz. Thus: m =
Vl - v7c-
v = z = \ 2.29 = 1.51

As the spheres approach the ship, the time- The relativistic change of mass, in contrast to

distortion factor To what velocity v* does

is 1.51. changes in the apparent spatial length, has demon-
this correspond? Working through the time- strable effects. A particle moving with extreme
distortion formula backwards: speed has greater striking force in proportion to its ,

velocity, than a slow-moving object. This phe-

1 nomenon is important in the use of atomic particle
1.51 =
accelerators, where the nuclei of atoms are electri-
VI - v*7c 2

cally moved with speeds near the speed of light.

Because the particles are moving so fast, they in-
This yields a speed of v* = 0.75c. This is the
crease in mass and shatter the nuclei of atoms they
speed with which an observer on the right-hand
strike. If not for this, the accelerator would not
sphere will see the ship approaching, and it is also
function.
the speed with which an observer on the left-hand
For interstellar or intergalactic space travel-
sphere will see himself as catching up with the ship.
ers, the relativistic increase of mass may prove of
An observer aboard the ship will see the sphere on
great significance. Even in the far reaches of space,
the left coming toward him with velocity v*; he will
there are a few small particles— mostly hydrogen
see the sphere on the right moving toward him with
nuclei, but also an occasional small pebble as well.
velocity — V*.
Moving at aspeed of 0.9999c, or 99.99 percent the
As seen from the ship, then, the sphere on the
speed of stone having a mass of one
light, a small
left has momentum p, = mv*; the sphere on the
gram (at rest) will appear to have a mass of 71 grams
right has momentum p n = -mv*. Upon colliding,
if it impacts against us Its diameter will of course
. ,

the final momentum will be p +p = mv* - mv* le(t riKht remain unchanged. At such a speed, a small object
— 0. This means that the spheres would seem to of this mass could go right through the hull of a
come to a complete stop at the ship. space ship!
The relative velocity of the ship, taking the The increase in massunbounded as the ve-
is
viewpoint of the left-hand sphere (Fig. 4-21A) is, as locity approaches the speed of light. That is, as we
we have said, 0.75c. Thus the final velocity of the approach c (in a space vessel for instance) our mass ,

spheres, following the collision, is also 0.75c. This approaches infinity. It is therefore impossible to
result is at variance with the previous findings, accelerate to, or beyond, the speed of light; the
which gave a final speed of 0.45c. faster we go, the more our inertial mass increases,
This is a contradiction Since . we have resolved and the more it becomes to accelerate.
difficult
that the law of conservation of momentum must Should we ever travel to the stars, the rel-
hold, regardless of the speed or direction of an ativistic change in the mass of our space vessel will
object or objects, we are forced to conclude that the have to be reckoned with. How will we deal with it?
inertial mass of the moving spheres must change. What effects will relativistic speeds have on us? We
do not presently have the technology to find out
MASS VERSUS VELOCITY these things in practice, but some day perhaps we
The inertial mass of a moving object increases with will. Journeys to other stars, and other galaxies,
the velocity, and this increase is exactly in propor- will have more complications than just the
far

tion to the time-distortion factor. That is, when a changes that in the shape and mass of space
occur
mass of m grams (at rest) is put in motion with vessels. Let us now look at some of the ramifica-
velocity v, it attains a mass equal to: tions of space travel among the stars.

69
Chapter 5

« <rco >>

Journeys to the Stars

WHEN
we
MEASURING DISTANCES TO THE
cannot use the familiar units of kilomet-
STARS, Look at the situation another way.
tance between the earth and the sun were reduced
If the dis-

ers or miles; the number of kilometers or miles to to a scale of one inch, Alpha Centauri would be
any other star (besides the sun) is utterly incom- about 4'/2 miles away. The distance from the earth
prehensible. Even the sun is 150 million kilometers to the sun is called an astronomical unit. One as-
away from the earth and it's hard enough
, to imagine tronomical unit is to a light year as an inch is to a
this. But the nearest star outside the solar system mile. Will we ever reach the stars? In order to do so,
is a staggering 27 trillion miles away, or about 44 we will have to attain tremendous speeds.
trillion kilometers.
The Apollo space missions required about SPACE SHIP DESIGN FOR HIGH SPEED
three days to go from the earth to the moon, and If not for the effects of relativistic distortion, it is

three days to return. Since the moon some

is clear that we would not be able to reach many stars
400,000 kilometers from earth, this means the within the span of a human lifetime. But, by ac-
Apollo ships had an average speed of about 133,000 celerating to high enough speeds, we may be able
kilometers per day, or 5,500 kilometers per hour. to reduce the apparent length of time required to
At this speed, itwould take 700 days— almost two reach other stars, and perhaps even other galaxies.
years— to reach the sun. Consider that the distance The relativistic effect of extreme speed is exactly
to the Alpha Centauri star system, the closest star equivalent to a "slowing down" of time. The elec-
to our sun, is 300,000 times as far from the sun as trons in every atom, as well as the hands of any
we are! Apollo would need 600,000 years to get that clock, move more slowly as a space vessel ap-
far.

70
proaches the speed of light The biological clock of a
. the more fuel we need, and the more our ship must
human being would certainly be no exception. A weigh. But also, the faster we go, the greater the
journey of many light years might be compressed on mass becomes. It is a double-
relativistic effect
into a time frame of only weeks, or days. barreled problem. Until we can develop a much
As we have seen, the inertial mass of a moving more efficient sort of propulsion system than the
space ship increases as the speed increases, in rockets we have now, we will never reach the stars.
exactly the same proportion as time becomes di- Various design methods have already been
lated. This means that more and more energy is proposed for space vessels capable of star travel.
required to provide additional speed. In order to One such vessel, called "Orion," is roughly illus-

take advantage of relativistic time effects, we trated in Fig. 5-1. This ship uses nuclear bombs-
would have to accelerate a ship to speed compara- hydrogen weapons— to provide acceleration. Until
ble with that of light. For a time-distortion factor of recently, this vesselwas actually being considered
2, we would have to attain a speed of 0.866c; for a for development by the United States.
factor of 10, 0.995c; for a time-distortion factor of A second, and smoother, way of achieving
100, we would have to accelerate to 0.99995c. Even great speeds is shown in Fig. 5-2. This ship is called
at this speed, a voyage to Alpha Centauri, 4-V2 light "Daedalus." Its propulsion system consists of a
years away, would seem to take two weeks. nuclear fusion reactor, a sort of controlled, continu-
Traveling to stars even more distant, we would ous hydrogen bomb. Although the fusion reactor
need to achieve even greater speeds. With present has not yet been perfected, it is likely that such a
methods of propulsion, we could not carry enough reactor will exist before too long.
fuel to reach this kind of velocity. The faster we go, Orion, designed by Theodore Taylor, Free-

Living
quarters

Fuel
storage

Blast deflector

Fig. 5-1 . The "Orion" vessel for attaining high speeds for interstellar travel. Hydrogen bombs are exploded against the blast
deflector, pushing the ship forward. This design was proposed by Theodore Taylor, Freeman Dyson, and others.

71
Living
quarters
Blast
deflector

Fuel
storage

Fig. 5-2. Interstellar spacecraft "Daedalus." Instead of using bombs for propulsion, this ship uses a nuclear fusion reactor.
Although such a reactor has yet to be perfected, scientists are confident that it will be some day This ship was designed by the
British Interplanetary Society.

man Dyson and other scientists, and Daedalus, de- A third kind of interstellar vessel has been
signed by the British Interplanetary Society, would proposed by R. W. Bussard. This vessel may
be capable of speeds approaching 10 percent of the perhaps achieve relativistic speeds, since it does
speed of light— 0.1c. However, at the speed the not have to carry its own propellant. Called the
time-distortion factor is only 1.005, scarcely any "Bussard Ramjet," this ship (Fig. 5-3) uses in-
different than the condition for zero velocity. Al- terstellar matter to provide acceleration, in much
though these vessels could not take advantage of the same way a jet engine works in our own atmo-
time dilation, they may be useful for rapid in- sphere. The large opening at the front gathers dif-
terplanetary travel. They are not so practical for fuse matter from space; it would have to be huge for
trips to the stars; it would take over 40 years to get the Bussard Ramjet to function. However, once it

to Alphi Centauri, and thus it is unlikely that the got going, this kind of vessel could continue to
same person would ever be able to say goodbye to accelerate indefinitely. In fact, the faster it went,
earth and return with his story. To travel hundreds the more interstellar material it would encounter,
of light yearswould require that many generations and the better it would work. Since the Bussard
spend their entire lives in space. Ramjet does not have to carry its propellant along,

72
it would be much less massive than Orion or In that time, perhaps other ideas will evolve for
Daedalus. So it would need less energy to achieve interstellar travel.
the same speed.
It is not likely that such advanced ships as A TRIP TO ALPHA CENTAURI
Orion, Daedalus, or the Bussard Ramjet will be Suppose we have a space vessel capable of ac-
developed until at least several decades from now. celerating indefinitely at one gravity— 10 meters

Power
distributor

Living quarters

Blast deflector

Fig. 5-3. The "Bussard Ramjet" interstellar space ship. Proposed by R. W. Bussard. this design might allow space travelers to
achieve speeds great enough for relativistic time distortion to take place.

73
per second per second (10m/sec 2 ) — and we embark speed will begin to reach values where relativistic
from earth orbit in this ship, travel halfway to Alpha distortion of time, mass, and distance occur. After a
Centauri, turn the vessel 180 degrees, and decelerate month, we would reach about 8.6 percent of the
it at one gravity until we arrive at the star. Suppose we speed of light after six months we will be moving at
;

return from Alpha Centauri to earth the same way. about half the speed of light Then . we must consider
This will not only give us a comfortable ride, relativistic effects, because it is clear that time,
in a gravational environment familiar to us, but it mass, and spatial proportions will change. The ves-
will also take considerable advantage of relativistic sel will eventually be speeding along at nearly the
time distortion to shorten the trip. How long would velocity of light.
the journey appear to take us, on board the vessel? Because the mass of the ship increases as it
How long would our friends back home on earth goes faster, the spatial acceleration needed to pro-
have to wait for us? duce one gravity is less at high speeds As the ship's .

Initially, our speed would be only a small frac- speed approaches the velocity of light its mass and , ,

tion of the speed of light. After one minute, our the mass of everything aboard becomes very large
,

speed would be 10 m/sec 2 x 60 sec = 600 m/sec, in It takes much less change of velocity to create a
addition to the initial orbital speed, which we will when the objects are so much
force of one gravity
neglect since it is so small compared to the speeds more massive.
we will eventually attain. After an hour, or 3,600 As time, seen from an external point of view,
seconds, our speed will be 10 m/sec 2 x 3,600 sec = goes on, the velocity of the ship levels off as it gets
36 km/sec. This is still a very small fraction of the close to the speed of light. Figure 5-4 illustrates
speed of light. After a longer time, however, our how this results in less and less spatial accelera-

1.0 -

S 0.5 -
>

n _
Time

Fig 5-4. Velocity versus time curve for a constant acceleration of one gravity. Because the space ship, and everything on it,
gets more massive as the speed increases, it takes less and less spatial acceleration to create the force of one earth gravity.
The result is that the speed levels off as it approaches c.

74
2000 AD
o • ^^ »- v = 0.99995c
*
Earth Alpha
Centauri

2004 AD — — ^k

o *)
.
•
Earth Alpha
Centaur 0.99995c

2009 AD -

e •
~S)
Earth Alpha
Centauri

Fig. 5-5. A round-trip journey to at 99.995 percent of the speed of light. When the ship leaves earth,
Alpha Centauri is the year it

2000 AD. When it have passed on earth, but the occupants of the vessel have aged only one month. The
returns, nine years
net result is that they have traveled into the future by eight years and 1 1 months.

tion. But according to the passengers on the ship, factor, how would space travelers feel as they left

nothing changes. Time seems

them to be per- to the earth? Their home would certainly be different
fectly normal. Their weight and mass seem the when they returned; it might not even exist, con-
same and , their surroundings appear in perfect pro- sidering the capability of mankind to destroy our
portion. planet.
On a long journey, covering light years, the It is not an important consideration for space
ship will attain speeds great enough to shorten the travelers of today. But, will future astronauts ever
trip considerably for the space travelers Instead of . volunteer for a long relativistic journey? Will future
taking many years, reaching Alpha Centauri might governments allow such expeditions? Space travel
seem to take only a few months. may never be easy.
With a space ship capable of accelerating in-
definitely at one gravity, we would be able to reach TIME TRAVEL
great distances in space within the span of a Let us imagine a space ship capable of quickly ac-
lifetime. It would even be possible to reach other celerating to, and decelerating from, relativistic
galaxies! A trip to the Andromeda galaxy, for exam- speeds. Such acceleration and deceleration would
ple, would require only 28 years by ship time. But introduce extreme gravitational effects on the pas-
there are certain philosophical complications in all sengers. However, perhaps the technology of the
this. What father would want to see his son go off future will provide a way to overcome this. Any-
into space on a journey of hundreds of light years, way, we might attain very' large time-distortion
never to return until long after his own death? What factors aboard such ships— so great that time travel
son would want to say goodbye to his father, know- would become a reality.It would be possible to

ing it would be for the last time? On a journey literally travel to the future!

lasting hundreds, thousands, or millions of years, Figure 5-5 shows an imaginary journey to and
with animation suspended on the ship by a large from Alpha Centauri which is almost 4'/2 light years
,

75
from our solar system At a speed of 99 .995 percent
. erate to sufficient speed, and circumnavigate the
the speed of light, or 0.99995c, the time-distortion Andromeda galaxy , a round trip of about four million
6
factor is 100. Imagine that this vessel makes a light years, the time-distortion factor could be 10
circumnavigation of Alpha Centauri, leaving earth (Fig. 5-6). On such a trip, we might get into our
in the year 2000. When it returns, it will have vessel, be cloistered for 48 months in the strange
traveled nine light years at almost the speed of depths of space-time, and return to earth to find-
light, and the passengers will find it is the year well, what? Would the planet still be inhabited?
2009. But, they will have seen only a hundredth of Would technology have found a way to avoid
that time span pass— only about month. Their a relativistic effects of intergalactic travel? Would
bodies will have aged just one month; their clocks life be better or worse? Of course we would have no
will have moved ahead the equivalent of only one way of knowing when we began the trip. But, of one
month. These astronauts will have moved ahead in thing we could be certain: The
would be trade-off
time by nearly nine years. There is no known return from a relativistic
final.

The consequences of this kind of journey voyage into the future. To travel backward in time
would be pretty strange. Suppose you are 28, and is, apparently, impossible, because it creates logi-
your father is 50; after such a time journey, you cal contradictions.

would still be 28, but your father would be 59. Or

suppose you are 28 and have a younger sister who is
21. When you returned, she would be your older BACKWARD TIME TRAVEL
sister. Looking back at the space-time models of Fig. 3-15,
Time journeys of greater magnitude are possi- we can represent a relativistic journey into the
ble; theoretically, there is no limit to how far into future, such as the round trip to Alpha Centauri or
the future we might go. If our vessel were to accel- the Andromeda galaxy, by a pictorial model (Fig.

O .
2000

Earth
AD
— v~c (_£->

M-31

~" "~
©. - - — " &
2,002,000 AD
"""
Mi V
\
~ c
Earth

4,002,000 AD
~~~
"
" M-31 (^f? J

Earth

Fig. 5-6. A round-trip excursion to M-31 , the Andromeda Galaxy, which is two million light years from our solar system. If the

ship leaves in the year 2000 AD, it will return four million years later. However, if the vessel reaches a speed v almost the speed
6
of light, so that the time distortion factor is 1 (a million), the occupants of the ship will have aged just 48 months. Theoretically,
any time-distortion factor can be achieved, and so such a trip to the future is possible.

76
1

Earth Star

\
\
v Path of
\ space ship

\
\
/•/
1

Earth Star

/
/

/
Earth Star

Fig. 5-7. Space-time representation of a journey such as that depicted by Fig. 5-5 or 5-6. The path of the ship is shown by the
dotted line. The angle 6 is almost 45 degrees; if it were 45 degrees then the speed of the ship would be c.

77
5-7). At near-light velocity, we follow a path in- because it will encounter more and more of them
clined almost 45 degrees with respect to the time per unit time. Also, at relativistic velocities, the
axis. Upon our return to the time line, running effective mass of each atom will increase. Accord-
through our home planet earth, it is the future. ing to physicist Edward Pucell at a lecture in 1960,
Much fiction has been written about backward if you were traveling at 0.99c, the force of the

time travel. It will surely remain fiction, unless and interstellar materials against your space vessel

until we find ways to leave our three-dimensional would result in radiation equivalent to that pro-
universe. Relativistic travel into the future pre- duced by several hundred particle accelerators, for
sents no contradictions; it is essentially a state of each square yard of surface area! It is clear that this
suspended animation. But traveling into the past would present a safety hazard. And 0.99c results in
would make it possible to change history. This a time-distortion factor of only 7. Particle ac-
would create a fragile cosmos indeed! celerators also called "atom smashers ," rely partly
,

Imagine what might happen if we could travel on the relativistic effects of great speed in order to
into the past. Such a journey might be represented work. But this creates a lot of danger for would-be
by the space-time model of Fig. 5-8. What would it interstellar travelers. How would they shield their
be like if we could travel through the space-time vessel without making it prohibitively heavy? How
continuum freely? You might go back 24 hours, and serious would this situation get at a speed where
correct a mistake you made yesterday on an exami- the time-distortion factor was 100, 1 ,000, or more?
nation. You might go farther into the past, and The effective mass caused by relativistic
change history. History is like a tree: It is a con- speed increases not only for atoms of hydrogen but
,

tinual succession of causes and effects. The farther for all interstellar material, including any meteors
back you went, the greater the impact your actions that might happen to lie in the ship's way. The
could have You might even prevent your
. own birth! greater the speed, the higher the chance that a
This would keep you from making the time journey meteor will be encountered. Suppose we are
in the first place. cruising along at 99.995 percent the speed of light,
Clearly, this contradiction is intolerable. It and happen to run into a marble-sized piece of in-

reduces the whole universe to nonsense. We must terstellar iron ore with a mass of, say, an ounce.
dismiss backward time travel And . it is a good thing Because the distortion factor is 100 at this speed,
we can't do it! Any one of us might just disappear at the little rock will have an effective mass of over six

any moment! pounds. Needless to say, a six-pound object, a half

inch across, moving at 99.995 percent the speed of
DIFFICULTIES WITH INTERSTELLAR TRAVEL light, would have a lot of momentum. It would

Relativistic effects on the rate of time may make surely do damage to our ship!
interstellar space travel less tedious, although we There are other problems with relativistic

have seen there could be psychological problems space travel besides the dangers of radiation (Fig.
associated with long journeys. But, the relativistic 5-9) and meteors (Fig. 5-10). Time distortion,
effect on mass has a detrimental effect on the pros- while making long journeys endurable or at least

pects for traveling among the stars. possible, will also cause certain inconveniences,

We know that space is not a perfect vacuum; aside from the perhaps undesirable time-travel ef-

there are atoms of hydrogen here and there, even in fect. Let's look at a couple of these problems.

the remotest reaches of space. The density of mat-

ter in the universe varies, but it averages perhaps TELECOMMUNICATIONS
one atom of hydrogen per cubic centimeter. It is this Time distortion will cause a Doppler-like decrease
matter that allows the Bussard Ramjet to achieve in the frequency of radio signals that might be used
its high speeds. But, at greater and greater speed, for communications between earth and a relativistic

these molecules will begin to drag on a space ship, space vessel. This, in addition to actual Doppler

78
t

Earth
._ .._ . . .
t

\
\
\
\
\

Earth

/ Path of
space ship

/
/
,—
l— d
% 9
y
Earth

Fig. 5-8. A trip back in time, pictorially represented by a space-time drawing. Such trips are impossible, according to our
present knowledge. The ship moves in the opposite direction from that of our universe, hurtling into the future at the speed of
light. This ship must therefore travel outside our space continuum.

79
V ~ c

Interstellar
atoms
Deadly
_# (mostly
radiation
hydrogen)

/
Fig. 5-9. As a space vessel moves at nearly the speed of light through interstellar space, the diffuse atoms, mostly of hydrogen,
increased mass. This produces deadly radiation because of the "atom smashing" effect.
strike the front of the ship with greatly
In fact, according to physicist Edward Purcell, each square yard of the ship would be hit by the equivalent output of several
hundred particle accelerators!

shift resulting from motion, will not be a very seri- one-way conversation (exchange of data) will be
ous problem by itself. We will simply have to make quite prolonged, once the vessel is a few hundreds
adjustments to the frequency setting of our re- or thousands of light years away.
ceiver, both aboard the ship, and back on earth. But The time-distortion effect will stretch out the
aside from this frequency difference, time will be modulation of whatever signals do eventually arrive
moving at different rates, too! A two-way conver- at earth from the vessel, or vice-versa. When this
sation will be utterly out of the question. The great factor becomes large, special equipment will be
distances between the earth and an interstellar necessary to decode the low frequencies. Rather
spacecraft will make this an impossibility; even a than voices, it will be necessarv to use a telecom-

* -y.- V

V = c

Fig. 5-1 0. Even the smallest meteor would become a deadly projectile at near-light velocities. Not only would it strike the ship at
tremendous speed, but its mass would be relativistically increased, and consequently its density, too.

80
munication code such as high-speed Morse. But perhaps covering many cubic light years of space,
with a time-distortion factor of a million, even the conveniently neglect the extreme time delays in-

fastest data will be rendered ridiculously slow. In- volved in such "star hopping."
formation transmitted at 1,000 words per minute Suppose an interstellar vessel leaves Planet
would be reduced to one word every 16 hours and X, orbiting Star X, and makes a "short" trip to
40 minutes Patience will certainly be an ingredient
. Planet Y, which orbits Star Y, to obtain some
of interstellar or intergalactic voyages! necessary supplies for the people of Planet X.
Figure 5-11 shows one such situation where Star
, X
STAR HOPPING and Star Y are ten light years away from each other.
Science-fiction books and movies that depict future These two stars are very close together when com-
space travelers making excursions among the stars pared to the diameter of our galaxy. (The Milky

Fig. 5-11. Two hypothetical planets X and Y orbit their stars, separated by light years. The ship, traveling at almost the speed
1

of light, is onits way to Planet Y to get some crucial supplies for Planet X. has already been gone five years. There are still 1
It

years left until it arrives with the supplies back at Planet X.

81
Way is nearly 100,000 light years across.) Let's earth years is quite a while by anybody's standards.
imagine that Planets X and Y, because of their Still, two stars only ten light years apart are not
proximity, have come to identify with the same likely to both have planets with civilizations. Two
"interplanetary organization." stars, both with sophisticated technological so-
Even if the spacecraft accelerates to almost cieties on
one of their respective planets,
at least

the velocity of light during its excursion, it will be would more likely be many thousands, or even
20 years by Planet X time until it returns with the millions, of light years away from each other. We
crucial supplies. We are, of course, speaking here can make an optimistic guess, though, and suppose
about time in earth years; Planet X may have a year that they are only about 1,500 light years apart.
that is longer or shorter than ours, if its orbit takes Imagine what an interstellar "summit meet-
more or less time to go once around its sun. But 20 ing" between the two great superpower planets of a

• • -
.'
' .

- " - . . -

" -
- • ' '

-
•' •

*
.

x \

10 ,000
i'g ht

•
ye ars

- .

* .
'.

/- •..''.•'.'.'.••...'*;/;• >^,10,000
iV""gh t years
-— 10 000 linht vmr^
I

Fig. 5-12. In a cubical section of the galaxy measuring 10,000 light years on each edge, there are six stars (shown as having
points) with intelligent civilizations. These six societies have formed a federation. Planets X and Y are by far the most
advanced. They are 1,500 light years apart. How will they hold a summit meeting?

82
"federation," enclosed by a cubical chunk of space interstellar travel might be possible, although in-
10,000 light years on a side, would be like! Suppose convenient, dangerous and perhaps psychologically
the two superpowers, Planets X and Y, are situated traumatic. Would other advanced civilizations ever
as shown in Fig. 5-12. (It is fortunate that they are attempt interstellar or intergalactic journeys? Is it

not at opposite corners of the cube! But they are some of the apparent difficulties can
possible that
still away from each other.)
awfully far be overcome? One way to find out is to search for
The superpowers might conduct their meeting evidence of a visitation, to our earth, by beings from
either in person or by radio or television But either . another world.
way, the process would take many generations, if We have all heard about unidentified flying
these creatures have lifespans anything at all like objects (UFOs); some of us have even seen them. In

our own. Such societies would surely have to be many UFO reports, the witnesses have described
much different from ours. Perhaps patience evolves extremely rapid acceleration and deceleration, such
with technological advancement, although with us, that the vessels dart about almost like projected
it seems to have been the other way around. images or holograms. Dismissing, for a moment,
Science fiction authors have invented "hyper- the fact that not a single one of these "vessels" has
light drives" and "subspace communication" de- ever contacted our leaders, how is it possible for
vices to get around this kind of problem, while still them to accelerate and decelerate so fast? Wouldn't
providing a believable scenario. But even at ten the forces introduced on the passengers be over-
times the speed of light, assuming it were possible whelming, crushing them to death? It would seem
to go that fast , the journey from Planet X to Planet Y so. Maybe they have found a way to neutralize this
would require 150 years. "Subspace" communica- effect. If this is true, perhaps they have conquered
tion would be the only feasible way to have an other difficulties with long-distance space travel as
interstellar meeting. But, if two planets were sepa- well.
rated by distances such that a trip from one to the Unfortunately, we cannot say with certainty
other would span generations, we would think their whether or not UFOs actually represent visitations
would not get very involved with each
civilizations by extraterrestrial civilizations. Although many
other. They might communicate for entertainment, UFO stories lack precise explanations, we need
in much the same way as our amateur radio more concrete evidence before we can reasonably
operators do today But further contact would prob-
. and scientifically conclude that these events are the
ably be very limited. result of visits by beings from other planets. Some
This is all speculation, of course. According to day they may contact us in such a way that there can
relativity theory, it must also be quite fictitious. be no doubt about their identity. Until then, we
But we are just beginning to make discoveries about must look for more definite evidence.
very strange aspects of the cosmos. It might be
possible to travel extreme distances in almost no
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
time at all, in a manner that is totally unknown to us
There are a few cases where people have claimed to
at the present time.
have been physically transported away from earth
Hopefully, we have learned a lesson from the
by a UFO. Upon careful questioning, and even hyp-
arrogance of those in the past. Just when we think
nosis, they have given answers that defy explana-
we know everything, something new and radical is
tion. It is impossible to rule out a visitation by
discovered. The "hyper-light drive" invented by
aliens; such occasions brighten our hopes for in-
science-fiction enthusiasts may one day be found to
terstellar travel. But, we have still not had any
be fact! We should never completely give up the
idea of interstellar or intergalactic travel.
aliens land at the Kennedy Space Center and show
us how their ships operate.

HAVE WE BEEN VISITED? In the Bible's Old Testament, the book of

With our current knowledge, we can imagine how Ezekiel makes reference to strange objects floating

83
in the sky, and winged creatures that transported It would seem that, if interstellar or inter-
the prophet over great distances There are strange
. galactic travelers had come to earth and wanted us
stories in other legends, as well. There have al- humans to be aware of their existence, they would
ways been unexplained phenomena. Maybe some of have left some sort of unmistakable evidence, such
these stories stem from visitations long ago, and as star maps, drawings of their vessels and them-
maybe not. There are bizarre figures etched into selves, or records in one of our languages. But
the ground in one desert region of South America. nothing of this sort has ever been discovered.
From ground level, they look like ruts made by a There are always several plausible explanations for
tractor or dug in the earth by means of shovels. But the strange phenomena that we are tempted to
when viewed from the sky, these etchings take on attribute to visitors from space.
definite shapes; they are mostly animal-like in ap- Frank Drake, a 1952 graduate of Cornell Uni-
pearance. Were these "drawings" made to please versity, and other scientists, think that perhaps
the gods? Or are they communications signals, radiocommunication might be used, instead of
perhaps intended as landing instructions for alien space travel, as a means by which societies from
space ships? other planets might try to contact us. Radio waves

9
•v / Big Dipper

</
n
/ ~ -
Little Dipper

• Polaris

. Betelgeuse /
Celestial /
Equator /
\** \/Orion /
/
A
\ Endanus
o \
\ Cetus. — »^
*
*- — •
^-* Tau Ceti
Epsilon
Eridani
J--»— •—.,
/

Fig. 5-13 Star map showing the approximate locations, in the sky as seen from Earth, of the stars Tau Ceti and Epsilon Eridani.
The dotted line represents the celestial equator, 90 degrees from the North celestial pole (located near Polaris). These two
stars were the focus of the initiation of Project Ozma, the first serious attempt to listen for signals from other worlds. These two
stars are about 11 light years from earth.

84
Four-dimensional
radio waves

Three-
Our
dimensional
Universe
radio waves

Fig. 5-14. Reduced-dimension drawing of our universe as seen from four-dimensional "hyperspace." Our continuum appears
as a plane. Ordinary radio waves travel within our universe as shown by the circles in the plane. Is possible to generate waves
it

that travel outside our three-dimensional universe 9 Such electromagnetic energy would, in this drawing, appear as spheres
around the emission point. (Here, they are shown as circles outside the plane.)

travel at the fastest possible speed, and no living enough stars were scanned near the 21-centimeter
beings would need to sacrifice their lives in a resonant hydrogen wavelength, signals from an-
relativistic time journey if this method of contact other civilization would eventually be heard. And
were used. Maybe we are being sought after at this not in a million years, either: It might actually
very minute by radio beacons sent from a civiliza- happen on the third or fourth star that was checked
tion on another planet, orbiting another star! The 21-centimeter wavelength was chosen
because it, as the fundamental resonant frequency
PROJECT OZMA of hydrogen atoms in space, is perhaps the most
Frank Drake initiated Project Ozma in April of 1959. common radio frequency in the cosmos. It seemed
Named after "the princess of the imaginary land of that this wavelength would be used by anyone
Oz," this was the first serious attempt to receive wishing to send signals intended for reception by
signals from other worlds. It was greeted with beings of other solar systems.
mixed reactions from scientists— some were as Among the stars considered for priority
enthusiastic as Drake and his fellow astronomers, checking were Tau Ceti , in the constellation Cetus
and some were not only skeptical, but almost and Epsilon Eridani, in the constellation Eridanus.
scornful. Nevertheless, Drake believed that, if Figure 5-13 shows the locations of these stars in the

85
heavens as seen from our planet. Both stars are higher speed in four dimensions than they do in
fairly close to our sun— about 11 light years away. three dimensions. Or, possibly, distances may be
Drake showed that signals of sufficient power to be reduced in "hyperspace."
heard by our radio telescopes could be generated by It is impossible for us to directly visualize a
any society having master)' of the techniques of space of four or more dimensions. But, we can
radio communication. And any reasonably advanced geometrically describe what might take place in

beings would, Drake believed, have completely such a "hyperspace." Figure 5-14 is a diagram of
mastered the electromagnetic spectrum. what our three-dimensional continuum would look
The search began; at one point, strong, regular like in four-dimensional hyperspace; one dimension
pulses were received. This caused great excite- has been taken away to make it comprehensible.
ment for Drake and his colleagues. But, they finally Four-dimensional radio signals are shown prop-
found that the signals were actually of earthly ori- agating outside our own universe into hyperspace.
gin, apparently transmitted by the military in a Is it possible that ordinary radio waves do this? Or
radar experiment. The astronomers reiterated would we have to invent some kind of special an-
their requests for radio silence in the vicinity of tenna or transmitter? Perhaps the whole idea is

their sensitive equipment. utterly out of the question; maybe it is completely

The quest for reception of signals from other ridiculous to suppose that any such thing is possi-
planets goes on. Astronomers still look for such ble. But we don't know this yet!
transmissions, since the rewards would be well If we could ever find a way to generate radio
worth whatever effort and cost are involved. Are waves more than three dimensions, perhaps
of
they looking on the correct frequencies? Is there we might communicate with other civilizations,
perhaps another way by which radio signals can be avoiding the tremendous delays involved with in-

transmitted a way that we have not yet discovered?

, terstellar transmission of ordinary electromagnetic
signals. The fiction of the present may become the
fact of the future
"HYPERSPACE" COMMUNICATION Cosmologists have very good evidence that
If there were only some way to shorten the vast four-dimensional hyperspace does exist. Often, we
distances between the stars and galaxies, at least consider time as a fourth dimension, perhaps be-
for radio transmissions, if not physical transport! cause we cannot visualize a space of more than
There may in fact be, but it would involve the three. This is a logical model, but it is quite likely
transmission of energy or matter into more than that there are other spatial dimensions. Let's
three spatial dimensions. Perhaps in a space of examine the properties of hyperspaces of four or
many dimensions, speeds faster than light are pos- more dimensions. What would it be like to live in a
sible; it could be that radio signals might travel at a four-dimensional universe?

86
Chapter 6

(d ©

Dimensions and Hyperspace

ASTRONOMERS AND COSMOLOGISTS OF TODAY In our universe, we can construct three lines
believe that there are more than three dimen- through any point, so that they all intersect there
sions. We cannot visualize "hyperspaces" of four or and are all perpendicular to each other. Figure 6-1
more dimensions, but we can geometrically explore shows A good way to visualize it is to imagine a
this.
them, and get an intuitive picture of what they are corner room, where two walls meet the ceiling.
in a

like. It is quite simple to define coordinate systems, One line is formed by the intersection of the two
distances, and volumes in spaces of four or more walls, and runs vertically; the other two lines are
dimensions. formed by the intersection of the walls with the
ceiling, and they run in a horizontal direction. They
WHAT IS A DIMENSION? are mutually orthogonal at the point of intersection;
Without realizing it, perhaps, we have used the each line is at a right angle to the other two.
term "dimensions" quite frequently without giving In our universe, every point has the property
it a definition. We can agree that our universe is thatwe can find exactly three lines that are mutually
three-dimensional, or that space-time is, in some perpendicular. Never can we find four or more, and
sense four-dimensional
, . A geometric plane or the
, we can always find three. If we could find a point
surface of a sphere, are examples of two-dimen- where four mutually perpendicular lines were pos-
sional spaces. A line and a circle are examples of sible, we would have a four-dimensional space, or
one-dimensional spaces. Perhaps we should define hyperspace. If we were only able to find two such
what it means to have a certain number of dimen- lines, we would have a two-space. An example of a
sions, rather than attempt to define the term "di- two-space is the surface of our own earth. The
mension" itself. surface of a sphere is such that, in the locality of any

87
! 1

90° 90°

z /

90°

Fig. 6-1 In our three-dimensional universe, we can choose three geometric lines that pass through a
. common point and are all
perpendicular to each other. Here, we call the lines x, y and z.

one point, only two lines can be found that are at places than in others ; if any one point has room for n
right angles to one another (Fig. 6-2). mutually orthogonal lines, then we shall assume
We may define the concept of dimensionality, that all points in the whole universe are the same
then, in terms of how many mutually perpendicular way.
lines we can find in a given universe. A space is Another way to define the dimensionality of a
n-dimensional if, but only if, we can find exactly n universe is to see how many coordinates are needed
lines through any point in the space such that
, all the to locate a given point How many coordinate values
.

lines are perpendicular at that point. are needed, for example, to define the location of a
Two things are obvious about this . First n will
, point on the surface of the earth? Of course, the
always be a whole number; wenever have a
will answer is two, and the most common coordinate
space of three and a half dimensions! Second, we method for finding geographic locations on earth is

will not consider the possibility that a space might the latitude/longitude system. If we consider all

have a different number of dimensions in some space around the earth, then we must add a third

88
coordinate to determine, uniquely, all points in the have different coordinates, and a given point will
universe. A two-dimensional space requires two have only one set of numbers that identifies it.

coordinates to establish the exact position of a Either the orthogonal-line scheme or the coordi-
point and a three-dimensional space requires three
,
nate scheme may be used to provide a definition for

(Fig. 6-3). In general, an n-dimensional space will dimensionality.

have the property that any coordinate scheme, de-
fining the unique location of a point, will need to
THE CARTESIAN SYSTEM
make use of exactly n different numbers. Each point There are various different kinds of coordinate

will then correspond to a certain combination of systems, but the simplest and most straightforward
such values. That is, different points will always (for most applications) is called the Cartesian coor-

\ \ v
r
i \

* 1

1
y2
1
T
90°

\Xg

\ 90°\

Fig. 6-2 The surface of a sphere is two-dimensional. At any point, we can only find two mutually orthogonal lines, such as x,
and y,, or x 2 and y 2 .

89
number lines, called the x, y and z axes, are mutu-
ally perpendicular at the point x
0, y = = 0, z = 0,
defined by the ordered triple (0,0,0). The angle
between the x and y axes is exactly 90 degrees; the
same holds true for the y and z axes, as well as the x
and z axes. Any point in three-space can thus be
represented by a unique ordered triple.
We can project the Cartesian system into any
number of dimensions. For n-dimensional hy-
perspace, the Cartesian system requires exactly n
mutually orthogonal lines, and exactly n coordinate
values. We call these lines the x,12
x„ , . . . x axes, and
n
any point is represented by an ordered n-tuple (x ,

x
2
...x n ).

POLAR COORDINATES
There are other ways to establish the uniqueness of
a point, of course, besides the Cartesian system.
On the spherical surface of the earth for example a , ,

Fig. 6-3. The on the surface of a sphere can

position of a point Cartesian system is not very convenient because of
be determined by using the familiar latitude and longitude geometric distortion While . it will work just fine for
system. Longitude angles range from - 1 80 to + 1 80 degrees,
a small area things get rather
, messy if we try to use
and latitude angles range from -90 to +90 degrees. Point P
is at latitude zero, longitude - 30. By adding a radial distance the Cartesian scheme over the whole surface of a
coordinate, emanating from the center of the sphere, we can sphere.
define all points in space. Point Q, for example, has the same
To locate geographic points on the surface of
latitude and longitude numbers as point P, but Q is farther
from the center of the sphere. the earth, then, we have adopted a system using
angles instead of number lines. These angles are, of
dinate system . This system gets its name from the course, the familiar latitude and longitude coordi-
French mathematician Rene Descartes, who first nates. Figure 6-3 illustrates this kind of system. To
invented and used it . It is generated by constructing define points in three-space, we add a radius coor-
sets of mutually perpendicular number lines. dinate, as shown. Then, any point in space can be
Figure 6-4 shows the evolution of a Cartesian uniquely represented by two angles and a distance
system of coordinates for two and three dimen- vector.
sions. We begin with a simple real number line, as Figure 6-5 illustrates a second kind of three-
shown at A; by placing two such number lines to- dimensional polar coordinate arrangement, using
gether so that they intersect at a common point one angle and two distance values. To locate a given
(zero for both lines), and at a right angle, we obtain point P, we need to know the angle 6 with respect to
the Cartesian coordinate plane for two dimensions a given reference line, and a radius r, which deter-
(B). This plane is the one you see in most graphic mines a point P' on the "image plane" that lies

illustrations, such as rate-of-inflation charts or directlyabove or below P. Then we find the dis-
quarterly profit reports. Any point on the Cartesian tance d from the "image plane" to P.
plane is defined by two numbers. In Fig. 6-4, the From the polar or Cartesian three-dimensional
point P corresponds to x = 3 and y = - 2, and this is systems, we can generate a four-dimensional coor-
represented by an ordered pair of numbers ,(3,-2). dinate system by adding another distance vector.
In Fig. 6-4C, we show the three-dimensional From the four-dimensional system, we can expand
Cartesian coordinate system. Here, the three to five and more dimensions by adding progres-

90
Fig. 6-4. At A, the basic number line is shown. By combining two of these at right angles, we obtain the two-dimensional
Cartesian plane (B). By combining three such number lines at right angles, we obtain the three-dimensional Cartesian system
(C). We can continue this process into any number of dimensions.

91
Fig. 6-5. A second polar method of defining points in three-space. An angle ft is specified with respect to the arrowed line; then a
radius r and height d are given.

sively more distance vectors. The process can go ometry would be considerably simpler than we
on without end. know it; there would be no volumes, no "cubic"
Visualizing a four-dimensional system of coor- quantities, to be concerned with. We would have to
dinates is, as we have said, essentially impossible worry only about length and area. But such a life
for us three-dimensional beings. However, we can would be restrictive compared to our familiar
get some idea of the properties of hyperspace by three-dimensional existence! A circle or square
considering time as the fourth dimension. We'll would completely imprison us (Fig. 6-6).
have more to say about this later. Depth perception would be possible in two-
space, just as in three-space; binocular vision would
TWO-SPACE allow two angles of viewing for any object Through .

Henceforth, we will use the Cartesian coordinate either eye , we would see an object as a straight line.
system, rather than either of the polar versions, If the lines, seen through either eye, happened to be
since the Cartesian scheme is geometrically easier identical in length, we would have no depth percep-
to deal with. While the polar systems are equally tion; but if they were different, we might imagine
valid from a mathematical standpoint, and are more distance (Fig. 6-7). The distance to a circular object
convenient in certain applications, it is simpler to would be impossible to determine. Irregularly
define distances and volumes with the Cartesian shaped objects, however, might be seen as being a
system. definite distance away It would greatly help to have
.

Imagine what an existence would be like in a a constant fog!

two-dimensional universe. For one thing, ge- In two-space the Cartesian coordinate system
,

92
may be used to determine the position of a point All areas, in fact, are determined in the normal way.
with respect to a selected origin. The two-space Of course, it is possible that a two-space con-
may or may not be "flat" as we three-dimensional tinuum might not be "flat" in three dimensions The .

beings envision it, but creatures confined to the surface of a sphere is a good example of a "curved"
continuum would perceive it as "flat." (They would two-space. However, if we were confined to a
not have the ability to perceive a third dimension, spherical two-space, as two-dimensional beings,
just as we cannot perceive a fourth.) We may define we would envision our universe as "flat." The
area as well as length in two-space. Objects will whole idea might be closed-
that the universe

take up a certain number of square inches or feet or finite but unbounded— might very well never even

whatever units we happen to use. We determine occur to us, especially if the sphere were very
areas in two space just the same way as we do in large. We might never imagine that there could
familiar plane geometry. To find the area of a possibly bemore than two dimensions, unless we
square, we simply determine the length of a side were very astute mathematicians.
and multiply it by itself, obtaining a certain number
of square units. To find the area of a circle— the set THE DISTANCE FORMULA FOR PLANE GEOMETRY
common center— we two dimensions, the distance between two points

^
of points equidistant from a In

find the radius r, and then multiply r

2
by it (3.14). on the Cartesian plane is quite simple to determine

\ Two-space

Fig. 6-6. At A, the point P is "imprisoned" inside the square in a two-dimensional universe. In order to get outside the square, P
must travel through three dimensions, as shown at B.

93
units, and then expect to find the distance d in

o centimeters.)
A simplification of this distance formula is used
to find the diagonal of a unit square, or a square that

/IT
o
Seen from L

(*,.y,)
#
I

'
t
Seen trom R
H— x
2
- x , h
Fig. 6-7. An object, seen from two different angles in a two-
dimensional space, may appear to have variable size Seen
from the left eye of a hypothetical two-dimensional being, the
rectangle seems longer than it does through the right eye. At
A, we show the situation as viewed from above the two-
space; the left eye is labeled "L" and the right eye is labeled
"R." At B, we show the respective views of the object, as seen
by either eye. This effect would provide a sort of depth per-
o 1

ception for a being in two-space, but only for certain objects

seen from certain angles.

Suppose we have two points (x,, y,) and (x 2 , y.), as

shown in Fig. 6-8A. Finding the distance between 1 .
(1,1)

them involves the use of the theorem of Pythagoras

for a right triangle, as shown. One side of the
triangle has a length of x 2 -Xi, and the second side
has a length of y, - y . The distance between the \ 2
A\
two points
right triangle.
is

d
2
the length of the longest side of this

=
The
longest side, of the triangle,

(x 2
length of the hypotenuse, or

- x,)
2
+
is

(y 2
given by d, and:

- y,)
2
(0.0)
/ !

1
.

Therefore:

d =V(x - 2
x )
2
+ (y
2
- y,)
2 Fig. 6-8. The distance between two points on the coordinate
1
plane isfound by using the Pythagorean theorem for a right
Of course, d must be measured whatever in
triangle. Here, d
2
= (x 2 -x,r + (y 2 -y,) 2 for two arbitrary ,

points (x, y, and (x 2 y 2 ), as shown at A. At B, the diagonal of

)

we use
,
,

units to establish the coordinates of the two

a square is found by using the distance formula in simplified
points. (We cannot use inches as our coordinate form.

94
Fig. 6-9 When a two-dimensional continuum is non-Euclidean, such as the surface of a sphere, the perimeter of a circle is no
longer a simple function of its radius At A, we see that the circle must have a perimeter smaller than 2^r. At B, the circle is as
large as it can possibly be in the spherical two-space, since its radius is one-quarter of the circumference of the entire universe.
At C. we see that further increasing the radius will cause the perimeter of the circle to become smaller, not larger. If the radius is
made to be half the circumference of the spherical universe (D), the perimeter of the circle will vanish.

measures one unit on each side. In this particular its perimeter, if we define "surface" to mean the
case, we can consider that Xj = 0, V] = 0, x 2 = 1 and boundary between the interior and exterior of an
Y2 = 1, as shown at Fig. 6-8B. Then the diagonal object. The perimeter of a square having a side of
distance, from (x \/~2 units. length s is just 4s; the perimeter of a rectangle with
p y x ) to (x 2 y 2 ),
,
is

sides of lengths Sj and s 2 is simply 2s, + 2s 2 the

;

EUCLIDEAN OR NON-EUCLIDEAN? perimeter of a circle of radius r is 27rr , and so on Of .

In two dimensions the "surface"

, of an object is just course, all these simple formulas are valid for a

95
"flat" two-space, but on the surface of a "curved" ally discover the reason. We, in our three-
two-dimensional continuum, they will not be accu- dimensional space, have discovered that our uni-
rate. verse is non-Euclidean Usually the deviation from
. ,

Consider the example of a spherical two-space the "flatness" of Euclidean geometry is not very
universe. When a circle on the surface of this great, but under certain circumstances, such as
sphere is very small by comparison with the sphere when gravity is very intense or distances very
itself, use the formula p = 2irr to obtain the
we may large, our universe is far from Euclidean, indeed!
perimeter of the circle, because the universe is
essentially "flat" within a very small area. But as EUCLIDEAN AND NON-EUCLIDEAN THREE-SPACE
the radius r gets larger, the perimeter p will in-
The distance formula for three-dimensional Carte-
crease more slowly than would in a plane (Fig. it
sian coordinates is an extension of the two-
6-9) When it becomes exactly one quarter of the
.

dimensional case. For simplicity, let us imagine

circumference of the whole universe sphere, the
that we have two points, (x 1( y,, z,) and (0,0,0). We
circle will be a great circle with respect to that
must first find the diagonal of the "base rectangle"
sphere and , this is as large as any circle can possibly
of the rectangular prism shown in Fig. 6-10. This
be in the spherical continuum. Increasing the radius
"base rectangle" lies in the xy-plane, and its
past this value, the circle will get smaller, not
diagonal is the distance from (0,0) to (x,, y^ in this
bigger; ultimately, when r gets to be half the cir-
plane. We already know the distance formula for
cumference of the sphere the , circle will vanish to a
two dimensions; therefore the diagonal d' of the
geometric point. The radius could be increased yet
"base rectangle" in the xy-plane is:
more, and the circle would begin to grow again.
This same sort of thing would happen to any object d' = V x, 2 + }'!
2

in a spherical two-space.
If the simple, plane-geometry perimeter for- To find the distance from (0,0,0) to(x I? y,, z,),
mulas always hold precisely ,
, in a given continuum we need to find the length of the hypotenuse of the
then we say that the continuum is Euclidean. This right triangle shown, with vertices at (0,0,0),
term comes from the name of the ancient math- (x,,y,,0) and (x 1( y 1( Zj). We already know the
ematician, Euclid, who invented the elementary lengths of the lesser si des: One is z, units (the
laws of plane geometry. A Euclidean two-space is, height) and the other is Vx, + y, 2 2
units (the base)
of necessity, a geometric plane. It would appear We can use the Pythagorean theorem to find the
"flat" as seen from a three-dimensional point of desired distance, d:
view. Any two-space that deviates from perfect
"flatness" is called non-Euclidean since the laws of , d = \Avx,* + y*? + z
,
2

plane geometry no longer apply.

How
would two-dimensional creatures, con-
= V x^ + y,
2 + Z,2

fined to their two-space and not even able to According to this formula then the diagonal of , ,

imagine what a three-dimensional existence might a unit cube measuring one unit on each edge
, , is \^3
be like, be able to tell whether or not their universe units. The volume of a cube is obtained, of course,
was Euclidean? They would see a square as a by finding the length of an edge and raising this
square, and a circle as a circle. There would not be value to the third power; a cube with edges of length
3
any apparent visual distortion. But if a circle with s thus has a volume of s . The surface area of such a
2
radius r did not always have a perimeter of exactly cube is 6s , since a cube has six identical square
2-7rr, the two-dimensional creatures would know faces
that something was a little strange. If a small square You should recall from geometry courses that
2
had a different ratio of perimeter to area than a large the surface area of a sphere having radius r is Attt ,

3
one, our little plane-universe beings would eventu- and the volume is 47rr /3. These formulas are, of

96
course, all based on the assumption that space is Imagine that we were to conduct an experi-
Euclidean. A square looks square, and a cube looks ment using cubes and spheres of various sizes, and
like a cube. There is no apparent distortion. The we checked the accuracy of the surface-area and
idea that our three-space could be anything but volume formulas we have just identified.Suppose
Euclidean seems somewhat analogous to the we had access to instruments of extreme accuracy,
thought that we might divide by zero! What could capable of measuring distances equivalent to bil-

possibly be meant by "non-Euclidean space"? lionths or trillionths of the diameter of a proton.

Fig. 6-10. Derivation of the distance formula for three dimensions. We find the distance d between (0,0,0) and (xi.y^Zi) by
constructing a right triangle whose lesser sides are already known. Then, we can apply the theorem of Pythagoras to obtain the
value of d.

97
Suppose that our spheres and cubes could somehow has a surface of n - 1 dimensions. Our universe, if it

be made perfect. We would find that our formulas is shaped like a four-sphere, has a three-di-
are in fact not quite perfect. mensional surface, on which we exist. We never see
How could they not be perfect? After all, they anything inside or outside the four-sphere. We only
are derived mathematically! The answer must be, see what is on the surface, since light travels only
of course, that three-dimensional space is not over the surface.
Euclidean. If we were to construct three-spheres of
This borders on the unimaginable. Physicists ever-increasing radius on the surface of a four-
two ago would have laughed at
of just a century or sphere, we would find that the three-spheres would
the idea that our universe is actually this way. keep getting larger and larger, in terms of volume
Galileo and Copernicus received similar reactions and surface area, for a while. But eventually they
from the Establishment. It is gravity that causes would begin to reach a limiting size, and then start
space to be non-Euclidean, and we will discuss this getting smaller. As the spheres grew smaller, they
effect in more detail in Chapter 7. would seem to converge on a new center, located
It is thought that our universe might in fact be a exactly on the other side of the four-sphere uni-
"hypersphere" or "four-sphere" —a four-dimen- verse. Figure 6-9 is a dimensionally reduced illus-

sional set of points, equidistant from some cosmic tration of this situation. When the largest possible
epicenter— of huge proportions. Local deviations three-sphere is constructed on the surface of a
from the perfection of Euclidean geometry are very, hypersphere, the three-sphere may be thought of as
very small; but many cosmologists think that, if we having two centers. In fact, any three-sphere really
were to travel far enough in one direction, we would has two centers with respect to a hyperspherical
eventually arrive back at earth from the opposite universe a "near center" and a "far center" located
: ,

direction. The circumferential distance around the exactly opposite each other on the four-sphere.
"hypersphere" universe is probably on the order of While all this is easy to see in Fig. 6-9, it is

tens or hundreds of billions of light years, so such a rather hard to imagine how it could actually take
trip is not too practical. (Even at relativistic speeds, place with another dimension added! But scientists
we would arrive back in the solar system to find the believe our universe might be like this. As such the ,

sun dead and our home planet either vaporized or universe would have no limits, no points beyond
frozen.) which we could not pass— but there would be only a
finite number of cubic light years to explore.

THE HYPERSPHERE
Let us briefly examine some of the properties of a THE FOUR-CUBE
universe that is shaped like a "hypersphere." First, Consider a four-dimensional system of Cartesian
we ought term "sphere" as it applies to
to define the coordinates. Such a system has four number lines,

a continuum having any number of dimensions. We all intersecting at a common origin point where they
specify an epicenter point, P; then an "n-sphere" is are mutually perpendicular. We cannot draw this
the set of all points in n-space at a fixed distance r coordinate scheme, but we can describe it in

from P. In a one-dimensional space, then, a one- mathematical terms. We might call these number
sphere consists of only two points. A two-sphere is lines the w, x, y and z axes, and let them intersect
a circle, and a three-sphere is what we generally where all four variables w, x, y and z are equal to
envision when we think of the word "sphere." A zero. Any point is thus defined by an ordered quad-
one-sphere has a surface with zero dimensions, ruple (w, x, y, z).
since points are dimensionless. A two-sphere has a Suppose we choose all the points in this coor-
one-dimensional surface, and a three-sphere has a dinate system where each number is equal to either
two-dimensional surface. In general, an n-sphere zero or one. There are 16 such points, as follows:

98
*, = p9 = (1,0,0,0) eight; a four-cube has 32 edges, while a three-cube
(0,0,0,0)
r2 = (0,0.0,1) Pio = (1,0,0,1) as 12.

^3 = (0,0,1,0) Pi. = (1,0,1,0) The diagonal length of a unit four-cube is ob-

F4 = (0,0,1.1) P»2 = (1,0,1,1)
tained from the distance formula for four-di-
P5 = (0.1,0,0) Pl3 = (1,1,0,0) mensional Cartesian coordinates. It is actually quite
F6 = (0,1.0.1) Pu = (1,1,0,1) easy to derive this formula, but the pictorial illus-

P. = (0,1,1,0) Pl5 = (1,1.1,0) tration is horribly difficult to construct. A little

P. = (0,1,1,1) Pl« = (1,1.1.1) imagination will go a long way here!

Suppose we wish to find the distance between
These 16 points represent the vertices of a the two points (0,0,0,0) and (w x ]l y,,z.) in the
1

"unit four-cube," or a unit cube in four dimensions. wxyz-hyperspace. We can use the formula for the
We cannot visualize this object directly, because of three-dimensional distance through one of the cubi-
the fact that we are not four-dimensional beings! cal "faces" of the hypercube, and then use the
But we can geometrically discover some of its theorem of Pythagoras, in a manner exactly like we
properties. did to get the diagonal distance through the three-
Attempts to crudely illustrate a four-cube have cube in Fig. 6-10. There are four three-dimensional
led to drawings similar to Fig. 6-11. Here, a four- subspaces within the wxyz-hyperspace; they can be
cube is shown as a cube within a cube. Actually, a defined by setting each of the coordinates, in turn,

true four-cube has edges that are all the same to zero. This gives us a choice among the spaces
length, so this three-dimensional representation (0,x,y,z), (w,0,y,z), (w,x,0,z) and (w,x,y,0). Let's
(further reduced to a two-dimensional perspective use the (0,x,y,z) subspace.
drawing to make it fit on a flat page) is distorted. A The distance between (0,0,0,0) and (O.x^
four-cube has 16 vertices, while a three-cube has y already known to us; we use the three-
,z ) is

dimensional distance formula to obtain this distance

as:

d'=N/ v + y,
+ zr
We may construct a right triangle, using the
technique of Fig. 6-10 applied to one extra dimen-
sion. The two lesser sides of this triangle will have
lengths d' and w,. Then, by the Pythagorean
theorem:

d = V (V Xj 2
+ y,- + z,
2
) + Wj 2

= V Wj 2 + x
;
2
+ y :
2
-I- z*

In the special case of a unit four-cube, where

(w 1 ,x 1 ,y 1 ,z 1 ) = (1,1,1,1), the length of the diagonal
is VT, or 2, units. You may recall that a square has
a diagonal length of V2 units if its sides are one unit
long, and a similar cube has a diagonal of v3 units.
Apparently a unit n-cube will have a diagonal length
Fig. 6-1
1 The four-cube may be illustrated in distorted form
. of Vn, and we can prove this without much diffi-
as a three-dimensional model, here reduced to a two-
culty.
dimensional perspective drawing. All of the straight-line
edges are actually the same length in a real four-cube. Here, The four-volume, or hypervolume, displaced
the model appears as a cube within a cube by a four-cube is equal to the fourth power of the

99
length of one edge. In n-space, the n-volume of an Table 6-1.
n
n-cube is equal to s , where s is the length of one
edge. For a rectangular four-prism, the hyper- Distance Time
volume is given by wxyz, where each variable rep- Diameter of baseball 0.23 nanoseconds
Height of man 5.9 nanoseconds
resents the length of the object in each of the four
Length of football field 0.3 microseconds
dimensions. Distance across USA 21 milliseconds
Diameter of Earth 42 milliseconds
Distance, Earth to Moon 1 .3 seconds
TIME AS THE FOURTH DIMENSION Distance. Earth to Sun 8 minutes
In Chapter 3, we briefly looked at some co- Diameter of Solar System 10 hours
Diameter of Milky Way 100,000 years
ordinate-system models using time as the fourth
Radius of known universe 10 billion years
dimension. From a theoretical standpoint, time is
perfectly applicable in this role. We may think of
time as constantly "flowing" or "moving" along a sured through the space continuum. The whole
line, and we may assign coordinates to the line. three-space moves forward (or toward the future)
This is often done in history textbooks to give us a along the t axis at a velocity such that it traverses a
better idea of the comparative times of, for exam- distance the same as PQ in exactly one second.
War as opposed to the decline of the
ple, the Civil In the four-space thus created, all objects that
Roman Empire or the evolution of the solar system we regard as three-dimensional become four-
We may choose intervals of any magnitude for dimensional. In the dimensionally reduced drawing
the coordinates of a time line. For the above exam- of Fig. 6-13, the circle becomes a cylinder without
ple, we might use years or centuries. For other ends (A), and the square becomes a square prism
purposes we might want to choose days, hours, or without ends (B). In space of three dimensions, a
perhaps minutes. For still other purposes we might circle and a square describe the same space-time
b
use microseconds or nanoseconds (units of 10" or objects as they would in two-space; but a sphere and
10" 9 second) as our base unit. Time is truly a con-
tinuum, in the sense that we can specify units on a
time line in whatever magnitude suits us.
As we saw in Chapter 3, there are theoretical

reasons why we should consider a correlation be-

tween time and spatial distance, based on the con- Q'i

stancy of the speed of light. An interval of one

second is equivalent, in a spatial sense, to a dis-
tance of 300,000 kilometers. An interval of one
year, by the same reasoning,
distance of one light year, and so on. Table 6-1
is equivalent to a
f I

p
"> \
\
shows the equivalents of several familiar units of /
time and distance according to this analogy. 1

According to this model, our three-dimen- y

sional space continuum may be imagined as travel-

ing, with speed c, through the fourth dimension; the
"time" or t axis is thus perpendicular to all the
"space" axes in any Cartesian coordinate model.
Figure 6-12 is a dimensionally reduced illustration Fig. 6-12. A two-space moves through time at the speed of
of this; our three-space is shown as a two-space so creating a three-space
light, when we consider time as a
dimension. Here, the distance PQ is the same as the distance
we can comfortably fit the diagram into an illustra- PQ'. If PQ is 300,000 kilometers, for example, then PQ' is one
tion. Points P and Q are 300,000 km apart as mea- second.

100
but a badly distorted ellipsoid or blob. The circle

must achieve just the right maximum diameter,

corresponding to an equivalent period of time from
the first appearance of the point (A) until its final

demise (C). However, assuming all the parameters

are correct, we will be able to generate a true
three-sphere in space-time although not the kind of
,

sphere we ordinarily think of!

By generating an expanding and contracting
three-sphere, with a maximum diameter corre-
sponding to the period of its existence and having
just the right rates of inflation and deflation, we can
generate a four-sphere in space-time. By similar
mental exercises, we can create ellipsoids, par-
aboloids, and other geometric objects in three and
four dimensions. It is fortunate, however, that we
A circle becomes a cylinder, and a square becomes
Fig. 6-1 3. are not faced with playing "God" in the way we have
a square prism, both without ends, when we allow time to be a
been describing! Some of the objects we have talked
dimension.
about are actually impossible to create in reality of

true space-time.
cube describe space-time objects that we cannot
In the cases of the three-sphere and four-
illustrate or imagine except in mathematical terms
sphere just described, you may have noticed that
Imagine that, somehow, we could create and
the initial and speeds of expansion and con-
final
destroy certain two- and three-dimensional geo-
traction approach infinite values. At the very start
metric objects at will. Suppose we call into exis-
and finish of the three-sphere or four-sphere gener-
tence a square whose edges each measure 300 me-
ation, the circle or sphere must change size at a
ters in length. Further suppose that, exactly one
tremendous speed. But, the speed of light is the
microsecond after we have created this square, we
fastest possible velocity, and it is represented in
destroy it. Since 300 meters of spatial distance
the continuum we have built as a path having an
corresponds to one microsecond of time, the object
resulting from this creation-and-destruction event
is , as Fig .6-14 shows , a cube . It is a three-cube but ,
t

not the kind of three-cube we ordinarily imagine;

instead of occupying three spatial dimensions, this
three-cube exists in two spatial dimensions and one / /
time dimension. We may call these x, y , and t. Or, if II 1

you prefer, we might call them x, z, and t, or /

7
perhaps y, z, and t. It makes no difference. / \)
/ /,.
By a similar creation-and-destruction process,
we can mentally form a three-sphere (Fig. 6-15). / 1
i
The sphere requires a bit more effort to mold; it is
y
generated by first creating a point (A) , then chang-
ing it into a circle (B) and finally reducing the circle
,

again to a point (C) before extinguishing the figure

altogether. But this must be very carefully done. If
By generating a square in two-space, having sides
Fig. 6-14.
the circle does not change size at just the right rate, each 300 meters long, and then destroying one mi- it

the resulting space-time object will not be a sphere crosecond later, we generate a cube in space-time.

101
inclination of 45 degrees to the t axis. In Fig. 6-15, swallow. Consider, for example, how easy it is for

we can see that the circle's points move with a slope us to imagine how a two-dimensional creature
greater than 45 degrees relative to the t axis. This would get out of a circular or rectangular enclosure
cannot happen! Thus, such spheres as we have While the poor imprisoned two-space being feels
imagined must remain imaginary, not real. Space- by such a geometric set of walls, we
totally confined
time is a "limited" four-space in this sense. The t might be equally frustrated at his ignorance of the
dimension is not amenable to free movement as are third dimension, via which he could so easily get
the other three. free if there were only some way for him to gain
access to it! With respect to four-space, a three-
ESCAPING FROM A CELL dimensional prisoner in a sealed cubicle faces
Despite the shortcomings of labeling time as the exactly the same predicament.
fourth dimension, the space-time model of If travel through time were possible, it is easy
hyperspace does, at least, make the concept of a to see how a prisoner might escape from a sealed
four-dimensional universe a bit easier to intuitively cubical cell. All he would have to do is go back in

Fig. 6-15. Constructing a sphere space-time requires imagining a circle that grows and shrinks at just the right rate and to just
in

the right maximum size. A point appears initially,

at A; this grows into a circle of changing size, at B. Finally, the circle shrinks
back to a point, at C, and then disappears. If the rate of expansion and contraction of the circle is not just right, we will get an
ellipsoid, or flattened sphere, or maybe just a formless blob.

102
Fig. 6-16. At A, two planes G and H intersect in a line L. moves through
At B, supposing the two planes exist forever, the line L
time, forming a plane F, which is the intersection of two three-spaces created by planes G and H as they move through time.

103
time until before the building was constructed, duced form by Fig. 6-15. Considering only the
move over few feet, and then return to the
a two-dimensional surface of this evolving "balloon,"
present, which would find him outside the cell. Or, a non-Euclidean three-space is generated in the
alternatively, he could travel into the future until universe of space-time. This three-space is the
the building crumbled with age or was torn down, surface of a four-sphere and is unbounded but of
move over a few feet, and travel back to the pres- finite proportions.
ent. Such a time-travel excursion is geometrically Imagine two of these balloon spheres, ex-
equivalent to four-dimensional travel, wherein the panding and contracting side by side. Suppose that
cell would be quite easy to escape from. they both come into existence at the same instant,
Of course, time travel is not possible, at least and are close enough together so that they overlap
not backwards, so this illustration is not very when they expand to their maximum extent. This
realistic. But, it does help us imagine how a crea- intersection (Fig. 6-18) will first be a point (A), but
ture capable of moving through four dimensions it will grow into a circle (B) as the spheres continue
could escape from an apparently secure room. To to expand. When the balloons reach their largest
us, would seem as though the creature would
it sizes, the circle of intersection will be at its largest.
disappear from the interior of the cell and then Then, as the spheres contract, the circle will get
reappear outside. Whether-he had traveled through smaller and smaller, finally becoming just a point
time, or through a spatial fourth dimension, would As we
again (C), and then disappearing altogether.
not be ascertainable, except by the logic that back- have shown them two balloons
in Fig. 6-18, the

ward time travel cannot take place. appear and disappear simultaneously, and grow to
exactly the same maximum size.

INTERSECTING SPACES The intersection of these two three-spheres is

In three-space, we can easily visualize how two thus either a point or a circle, and this expanding

planes may intersect to form a line (Fig. 6-16A). In and contracting circle traverses space-time as
four-space two three-spaces can intersect to form a
,
shown in Fig. 6-15. The result is a three-sphere, of
plane. The space-time model of hyperspace allows two spatial dimensions and the time dimension.
us to illustrate this in the following way. This shows how two four-spheres can intersect to

Imagine two planes, as in Fig. 6-16A, existing form a three-sphere.

indefinitely; that is as far into the past
, and future as The intersection of two four-spheres might be

possible. Then these two planes are, in the four- only a point, if the two balloons got only large
dimensional space-time continuum, three-spaces. enough to touch for an instant before contracting;

If they intersect in a line as shown, then this line, of or, if the balloons did not get large enough to touch

course, moves through time along with the planes, at all, the four-spheres would be disjoint.

and so it describes a two-space, or plane, in the

space-time universe. This is shown in Fig. 6-16B. HOW WE SEE LESSER SPACES
It is possible that the two planes might not We have described geometric lines, circles,
intersect at all, in which case they are parallel (Fig. squares, planes and cubes, as well as other objects,
6-17). Thentwo planes traverse non-inter-
the quite liberally. But what do perfect geometric lines
secting three-spaces through the universe of or planes look like to us?
space-time. These are "parallel" three-spaces in a The answer is that such universes would be
four-dimensional hyperspace. totally undetectable to us. A geometric line has
Three-spaces generated in the space-time length, but no width or depth. A geometric plane
continuum do not, of course, have to be infinitely has say length and depth but no width
, , , . Any object
large, as lines or planes or unlimited spaces. Con- in a one-space or two-space would appear to us to
sider the case of an expanding and contracting have zero volume and zero mass. So there might be
three-sphere, represented in dimensionally re- a two-space slanting right through you at this very

104
moment, and you have no way to tell that it is there. massless and infinitely thin molecules. Mathemati-
You could not see it; all three-space photons would cally, a one-space or two-space can exist, but in the
go through it without being affected, and two-space sense of our own reality, they might as well not.
photons would have no energy by our reckoning. Whether or not these universes are there is of no
You would not hear it; our sound waves would pass consequence to our universe.
right through, and their sound waves would remain To any one- or two-dimensional being, we
confined to their universe, being vibrations of would appear to be of infinite proportions assuming ,

Fig. 6-17. Two parallel planes G and H, defined by coordinate systems (x,y) and (x',y'), trace out non-intersecting three-spaces
as time passes.

105
Fig. 6-18. Two identical three-spheres expand and contract. At A, their intersection is a point P; at B, this point grows to a circle;
at C, the circle shrinks again to a point Q as the three-spheres contract. These three-spheres are four-spheres in the
space-time continuum; the circle becomes a three-sphere, representing the intersection of the two four-spheres.

106
they were aware of our real existence. They would Looking at it this way, what is a truly three-
see us as cross sections in their limited realms, but dimensional object? It is either a two-dimensional
they would be unable to distinguish (except perhaps spatial thing lasting a certain length of time , or else
by deductive reasoning) these cross sections from it is a three-dimensional spatial thing that lasts for
objects in their own universes. The drawing in Fig. no time at all. Either kind of object cannot be de-
6-19 shows an example of this. Creatures in two- tected by us: the former is too "thin," and the latter
space see the pear as an object, but they have no is gone before we can tell that it was ever there.
way of knowing what the object truly is If the object
. Now, we can get some idea of what a creature
were to move, passing through the plane universe, of four spatial dimensions would see of us. The
it would appear first as a point, then as a roughly answer is nothing! But we might see them as
would
circular blob of varying size, and finally it strange objects that appear out of nowhere and then
disappear again. The two-space beings would disappear again, like sorcerers. We should not be
doubtless be shocked by this, but they might be too surprised if we find celestial objects that behave
smart enough to figure out what was actually hap- this way. Some scientists believe that matter might
pening. come from another dimension and deposit itself in

Extending this concept to another dimension, our universe, seeming to form like magic out of the
suppose we were four-dimensional creatures. We intergalactic vacuum.
would not be able to detect the existence of a
three-dimensional subspace. But we are, in fact, MORE THAN FOUR DIMENSIONS
four-dimensional when we let time be a dimension! Defining the fourth dimension as time is convenient

Two-space
continuum

Three-space object

Fig. 6-1 9. A creature in a two-space continuum would see the cross section of the three-dimensional pear as a roughly circular
object. He would not be able to tell whether the object was completely contained in his universe.

107
for our imaginations, but we have seen that there simple physical experiments. If we discover that a
are certain shortcomings involved with this ap- universe is non-Euclidean, then we can conclude
proach. The four-sphere, for example, cannot be that a further dimension must exist.
defined without requiring speeds in excess of the
speed of light. The best we would be able to do is

we INTERIOR ANGLES OF A TRIANGLE

give the four-sphere pointed poles. Therefore,
will henceforth not consider this definition of the Suppose we construct a surveying apparatus, using
"fourth dimension." From now on, when we speak lasers and instruments capable of precisely mea-
of a dimension, we will mean to say a spatial dimen- suring distances and angles, as shown in Fig. 6-20.

sion. We might set up these instruments on the surfaces

Geometrically, we can define cubes and of planets, or on satellites. There must be three
spheres any number of dimensions. An n-cube
in is such stations, creating a huge triangle in space.
2"
an object occupying n dimensions and having According to the laws of Euclidean geometry,
vertices — points at which exactly n lines of equal we are taught that the sum of the measures of the
length intersect in a mutually perpendicular way . In three interior angles of any triangle is 180 degrees.
a coordinate system of n dimensions , we can gener- But, this holds true only if the space under consid-
ate the vertices of a unit n-cube by counting up- eration, containing the triangle, is Euclidean. In a
wards in the binary number system until we reach non-Euclidean space, the sum of the measures of
n 7
2 . For example , in seven-space there are 2 or 128
, the angles will not necessarily be 180 degrees.
vertices in an n-cube . These points are represented Figure 6-21 shows two possible instances where
by the ordered septuples (0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0), (0, 0, this law of Euclidean geometry is violated.
0,0,0,0, 1), (0,0, 0,0,0, 1,0), and so on up tod, At A, we have a continuum with spherical or
1,1, 1,1, 1,1). An n-sphere is simply the set of all "positive" curvature, where the sum of the mea-
points in n-space that lie a given radius r from a sures of the angles will be more than 180 degrees.
certain epicenter point P. At B, the continuum has a "negative" or saddle-
Is such a discussion meaningful? It may be shaped curvature, and this kind of non-Euclidean
mathematically intriguing, and can certainly get space will result in a total interior angle measure of
very complicated when we start imagining any but less than 180 degrees. The drawings in Fig. 6-21
the simplest geometric forms. As mentioned be- apply just as well to three-space as to two-space (as
fore, cosmologists believe that our three-space they are shown) ; in fact , this rule can be extended to
continuum is non-Euclidean, or curved. For this to apply to any n-space.
be possible, we must accept the existence of a Suppose, then, that the triangle test yields
fourth spatial dimension, so that our universe has results that show a non-Euclidean universe. It is

something with respect to which it can be curved! In possible to argue that the failure of the sum of the
fact, there is no good reason why there should be measures of the angles to be 180 degrees is not
any limit to the number of dimensions that are caused by curvature in the continuum. We might try
possible. A three-space can be imbedded in a four- to convince ourselves that space is really Euclid-
space, which in turn lies within a five-space; in ean, and the light beams from our surveying lasers
general, an n-space can be considered to be a sub- are made to follow curved paths because of some
space of an n-f 1-space. It is harder to imagine that external force, such as gravitation or refraction. In
there should be any limit to the possible number of fact, both of these effects do cause light to deviate
spatial dimensions, than it is to think that there can from a straight line. While we can explain away the
exist an unlimited number of them. effects of refraction, as we shall soon see, we can-
The test for the existence of a further dimen- not so simply dispense with gravitation.
sion, no matter how many dimensions a given uni- By conducting experiments similar to the
verse may have, can be conducted by means of triangle test, we do find that space is non-Eu-

108
clidean. There are no perfectly straight paths in our REFRACTION
universe, but only "straightest" paths, consisting of When using light beams for checking whether or not
the shortest distances between points. Light beams space is Euclidean, we must consider refractive
seem to us to travel in straight lines, but actually media. Suppose we set up the triangle-test ap-
these paths are curved because the continuum itself paratus in a swimming pool as shown by Fig. 6-22,
is curved. so that two of the vertices of the triangle are under

Receptor

Laser

Receptor \ A Laser
A \

Laser Receptor

Fig. 6-20. Experiment determining whether or not a given space is Euclidean. Three lasers and receptors are set up at the
for
vertices of a triangle, as If the space is Euclidean, the sum of angles A, B and C should be exactly 180 degrees. If the
shown
sum of the measures of the angles is not 1 80 degrees, then the universe is non-Euclidean. Several different orientations and
sizes of the triangle might be necessary to ascertain if the space were "flat" or "curved."

109
o

Positively
curved
continuum

Negatively

O curved
continuum

Fig. 6-21 . Triangles on a positively curved surface (A) and a negatively curved surface (B). In the former case, the sum of the
measures of the interior angles is more than 180 degrees; in the latter case, less.

water. When we measure the interior angles at the But, if we drain the pool, we will find that the
vertices of this "triangle ," we will find that they add sum of the angles is different. Since the triangle is
up to more than 180 degrees. This is because of probably very small, and space is almost Euclidean
refraction as the beam between A and C passes within small regions, we would find that the sum of
through the surface of the pool The beam traveling
. the measures of the angles was just about exactly
between B and C is not bent since it hits the surface 180 degrees. Does the addition of water to the pool
at a 90-degree angle, and of course the underwater make a nearly Euclidean space into a decidedly
path between A and B is not affected by changing non-Euclidean one?
refractive media. We might stretch a piece of metal wire be-

110
Receptor
C

Laser C

<V C
> I

/
Water
/
surface

/ Point of
/ refraction

Receptor B

Receptor A

Fig. 6-22 When the triangle test is conducted with part of the apparatus submerged in a pool of water, we might get an
indication that space is non-Euclidean (the sum of angles A, B and C will exceed 1 80 degrees). Draining the pool, we would find
a difference in the measured sum of the angles. Surely this does not mean that water makes a difference in the curvature of the
universe!

111
tween vertices A and C of the triangle in Fig. 6-22, highly directional antenna system, and you want to
and then we would find that the addition of water to point the antenna so that you will pick up signals
the p ool would have no effect on the straightness of from South Africa You can stretch a piece of wire or
.

side AC. When the pool is full, the light does not string over the surface of a globe and find the great
travel the shortest route between A and C. We circle path to the desired location. This is the route
apparently cannot always rely on light beams to tell an airliner would take, and it is also the route
us what the shortest path between two points is. (approximately) that radio waves take. This line is

We have to be sure there is nothing in the way to obviously not straight. The radio waves cannot take
cause refraction. Changing the frequency of the a straight path from South Africa to Chicago. They
light beams , for example to extremely short gamma would have to penetrate many miles of solid rock
rays, would just about eliminate the refraction and metal!
caused by the water. Surely the Euclidean or non- On a spherical continuum, such as the surface
Euclidean nature of space does not depend on the of the earth, all geodetic lines are great circles—
frequency of the lasers used for the triangle test! that is , they are parts of some circle whose geomet-
In deep space, so far as we know, there are no ric center lies at the center of the sphere . On a less

changes in the index of refraction for light waves. If symmetrical curved surface, geodetic lines are not
there were, there would be spectral blurring, since as easy to define. Suppose two men stand near the
red waves would be bent to a different extent than summit of a hill , which has a rather irregular shape.

blue ones. Therefore, we do not have to be con- How would they find the geodetic line connecting
cerned with refraction on this scale. But, is it possi- their respective positions? The simplest method
ble that there is some other effect that bends light? would be them to take a non-elastic rope wire or
for ,

There is; it is gravitation, and we shall investigate chain and pull

, it over the ground until it was as taut

the effect of gravity on space more fully later. as possible. Assuming the rope did not get caught
It is much easier to explain astronomical on an obstruction, and that the hill did not have any
phenomena terms of non-Euclidean space, when
in irregularities so severe that the rope might get

we observe the deflection of electromagnetic oriented the wrong way, the rope, wire or chain
beams and other objects, instead of attempting to would lie along a geodetic line according to the
postulate the existence of some unidentified re- surface of the earth in that location. This is shown
fractive medium or force. Not only are light beams by Fig. 6-23A.
affected; we find that the non-Euclidean model of If the two men were to stand on different hills,

space, as predicted by Einstein in his general for example at opposite sides of a valley (Fig.
theory of relativity, explains quite nicely a quirk in 6-23B), how would they find the geodetic line con-
the orbit of the planet Mercury that , was unexplain- necting their positions? They could use the same
able before. nonelastic rope, wire or chain, and lay it on the
ground. Then they could pull it tight. At a certain
GEODETIC LINES point, further pulling would cause the device to lift

In any Euclidean or non-Euclidean universe, the up off the earth; just at this tension, the rope, wire
line representing the shortest possible path be- or chain would lie along a geodetic line.
tween two points is known as a geodetic line. Of In the vacuum of intergalactic space in our

course, in a Euclidean universe, a geodetic line is universe, we have only beams of light to use as
"straight." In non-Euclidean space, there may oc- geodetic reference lines. Assuming no refraction,
casionally be certain special cases where some all beams of light move along geodetic paths
geodetic lines are straight, but in general they will through our universe. These lines are not neces-
be curved Consider our own earth Imagine you are
. . sarily straight; as a matter of fact, they essentially
located in Chicago and have a radio receiver with a never are.

112
change. We can likewise move P anywhere along
the line y = 70 without changing the angle as seen
from Y. The lines x = 140 and y = 70, and in fact x —
a and y = b for any constants a and b, are geodetic
lines. We might call this coordinate scheme a sys-
tem of "dual geodetic coordinates."
The one flaw in this system is that we may
actually have two different points on the sphere that

Fig. 6-23 Measuring for the location of a geodetic line on top

of a hill (A) and in a valley (B).

COORDINATES IN "SPHERICAL" UNIVERSES

In non-Euclidean space, it is not possible to have a
Cartesian coordinate system, because the axes
have to be straight as well as mutually perpendicu-
lar at the origin. This must be true throughout the
universe. Clearly, on the surface of a sphere, for
example, this cannot be the case.
Consider the surface of a three-sphere uni-
verse, such as the surface of a planet. Imagine that
the only method we have for determining the loca-
tion of a point on this sphere is by means of geodetic
lines. In a continuum where light can travel without
obstruction, we might have access to lights and
angle-measuring devices, and perhaps some way to
determine distances. How can we establish the
positions of points in the sphere-universe? One
method is shown in Fig. 6-24 A. We can choose two
"poles" for the locations of light receptors . Any two
places on the sphere will suffice as long as they are ,

not exactly opposite each other. By placing a light

source on object P (or in case P happens to be a star
it gives off its own light) we are able to see P from
both of the angle-measuring stations X and Y. We
first decide which direction will represent a zero-
degree angle from either station, and then we can
Fig. 6-24. The dual geodetic line method of generating a
measure the angular position of P. We see that P coordinate system on the surface of a sphere We measure
has coordinates of, say, (x,y) = (140,70), where the the angles x and y from points X and Y, determining the
location of point P, shown at A. But there might be some
values are given in angular degrees.
confusion (B); light from P', exactly opposite P on the sphere,
We can move object P anywhere along the line can travel the long way around the sphere and arrive at point
x — 140, and the angle as measured from X will not X from the same angle as the light from P.

113
correspond to a given ordered pair of angles (x,y),
as shown in Fig. 6-24B. Not only will point P appear
in the position (x,y), but so will point P', located
exactly opposite from P on the surface of the
sphere. Also, the positions of both P and P' will
correspond to not one, but two angles, from both
stations X and Y. As well as lining up with the lines
determined by the pair (x,y), they will also fall into
line with a pair of angles (x',y'), both differing by
180 degrees from x and y. That is, we will see both
points from opposite directions at the same time.
We must have some way to establish distances if we
are to get rid of this problem with a dual geodetic
coordinate system.
A second method of defining the positions of
points on a sphere is shown in Fig. 6-25. We first

establish one pole, located at point X, and then we

measure the angle x toward the object P, and the
distance y as well. We must know how large the
spherical universe is, if we are to avoid duplication Fig. 6-25.The single geodetic line method of generating a set
of coordinates on the surface of a sphere. We choose one
of coordinates. Once we know how large the sphere point X, and measure the angle x and distance y to a given
is, we set the limitation that y must be no larger point P. To avoid duplicity, we set the maximum limit for y to

than half the circumference of the sphere. The re- be one-half the circumference of the spherical universe.

sulting coordinate system is very similar to the

latitude and longitude system we use on earth. compound the difficulty. We must use a system that
Once we know the maximum permissible length for requires only one measuring station: earth.

y, we can convert it to an angle having a range of We might use two angles and one distance
zero to 180 degrees by means of a linear function. vector, such as the celestial latitude and longitude

This coordinate system is also a geodetic system, and the estimated distance in light years. A better

but it involves only one geodetic line instead of two system, independent of the rotation of the planet,
and only one measuring station. We might then call would make use of the celestial right-ascension and

this a "single geodetic system" of coordinates. Un- declination angles. We do not know exactly how
fortunately, measuring huge distances from one large our "universe-sphere" might be, if it is really

point is not easy. We could perhaps bounce light shaped like a four-sphere, but we must assume it is

rays off P were within a reasonable radius of our

if it big enough so that we do not see one object as two
station X, but if P were millions of light years away objects from opposite directions.
we would have to take an educated guess as to its

distance from us. COORDINATES IN "NON-SPHERICAL" UNIVERSES

Consider now the situation we face in our The n-sphere lends itself conveniently to estab-
three-dimensional space, when we wish to set up a lishing a system of geodetic coordinates. But sup-
system of coordinates on the surface of a four- pose the universe is not spherically shaped. Sup-
sphere. We cannot obtain two measuring stations pose that the surface of the universe is negatively
separated by a very great distance, so the dual curved (saddle shaped). Geodetic lines may still be
geodetic system is not practical. A set of geodetic used to determine coordinates and , we may still use
coordinates of this sort would require three stations a system of angles and distances. But, we may also
instead of two, anyway, in three-space; this would consider a grid type setup. It is belived by cos-

114
Negatively curved space

Negatively curved space

Fig. 6-26. A system of coordinates on a negatively curved continuum. We begin with four points (A), connecting them with
geodetic lines. Then we partition these lines into equal segments (B). Next, we assign coordinate values to the points (C). The
location of a point P may then be found (D).

115
mologists that our own universe is negatively connecting X with Z X with Z X
find the lines
r 2 2 3
,

curved in small regions near gravitational masses, with Z and X 4 with Z 4 also the geodetic lines
;

but is positively curved on an interstellar or inter- connecting Y with W, Y 2 with

( 2
Y 3 with 3 and
, W , W ,

galactic scale . (We will have more to say about this Y 4 with W 4 We need then bother with only sides X
.

in Chapters 7 and 8.) and Y of the figure, having coordinates (x,y) that
A localized set of non-Euclidean two-space range between zero and five (in this case). The
coordinates may be generated as follows. Suppose location of a particular point P may then be found by
we begin with four points, on a non-Euclidean sur- determining the appropriate geodetic lines to sides
face, arranged roughly at the corners of a square or X and Y of the figure , as shown at D
rectangle (Fig. 6-26A). By using lasers, we can
establish the geodetic lines connecting these four DISTANCE THROUGH
vertices, and then divide each of these lines into a PROGRESSIVELY MORE DIMENSIONS
certain number of equal partitions .This generates a When space is non-Euclidean, there is no such thing
set of points as shown at B. Then, from each of as a "straight" line between two points, but only a
these points, we ascertain the geodetic line con- shortest path or geodetic line, as we have seen. But
necting it with its correspondent, directly across given a non-Euclidean n-space, we can have paths
the figure as , shown at C . In this example we would
, shorter than the geodetic line when we measure

The path through three dimensions (dotted line) is shorter than that through two dimensions
Fig. 6-27. (solid line) in a
non-Euclidean two-space. This principle holds true for any case of n dimensions.

116
distances through n + 1-space, n+2-space, or postulating that there are infinitely many.
greater spaces. Suppose further that each continuum in n-
This principle is illustrated by Fig. 6-27. The space, regardless of the value of n, is non-
dotted line shows a path through three dimensions Euclidean. Again, we do not know whether or not
between two points P and Q in a non-Euclidean this is the case, but it is easier to imagine that a
two-space; the solid line represents a geodetic line space is non-Euclidean (which can happen in so
connecting P and Q. Creatures in the two-space many different ways) than to suppose it is Euclidean
would measure the distance between P and Q as a (which can happen in only one way).
certain value, but we three-space beings realize Given the above two premises, the distance
that P and Q are actually closer than that. The between any two points P and Q gets smaller and
distance between any two points is thus smaller smaller as we measure it through more and more
when measured in three-space, than it is when dimensions. Through 78 dimensions, for example,
taken in two-space. we might get a distance d as the measure between P
Our own three-space is believed by cos- and Q; but since 78-space is non-Euclidean, we will
mologists to be non-Euclidean. If this is true, then see a shorter separation in 79-space —a distance
we can conclude that any two points in our universe, less than d. For, in 78-space, the path d is just a
separated by a given apparent distance, are actually geodetic path. This principle will hold no matter
closer to each other with respect to four-space. For how many dimensions we consider.
we measure distances in our universe as geodetic What happens to the distance between two
lines, just as the two-space creatures would in Fig. points P and Q as the number of dimensions in-

6-27. We do not yet know how to go about measur- creases without limit? It might converge toward
ing distances through four or more dimensions, but some fixed value, representing the "absolute" dis-
we may someday be able to do so. tance between P and Q as measured through in-
Now you must use some high-powered imagi- finitely many dimensions. Or, perhaps (and this is
nation and rather far-fetched speculation; but sup- the strangest conclusion) it vanishes to zero! In the
pose that four-space is Then
also non-Euclidean. latter case, then, the whole of all creation is just a
we would measure a still smaller distance between single point in infinity-space.
two points in five dimensions, as compared to the Some day we may be better equipped to
measure in four-space. And if five-space is non- evaluate the truth of the two premises that lead to
Euclidean too, there exists a still shorter measure these rather bizarre conclusions; for now, let us
in six dimensions. It can go on without end. return to the more accessible case of our own
Although this is just a mathematical model and , three-dimensional space. What has led to the con-
we have no way of knowing (at present) whether or clusion that it is non-Euclidean? What properties
not it is reality, imagine that there are an infinite have we observed that would make us believe it?
number of possible dimensions. It is difficult, we The answer is gravitation: The presence of matter
might argue to provide a reason for there being any
, causes a distortion of distance and time This . is the
finite limit such as four, or six, or 99, or 1043 basis for Einstein's general theory of relativity,
dimensions. We can escape such limitations by just which we shall now explore.

117
Chapter 7

CC
<[ © p ))

The Theory
of General Relativity
EINSTEIN'S SPECIAL PRINCIPLE OF RELATIVITY IS with the structure of the universe as a whole. We
concerned with the motions of objects in will see that gravitation plays an important role in

space. It explains the observed phenomenon that how our universe behaves. Gravity has an effect,
the speed of light does not depend on the motion of not only on matter, but on time, space, and energy
the source, or on the motion of the observer. We as well.
have seen that this fundamental axiom leads to
some strange conclusions, such as the dilation of
CENTRIFUGAL FORCE
time, the distortion of spatial measures, and the We are all familiar with the "force that does not
increase in inertial mass. We have seen that no exist." A rotating or revolving mass displays an
object can be accelerated to the speed of light; the apparent outward force, sometimes called cen-
special theory in fact grew from the question: trifugal force. This "force," while not theoretically
"What would happen moving at the
to an object real , does produce visible effects (A passenger
. in a

speed of light?" centrifuge at 10 g's might disagree with those who

The physics of Newton, commonly referred to say that centrifugal force does not exist!) Rapidly
-

as classical physics, is based on the notion of abso- rotating planets , such as Jupiter and Saturn appea-
,

lute space. Acceleration, according to this concept, noticeably oblate because of centrifugal force. Ju-
is the result of some absolute property of the uni- piter, for example, with a rotational period of less
verse. In a way, this is true, as we shall see, than 10 hours as well as a largely gaseous outer
although it is not really a property of space, but structure is decidedly flattened, and this can be
rather of what is in space. seen even by looking at photographs of the planet.
The general theory of relativity is concerned This outward "force" is what keeps the planets

118
from falling in toward the sun. It keeps the stars of devoid of all matter except for yourself, a length of
our galaxy from collapsing to the center. It keeps string, and a rubber ball. Suppose you were just

clusters of galaxies from falling together. It also hovering in a void with no other things at all— no
keeps a ball on a string from hitting you when you planets, stars, or galaxies. It would be quite a

swing it around your head. This force acts on all lonely experience, to be sure, but you might at-
scales, from the molecular to the cosmic. But what tempt to entertain yourself by tying the end of the
is responsible for it? Why can't we consider a string to the ball and swinging the ball around and
rotating frame of reference to be stationary, and around. (As a child, you no doubt did something of
imagine the whole universe to be revolving around this sort, during a moment of sheer boredom.)
us? We can discover, through simple logic, what the You might suppose that the ball would travel
responsible factor must be. around and around in a circle, the radius of which
would be determined by the length of the piece of
ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE string (Fig. 7-1). Of course, in our universe, with all
Imagine, for a moment, that the universe were its surrounding objects, there is no doubt that this

Centrifugal
force

/
/
/
Tangential
/ velocity

\
\
\
\ /
\ /

Fig. 7-1 our universe, you can swing a ball around your head on the end of a string, and centrifugal forces will keep the string
. In
would not be the case in a universe with no other objects except yourself, the string and the ball, since there would
taut. But, this
be no other point of reference to ascertain rotation.

119
would happen. If you were to swing the object It appears as if we cannot completely break
vigorously enough, it might fly off the string. free of the notion of absoluteness, in some form, in

But, in a universe with no frame of reference our universe. Clearly, in our universe as it exists,
besides the ball and yourself, it is not at all clear with billions of celestial objects, we have an abso-
what would happen. How could you say with any lute standard that defines rotational motion. Any
certainty that it would be the ball , and not your own rotating object experiences centrifugal force; any
body, that was revolving? You would need some non-rotating object does not.
other frame of reference, an "arbiter," as it were. The myriad of distant celestial objects are, in
fact, the only difference between our "real" uni-
A UNIVERSE OF TWO verse and the "imaginary" empty ones we have just
Suppose now that yourself and a friend were sus- envisioned. Then it must be these masses that
pended in a universe containing no other material cause "centrifugal forces" in our space.
objects except the ball and string. Imagine that your
friend was floating about 50 feet away from you, not No centrifugal
getting any closer or farther away (that is, the force x.

motion between you and him was

relative
Now, if you swing the ball

use the viewpoint of your friend as well as yourself

around you, you can
zero).

/
/ *
to make the decision as to whether or not the ball is

moving. Assuming your friend was not tumbling /

around, you would both agree that the ball was
moving in a circle around your body.
But what your friend was rotating? Then,
relative to him, you
site sense.
if

would be tumbling
Either point of view would be equally
in the oppo- ©
valid. A third arbiter would be needed to ascertain
who was rotating and who was not. But even then,
we could very well say that the arbiter was not an
absolute reference frame at all. / \
In this situation, with your friend and yourself / \
mutually tumbling but always maintaining a con-
stant distance
ball straight
from each other, you could hold the
out in front of you and not
and your friend would see
along with your own
it

rotation.
flying
move
around your body
Suppose the string
it at all
Centrifugal
force 9

V
> /
were made of elastic material, such as rubber, so
that the force of its revolution (centrifugal force) ©
would cause the string Your friend would
to stretch .

then see the string stretching on account of cen-

trifugal force; but you would not see it stretch

because, to you, the ball would not be revolving.

Who would be correct? Surely the string could not
have two different lengths at the same time! In an
otherwise void universe, we must conclude that Fig. 7-2. From
i
the point of view of the far man, the near man is

rotating.But the near man thinks the far man is rotating. In a

centrifugal force cannot exist. To assume that it universe with no other objects, either point of view is equally
does leads us to a contradiction (Fig. 7-2). valid. Then is the ball going round and round, or not?

120
Physicists wrestled for a long time with possi- 477 rm
f = ma
ble reasons for this strange effect of distant objects
T 2

on all down to the minutest particles.

things, It was
Ernst Mach who first postulated that distant celes- INSIDE THE BALL
tial objects might cause centrifugal forces. Mach's
Imagine that the ball at the end of the string being
work greatly influenced Einstein. We have already
swung around and around ishollow. Imagine that
seen that we cannot regard a rotating body as
we are somehow able to shrink down to a height of
"fixed," because it violates the special principle of
justone centimeter or so, and that we climb inside
relativity by resulting in speeds greater than light
the hollow ball. Suppose then that someone takes
for extremely distant stars and galaxies But what . is
up the string and swings it around, letting out
the reason for centrifugal force? This force is
=
exactly 10 meters of string (so that r 10 meters)
nothing more than a result of inertia. Inertial effects =
and orbits us with a period of Tl 6.3 seconds.
are caused by the combined gravitation of all matter
Assume that there is no source of) gravity, such as
in the universe.
the earth, nearby; this whole evept is to take place
somewhere in the far reaches of space.
ACCELERATION AND GRAVITATION According to the acceleration formula, we will
Centrifugal force is, of course, the result of inward experience an inward acceleration equal to:
acceleration of a revolving object This acceleration .

is the change of velocity of such an object. As you 47T x 10

= 9.9 m/sec
2

swing a rubber around and around on a string,

ball 6.3
2

the speed of the ball— the number of meters per

second at which it moves— may be constant , but the You might recognize this as approximately the

velocity is constantly changing. Velocity consists of

same acceleration that a free-falling body attains in
the gravatational proximity of our planet earth.
speed and direction, and the direction is constantly
changing for an object revolving in a circle. This Now further imagine that, after having shrunk

acceleration is directly inward toward the center of

down to the tiny stature of one centimeter, we mass
2
Inward acceleration causes an out- only 10 grams (10~ kilogram). Then the force f that
a circular orbit.
ward force, and it is this force we call "centrifugal
we experience inside the ball will be equal to:
force." The greater the acceleration, the greater
= ma = 2
kgm/sec 2
f 9.9 x 10"
this force.

The acceleration is dependent on the speed of This is the same force that would be exerted on
the orbiting object, and also on the radius of the
us by the gravity of the earth, were we to be stand-

circle around which the object travels. For a con-

ing on the surface at sea level This . is shown by Fig.

stant radius of orbit, greater speeds mean the ac-

7-3 Of course for any
. , mass the force would be the
,

celeration will be greater. For a constant speed,

same inside the ball at the given acceleration, as
smaller orbital radius results in greater accelera- compared with the force on the surface of our
planet. That is to say, any object would appear to
tion. Let the acceleration be represented by a, and
the radius of the circle be represented by r; also, let
weigh the same in both situations.
T be the time required for the object to complete How would we be able to tell, confined inside
one revolution. Then: an opaque ball (to prevent us from seeing outside),
whether it is revolving around on the end of a string
477-r 10 meters long with a period of 6.3 seconds, or
a =
T2 whether the ball is sitting still somewhere on earth?
The answer is, of course, that there would be no
The centrifugal force, f, is the product of the way for us to know the difference. All experiments
mass of the revolving object and its acceleration: we might conduct, confined to the interior of the

121
Fig. 7-3. At A, a tiny man inside a hollow ball, which is swung round by a giant, experiences a certain force f. At the right

acceleration, this force f is the same as the ball were resting on the ground (at B). If the skin of the ball is opaque, so that the
if

man inside can't see out, he will have no way to tell whether he is being swung round, or whether the ball is at rest on the surface
of the earth.

ball, would yield precisely the same results in acceleration, the environment in the ball will seem
either environment. to be exactly like an at-rest condition at the earth's
It might be possible for the string to be longer surface
and the period slower, resulting in an acceleration The force caused by velocity change is indis-
2
of 9.9 m/sec it might also be possible for the
; tinguishable from gravitational force. The two
string and the period to be shorter. In fact, there forces affect everything in the same way. Einstein
exist an infinite number of combinations of string noticed this similarity between the force of acceler-
length and orbital period that can produce an accel- ation and the force of gravity and one of the bases of
,

eration of 9.9 m/sec 2 And the

.need not neces-ball his general theory of relativity is, therefore, that
sarily be rotating; it might be a straight-line change the two are equivalent. That is, any acceleration
in speed, or a combination of directional and speed resulting from a change in velocity should produce
changes. In any situation causing this amount of all the effects of a gravitational field, and a gravita-

122
tional field should produce all the effects of a change except now we will take the point of view of the
in velocity. person holding on to the end of the string opposite
the ball. Let us say the ball has a diameter of five
DISTORTION OF TIME AND centimeters. The string is, as we have already
SPACE CAUSED BY ACCELERATION mentioned, 10 meters long. How many ball diame-
Let us now return to the ball-and-string discussion, ters are in the circumference of the circle? The

Fig. 7-4. At A, the tangential velocity v is small compared to the speed of light, so the ball appears to have the same diameter d
as it does at rest. At B, the tangential velocity v' is large, and the diameter of the ball d' appears to be reduced
the direction of in
motion. This can be said to occur because of the inward acceleration, as well as because of the forward speed; the
gravitational field of a planet, star, or other object has a similar effect on spatial distances.

123
circumference can be easily found to be about 62.8 observing the ball as it lines up with a distant star,

meters; it is easy to calculate that there are 1,256 and measuring the time until it lines up again with
ball diameters in the circumference of the circle. that star, the period can be determined.
We would at first imagine that this is true But, what if we try to measure the period from
regardless of how fast we swing the ball around. At the point of view of observers inside the ball?
slow speeds, this is true. But, as we swing the ball Figure 7-5B shows how the passengers in the ball
around faster and faster, relativistic distortion will might measure the period, T'. They might observe
begin to take place. Figure 7-4 illustrates the spa- the man holding the far end of the string as he
tial change thatwill occur in the shape of the ball; it appears to line up with some distant star, and mea-
will appear to become oblate, or flattened, perpen- sure the time until he lines up again. The time-
dicular to the string in the direction of its motion
, distortion factor at 0.866c is equal to 2; thus the
If the ball attains a speed of 0.866c in its orbit passengers in the ball will see time go by only half
around us the diameter of the
, ball along the axis of as fast as the man at the center of the orbit senses
its instantaneous direction will appear to be only time. The period
T' will therefore be only half the
half its at-rest value, or 2.5 centimeters, since the period T, or 1.2 x 10" 7 seconds.
distortion factor at this speed is equal to 2. The We might mention that any creatures inside
string will still appear 10 meters long, however. the ball going around at this speed would be lucky
, ,

Thus there will be twice as many ball diameters in to survive. According to the acceleration formula,
the circumference of the circle— not 1,256, but at
8
0.866c (2.6 x 10 m/sec) with a period T= 2.4 x
2,512 ball diameters. As the speed is made greater 10" 7 and r = 10 m:
and greater, the number of ball diameters around
the circle will continue to increase. 4tt
2
x 10 m
But as seen from the interior of the
, ball , there a =
2
— = 6.8 x 10
15
m/sec 2
(2.4 x 10"' sec)
will be no spatial distortion in the shape of the
sphere. Everything will appear exactly normal. 14
This is about 6.9 x 10 or 690 , trillion, times the
Riding along inside the ball and looking out through ,

intensity of the acceleration of gravity at the surface

a little hole, we would see the string as 10 meters
of the earth!
long just as does the observer at the orbital center
,

Thus we would conclude that the circumference RESOLVING THE TWIN PARADOX
must still be just 1,256 ball diameters. Could it be According to the theory of general relativity, it is
that the value of rr, which we are so confident is the acceleration, as well as the speed, that causes
always equal to 3.14, depends on point of view? The relativistic time distortion and spatial distortion.
answer is yes Acceleration causes distortion of the
.
This allows us to resolve the Twin Paradox men-
space continuum, and this can change the values of tioned in Chapter 3. You will recall that the idea of
familiar Euclidean constants. relative motion makes it impossible to explain
Now, suppose that we wish to measure the changes in clock readings caused by relativistic
period of orbit As seen from the center of the orbit
.
time effects, since we are not able to say who is

from the point of view of the person holding the end moving and who is not. But there is no doubt, with
of the string, the period is: the rubber ball example just given, that the ball is
subjected to acceleration while the man in the
63 m 63 m center is not.

0.866c
8
2.6 x 10 m/sec Postulating that acceleration causes time and

= -7 space to seem distorted, we may say with certainty

2.4 x 10 sec
that time appears to go more slowly on the ball than
Figure 7-5A shows how the observer at the at the center of its orbit. The person swinging the
center of the orbit might measure the period. By string would see clocks on the ball going slower

124
o
X To distant star
(Star X)

o 1

To distant star
(Star Y)

As the man swings the ball around, he can measure the period T by observing the ball as it lines up with a distant star
Fig. 7-5.
(A).Then, T is the time until it lines up again with that star. At B, a passenger inside the ball sees the whole universe going
round; but he may measure the period by using the same method, although not necessarily the same star.

than his own, and travelers inside the ball (if they taken away from the proximity of the clock, and it

could survive the acceleration force) would see the once again runs at its original speed. But it lags the
clock of the center man running more rapidly than clock that is not subjected to gravitational influ-
theirs. Upon rendezvous, the two parties would be ence Acceleration and deceleration on a space ves-
.

in agreement about the difference of the clock sel are equivalent to the presence of a gravitational
readings. field, and hence they cause the clock on board the
In the case of straight-line motion rather than vessel to go more slowly than when accelerations
rotational motion, we can see that any object at- are not present. This causes a time lag, and con-
taining relativistic speed will be subjected to accel- sequent disagreement in later clock readings.
eration and deceleration. It is the gravitation pro-
duced by these accelerations, and not the relative THE ROTATIONAL ACCELERATION FIELD
motion per se, that causes the disagreement in the We are all familiar with the inverse-square gravita-
clock readings. tional field that exists around all material objects.
Figure 7-6 illustrates gravitational effect on The mass becomes smaller as the
force on a given
the rate of time progression. If two synchronized distance from the source gets greater. The function
clocks are set running, as shown at A, and a source is given by the equation:
of gravitation is brought near one of them (B), the
clock in the vicinity of the source of gravitation will
f = ma = mk
run more slowly. At C, the source of gravitation is

125
where m is the mass of the object being influenced, away from the center, the acceleration will in-
r is the distance from the source of gravitation, and crease. When r = 1 m, we will have a = 47r 2 /T 2
k is a constant that depends on the mass of the m/sec 2 when r = 2 m, we will have a = SVVT2
;

gravitational source This "inverse square" relation

. m/sec 2 In general, the acceleration, a, will in-
.

is shown by Fig. 7-7A. crease linearly with the distance, r, from the center
Suppose that the string in the preceding or- of rotation. For a given mass, then, the force f

biting-ball example is replaced by a stiff rod of some exerted on it is a linear function of the distance from
sort, that remains straight under all conditions. the center of revolution. Figure 7-7B is a graph of
Suppose the rod is swung around and extends an this relation. It is in contrast to the familiar grav-
indefinite distance from the center of rotation. itational-field function; in the rotating acceleration

Further suppose that we are able to move freely field, the force increases with distance, and this
along this rod, varying the radius r at will. increase is without limit.
When r = , at the center rotation the acceler-
, This outward centrifugal force is equivalent to
ation will be zero. As we get farther and farther a gravitational field that becomes more and more

Fig. 7-6. At A,
o
two clocks are synchronized and running at the same speed. At B, a source of gravitation, exerting a force f,
reduces the speed of one clock. At C, the source of gravitation has been removed, and the second clock returns to its previous
rate. But it is now lagging the other clock by an amount that depends on the intensity of the gravitational field and the length of
time it was present.

126
Fig. 7-7. At A, the "inverse square" relation for a source of gravitation such as a star. The field intensity decreases in proportion
to the square from the source. At B, the relation for a rotating frame of reference, such as a ball and string, or a
of the distance
rigid rod. The intensity of the force increases in direct proportion to the distance from the center of rotation.

127
intense as we get farther from the "source," which of revolution becomes 3 x 108 m/sec, or the speed
is the end of the rod at which the rotation is gener- of light, does it not?
ated. But, as we get to great distances from the Obviously, the answer must be no. Something
center of rotation, what will happen? Eventually, must happen to prevent this. One might be tempted
the speed of revolution will reach the speed of light to imagine that the stiff rod would have to be limited
since the rod is absolutely rigid, will it not? For in its length if it were to remain straight, and that
example, if T= 1 sec and r = 4.8 x 10 7 m, the speed this length would depend on the period of revolu-

Fig. 7-8. Distortion of a "rigid" rod as it rotates around a center S of rotation. At radius r, , the tangential velocity is V, Although
.

the tangential velocity would seem to exceed the speed of light at sufficient distance r 2 this , is contrary to the laws of special
relativity. Thus v 2 <c, and the rod is curved.

128
tion,T. If T = 1 sec, perhaps the rod can only be 4.8 It is not immediately clear how a rotating coor-
x 10 : m in length, and beyond that distance, it dinate system can be used as a reference frame free
cannot exist! Doubling the angular rate of rotation, from contradiction. The rotating earth is a good
reducing the period to T = 0.5 sec, might then example. From the vantage point of an observer at

reduce the rigid rod to a length of 2.4 x 10' m. the North Pole, all the objects in the universe seem
Faster and faster angular velocities might make the to go round and round. The sun completes one
rod shorter and shorter until, at sufficiently high revolution in exactly 24 hours; the moon takes
rates, it might be only a few centimeters long! But nearly 25 hours; the distant stars take a little less
this is of course an absurd explanation. than 24 hours. But, at distances such as those from
A more acceptable means of explaining this the earth to the stars outside the solar system,
apparent paradox can be realized by asking our- extreme speeds seem to occur in their daily trip
selves the question: "What makes us believe the around us— speeds much in excess of the speed of
rod is straight?" The answer is that it looks straight; light . A star just 10 light years away, and in line with
a light beam sent out along the rod follows the rod. the celestial equator, will appear to traverse a cir-
Visually, the rod appears to be straight. But, this cumference of 63 light years in only a day. This is,

assumes that the rays of light themselves move in apparently, 23,000 times the speed of light!
straight lines, and we have seen that this need not This is a hasty conclusion, however, for we
necessarily be the case. Light beams travel in have not established a coordinate system for the
geodetic paths, but these paths may be curved. rotating point of view of an observer standing at the
The rod, then, might occupy a position that North Pole on the earth. Certainly we cannot deny
does not describe a perfectly straight line in space, that the star is 10 light years away since we can use
,

but instead, a geodetic line that represents the parallax techniques to verify this. And it obviously
straightest possible existence given the parame- does go once around in 24 hours; this can be seen
ters of the surrounding universe. Figure 7-8 shows just by looking at a clock. The apparent contradic-
this. Near the center of rotation, where the tangen- tion occurs because we subconsciously assume that
tial speed is not very great, the rod is nearly
a coordinate system for this rotating reference
straight. But farther and farther from the center of frame must have straight-line axes. From the pre-
rotation, as the speed increases, the rod is bent into vious chapters, we have seen that the "straightest"
a spiral shape, as viewed from a reference point far lines we can ever get are geodetics . A beam of light
away from the rod itself. Then, the speed of any follows a geodetic line through space.
point on the rod need never exceed the speed of
Figure 7-9 shows a polar coordinate system
light.
according to a man standing at the North Pole of the
planet earth, as he would imagine it. Each succeed-
ROTATING COORDINATES ing concentric circle represents one light hour. The
The example just described gives us a way to es- radial line L represents the zero angle. The ob-
tablish equivalence among reference frames that server may thus determine the position of a point in
are rotating with respect to each other. The theory space by means of an angle 6, measured coun-
of special relativity shows how inertial frames of terclockwise from the radial line L, and by measur-
reference are equivalent; it is simple to establish a ing the distance r in light hours. (Actually, this

relation between any two coordinate systems that coordinate system is restricted to a plane, parallel
move with constant velocity. The theory of general to the celestial equator and passing through the
relativity carries the propositions of special North Pole. We have dimensionally reduced the
relativity further: Any two points of view are valid coordinate system for ease of illustration.)
observation points in the universe; we can find an There is a serious flaw in this system, as it is

equivalence relation between frames even if they shown in Fig. 7-9. How do we know that L is a
are rotating or accelerating. geodetic line? It is, in fact, not a geodetic line.

129
Fig. 7-9. The polar coordinate system, as imagined by an observer standing at the North Pole of the earth. A point in space is
determined by measuring the angle counterclockwise from a reference line L, and by measuring the radial distance r. Here,
each concentric circle represents one light hour. This puts P at the distance r = 5 light hours, and 8 = 60 degrees.

All beams of light follow geodetic paths continues along this straight line, and after three
through space, and we may therefore use a single hours have passed (B), the earth has turned 45
photon to show the position of a geodetic line in degrees and the photon has reached a distance of
space. Figure 7-10 illustrates the path of a photon three light hours from the planet. The photon is
emitted in the coordinate plane — that is, initially therefore not over the same longitude as previ-
along line L in Fig. 7-9— as observed from high ously. At C, after a full day, the earth has made one
above the North Pole, but from a non-rotating point complete turn, and the photon is again at the same
of view. The earth appears to rotate coun- longitude as it was when it first left the planet. It is
terclockwise completing one turn of 360 degrees
, in now 24 light hours distant. As the days go by, the
about 24 hours. earth keeps on rotating and the photon keeps on
At A, the photon is just leaving the earth, and going in a straight line.

travels in a line that appears straight. The photon Now, let us set ourselves, as we hover high

130
above the pole, in rotational motion, so that we no same according to either the rotating or non-
longer see the earth to be going around. Instead, rotating vantage point, with respect to the universe
the rest of the universe goes around us. Figure 7-11 at large.

shows how we will observe the path of the photon As the days go by, and the earth rotates many
from this point of view. At A, the photon is just times on its axis, the photon will appear to describe
leaving the planet and everything appears the
, same a spiral that gets wider and wider. The path of the
as from the non-rotating point of view. But this photon will approach a perfect circle as its distance
sameness does not last for long. By the time three gets extreme. This spiral, according to the rotating
hours have passed, the universe has turned 45 de- reference frame, is a geodetic line because, by
grees in a clockwise direction (B), and so has the definition, a photon must travel a geodetic path
path of the photon. We see the photon describe a through space.
curved route as it moves away from the earth. After It is a simple mental exercise to put the light-

a full day has elapsed, the photon will appear 24 hour circles in Fig. 7-11. This is shown in Fig. 7-12;

light hours from the earth, but it seem to have

will we now have a coordinate system for the rotating
made a spiral around the planet, as shown at C. The reference frame of the observer at the North Pole.
path of the photon cannot possibly be a straight line The radial line L', for 6 = 0, is a spiral rather than a
from this reference frame. It must be in only one straight line.

place at one time, and its position is always the Of course, the speed of the photon is always

Photon

Earth

• Photon

Earth

Photon

Earth

Fig. 7-10. A photon leaves the earth, viewed from a non-rotating observation point high above the North Pole. At A, as the
photon is just leaving; at B, after three hours; at C, after one full day. The photon appears to describe a straight line through
space. (Distances in this drawing are not to scale.)

131
o- Earth
Photon

O & Earth
N
\
\

\
Photon

s N
e / \
\
/ \

Earth
\
I

\
\
A \
Photon
V /

Fig. 7-11. The same photon as shown in Fig. 7-10, but from a rotating observation point high above the North Pole. The
observer is rotating along with the rotation of the planet. At A, the photon just leaves earth. At B, after three hours, it is apparent
thatit is not traveling in a straight line. At C, after one full day, the photon has gone once around the planet in a spiral path.
(Distances are not to scale.)

equal to the speed of light; this is trivial. But, reaches the next "light-hour" circle in the coordi-

according to the rotating point of view, the photon nate system; but each hour, it must travel a greater
appears to move faster and faster as it gets farther distance to get to that circle This distance
. seems to
and farther from the earth. Each hour, the photon increase indefinitely.

132
Very distant stars may seem to travel many are greatly distorted because of distortion in space
times the speed of light, according to the rotating itself.

point of view. But, distances appear greatly dis-

torted, since the coordinate system is twisted many ALL POINTS OF VIEW ARE EQUALLY VALID
times around itself. At stellar distances, the line L' The rotating coordinate system of Fig. 7-12 hardly
is nearly a perfect circle, as shown by Fig. 7-13. looks like the non-rotating one of Fig. 7-9, but they
But, the line L' is never moving at more than the both represent the same universe. It is possible to
speed of light with respect to any star The speed of
. obtain a one-to-one correspondence, or home-
a star relative to L' approaches c as the distance omorphism, between the two systems of coordi-
increases. Thus the stars are really not going nates, and this enables us to define all events in one
around at impossible speeds. The angular distances system in terms of the other Thus the two points of
.

The coordinate system for rotating earth. Each succeeding concentric circle represents six light hours. The line 0=0
Fig. 7-12.
is —
shown by L'. In this system, distance wx, xy and yz are each the same six light hours. Thus we see that the distance
becomes distorted as we get farther from the earth, and this distortion increases with increasing radius r.

133
Fig. 7-13. At stellar distances, the = line, L', is almost a perfect circle. One complete circumference around the earth is

never more than 24 hours, even though it would seem to be many thousands or millions of light years. Consequently, even
light
the most distant galaxies move at less than the speed of light according to the rotating point of view.

view, rotating and non-rotating, are equally true same set of physical laws. All that is necessary is

pictures of the universe. No contradiction need that ahomeomorphism exist between the system of
result in the laws of physics as seen from any refer- coordinates we use, and some other established set
ence frame. of coordinates. Nor does it matter what that estab-
No matter what the point of view, a coordinate lished set is. It may correspond, itself, to any point
system can always be found that enables us to ob- of view within the universe. Let us observe some
serve the behavior of the universe according to the examples of homeomorphisms.

134
ONE-TO-ONE CORRESPONDENCES How might two universes not be homeomor-

Imagine a universe of three spatial dimensions, phic? This can happen if space becomes "ripped" or

such as our own, defined by means of a Cartesian "creased." Figure 7-15 shows two plane universes

system of coordinates. We might put the origin of

that are not homeomorphic because one of them has
this coordinatesystem anywhere, and it might be a "tear" in Figure 7-16 shows how a plane uni-
it.

moving at any speed It could be situated on Jupiter

.
verse might be folded over on itself ("creased") in

as it revolves around the sun and rotates on its axis

once every ten hours; it might be on an asteroid
tumbling the solar system.
in orbit in

SupposeJim and Joe are aboard two space

that
vessels, as shown in Fig. 7-14. They may each set
up their own Cartesian coordinate system, and
place themselves at the origin (0,0,0). The units
they use might be of different lengths; Jim might
use one foot and Joe might use one meter. Accord-
ing to either observer, the position of the other
appears to constantly change within the coordinate
system, since the two ships are moving with re-
spect to each other. At some particular instant of
time, Joe might see Jim at position (x ,y,z ) by his
own system, but this value will constantly change.
The same is true for the way Jim sees Joe. At some
moment, Joe might be at coordinates (u ,v ,w ), but
this value constantly changes as time passes.
No matter what the relative motion between
the two ships, one thing is always true: There is a
one-to-one correspondence between the points in

Jim's space and those in Joe's space. This means

that every point in Jim's system can be paired off
with one, but only one, point in Joe's universe, and
vice-versa. Never does Jim have a point that cannot
be assigned a mate in Joe's system Never does one
.

astronaut have two points that can be assigned to a

single point in the other's universe. At all times, a
perfect one-to-one correspondence can be found.
Thus, Jim's universe is homeomorphic with Joe's.
It makes no difference whether Jim's ship is

tumbling and Joe's ship is in orbit about Mercury; it

does not matter if Jim is accelerating toward the
center of the galaxy while Joe sits on the moon
eating a sandwich. It is always possible to find a
one-to-one correspondence between their uni-
verses. If this homeomorphism did not exist, then
the two universes would not be equivalent; Jim's
Fig. 7-14. Two astronauts, Jim and Joe, travel in space and
point of view would somehow be different from
set up theirown Cartesian coordinate systems. Joe uses the
Joe's. variables x, y and z; Jim uses the variables u, v and w.

135
Fig. 7-15. Two plane universes, one of which has a "rip." A
point P in the "ripped" universe has a mate in the other space, but a
point Q on the edge of the "rip" cannot be paired off with any point in the other universe. If we do assign a point Q' to point Q,
then some other points in the homogeneous universe will be left wanting. These spaces are not homeomorphic.

such a way that a one-to-one correspondence cannot the observed space according to the other as-
be found between it and a flat plane. tronaut, they cannot succeed at it. But, certain
Do such things ever happen to our own uni- gravitational fields can create "holes" in the con-
verse? Are there any reference frames in which tinuum. We shall have more to say about these
many become compressed into a single
points fields, known as black holes, in the next chapter.
point, or from which some points disappear al- In general then, for any two reference frames
,

together? The answer is no, insofar as motion and in the universe, it is always possible to find a

acceleration are concerned. No matter what Jim or homeomorphism between the two resulting uni-
Joe do, no matter what contortions they may put verses. By means of a suitable transformation, all
themselves through in an effort to "rip" or "crease" events according to one viewpoint can be defined

136
according to the other viewpoint, and all the laws of

u physics remain intact. The transformation may be

complex, but it always exists. This is an important
result of the theory of general relativity. Space

A p*
\ p'
cannot be "ripped" or "creased" by relative motion
We are now able to see how the effect of spatial
distortion makes it impossible for any object to
i 1
attain the speed of light. If this were possible, then
\ a hollow sphere would become distorted to such an
1
\ extent that it attained a disk shape. But that would
1
destroy the homeomorphism between a point of

m
\ view inside the sphere, and a point of view outside
/
and moving more slowly. A single point on the disk
would sometimes correspond to just one point on
the sphere, but this would only be true if the point

kJ on the disk were exactly at the edge.

would have two mates on the sphere
Any point

^uj/
inside the disk
(Fig. 7-17). No matter how we might try to rear-
range the points in an effort to find a homeomor-
phism, we could not succeed. Such a state of affairs
violates the general theory of relativity.
\1
\ ' / ACCELERATION DISTORTS SPACE

\^',y N. /\ \ / /yp Point on "fold"

When two

relative velocity
between the two
different coordinate
tionary with respect to each other, or
is
systems are

constant, the transformation

is fairly simple. In the example of
when
sta-
their

P Fig. 7-14, as long as Jim and Joe have a constant

>vt/\
relative velocity, then straight lines in Jim's uni-
verse will also be straight at Joe's universe, and
vice-versa. Objects may appear spatially distorted,
but a straight rod in Jim's ship will look straight to
Joe, too, no matter how the rod is oriented, al-
though its length may not appear the same When all .

1 \ V
/ 1
straight lines in one coordinate system look straight
I N. >/ J according to another coordinate setup, we say that
the two systems are related by a linear transforma-
tion. Otherwise the transformation is nonlinear.
Now, imagine between the
that the velocity
vessels is not constant. Then, straight lines in one
1

universe may not always appear straight according

to the other reference frame. Jim's straight rod
Fig. 7-16. Two plane universes, one of which has a "crease." might look bent to Joe, and Joe's straight rod might
A point P on the "crease" has ambiguous mates
the other in look bent to Jim. In this case, the transformation is
space, which is greatly distorted from the Euclidean, but not
to the extent that it is "creased." These spaces are not
nonlinear, but there is still a homeomorphism be-
homeomorphic. tween the two spaces. A one-to-one correspon-

137
* * * *\

/ V v
» A
\

1
I'.iQ'
\ 1

\ 1
' ''/ 1

Sphere |

1
I
Disk

f? '
•
*.'
•-': v
>nV^ ^ Q

Fig. 7-1 7. A sphere is not homeomorphic to a disk. While some points can be paired off in one-to-one correspondence, such as
Q and Q', other points on the disk will correspond to two points on the sphere, such as the interior point P, which has ambiguous
mates.

138
dence still exists between the points of one uni- photon goes in a straight line according to both
verse and the points of the other. reference frames.
Figure 7-18 is a "stop-action" illustration of But, now suppose that Jim's ship is increasing

Jim's ship as it might appear as it moves past us at in forward speed. Figure 7-19 illustrates this situa-
constant velocity. There are four drawings of the tion. We see the vessel, as before, at times t = 0, t

ship, depicting its position at times t =0, t = 1, t = = l,t = 2 and t = 3; but because of acceleration, the
2 and t = 3, in arbitrary units. (It does not matter "stop-action" images are spaced at ever-increasing
what the actual length of the time unit is, as long as intervals.
it remains the same.) From our external point of view, the photon
Let us suppose that Jim shoots a single photon appears to travel in a straight line, and in fact in
of light outward from one wall of his ship toward the exactly the same position as it would if the ship
other wall, directly across (laterally). It takes, by were not accelerating. This is to be expected, since
our reckoning, three time units for the photon to the speed of light does not depend on the speed of
get once across the ship. We see the path of the its source, but only on the viewpoint of the ob-
photon as a straight line. Jim sees it as a straight server, who always finds it to be the same. But,
line, too, although a much shorter line, because of according to Jim, the photon is falling astern. He
the relativistic speed at which his ship is traveling. will see the photon follow a curved path. As we see
Although there is a great difference in the path things, this is just a natural result of changing for-
length as seen from the two points of view, the ward speed of Jim's vessel; Jim is running away
transformation between universes is linear: The from the photon! But to Jim, the curvature of the

t = t = 1 t = 2 t = 3

Constant
forward
speed

Distance scale

Path of
photon

a
Fig. 7-18 At A. we watch as Jims ship goes by at constant velocity. A photon in the ship seems to us to follow a straight path. It

seems that way to Jim, too, as shown at B.

139
t = t = 1 t = 2 t = 3

Changing
forward
speed

3 6

Distance scale

Path
O / of

/ photon

Fig. 7-19. At A, Jims ship is now accelerating, as can be seen by observing the distance scale markings and comparing with
those in Fig. 7-18. The path of the photon is just the same as would be the ship were not changing speed, as seen from our
it if

point of view. But Jim sees things differently; the photon seems to be "falling" in the direction of the acceleration force, f.

photon's path is very real, and he must conclude DEFLECTION OF A PHOTON WITH CIRCULAR MOTION
that space is curved in his environment. Obviously Let us return to the example of acceleration caused
the transformation between our set of coordinates by a change in direction, rather than a change in
and Jim's is nonlinear. speed. This might be depicted by the previous
If were decelerating rather than
Jim's ship example of the little man traveling around and
accelerating— that is, if the ship were constantly around inside a hollow ball at the end of a string.
slowing down— the photon would seem to Jim to Suppose this little man carries a flashlight, and
veer toward the front of his vessel Sideways accel- . suppose he shines the flashlight in the direction of
eration would cause the photon to follow a straight the tangential motion of the ball (Fig. 7-20). We
path, just as if the velocity were constant; but the may view this event from a vantage point high above
energy contained in the photon would change. This the plane of the orbit of the ball, as shown in A; or
would be manifested as a change of mass, not we may be traveling along with the man, next
little

speed, since the speed of light is an absolute in- to the ball, so that we can look inside and see his
variant . If the acceleration force were in the direc-
f environment from his point of view (B).
tion of the photon's travel, the mass would in- As we trace the path of a photon from the little

crease; if f were against the direction of the man's flashlight, the photon appears to describe a
photon's travel, the mass would decrease. straight line as seen from the viewpoint at A, as

140
long as we ourselves are not rotating relative to the of curvature to the path of the photon.

distant masses in the universe, and as long as the We can see, from an external viewpoint such
rotational center of the ball's orbit is not accelerat- as that at A, clearly why this is so. We would regard
ing. In such a case, geodetic lines in the universe it as an optical illusion; the ball is apparently being
appear straight. But, to the little man, provided his "pulled" inward from the path of the photon. But,
speed is sufficient compared to the speed of light, according to the little man inside the ball, who
things look much different. To him, if his orbital knows only what he sees the curvature is very real
,

speed is large enough, the photon will seem to and he must therefore ascribe it to the acceleration
curve downward in the direction of the centrifugal force. He must also conclude that at least some

force . The greater the force , the greater the amount geodetic lines in his universe are curved lines. Only

Fig. 7-20. At A, a revolving rubber ball as seen from a non-accelerating point of view. The little man shines his light toward the
shell of the hollow ball, in the direction of its tangential movement of velocity v. The photon travels straight, but the ball seems to
pull away toward the center of revolution. At B, the little man sees this as a curved path for the light.

141
if he were to shine the light exactly toward or away paths in the presence of a gravitational field near a
from the center of revolution would he find a planet or star. At the surface of the earth, for exam-
straight geodetic line. ple, a beam of light sent parallel to the surface
should not describe a perfectly straight line through
THE PRINCIPLE OF EQUIVALENCE space, but rather a path that is slightly bent down-
Suppose example of Fig. 7-19,
that both Jim, in the ward (Fig. 7-21 A). This effect is very, very small in
and the little man, in the example of Fig. 7-20, the earth's gravitational field, but it nevertheless
experience an acceleration of about 9.9 m/sec 2 . does occur. A ray of light passing close to the earth
They will recognize this acceleration as "one grav- should be bent slightly in the direction of the planet
ity," the same intensity as that on the surface of the (Fig. 7-21B).
earth. (With an acceleration of only one gravity, the These become more significant as the
effects
degree of geodetic-line curvature is extremely gravitational field becomes more intense. The path
small, but it might be observed with sufficiently of a photon would be bent much more, for example,
sensitive observation devices.) in the vicinity of the sun. If a source of gravitation is
If Jim's ship has opaque walls, so that he has no massive enough and dense enough to produce a
way to observe his surroundings, he might feel sufficiently intense gravitational acceleration, a
home. He would feel no different than if his
quite at photon might actually be returned toward its source
vessel were standing on end somewhere on his (Fig. 7-21C)! In theory, it is possible that gravity
home planet. The little man inside the hollow ball might get so powerful that a photon could be cap-
would also feel at home (assuming his planet has the tured and never released. Then we would have that
same gravitational field intensity as the earth). If situation about which so much fascination revolves:
the ball were opaque, he might well conclude that a "black hole," where things can get in but cannot
the ball is at rest on the surface of his planet, or the get out.
earth. According to the gravitational physics of
Are there any experiments that Jim, or the Newton , the deflection of a ray of light passing near
little man, might perform to determine whether a gravitational mass is simply due to the fact that
they are accelerating in the far reaches of space or photons are projectiles with a certain mass and
whether they are at rest on a planet? Might some speed Then the gravitational attraction of a nearby
. ,

kind of instrument, confined entirely to the interior celestial object should cause a change in the path of
of the ship or the ball, indicate the actual situation? the photon, in the same way that a space vessel
The answer is no; we do not know of any way to tell would be affected (Fig. 7-22). In fact, it is possible
the difference between a gravitational field such as to calculate the degree of deflection of a light beam
is produced by a nearby planet or star, and the in a gravitational field, according to this Newtonian
By
acceleration resulting from a change in velocity. model. But such calculations have not produced
all when we are confined to a
the laws of physics, accurate results. The values obtained according to
small place, we know of no means by which we can this model are approximately half the values de-
differentiate between the two. The two forces are rived from actual observation. The relativistic
therefore equivalent. model, however, predicts the curvature of light
This is the "principle of equivalence," and its passing near the sun to a high accuracy, as we shall
consequences are far-reaching indeed. All phe- shortly see, and there are other observed phe-
nomena that take place in a "true" gravitational field nomena that are not accounted for according to
will also be observed in an "artificial" field; the Newton's theory but are predicted by Einstein's
converse is also true. This applies equally well to general theory of relativity.
photons of radiant energy, a flying piece of rock, or a In Einstein's model, gravitation is simply a
scale. curvature of space, manifested by the bending of
Rays of light, then, should describe curved geodetic lines. A light beam passing between two

142
Light source
Curved
path of photon

zvzm<mmrf%%%^
Curved
path of Curved path
photon of photon

e
(
Earth j

Fig. 7-21 . At A, the gravity of the earth should cause a beam of light to appear bent. At B, a photon passing near the earth is

deflected slightly. At C, a photon passing near a very dense celestial mass may be substantially deflected.

points is "bent" by a nearby mass because space Euclidean. The only deviation from a perfectly
itself is bent. Thus the straightest possible path is Euclidean continuum results from the tiny amount
curved; there are no straight lines. This model is of sag caused by gravity.
illustrated by Fig. 7-23. A creature living in this two-dimensional
Imagine a sheet of thin, very elastic rubber, world would observe geodetics as straight lines . No
attached to the walls of a small room at a uniform observations he might make would lead him to be-
height above the floor. Suppose this sheet is lieve that his universe deviated, in even the
stretched tightly so that it is almost perfectly slightest measure, from the Euclidean. But, now
smooth and flat. This sheet of rubber represents a imagine that a heavy coin is dropped onto the rubber

model of two-space in the absence of gravitational sheet. This will cause a change in the curvature of
forces; geodetic lines within this universe are al- the sheet, especially in the immediate vicinity of
most perfectly straight, since the space is nearly the coin, but to some extent everywhere. There

143
will be substantial curvature of geodetic lines near LIGHT FROM THE STARS
the coin. Now, the little two-dimensional being, Einstein's idea that gravitational fields are actually
himself distorted right along with the space in the a "bent" space leads to certain predictions about the
region near the coin will not be aware of any change
, behavior of light beams, as we have just seen. The
unless he is very observant. But, if he looks very theory also leads to predictions concerning the or-
closely at the position of a distant point on the bits of celestial objects, such as the motions of the
rubber sheet before and after the introduction of the planets round the sun. The theory of general
coin, he will note a slight change. If his power of relativity also introduces the idea that there might
intuition is great enough, he might be able to figure be such things as "gravity waves" — ripples in

out the actual situation. But, he may only be mys- space, like the ripples caused by a stone impacting
tified; he might conclude that the presence of the on a water pond. Scientists have observed all these
coin has produced a defect in his instruments. things, and the results they have obtained agree, to

Curved path

O Photon
/

Fig. 7-22. The Newtonian description of light deflection near a source of gravitation. The photon is bent just as a space ship,
coasting at constant speed, would be deflected (A); the photon is of course deflected to a much lesser extent because of its
great speed (B).

144
Curved
continuum

Mass

Fig. 7-23. Curvature of a two-dimensional continuum in the locality of a gravitational mass. Straight lines do not exist. A polar
coordinate system is roughly shown.

a reasonable extent, with the predictions made by In Fig. 7-24A, the position of a star is carefully
Einstein. No observations have yet been made to noted. The star must be on, or very close to, the

conclusively refute the theory. plane of the ecliptic so that

, it will be eclipsed by the
The gravitational field of the earth is not strong sun. The observation is first made in the absence of
enough to produce noticeable distortion of space, the sun. As the year progresses, and the earth
even near the horizon. The gravitational fields of revolves around the sun, the star will eventually be
the moon and planets are also too weak to be used eclipsed by the sun's disk. Just before the eclipse of
for experiments to detect the curvature of light the star occurs, the star's position is again noted
arriving from distant stars. But, the sun has a field (B). If the path of the photons from the star to the
of adequate intensity. Figure 7-24 shows how an earth is altered by the gravitational field of the sun,
experiment may be carried out to observe the then we would note a change in the position of the
bending of light rays from distant stars. This ex- star as compared with its position earlier.
periment was actually carried out in the early part of This experiment was conducted on May 29,
this century to verify the general theory of relativ- 1919, by two British astronomers during a solar
ity. eclipse. They took several photographs, and in

145
November of that same year, they announced that entirely neglected by the physics of Newton. The
the predictions of the general theory of relativity orbit of the planet Mercury proved to be the answer
had been confirmed. A change in the positions of to this search.

stars near the sun was indeed seen (Fig. 7-25); at a

time when the sun should have eclipsed a star, it
THE PERIHELION OF MERCURY
was still visible near the edge of the sun's disk. The orbits of the planets around the sun, and in fact
The amount of change in the positions of stars the orbits of most satellites, are almost perfect
near the sun was very close to the function pre- circles. But there is always some deviation; the

dicted by the general theory of relativity. Scientists orbits are usually somewhat "lopsided." At a cer-
who supported this theory considered the experi- tain point in the orbit of a planet, its distance from
ment a great triumph. But other evidence had to be the sun is at a minimum, and the direction of this
found to provide more conclusive proof of the perihelion can be very accurately determined with
theory. Newton's theory also would predict the respect to the distant cosmos (Fig. 7-26).
same effect, and while the deviation in stellar posi- The perihelion of each planet changes very
tions predicted by Newton was only half the ob- slowly. On each revolution, the direction of the
served amount, and only half the amount predicted perihelion is just a tiny bit different. For the outer
by the general theory of relativity, the error could planets, this change in the perihelion, as predicted
be traced to a simple miscalculation by Newton by Einstein's theory, is too small to be measured
concerning the intensity of the sun's gravitational using presently available instruments. However,
field. Some effect had to be observed that would for the inner three planets— Mercury, Venus, and
agree with the general theory of relativity, but was Earth— it is measurable. Mercury, whose proxim-

Earth To distant star

•/
Direction
of orbit
o Sun

Apparent path
to star

Earth

Fig. 7-24. Deflection of light from a distant star by the sun. The star is first observed when the sun does not line up with it (A);
then, just before the sun passes in front of the star, its position is noted again (B). Because of the deflection of the light arriving

from the star, its position will appear to change.

146
Fig. 7-25. The experiment of Fig. 7-24, as observed from the earth. At A, the star is not near the sun. The dotted circle shows
where the sun will soon pass. At B, the sun has arrived at the predicted position, but the star is not yet eclipsed, as we would
have guessed from the prediction at A.

147
Planet

\
/ \
/ Perihelion \
direction
/ \
/ \

Sun

/
\
\ /
\ /
\ y
Orbit of
planet

Fig. 7-26. When a planet passes the point in its orbit that is closest to the sun, the planet is said to be at perihelion. The position
of this perihelion changes slightly with each orbit, according to the general theory of relativity, but Newton's physics cannot
provide any reason for this change.

ity to the sun maximizes the rotation of the cury and Earth; for Venus, the observations have
perihelion, should theoretically display a change of not yielded a reliable value, and we have no means
43 seconds of arc per century. This amount can be for comparison.
measured. For the planet Venus, the predicted The reason for the movement of the perihelion
change in the perihelion is 8.6 seconds of arc per of a planet lies in the fact that the sun rotates on its

century. For our own planet, the theoretical value axis once every 21 days, with respect to the distant
is 3.8 seconds of arc per century. These values are totality of masses in the cosmos.
also within our capability to measure.
According to observation, scientists have ob- RED SHIFT CAUSED BY GRAVITATION
tained a very close agreement with the values pre- We have already briefly discussed Doppler shift,

dicted by the general theory of relativity for Mer- the change in wavelength of a light beam or radio

148
signal caused by radial motion (Chapter 2). But this in the spectral image (Fig. 7-27A). We are thus able
sort of frequency change can occur also for another to easily see if a red or blue shift has occurred; an
reason. Radiant energy changes in intensity in the increase in energy will show up as a movement in

proximity of a gravitational field, and this change the positions of the absorption lines toward the blue
persists after the energy has left the field. The end of the spectrum (Fig. 7-27B) and a decrease in
,

wavelength will get longer as a beam of light leaves energy will cause a shift toward the red (Fig.
a gravitational field, or when it travels against an 7-27C).
acceleration force. The wavelength will get shorter Red and blue shifts may, of course, be the
as abeam of light enters a gravitational field, or result of radial motion of a celestial object. But, as
when it travels along with an acceleration force. the light of the star leaves that star, a red shift
The former is referred to as a red shift, and the occurs in addition to any Doppler effect that may be
latter as a blue shift. present, since the light must move against a gravi-
Distant stars have a characteristic spectral tational field; a blue shift occurs as the light from
pattern when their light is passed through a prism. the star falls in to the earth along with the gravity of
,

Various elements cause absorption of certain our planet. The blue shift resulting from our own
wavelengths in the spectrum, and the absence of earth's gravitation, f , is much less pronounced
these discrete wavelengths shows up as dark lines than the red shift caused by the star's gravitation,

Absorption lines

O \
Red Blue

Absorption lines
© X
Red Blue

Absorption lines

aL
Red Blue

Fig. 7-27. Red and blue shift of the absorption lines in the spectrum of a distant object. At A, no shift; at B, blue shift; at C, red
shift.

149
f
ijr
. Thus, as long as the star has zero radial veloc-
ity, the net spectral shift will be toward the red Distant star
(Fig. 7-28). '

(zero radial velocity with

The practical difficulty in experimentally ver-
respect to the earth)
ifying this red shift is twofold. First, how are we to
determine whether a red shift, observed in the
spectral display of a distant star, is caused by radial 'star Red shift
motion or gravitation? A retreating star would pro-
duce a red shift indistinguishable from the shift
caused by
J f - f . Second, convection currents
star earth
in the surface gases of a star might create a blue
shift sufficient to cancel, at least partially, the red
shift caused by
J f
slar
- f
earth
. Still, experiments
r have Path of light beam
been attempted to observe this gravitational red
shift from distant stars. Rough quantitative results

have been obtained, by observing a great number of

stars whose average radial velocity should be zero,
and by estimating the effect of convection currents.
Although these data are somewhat imprecise, they
are in fair agreement with the red-shift values pre-
dicted by the general theory of relativity.
The red shift caused by the gravitation of our
own sun has been observed by measuring the value
near the rim of the disk where convection currents ,

in the solar gases occur only in directions sideways

to us (Fig. 7-29) . The results are in good agreement
with Einstein's predictions when the red shift is

observed near the rim of the disk; but the blue shift

caused by convection reduces the amount of red

shift observed as observations are made closer and
closer to the center of the sun's disk.
The displacement of spectral lines through the
Blue shift
'earth
gravitational field of the earth has also been mea-
sured using techniques of extreme precision, over
distances of only a few meters. The results are in
close agreement with the values predicted by the
general theory of relativity.

GRAVITY WAVES
Newton's theory asserts that the effects of gravita-
tion move instantaneously through space. Einstein
found this idea hard to accept, since one of his Fig. 7-28. According to the general theory of relativity, the
light from a distant star having zero radial velocity should be
fundamental principles requires that the speed of
red-shifted. As the light leaves the star against the gravitation
light be an absolute limiting speed, not only for fs tar, it is red-shifted. As the light falls to the earth through the

radiant energy, but for all effects: light, time, mag- gravitation f ear1h , it is blue-shifted, but not as much as it is

netism, ideas, and gravitation. As a matter of fact, red-shifted by the field f

star

150
If gravitational effects do move at a finite

speed, then perhaps there exist gravity waves, just

as it is possible to have electromagnetic waves.
Distant events in the universe might cause a kind of
"gravitational shock disturbance" that would man-
waves. These waves were
ifest itself as gravity

sought by experiment and they were indeed found

Gravity waves occur as distortions in space-

changes in the curvature of the continuum— in an

oscillating pattern. This effect is illustrated in Fig.
7-30. Gravity waves are equivalent to a constantly
changing acceleration force. At certain times, a
wave "crest" or "trough" will occur at the measur-
ing point (A), producing one kind of distortion; at
other times the passing wavefront is at an inter-
mediate phase (B) producing a different distortion
,

These waves pass at a velocity equivalent to the

speed of light, c. They have a definite wavelength,
X, and a measurable frequency, f, such that c = fX.

This is the same wavelength-to-frequency relation

that applies to electromagnetic fields.
The apparatus used to detect gravity waves
consists of a large, massive cylinder of metal, with
very precise dimensions. Changes in the force on
the cylinder, and in its spatial length, are detected
by means of sensitive instruments. So sensitive are
these instruments that even the gravitational
change caused by a person walking by will register
significantly! Thus, to be sure the gravitational
disturbances are coming from outer space, two
cylinders must be used, located far enough apart so
that any random disturbance near one cylinder will
not occur near the other. Then any effect that oc-
curs simultaneously, to an equal extent at both
locations, can be assumed to have an extraterres-
Fig. 7-29. To get a true picture of the gravitational red shift trial origin.

from the sun, we must observe light from the edges of the disk According to Newton's theory of gravitation,
(points x 3 ). If we look near the center, at point x,, or at an gravity waves cannot take place because the speed
,

intermediate point, x 2 , the convection of solar gases will

cause some blue shift that will partly cancel the observed red of gravitation is infinite, and no meaningful fre-
shift. quency-to-wavelength relation can exist. For wave
action to be possible, the speed must be finite. But
"thought transfer" experiments were actually at- gravitational waves have been observed, coming
tempted, in order to perhaps verify that even ex- from certain remote celestial objects. So the speed
trasensory effects could move only with the speed of gravity must be finite. These waves may be
of light! (Such experiments could not be done, how- thought of as "ripples" in the continuum of space,
ever, on a reliable enough basis.) exactly like the waves on a pond that occur around

151
Object Motion of
Continuum
wave train

Continuum Motion of
Object
wave train

Fig. 7-30. Gravity waves passing an object. At A, the object is at the "crest" or "trough" of a wave. Its position line is given by X.
At B, a short moment later,the object is past the wave peak. Passing gravity waves cause changing forces on the object, and
changes in its spatial proportions. These changes can be measured by experiment.

the impact point of a stone thrown into the water, THE UNIFIED FIELD THEORY
but in one more dimension. The origin of gravity Gravitation and electromagnetic effects show many
waves in the far reaches of space will be discussed similarities. We have just seen one such analog,
in the next chapter. namely, wave action; but there are others. Oppo-

152
site electric charges attract and like charges repel. gravitation so intense that space folds all the way
The same is true of magnetic poles. There are around on itself, creating a tiny, separate universe

electric and magnetic fields, just as there are attached to the larger continuum. This gives rise to

gravitational fields. We have seen that a gravita- the idea of a one-way membrane— a point across

tional field is a curvature in the geometric structure which it is possible to get in, but not out. The
of space. But electric and magnetic fields can be general theory of relativity also predicts a finite but
mathematically described in much the same way as unbounded universe, like the surface of the earth.

gravitational fields. Is one kind of field really of Modern cosmologists accept that this model of the
different origin than the others, or can all fields geometry of the universe may well be correct.
perhaps be explained according to the same com- To those who maintain that the curvature of
mon base? Must we invent a different spatial con- space must be pure mathematical fiction, we might
tinuum to explain each different kind of force field? reply that we know only what we are able to ob-

This question bothered Einstein. It is a source of serve, and all our observations to date have either
puzzlement among scientists to this day. confirmed the general theory of relativity, or else
Einstein sought a uniform explanation, based they have been too imprecise for conclusions to be
on fundamental concepts and not patchwork drawn. Some people still believe the earth is flat.

contrivances, for the effects of gravitation, and all We might ride an airplane or ocean vessel all the
force phenomena in general. He hoped to give a way around the world with such persons, showing
precise explanation for the existence of electrons them how we arrive back at the starting point and
and protons in the atom, their charge, and in fact a meet the same people, all of whom remember us,
model for quantum mechanics, based on one
all of and challenge the "flat-earthers" to explain that.
set of "world laws." This elusive goal became But, they might argue that there must be exact
known as the unified field theory. Work is still being duplicates of all the things on earth, extending infi-

done today toward this objective. nitely in all directions, and repeating themselves
over and over without end . We might then retort , in
IS SPACE REALLY CURVED? elegantly Einsteinian fashion, that their world and
We have spoken here of rather bizarre effects ours is really the same. Both models give the same
caused by gravitation. According to the theory of results, and thus they must be identical!
general relativity, the geometry of space becomes The question of whether space is really curved
non-Euclidean, that is, curved, both locally and thus becomes trivial It behaves exactly as though it
.

over all the universe. Is this curvature real? Or is it is curved, and so we might as well take the simplest
just fancy mathematical trickery? There are those approach and consider that it is.

who will assert the latter, simply refusing to accept The theory of curved space leads to some ex-
the plausibility of something they cannot readily tremely strange possibilities: anomalies in space
envision. But, there is already good evidence (aside such as black holes, one-way membranes, inter-
from the effects we have discussed in this chapter) secting universes, and time standing still. Let us
for the theory that space actually is curved. As- now explore these things. Beyond the imaginations
tronomers believe they have found evidence of of even the majority of science-fiction enthusiasts,
"black holes" in our own galaxy and in distant cosmologists of today are proposing, as reality,
galaxies. These strange objects are surrounded by such phenomena.

153
Chapter 8

((
<\ © p»

Anomalies in Space
THE IDEA presence
THAT SPACE BECOMES NON-EUCLIDEAN to illustrate the true significance of non-Euclidean
in the of a gravitational field, or space . A far more interesting situation occurs when
under conditions of extreme acceleration , is of little a star dies. If a star is large enough, the gravita-
practical consequence under most conditions. The where
tional pull increases at its surface to the point
acceleration attainable by man-made space vessels extreme distortion of time and space takes place.
cannot be great enough to bend the geometry of The homeomorphism between the universe near
space very much without crushing the passengers the star and the space outside the star may disinte-
to a nearly homogeneous mass of atoms. The same grate, resulting in a "hole."
holds true in a gravitational field: A source of grav-
ity strong enough to cause significant curvature of
THE DEATH OF A STAR
space would also kill anyone who dared to venture
close enough to find the curvature. In the gravita- Many millions or billions of years from now, our
tional field near the sun, our bodies would be put own sun will begin to run out of the hydrogen fuel
under stress they could not withstand; yet the sun from which it has created so much radiant energy by
causes only a tiny amount of curvature in the con- means of nuclear fusion . We think of our sun as just
tinuum. While the general theory of relativity ex- about the most absolute thing in our lives. There
plains the behavior of the universe in a more accu- may be earth tremors, volcanoes, and tidal waves;
rate way than the classical models, the difference is or we may interfere with our own environment,
minor until we are given conditions of sufficiently such as by destroying the ozone layer in the
strong gravitation or acceleration. The rotating stratosphere or incinerating our continents with
earth situation that we discussed in the previous miniature suns. But whatever the terrestrial
chapter is not quite the sort of arrangement we need changes that lie in store for us, we also have the

154
inner confidence that we can survive. The death of more massive and more
sive stars would die to form
the sun would shake that confidence. dense "black dwarfs," with greater gravitational
As the sun's supply of hydrogen fuel becomes pull and hence even more distorting effects on the
exhausted, the internal pressure within the sun will surrounding universe. If a star were sufficiently

decrease because of lowering temperatures. There massive, the force of gravitation would grow to
are several variations of the theory concerning incredible proportions as the matter collapsed . The
events to follow. But, it appears likely that the sun atoms, comprised mainly of empty space in their

will shrink in size until the internal pressure in- familiar state, would be crushed. Electrons would
creases once again, causing helium (the by-product be driven into the nuclei combining with protons to
,

of hydrogen fusion) to undergo further nuclear form neutrons. The nuclei themselves would con-
reactions and form still heavier elements. But, tinue to be crushed until the star consisted of just a
eventually the helium supply will also run out, and huge conglomeration of neutrons; very little space
the elements that remain will eventually become would remain between them Like a great mass of
in .

too heavy to support fusion reactions. warm chocolates, these neutrons would merge to-
Whatever the exact details of this process, gether, to form what might best be described as one

there is one overriding fact: The energy supply of

gigantic neutron— the exact replica of its former

the sun is not unlimited. There will come a time constituents, but on a larger scale.

when the sun will no longer shine. There will still At the surface of an object like this, commonly
be matter left in our star at this time; not all the called a neutron star, a man would be killed in-

matter can be turned into energy because elements

,
stantly, spread into a paste of atomic particles and
can get no heavier than a certain maximum. Surely, further modified thereafter into a neutron ooze like ,

if every last proton, neutron and electron were used the star itself. Any piece of matter meeting the ill

up, our theory would be simpler. But, when the star fortune of falling into the neutron star would end up
we call "Sun" is dead, there will be a small sphere the same way. The gravitation would be tremen-
remaining, about the size of the earth, but many dous, and if became large enough,
the neutron star
times heavier than our planet. The material left in the geometric distortion of space would reach such

the sun after it has died will be so dense , in fact , that magnitude that a peculiar thing would happen: The
a teaspoonful would weigh tons on earth. escape velocity from the star would become greater
than the speed of light (Fig. 8-2).
The gravitational field near the surface of this
tiny, massive ball of heavy elements will be many
times greater than even the field presently at the GRAVITATIONAL COLLAPSE
surface of our sun. If we were able to survive, A star of great size awaits a more violent future than
somehow, until the death of our sun, and were then our sun. It is the large star that sometimes flares
to carry out the experiment of Arthur Eddington and into a supernova, temporarily attaining thousands
his colleagues at the beginning of the twentieth or millions of times its previous brilliance in the
century, we would seemuch greater relativistic process of exploding. (The Crab Nebula is the cloud
distortion of the background of stars. The rays from of matter created by an exploding supernova in the
distant stars, passing near the dead sun, would be year 1054 A.D.) The large star also awaits a more
bent much more than they now are Peering through .
bizarre final state. It may shrink down to a neutron
a telescope at the little black disk we would then star so dense, and with such powerful gravitation,
regard as the "sun," we might even be able to that photons emitted from the surface cannot es-
observe as the sun passed across the background of
,
cape into space, but instead will fall back to the star.
other objects in space, a pronounced oddity. It When this occurs, we say that the neutron star has
would look as if the sun were embedded in some become a "black hole." It indeed looks black; we
sort of strange refracting lens (Fig. 8-1). cannot see any radiant energy coming out of it. Any
This would be the end of our sun. More mas- light that comes too close will be pulled down to the

155
•

Fig. 8-1 . background of stars near the sun in

Distortion of the its final, highly dense state. The curvature of space in the sun's
vicinity will be much greater than is at the present time.
it

156
Path of
photon

Path of Photon

Fig. 8-2.
the photon is curved
&
greatly. At B, the
Star

As a star collapses, a photon emitted by the star encounters greater and greater difficulty
photon just barely escapes. At C, the photon falls back
in escaping. At A, the path of
to the star.

157
star, never to return to the outside universe again. zenith; the stars closest to the horizon would ap-
As a neutron star shrinks to smaller and pear to move the most, and the stars at the zenith
smaller size, it will seem to disappear at a certain would remain fixed (Fig. 8-4A).
point. Its radius at this instant— at the exact mo- As the gravitational collapse continued, the
ment the escape velocity becomes greater than the rate of change in the surroundings would increase.
speed of light— is called the gravitational radius or
Schwarschild radius (the latter term is named after
the physicist who first put forth the idea of a black
hole using Einstein's general theory of relativity).
For a neutron star at its gravitational radius,
beams of light sent directly upward will almost
escape. But, just as a rocket ship hurled away from
earth at a speed just short of the escape velocity will
fall into orbit, so the photon will fail to reach the
outside universe. If the photon is not emitted at a
sufficiently large elevation, it will fall back to the
star (Fig 8-3). . Since nothing can travel faster than a
photon, we may then consider that a neutron star,
once having shrunk to within its gravitational
radius is sealed off from the rest
, of the universe . It

is out of the question to consider leaving; to do so

would require an infinite amount of energy.
The curved paths of photons (however dis-
torted they are as shown in Fig. 8-3)

hole are nevertheless geodetic paths through

space. From the viewpoint of someone standing on
near a black
e
the surface of the neutron star (assuming he could
survive the gravitational pull), the photons would
appear to travel in straight lines. Space would thus
appear greatly distorted.
Imagine that you were able to stand on the
surface of a collapsing neutron star, and witness its photon / / \
retreat into gravatational oblivion. What would you . [ Collapsar K,
see?
At first, everything would appear to be quite \
normal. The surrounding sky would contain the
usual plethora of stars. You might even recognize
some of the familiar constellations if the collapsar
\ J
were near enough to our own sun. But as the inten-
sity of the gravitational field became greater and
greater, and the geometric distortion of space in-

creased, the sky would change. New stars, previ-

ously invisible because they were below the hori- Fig. 8-3. A collapsar, or collapsed object, prevents any
photons from ever escaping. The best a photon can achieve
zon, would appear to rise upward from the horizon
is an orbit around the collapsar (A) but if the photon is emitted
;

compass. All the stars in the sky

at all points of the at an angle other than directly upward, it will eventually return
would seem to be moving upward toward the to the surface of the collapsar (B).

158
Finally the horizon would heave upward, and you the collapsing star would see time go on quite nor-
would get the feeling of being at the bottom of a mally, but in the brief moments prior to the sever-
huge bowl (Fig. 8-4B). Now things would change ing of his universe from the outside world, he would
with extreme speed; the end would be very near. see all of eternity in that world pass by.
The whole horizon would retreat to the zenith, and The collapsing star thus creates a non-
close off your view of the outside heavens com- homeomorphism between two universes. Time-
pletely. At that instant (Fig. 8-4C), you would be wise, a single instant in the collapsar universe cor-
beyond the point of no return; you would never be resonds to the entire hereafter in the external
able to escape. The star would be inside the gravi- world; space wise, the surface of the star folds down
tational radius, and it would be severed from the to one single point. Both of these relations are not
rest of the world. Looking directly upward, you one-to-one correspondences, but rather "infinity-
might even see yourself for a tiny instant perhaps , to-one." A collapsar thus "tears" space apart.
just long enough for you to note the look of sheer
astonishment on your face. Then the whole surface
GRAVITATIONAL RADIUS VERSUS MASS
of the neutron star would come crashing down on
you from all directions. The new, autonomous uni- The more massive a star, the greater its chances of
verse created by the gravitational collapse would becoming a black hole. Larger and larger stars will

contain only neutron ooze, and no surface. form larger and larger black holes.
Any object can, in theory, be sufficiently
AN OUTSIDE VIEW squeezed down so that it gets smaller than the

Now, imagine same situation as seen by some-

this
gravitational radius, and creates a black hole. Even
the earth can be sufficiently compressed, although
one far enough away from the star so as not to be
sucked into its grasp. At first the star would seem to the task might prove challenging (it would have to

rapidly shrink. But, as the gravitation became ex- be crushed to the size of a grape). The sun would

treme in the immediate vicinity of the collapsar, have to be compressed to a diameter of several
time would go more and more slowly. A clock kilometers; as the amount of matter in an object

situated at the surface would seem, as seen from increases, the gravitational radius increases in di-

the outside, to slow down to a complete stop as the rect proportion. If all the matter in our Milky Way
star reached the gravitational radius.
galaxy were moved sufficiently close together, the

Finally the collapsar would disappear from resulting black hole would be very large indeed.

view. We might see the poor soul at the surface The volume of an object increases much more
staring helplessly upward , his expression frozen by rapidly than the radius, however, and consequently

the infinite time-distortion factor that prevails at large black holes need not be nearly as dense as
the entrance to a black hole. small ones.

This time distortion, caused by the gravita- The black hole resulting from the collapse of a
tional field of a collapsing star, results in its never great many stars together, or from the collapse of
completely disappearing from the outside universe an entire galaxy, would not be nearly as concen-
Visually, it will appear to wink out because the time trated as the neutron-star black hole that is the final
distortion becomes so great that individual photons product of a single star's demise. Inside a massive
arrive at large intervals, rendering the object too black hole, in fact, human existence might actually
dim to be seen. But the gravitational effect of a be carried on. If a black hole is large enough, it

black hole persists forever in the outside world. As would be possible to venture inside its gravitational
our clocks continue onward, the clock on the sur- radius— also known as the "event horizon" because
face of the collapsar appears to come to a stop as the of the infinite time-distortion that takes place
gravitational radius is approached. This effect is there— without being crushed to death by gravita-
shown in Fig. 8-5. The observer on the surface of tion or neutron ooze. We might then explore the

159
Instant star

/
Collapsing star

Standing on the surface of a collapsing object, space seems to close in on an observer. At A, a distant star is seen, but
Fig. 8-4.
the horizonseems to be lengthening and the star rising. At B, the surface of the collapsing object looks as though it is curved
upward, and the star is much higher in the sky. At C, the observer is trapped and the collapsar is about to crush him out of
existence.

160
161
12-

owc
10-
o
o
<D

en
8-
c Event horizon
to

o
o 6-
c
o
CD —
E

<X>
W
4-
Q.
03
LU

C
fflllllllll
2 4 6 8 10
1 1

12
»

Elapsed time in outside universe (seconds)

Fig.8-5 Relation between elapsed time inside and outside a collapsing section of space. From the outside, the event horizon
seems never to be quite reached. From the inside, all of eternity for the external world seems to pass in
or gravitational radius
an instant as the object shrinks within the event horizon.

interior of the black hole, beyond eternity! But black holes exist, having many times the mass of
there would be no hope of returning to the old our galaxy, might it be possible that there are
universe. planets orbiting some of the stars? Could it be that
Inside an extremely large black hole, indi- there is intelligent life on one or more of those
vidual stars might still retain their identity. If such planets? Might those beings be pondering the na-

162
ture of their little universe in the same way we not require a density all that great; if billions of
wonder about ours? stars were brought together within a sufficiently
small volume of space, the resulting black hole
HOW COMMON ARE BLACK HOLES? would have about the same density as the con-
Black holes are interesting in theory, but it is dif- stituent stars. We would not see any of the energy

ficult to imagine such things as the pronounced radiated by such a galactic core; it would all be held

geometric distortion of space and total stoppage of within the gravitational radius But the black hole at
.

time that is supposed to occur inside them. Are the center of a galaxy would act quite effectively to

there really such things? Do stars really get that keep the rest of the stars in the galaxy together.

dense as they die, or is there perhaps some as-yet Clusters of galaxies, held together by their

unknown factor that prohibits such bizarre events mutual gravity, also display masses that appear too
from actually happening? There is some evidence large for the amount of radiant energy they put out.

that black holes actually exist in the far reaches of There are apparently invisible galaxies among the
space. We certainly have never seen one here on visible ones, and some estimates actually imply

the surface of the earth, and hopefully we never that the invisible galaxies outnumber the ones we

will! Finding good evidence of the existence of can see! Is this observation simply the result of

black holes, however, is good support for the gen- imprecision in our estimates of luminosity and

eral theory of relativity. It also makes the universe mass? Perhaps, but not necessarily. It could be that

far more interesting. there are entire galaxies that have been drawn

The motions of stars in space are governed by within their gravitational event horizons, leaving

the effects of their mutual gravitation. If there are only their gravity as evidence that they still exist.

no black holes, then the motions of the stars ought This evidence for the prevalence of black holes
to be predictable based on the locations and sizes of in the universe, while tantalizing, is not very con-

nearby visible stars. In most galaxies, but espe- clusive There are too many variables It is possible
. .

cially in elliptical and spherical galaxies, there ap- that there is more stray matter between the stars

pears to be too much motion among the visible and galaxies of space than we think; this would
stars. Such galaxies seem to harbor disproportion- reduce the luminosity-to-mass estimate for distant
ately large mass, based on the radiant energy com- objects in the universe. Although it is hard to dis-

ing from them. If all, or almost all, the mass in a pense with a sixty-fold difference in this way, we
galaxy can be accounted for as visible stars then , we must keep in mind that such an error might
still

would expect the luminosity-to-mass ratio to be occur; we are working with a fantastically compli-

about the same as for ordinary stars such as our own cated creation. We need still more data to imply

sun. But, in fact, the ratio is only about one-sixtieth with surety that black holes actually exist.

that of the sun. While we might dismiss a small

discrepancy, a sixty-fold difference seems too GRAVITATIONAL SHOCK WAVES
great. Where is the extra mass in such galaxies? We briefly discussed gravitational waves in the
Perhaps there is a much greater concentration preceding chapter. Such waves consist of ripples in

of stars at the centers of these galaxies than we the continuum of three-dimensional space, very
would be led to believe from visual examination, or much like the waves that occur on the surface of a
by observation with radio telescopes. It may be that smooth body ever-growing circles
of water in
the extra energy is somehow confined within the around an impact disturbance. What might cause
centers of these galaxies. But how could that be? such gravitational waves?
Why would the energy not eventually escape into The effects of a gravitational field, insofar as
space? One plausible answer is that the central the geometric distortion of space is concerned, ex-
regions of these galaxies have become so highly tend for indefinite distances in all directions around
compressed that they are black holes. This would a celestial mass Of course the greater the distance
. ,

163
7
Spatial
continuum

O \
Mass = m

Spatial
continuum

Gravitational wave

Spatial
Gravitational
continuum
wave

Mass = 2m
Fig. 8-6. Gravitationalshock waves. At A, the spatial curvature around an object of mass m; at B, the gravitational wave
produced by a sudden doubling of the mass; at C, the shock wave at a later moment. The velocity of the wave, v, would be
equal to the speed of light. Instruments to detect gravitational waves have been built, and the waves have been observed
coming from the center of our galaxy.

from the mass the smaller the effect of the gravita-

, Therefore, a change in the mass of an object would
tional field. But, no matter how far away we get, result in a change in the degree of spatial distortion
there is always a little bit of spatial curvature. Even surrounding that object. This change would only be
a tiny speck of dust creates a space "warp" with capable, however, of being propagated at the speed
indefinite extent! of light Consequently there
. would be a disturbance
What if the mass of an object were to suddenly in space in the form of an ever-growing sphere,
change? The intensity of a gravitational field varies where the curvature would suddenly become dif-

directly with the mass of the object responsible. ferent. Figure 8-6 is a dimensionally reduced illu-

164
stration of this effect. The "pulse" that travels out- Results of Weber's experiments proved very
ward is a gravitational wave. rewarding. Many disturbances were observed
How might the mass of an object suddenly which could not be attributed to earthly effects. The
change? It is possible that two stars might collide, source of most of the gravitational waves seemed to
resulting in a sudden change in the mass of either be in the general direction of the center of our Milky
star, and this event might cause repercussions in Way! Something cataclysmic was evidently hap-
the form of gravitational waves. Such chance en- pening there. It may well be that there is a great

counters are highly improbable, since there is far black hole there, and that the gravitational radiation
more empty space in the universe than space oc- is the result of periodic increases in its mass as
cupied by stars. We would not expect to find stellar individual stars fall into the singularity, disappear-

collisions very often. ing from the outside universe forever.

Might a star suddenly disappear during a
gravitational collapse? Not as viewed from the out- STRANGE BINARY STARS
side universe; the amount of time distortion be-
Certain objects in space provide more readily visi-
comes infinite as any object collapses to the gravi-
ble evidence for the existence of black holes. Bi-
tational radius, and this ensures that the black hole
nary stars are quite common. Occasionally, the
will persist forever. (We do not know exactly what
plane of the stars' mutual orbit lies directly in line
happens, though, as seen from inside the black
with our solar system, and the stars alternately
hole.) But, a black hole might suck other stars into
eclipse each other. We then see a periodic variation
it, thereby growing in size in discrete spurts.
in the brightness of the binary star system. These
Suppose there is a large black hole somewhere
variable stars have, in fact, been known for some
in the midst of many stars such as at the center of a
,

time. Generally, one star in a binary system is

galaxy. (We might expect to find a black hole in a
considerably more luminous than the other, and
much more often in an
concentrated region of stars
therefore the fluctuations in brightness may be
area where there are notmany stars, since the
quite large (Fig. 8-7).
greater material density would increase the
chances of a mutual gravitational collapse.) Such a Occasionally we observe a binary star system

black hole would have a tendency to attract nearby in which the eclipse of one star results in almost
total cessation of light emission from the system.
stars, on account of its intense gravitational field,
eventually capturing them one at a time. This kind This might well be caused by a binary star system

of collision would be much more likely, supposing consisting of one luminous star and one collapsed

the galactic center really harbors a black hole, than star (Fig. 8-8). A sufficiently massive black hole
a chance meeting of two Each time a star was
stars .
could "suck in" much of the electromagnetic energy
pulled down into the singularity, the mass of the passing near it.

black hole would increase, and we might expect to By observing the characteristics of binary star
detect a burst of gravitational radiation. systems with one invisible member, we can obtain
The apparatus needed to detect gravity waves rough estimates of the masses of the two stars.
has already been briefly discussed (Chapter 7); it Quite often, strange conclusions are reached, im-
consists of a large cylinder of metal with very sen- plying that the supposedly smaller, invisible star
sitive devices attached, for the purpose of measur- has much greater mass than the bright star. An
ing tiny changes in the physical proportions of the ordinary black dwarf star would not cause signifi-
cylinder. Beginning in 1969, experiments were cant changes in the luminosity of the system as it

conducted in an attempt to discover gravitational passed in front of a large , bright companion. Such an
radiation. The scientist who supervised these ac- eclipse would be comparable to the changes in the
tivities was Joseph Weber of the University of brightness of our sun when it is eclipsed by the
Maryland. planet Venus. The effects of a black hole, however,

165
would be much greater, because light would liter- of Cygnus X-l, an X-ray star in the constellation
allybe pulled in toward the collapsar. Such binary Cygnus, have led scientists to believe that the in-
systems, whose characteristics are nicely ex- visible member has ten times the mass of our sun,
plained by this model, have been observed in our but has very small diameter. Such an object is an
own galaxy. excellent candidate for a black hole.
Some binary systems have been observed in
which one invisible companion seems to be tearing QUASI-STELLAR RADIO SOURCES
away pieces of the larger, visible member. A tiny Just recently, astronomers noticed strange objects
dwarf star would hardly be expected to do that, at the farthest reaches of the observable universe.
unless it had extremely great mass. Observations As telescopes were built to probe more and more

Fig. 8-7. Fluctuations in the luminosity of a binary star whose orbital plane lies in almost direct line with our solar system. At A,
the star system is shown; at B, the luminosity is graphed as a function of time. First the dimmer star is eclipsed (small drop in

total luminosity), and then the brighter star (larger drop in luminosity).

166
Fig. 8-8. Fluctuations in the luminosity of a binary star with a black hole. At A, the star system is illustrated, showing the plane of
mutual orbit between the visible star and the collapsed star. At B, the luminosity is graphed as a function of time. No change is
observed when the black hole is eclipsed by the visible star, but the brightness drops almost to zero when the visible star
passes behind the black hole.

deeply into the cosmos, more galaxies and clusters of their radiated energy. Thus we know they cannot
of galaxieswere found. But eventually, when radio be galaxies, since galaxies contain billions of stars
astronomy became sophisticated, certain star-like and the chances of all of them varying their bright-
objects were found to be as distant as the most ness together are ridiculously small Yet estimates
. ,

remote galaxies. Through the most powerful visual of the distances to quasars places them very far
telescopes, these objects appear as points of light away indeed. They cannot be ordinary stars either.
just like ordinary stars in our own galaxy. In fact, What are they?
they were mistaken for nearby stars until radio Apparently the quasars are very compact ob-
telescopes were turned on them. Then became
it jects. One model proposes that the quasars are
evident that they were not like other stars. They galaxies nearing a state of total gravitational col-
put out far too much energy. lapse. A large, rapidly rotating black hole would be
These quasi-stellar radio sources, also called capable of putting out great amounts of radiant
quasars, display fairly rapid changes in the intensity energy in its plane of rotation, as the last stars are

167
pulled into the gravitational event horizon. A pro- hope to see it with our telescopes, it would give its

cess such as this could go on for many millions of existence away by causing perturbations in the or-
years. Some support of this model arises in consid- bits of the nearby planets. The larger the black
ering the fact that, because of the great distances to hole, the greater this disturbance would be. A col-
the quasars, they must represent events in our lapsed star would not allow our solar system to
universe that took place billions of years ago. The exist as it does; the orbits of the planets would be
light and radiant energy that we see from them greatly distorted from the nearly perfect circles
departed in the distant past. We should then expect they are. We may thus venture with confidence into
that there are many "black galaxies" nearer us, all of our solar system. No strange planetary be-
whose collapse has been completed. As we have havior, suggesting the existence of a black hole has ,

seen, there is strong evidence for such invisible been seen.

galaxies in many of the observable clusters. Imagine that we are on a journey among the
Might our own Milky Way galaxy, if it harbors stars, and accidentally happen to come close to a
a black hole at its center, face an ultimate demise black hole. We might notice an odd arrangement of
into total gravitational oblivion? It is quite possible. the background stars, caused by the gravitational
All galaxies may eventually end up as gravitation- effect on the geometry of space in the vicinity of the
ally collapsed matter. This might, in fact, be the singularity; with sensitive instruments for
fate of all matter in the universe. At present, we can measuring tidal forces, we might sense the prox-
only speculate about this but , we can at least remain imity of a large celestial mass. But, if there were
confident that the universe will not meet this end in not many stars visible and the black hole was for
,

our lifetimes. As the science of cosmology, born some reason very small, there is some danger that
only in this century as a scientific rather than purely it might pass unnoticed until we came very close to

philosophical pursuit, grows more advanced, we it. Then our ship would suddenly change its course

may gain better understanding of where our uni- and speed. If we were unlucky enough to be headed
verse is headed. too close to the event horizon, we could be drawn
into the black hole.
COLLAPSARS AND SPACE TRAVEL A fateful scenario such as this is very improba-
Astronauts have traveled to the moon, and un- ble, even if there are a lot of black holes out there.
manned probes have been sent throughout much of First, the sheer statistical likelihood of getting
the solar system, and not yet have any of our prefab- close enough to a collapsar to be greatly affected is

ricated celestial objects been unfortunate enough to essentially nil. Space is vast indeed; the largest
run into a black hole. Still, we do not know how stars occupy only a minute proportion of its volume
common black holes actually are. A tiny black hole, Even if black holes outnumber visible stars by five

such as one earth mass, is not a particularly likely to one, it would be a fantastic coincidence if a space

product of a gravitational catastrophe; only large vessel were ever to run into a singularity. Further,
stars are expected to evolve into black holes via we have every reason to believe that sufficiently
that process. Until men are capable of fairly rapid sensitive gravitational detection instruments can
interstellar excursions, it is not likely that any be built to warn us of any change in the geometry of

spacecraft will encounter a singularity. space. (We would need these devices for naviga-

If there were a black hole within our own solar tion, anyway.)
system— for example between the orbits of Saturn It is possible that neutron stars or black holes
and Uranus — we
would expect to observe its might provide a means of attaining greater speed on
gravitational effects on those two planets even if the an interstellar journey. Interplanetary probes have
black hole were only a few millimeters across. A utilized the gravitation of one planet to gain addi-

black hole just one centimeter in diameter would tional speed on the way to the next; similar ma-
mass the same as the earth and though we could not
, neuvers are possible in interstellar travel. A black

168
o
Event horizon

Event horizon

/
Fig. 8-9. We might someday use a black hole to give us a speed boost in interstellar travel. At A, passing near the event horizon
changes the direction and speed of our vessel. But we had better not get too close or we will be pulled in (B).

169
hole would obviously provide a much cooler near- the closest approach to the singularity, the black
pass environment than a normal star. The gravi- horizon of the collapsar field would fold up omin-
tational acceleration would also be considerably ously around us; only a tiny point of light would be
greater. In the extreme field near the event horizon visible from the outside universe. Then we would
of a black hole however, the margin for error would
, fire our escape engines and our vessel would begin
,

be small (Fig. 8-9). A tiny miscalculation in the accelerating toward that tiny point of light. At that
speed of the ship, or in its direction, could result in moment, we would doubtless be praying for the
destruction. accuracy of our calculations, and our eyes would be
fixed on the dot of light at the end of the time tunnel.
COLLAPSARS AND TIME TRAVEL Then grow wider, and
the point would begin to

The intense gravitational field in the vicinity of a individual starswould once again become visible;
black hole causes appreciable time distortion. At the stars would rapidly spread over the whole sky;

the event horizon itself, as we have seen, the the black hole would recede behind us, and then it

time-distortion factor becomes infinitely large Just

.
would seem to be only a harmless little black dot in
outside the gravitational radius, the time-distortion the heavens. What would await us down on the
factor is very large, but finite. Farther and farther planet?

from the event horizon, the time-distortion factor

gets progressively smaller. We do not experience BLACK-HOLE UNIVERSES
anything like this distortion in the gravitational en- The preceding examples of space and time travel
virons of any ordinary star or planet. Only collap- involving black holes are a little far-fetched, at least
sars, or neutron stars nearly inside their gravita- by today's way of thinking. We have a lot of
tional radii, can cause such a pronounced effect on technological work to do before such escapades can
time. even be seriously considered. Until then, about all
In theory, this property of the black hole we can do is speculate about the use of black holes
makes it possible to travel into the future, just as in space and time journeys. Still, the time may
the great speeds we might attain in a powerful space someday come.
vessel may allow time travel according to the prin- As far as venturing inside a black hole is con-
ciples of special relativity. Dismissing for a mo- cerned, the necessary technology is much simpler.
ment the fact that getting arbitrarily close to a All we would have to do is let ourselves be sucked
black-hole event horizon and then escaping would inside the event horizon! But, such an excursion
require incredible energy, let us imagine what such would be pointless for the purpose of gathering any
a time journey would be like. Imagine that we were information for the rest of mankind. No data could
to visit a planet in orbit around a binary star system ever be sent back to the outside world; all radio
one member of which is a black hole . We might see information would be trapped inside the singularity
in that planet agood candidate for the future de- with us.
velopment of earth-like life forms: There might be A moderate-size black hole, harboring a neu-
oceans, rainstorms, lightning and plentiful amino tron star or a larger singularity perhaps containing
, ,

acids. We might want to travel to the distant future stellar matter of ordinary density, would be im-
to see how the planet evolves. penetrable for all practical purposes (if entering any
The sober preparations for a no-retum time black hole could be considered "practical"). The
voyage of a half billion years would involve careful gravitational forceswould crush us as we landed on
checking of the size and location of the singularity, the surface supposing we would find a surface But
, .

and precise calculations of engine thrust and the a huge black hole might have a low enough density

necessary depth of penetration into the gravity to allow us to fall freely within the event horizon
field. Then we would depart, descend to within a without fear of death. What might we then find?
small distance of the event horizon, and return. At During our descent, the black rim of the sin-

170
Time line of "old'
universe
Time line
of "new"
universe

Fig. 8-10. Geometric representation of the time transfer in a black-hole singularity. The spiral shows the progression of time in
the "old" universe (prior to entering the black hole). Arrows denote the direction of the future. The spiral gets half as large with
each revolution thus continuing infinitely toward the center but never reaching it. Jumping into the event horizon is represented
,

by a direct approach to the center point. The time line in the "new" universe goes off in an entirely different direction (straight
line).

171
gularity would seem to grow larger and larger, remain essentially intact; some planets might fall

ultimately enveloping us. The outside world would into orbit around new suns. We would have to begin
retreat to a tiny point of light behind us, and then a search for a new home planet without delay, since
disappear altogether. At this moment, although we returning to earth would be out of the question.
would be unable to observe the details, we would Behind us would be a singularity, very similar
be haunted by the knowledge that all eternity had to that we entered in leaving our old universe— the
passed in the we knew. Whatever the final
universe event horizon through which we had just come. We
fate of our world, would have been met in that
it might see a new star emerge from this black hole
brief instant. There would be no return. An event now and then. Having ventured too close to the
horizon is thus a one-way membrane We could look . event horizon in the old universe , it , like ourselves
only forward our world would be behind us forever.
; would have been irrevocably committed to the new.
Observers from the outside watching our disap- Our knowledge of black holes should not tempt
pearance into the eternal would see our ship frozen
, us to dive back into the singularity with any expec-
to the rim of the event horizon as if it had come to a tation of returning to the old world. We would have
complete halt; they would imagine, perhaps, that to accept that that universe was gone forever,
we had gone into permanent suspended animation. existing as it were on a totally different time line

Continuing on into the singularity, we do not from our new world. The old universe would have
know exactly what we might find. We don't have lived and died over the infinitude of ages We might .

much of an idea of the fate of a collapsar after it has imagine this as shown in Fig. 8-10. The time-line of
shrunk within its gravitational radius . It may simply our old universe might be represented as a spiral
disappear, being crushed utterly out of existence . If which becomes half as large with each rotation, the
so, then we would be doomed along with it. Such future being inward toward the center. An infinite

total annihilation seems intuitively unappealing; number of rotations would be possible in such a
our journey into any black hole would be sheer spiral, representing progression of the years infi-

suicide under such conditions. seems It that the nitely into the hereafter. Entering a space-time
matter must go somewhere— but where? event horizon would be like jumping all the way to

Perhaps the matter inside a black hole passes the center of the spiral and then continuing outward
through the zero-volume point and reappears in along the perpendicular line. This straight line rep-
some other form, beyond eternity. Or perhaps resents time in the new universe.
there is some outward force that balances the in- Failing to find a suitable habitat in the new
ward pull of gravitation at some time before the universe, we could take the chance of diving once
object can crush itself out of existence. This latter again into the singularity, but we could at best hope
possibility makes our speculation most interesting, to emerge into yet a third universe, infinitely re-
since it would imply that our bodies need not be moved in time from the second! We would run the
squeezed into, or through, a geometric point of risk, too, of falling into a hostile world; each des-
infinitely small dimensions. Let us imagine, then, cent into a black hole would be a gamble, perhaps
our journey in this case. for the better, perhaps for the worse, and perhaps
Looking ahead, we might see a new point of for oblivion. Even if such journeys ever become

light come into view. Itwould seem to grow as we possible, men might never dare attempt them.
fell into the new universe. We might find a small
universe similar to our own: finite but unbounded, IS OUR UNIVERSE A BLACK HOLE?
having three spatial dimensions. Individual stars If black holes indeed lead into other universes then ,

might well survive a collapse into a huge singularity it is possible that our own universe is a black hole,
of low density. Planets orbiting such stars might be itself attached to some external world by a space-
ripped away from their suns because of gravita- time singularity. An external universe, with re-
tional interaction, but some planetary orbits might spect to which our world is a black hole would exist
,

172
Continuum
X

Fig. 8-11. Singularity between two universes. Matter might be sucked out of continuum X into continuum Y through the
singularity; then appears as a black hole in X and a white hole in Y. It would be impossible to turn back around, go through the
it

singularity, and re-enter the other universe again, since an infinite period of time would have passed on the first journey through
the singularity.

in the infinite past by our reckoning. The singularity "mini-worlds" and entertain the riddle of the origin
connecting our universe with another would appear structure, and future of our own universe. Many
,"
as a "white hole spewing out material captured by theories about the nature of the cosmos have been
the black hole from the other universe (Fig. 8-11) put forth, beginning with the earliest men and pro-
One theory of the structure of our universe gressing from philosophical dreaming through
postulates that our entire cosmos is one great black theological dictum to scientific inquiry. Modern
hole. Observations of the density of matter, the astronomers pretty much agree on a cosmology that
known extent of our universe, and the known total has come to beknown as the "big-bang" theory. It
mass therein, have led to the suggestion that our got this strange name from the evidence that all the
entire space is at or within its event horizon! Oppo- material in space was once concentrated in a single
nents of such a theory would object by pointing out place, and then rapidly expanded in all directions.

that if this were true then we should expect

, that the This outward motion is evidently still going on.
universe is undergoing a gravitational collapse, and Other theories to explain the expansion of the cos-
iscontracting. Observed evidence contradicts this: mos, or which deny that it is actually expanding at
Our universe appears to be getting bigger, not all, have gained less support. Let us now look at the
smaller, as time passes. science of cosmology, as it has evolved over the

We may now leave the question of black-hole ages.

173
Chapter 9

c
KQO )}

The Structure and

Evolution of the Universe
FFROM THE TIME OF THE EARLIEST MEN, THE- serving stars of various brilliances, of great depth.
ories have existed concerning the nature of the Perhaps some primitives realized that not all the
heavens. The word "universe" means "all that is." stars are equally far away from the earth. But evi-
Surely man has always been tantalized by the rid- dently most ancient philosophers and scientists
dle: What is the structure of the physical universe? thought of the stars as affixed to one great solid
Where did it come from? What is going to happen to sphere around the central planet earth.
it? The physicist and the theologian share no more Even the earliest societies saw that the sun
common ground than the sciences of cosmology, traversed the heavens with great regularity. Sun-
which is the study of the nature of the universe, and dials were the earliest clocks. The stars seem to
cosmogony, which involves its origin and evolution. revolve around the earth at about the same rate as
This interrelation between the Church and the sci- the sun; but ancient astronomers noticed a change
entist has not always been very cordial. in star patterns from season to season, and deduced
What thoughts went through the minds of that the sidereal (star) day is just a little shorter
primitive men as they gazed at the nighttime sky? than the synodic (sun) day. Obviously, however,
You can get some idea of their feelings by making a both the sun and the stars could be plainly seen to
trip to the country yourself, well away from man- revolve around the earth. Obviously, since there
made light sources, and looking skyward on a was no sensation of motion on the earth, the planet
cloudless, moonless night. Under such ideal condi- was and thus it must be the sun and stars
stationary,
tions, many thousands of individual stars can be that moved. Naturally enough, the earliest cosmol-
seen; the hazy band of the Milky Way has millions ogy put the earth at the center of a ceaselessly
upon millions more visible (although not individu- revolving universe. (From the general theory of
ally discernible) stars. You get a feeling, by ob- relativity, we can actually construct this cosmology

174
using the appropriate non-Euclidean coordinate minutes. The sun and moon were attached to
system.) spheres nearer the earth. The sun sphere had a
In the most primitive models of the cosmos, period of 24 hours and the moon sphere had a period
the stars were attached to a distant solid sphere of about 24 hours and 50 minutes. But, there were
which completed one rotation each 23 hours and 56 still other objects in the sky besides the moon, the

Fig. 9-1 . The first model of the universe. The earth was at the center, and all the stars, planets, and other celestial objects
revolved around it. In —
the far reaches of space, the blessed spirits supposedly reigned the controllers of the great machine.

175
sun and the stars These objects appeared at first to
. motions, called the "deferent" and the "epicycle"
be stars; they were points of light just like the stars. (Fig. 9-3). The planet itself was supposed to orbit
Careful observation over a period of days or weeks about a point in space which in turn followed a
however, revealed that these strange objects constant, circular orbit around the earth. By choos-
changed position. They were called "wandering ing the proper ratio of epicycle to deferent size, the
stars" or "planets." To the unaided eye, five such motion of any planet could be very closely approxi-
objects are visible . They were named after pagan mated. However, small errors were found even
gods of the time: Mercury, the messenger; Venus, with this sophisticated system. Additional epicy-
the goddess of love; Mars, the god of war; Jupiter, cles were added to provide theoretical consistency
the greatest god; and Saturn, the father of Jupiter. with observed fact. The network of epicycles and
The planets were assigned geocentric spheres sub-epicycles eventually became so complicated
among the sun and stars (Fig. 9-1). that skepticism, or at least cynicism, arose. One
As all these spheres turned at their indepen- ancient king said that he might have given some
dent rates in the heavens, some ancient philos- advice at the time of creation if he had had the
phers theorized that they must rub together and opportunity!
create noise. This noise would of course be ex- The ancient geocentric theory of the universe
tremely faint, and only the most favored ears would was fit the observed facts, without
tailored to
be able to hear it. A few claimed to hear the celestial acknowledging that perhaps the entire basis for
spheres as they turned, and they said it sounded like cosmology ought to be rehashed. It was just too
incredibly beautiful music. This could only be the much for man to swallow; how could he, with all his
sound of the angels and other heavenly host, or- magnificent edifices and almighty gods, be given
chestrating the harmonious operation of the uni- any other place than the center of the universe? If

verse! not earth, then what could occupy such a cherished

position? Even today, we sometimes see cases in
THE UNIVERSE OF PTOLEMY science where emotion overrides rationality. The
The model of Fig. 9-1 was soon seen ancients preferred to complicate matters without
to be too
simple to accurately explain the motions of the limit, rather than admit a fundamental error.

planets through space. According to the cosmology

shown in Fig 9- 1 the planets would have a constant
. ,
COPERNICUS, TYCHO, AND KEPLER
and uniform motion with respect to the background In 1543, Nicholas Copernicus published his cos-
of distant stars. Observations, however, revealed mology, in which the earth was described as one of
that the planets did not travel through theheavens seven planets revolving about the sun. Other as-
at a constant pace. Instead, they were seen to occa- tronomers had suspected that this might be the
sionally slow down, stop, and then temporarily re- case, but none had dared stand up to popular con-
verse their direction. Plotting the position of a sensus and proclaim his theory loudly. There was
planet over a period of several weeks with respect too much fear of reprisals from the Establishment,
to the distant stars, we do not obtain a simple line, which was firmly convinced of the truth of the
but instead a line with a loop in its path (Fig. 9-2). Ptolemaic system. Copernicus was not able to con-
The second-century philosopher and astronomer clusively prove his theory. How could the earth be
Ptolemy was the first to provide an explanation for in motion, and continue the same motion without
this periodic retrograde motion of the planets. The end, unless it were being pushed around and around

resulting theory is known as the Ptolemaic system, the sun? Would the earth not come to a stop without
in recognition of him. continual pushing? Since no great cosmic god could
Rather than following a simple, circular orbit be seen manipulating the earth in a circle about the
around the earth the planets were instead assigned
, sun, the earth was assumed to be stationary.
orbits consisting of two distinct and independent Copernicus, however, applied this same reasoning

176
Actual path of planet

Predicted
path of
planet

Fig. 9-2. Observation shows that the model of Fig. 9-1 must be modified slightly. The actual path of a planet with respect to the
background stars contains an occasional loop. The predicted path, however, should not contain such loops if Fig. 9-1 were
indeed the correct representation of the universe.

177
Actual path
of planet
Epicycle

Deferent
Planet

% Earth

Fig. 9-3. The explanation used by Ptolemy to explain loops in planetary motion. The "deferent," or main orbit, of a planet was
imagined to be a circle centered on the earth. The planet, however, did not exactly follow this path, but instead orbited a point
on this track. The smaller orbit was called an "epicycle." The actual path of the planet, then, would sometimes have a loop, as
shown by the broken line. This explanation satisfied most scientists for a thousand years.

to the other planets: Why should they move in sult became popularly known in the form of Kepler's
circles around the earth, the sun, or any other Laws, published early in the 17th Century. Kepler
object, unless invisible forces were involved? Such deduced that the planets do in fact orbit around the
forces necessary to account for the motion of other
, sun but their orbits are not perfect circles Instead
, .

objects in the universe, could also act on the earth, the orbits of the planets are elliptical, having vary-
Copernicus reasoned. ing degrees of eccentricity, with the sun at one
The motions of the planets through space were focus. Kepler showed that the planets move faster
recorded with great accuracy by Tycho Brahe dur- when they are near perihelion (the closest approach
ing the 16th century. Tycho's assistant in his later to the sun) as compared with the orbital speed at

years was a man named Johannes Kepler. Kepler aphelion (the most distant point from the sun). Fi-
formulated a theory based on the postulates of nally, Kepler found that the period of revolution of a
Copernicus and the observations of Tycho; the re- planet depends on its distance from the sun. Letting

178
the period be T and the distance be d, then: as heresy. The Establishment went on believing
the cosmology of Ptolemy, which had endured for
T = kV7 over a thousand years. The upstarts were not to be
This is where k is a constant that depends on taken seriously. More convincing evidence was
the units of time and distance . These laws of Kepler needed to verify the truth of the heliocentric (sun-
are illustrated in Fig. 9-4. centered) theory of the universe, even though this
Many scientists dismissed the propositions of new theory was much less complicated than the old
Copernicus and Kepler, along with the theologians, one, and explained the retrograde loops in the ce-

T = \rB units

According to Johannes Kepler, the orbits of the planets were ellipses with the sun located at one focus (A). The speed
Fig. 9-4.
ofeach planet around the sun was such that equal areas such as X and Y would be traversed in equal lengths of time by a line
connecting the planet with the sun. The revolution period of a planet was shown to be dependent on its distance from the sun.
Doubling the distance would increase the period by a factor or V 2^, or Vs, as shown at B.

179
lestial paths of the planets with much greater accu- nomena with almost perfect accuracy.
racy. In order to explain the acceleration of falling
objects, and the orbits of the moon and planets,
GALILEO AND NEWTON Newton proposed his principle of gravitation:

An astronomer named Galileo Galilei, a

Italian Every object attracts every other object in the uni-

contemporary of Johannes Kepler, also believed verse. For two objects X and Y, the force of attrac-

that the earth revolved around the sun Galileo used tion is proportional to the product of their masses
.

the first astronomical telescopes, and discovered m x my , and also to the inverse square of the distance
mountains on the moon and satellites revolving d = XY. This is shown in Fig. 9-5 for two spe-
around the planet Jupiter. He also was responsible cialized cases.

for the discovery that objects of different mass fall At last it became evident how the planets could
with equal speed in the earth's gravitational field.
orbit the sun. They are all actually accelerating
The Establishment took Galileo seriously: He rep- toward the sun because of gravitation, but this in-
resented a grave threat to their theories . The man ward force is exactly balanced by the inertial resis-
invited skeptics to look through his telescopes for tance of each planet to changes in direction. Every

themselves; he showed people how planet is in a state of freefall about the sun. The
the speed of
free fall is independent of weight. Galileo was con- moon is falling around the earth; Jupiter's moons
fined to his home for the last few years of his life
are falling around that planet. The origin of the

The heliocentric theory gradually gained uni- mysterious force called gravity was not clear, but
versal acceptance after the work of Sir Isaac New- its existence was.

ton of England. Newton provided the first logical

explanation for the invisible forces that keep the ORBITAL GEOMETRY ACCORDING TO NEWTON
planets in constant motion around the sun, and keep Johannes Kepler showed that the orbits of the
moons in orbit around their planets. It is sometimes planets are not perfect circles. In fact, it is a rare
said that Newton gained inspiration by watching an coincidence for the orbit of any object to be circular;
applefall from a tree in his garden. (Some stories there is almost always some deviation from that
even say that the apple hit Newton on the head!) state of perfection. The moon changes in distance
Whatever the actual impetus, Newton noted that from the earth on its monthly circumnavigation of
the earth exerts a constant attractive force on all our planet. The earth is about two million miles
things in its vicinity. All objects also exert an at- nearer the sun in January than it is in July. Some
on the earth, and on one another.
tractive force asteroids have highly eccentric orbits elongated so ,

Newton condensed the work of his predecessors as , that they do not nearly resemble circles. Some
well as the results of his own research, into his system by
celestial objects are pulled into the solar
Laws of Motion, published in Principia in 1687. the gravitation of the sun, make one near pass, and
This threefold theory maintains that (1) Any object then depart never to return.
at rest will stay at rest unless some force acts on it, The path of an object from outside the solar
and any object having uniform motion will continue system is, of course, not an ellipse, but an open
that motion unless an outside force intervenes; (2) path. Newton showed, though, that all orbital
A force on any object causes an acceleration in the paths, whether closed or not, have the geometry of
exact direction of the force, in direct proportion to a conic section. A conic section may be a circle,
the force, and in inverse proportion to the mass of ellipse, parabola or hyperbola. Figure 9-6 illus-
the object; and (3) Every action results in an equal trates examples of these four possible orbital con-
and opposite reaction. These laws remain the basis figurations.
mechanics to this day. Except when
for classical You can easily generate these conic sections
extreme forces, masses or velocities are involved, using a bright flashlight on a large, smooth surface
Newtonian mechanics explains observed phe- in a dark room or on a dark night. Standing on the

180
Fig. 9-5. Newton's principle of gravitation. Two objects of mass m, separated by distance d, might exert a force f of mutual
attraction (A). Doubling the distance (B) cuts the attraction to one-quarter its previous value; doubling one mass (C) while
leaving the distance constant will result in a doubling of the mutual attractive force.

flat plane of, say a tennis court or parking

, lot , shine Given an object in perfect circular orbit around
the flashlight straight down. Note the perimeter of the sun, Newton realized that, if it were given a
the dim, wide-angled portion of the flashlight beam slight nudge, would become distorted into
its orbit
(not the bright central part); it forms a circle. By an ellipse; a larger nudge and the orbit would take
tilting the flashlight, you can make the circle be- the object away from the sun forever, following the
come elongated; this is an ellipse. The more you tilt curve of a parabola. A very forceful push, much
the flashlight, the greater the eccentricity of the more than the minimum needed to throw the object
ellipse. At a certain tilt, the ellipse becomes so permanently out of the sun's gravitational proxim-
elongated that the far end disappears from the plane ity, would cause the object to follow the curve of a

surface; the edge of the light then is a parabola. If hyperbola. All these kinds of orbital situations
you tilt the flashlight until it is shining horizontally, occur in space. (The parabola and hyperbola are
the edge of its wide light cone lands on the ground in probably the most common paths for space objects,
the form of a hyperbola. since there are a lot of "free floaters" out there!)

181
The mutual attraction of all objects in space tonian theory, even the tiniest manmade satellite
some displacement of the earth as the
results in causes displacement of the earth as it revolves.
moon revolves, and some displacement of the sun Although Sputnik or Spacelab did not create sig-
as the earth revolves. Two equally massive objects displacement of the earth, the moon cer-
nificant
would, if placed in proximity, orbit each other tainly does. The common center of the earth-moon
around a common center (Fig. 9-7A). In the case of mutual orbit lies 2,900 miles from the earth's
two masses of unequal size, the common center of center.
their mutual orbit is closer to the larger mass (B);
but never does one mass stay totally motionless as NEWTON'S ABSOLUTE SPACE AND TIME
the other orbits it. Thus, according to the New- The theory of gravitation, developed by Newton to

Parabola .

Ellipse ^

Circle

1
—4 r <V Sun
-

< I
VI
Hyperbola \ yS^

Fig. 9-6. Various possible orbits around the sun. All are conic sections. Objects that stay in permanent orbits follow either a
circular or elliptical path. Temporary visitors to the solar system follow parabolic or hyperbolic orbits, and never return.

182
Fig. 9-7. Mutually orbiting bodies. If the masses mi and m 2 are the same (A), then the center P of the orbit lies midway between
the centers of the objects, so that di =d 2 But, if mi > 2 thend 2 >d, (B). Whatever the ratio of m, to m 2 however,
m
. , ,
the center
point P is always at least a little bit displaced from the center of the heavier object.

explain the motions of the planets and their satel- would be very large, even at great cosmic dis-
lites, at last solved the mystery of the circular and tances.
elliptical orbits , and the reason for their ceaseless- It appears that Newton failed to see the link
ness. But, what implications about the greater between the omnipresent gravitational field, pro-
cosmos might be derived from this powerful duced by all the matter in the universe and the laws
,

theory? If every object attracts every other, even at of inertia. Instead, Newton ascribed the existence
extreme distances, the structure of the whole uni- of intertia to "absolute space." This is where New-
verse might be significantly affected. ton departed the empirical world for the purely
The first attempts to measure the distances to theoretical, and his conclusions thus became
the stars were carried out by the parallax method, speculative. Why does the moon not fall into the
with two observations made at widely separated earth, or the earth into the sun? Evidently, the
points . The orbit of the earth has a diameter of some moon was revolving with respect to absolute space
186 million miles, and this distance was used as a and so was the earth. This notion of space as an
base line for triangulation. When observed in, say, entity possessing absolute properties was lent sup-
April, some stars appear slightly displaced relative port by the Foucault pendulum experiment (Fig.
to the background of much fainter stars, as com- 9-8).
pared with their positions six months later in Oc- In this experiment, constructed to prove that
tober. was immediately apparent that the stars
It the earth rotates, a heavy weight was suspended by
were all very distant! But, it would seem that the a fine wire over 200 feet long, and the weight was
combined gravitational effects of the billions upon set swinging. Care was exercised to ensure that air
billions— and possible infinite quantity— of stars currents and other disturbances did not interfere

183
with the precise plane of the pendulum's move- poles, depending on the distance from the equator
ment. To be certain that the pendulum was not (C). To the classical physicist of Newton's time,
disturbed at the outset, it was started in motion by and up till Einstein's general theory of relativity
burning a cord that held it perfectly still and to one became widely known, this effect could be ascribed
side. As the hours passed, the plane of the pen- to only one thing: The plane of the Foucault pen-
dulum was seen to rotate This
. appeared to be quite dulum rotates because of the effects of absolute
satisfactory proof that the earth rotates with re- space.
spect to absolute space. From this concept, Newton germinated the
A Foucault pendulum at the equator will not idea of absolute time as well. According to Newton,
rotate at all, since the plane of its motion always "true" time flowed smoothly, unaffected by any-
contains the celestial poles (Fig. 9-9A). At either of thing external. This was indeed a bold assumption.
the poles, the pendulum's plane of motion will ro- While it is intuitively pleasing, it is based on essen-
tate once every 23 hours and 56 minutes, keeping tially no observed facts . Relativistic physics proves
its original orientation with respect to the back- that absolute time, as well as absolute space, are
ground stars (B). At intermediate latitudes, the illusory.

plane of motion rotates more slowly than at the In the generations following the acceptance of

Suspending cord

Wood block

Fig. 9-8. The Foucault pendulum experiment. The cord must be very long, and there must be no air currents to disturb the swing
of the weight. As the plane of the motion rotates, the weight will knock over all of the wooden blocks after a length of time,
except at the equator.

184
Newton's laws of gravitation and motion, many ob-
i
I servations were made by astronomers as methods
of measurement became more and more refined.
Would Newton's theories accurately predict the
!
1
i celestial motions of all objects? Or would some

o exception be found? By that time, inquisitiveness

was no longer the mark of the heretic; science
# ( ^> Rotation became more research-oriented as man strove in
greater unison to find the truths of the universe.

IT Newton's laws seemed to accurately predict ob-

served phenomena within the limits of measure-
ment accuracy, with one nagging exception. But,
one contradiction is as good as a thousand in the
realm of logic.
i
i
The perihelion of Mercury changes position by

© f
43 seconds of arc per century. Newton's laws could
not explain this. The astronomer
1845, carefully observed the precession of the orbit
Leverrier, in

7^\fe>" L

Rotation
of Mercury, and it was definitely real.
the one indisputable flaw in an otherwise apparently
There it was:

T^
( |
perfect model of the universe. Attempts were made
to explain this strange observation, but a satisfac-
torily model did not come into being until Einstein's
i
time.

THE ADVENT OF MODERN COSMOLOGY

i
, The beginnings of relativity theory, which set the
minds of astronomers in a new direction, were
conceived when scientists began to seriously in-

vestigate the nature of radiant energy .The speed of

G light was discovered to be

posed that light was like
finite. Newton has pro-
a barrage of particles.

I C^ Rotation but
were indeed found,
Particle-like properties of light
some experimenters noticed that it behaved
like an oscillatory, or wave-like, effect. It was

natural to ask why light traveled through interstel-

i lar space; evidently there was no air in those far

reaches, since orbiting bodies do not slow down

i
from friction. How could any effect be propagated
i
through a perfect vacuum? Newton's particle theory
Fig. 9-9. At A, a Foucault pendulum at the equator does not explained the problem tolerably well, but observed
rotate because its plane of motion lies in line with the celestial

poles. At B, a Foucault pendulum at the pole turns "under"

diffration effects indicated that light had oscil-
the earth; at C, a Foucault pendulum at intermediate latitudes latory properties. What was doing the oscillating?
rotates more slowly than at the pole. The celestial axis of the This question led to the postulate that some
earth is shown by the heavy broken line. This experiment was
believed to prove that absolute space existed, until Einstein
sort of propagation medium, called the "lumenifer-
showed that such a notion was false. ous ether," existed for electromagnetic waves, just

185
as air and water are conductors of sound, and wires other solid objects, there are atoms even in the
carry electricity. Curiously, though, this ether did remotest parts of space Einstein realized that each
.

not seem to affect the motions of heavenly bodies, and every one of these atoms would have an effect
and apparently had no mass. Great efforts were on the geometry of the entire cosmos. His equa-
made to find the ether and demonstrate its proper- tions led him to the conclusion that space must be
ties more rigorously. Here is a perfect example of a finite yet unbounded: The universe is literally
fabrication for the sole purpose of making things curved all the way around on itself in all directions!
intuitively agreeable; it is a dangerous practice in Assuming that the density of matter, averaged on a
any logical pursuit of knowledge. We have seen large scale, is about the same everywhere in the
(Chapter 1) that the ether theory for light propaga- universe, Einstein concluded that the universe
tion was ultimately discarded. This brings us to the must actually be the three-dimensionalsurface of a
time of Einstein, who postulated that the speed of four-dimensional sphere. Thus, there should be a
light is simply a manifestation of space and time, finite number of atoms in the cosmos (although -it is
independent of the viewpoint of an observer. This surely a very large number), but no boundary. The
got rid of the need for the ether theory. layman initially reacts to this proposition with dis-
Early in his life, Einstein is said to have asked belief—the same disbelief that was at first directed
himself what one ought to see if one could travel toward those who dared to say the earth was not
alongside a beam of light, keeping pace with it. He flat, but round.
believed that if he could do such a thing, he would The single apparent flaw in this theory seemed
see a spatially oscillating electromagnetic field at to be that , if the amount of matter in the universe is

rest. It was this answer that eventually led Einstein not infinite, then its overall gravitational attraction
to formulate the special theory of relativity dispro- , ought to cause it to collapse inward. Figure 9-10
ving the Newtonian idea of absolute space and time. illustrates Reducing the universe by one
this.
Later, Einstein generalized this theory to show that geometric dimension for ease of visualization, we
all reference frames, even accelerating ones, are can imagine that an attractive force among all the
equivalent to all other points of view if we use atoms in space should cause contraction of the cos-
suitable transformations. The general theory of mos. This was received as an objectionable idea;
relativity explained the precession in the orbit of where would the matter then have originated?
the planet Mercury. It accurately predicted the Einstein countered by postulating that a repulsive
bending of light by the gravitational field of the sun. force, acting inside the four-sphere, kept the col-
It accurately predicted blue and red shifts of radiant lapse from happening. The gravitational attraction
energy in the gravitational influence of the earth. should then exactly balance the repulsive force at a
And, the theory aroused curiosity about the struc- certain radius. If the universe were smaller than
ture of the whole universe. For the first time, this size, it would expand; if larger,it would con-

meaningful results were produced concerning this tract to this equilibrium point.
strange and great question. But, then again, perhaps the universe really
The distortion of space in the vicinity of a could be getting smaller. How would we be able to
source of gravitation (and that means anything that tell? The answer lay in the spectra of distant ob-
has mass) extends in all directions without limit. jects. In a static universe— one that has no change
Even at a distance of millions of miles, the gravita- in size with the passage of time— no spectral shift
tional influence of a single atomic nucleus con- would be seen, except caused by random mo-
that
tributes to the curvature of space. There are trill- tions. In a contracting cosmos, however, distant
ions upon trillions of atomic nuclei, of course, objects would display a spectral shift toward the
scattered all through space. While they tend to be blue, and this shift would appear greater with in-
concentrated here and there in the form of stars, creasing remoteness. And there was a third possi-

planets, planetary satellites, asteroids, comets and bility, too: A spectral red shift might be observed,

186
Four-sphere
universe

Fig. 9-10. Mutual attraction of six objects on the surface of the four-sphere universe (here reduced by one dimension for
visualization).The broken lines show the lines along which the gravitational attraction acts among the objects U, V, W, X, Y and
Z. This effect, among all atoms in the cosmos, was at first thought to mean that the universe must be contracting (heavy
arrows).

in greater magnitude with increasing distance This . DISTANCE MEASUREMENTS IN THE COSMOS
would mean that the size of the universe was be-
Einstein's first estimate of the diameter of the
coming greater with time. Before such observa-
four-sphere universe was approximately 100 mil-
tions could be made with any authority, accurate
methods had to be developed for determining the lion light years (about a thousand times the diame-
distances to celestial objects too far away to be ter of our galaxy, although the size of the Milky Way
triangulated. was not yet known). The four-sphere model of the

187
universe has gained more and more acceptance galaxies had been discovered. The distribution of
since Einstein first put the idea forth in the early stars in space was found not to be uniform, as had
part of this century; however, estimates of its over- been thought. Instead, the stars were in vast con-
all size have been revised upwards. Not long after gregations of hundreds of billions apiece! The
Einstein first proposed that space is finite but un- galaxies themselves were found to occur in clus-

bounded, it was discovered that certain nebulous ters, ranging from a few to thousands.
patches, which had been thought relatively nearby, The most distant visible galaxies appear, ac-
were really very far away. cording to most recent estimates, to be billions of
One of the most useful tools for measuring the light years away. But, could it be that we are look-
distance to remote objects makes use of a peculiar ing all the way around the four-sphere universe,
kind of star called a Cepheid variable. Named after perhaps several times (Fig. 9-11), and that the
the constellation Cepheus, where the first such star actual circumference of the universe is much less
was found, such objects display a regular periodic than those billions of light years? Could it be that
change in their brightness, ranging from a day or one of those far-off spiral galaxies is our own Milky
two to several weeks in duration. The fluctuations Way as it appeared 300 million or more years ago?
are significant enough to allow the period to be very Astronomers cannot positively answer this, but the
closely measured. Cepheid variables are bright modern consensus is that we have not yet seen all of
stars and they can be seen
, from extreme distances the universe. Current belief holds that the diameter
Harlow Shapley noticed in 1917 that the period of of the four-sphere cosmos is at least 10 billion, and
the luminosity change seemed
depend on the to possibly 100 billion or more, light years. In the
brightness. If this were true, then it would be pos- future, more accurate observations and further data
sible to determine the distances to remote star should give us a better idea of the full extent of the
clusters containing at least one Cepheid variable. cosmos.
Shapley developed a relation for the absolute
brightness as a function of the period. This function SLIPHER, DE SITTER, AND HUBBLE
has been revised several times since, but it allows The first astronomer to notice that some galaxies
fairly accurate determination of the distance. seemed to be moving away from the earth was
There is some margin for error in measuring Vesto Melvin Slipher. He found spectral red shifts
cosmic distance using Cepheid variable stars. in the light from several distant galaxies These red .

First, it is not always easy to know how much shifts apparently indicated that the galaxies were
interstellar dust lies between us and a particular retreating at a very high rate of speed. Actually,
star; this dust might have a large effect on the Slipher's discovery was an accident. He was not
observed brilliance. Second, the absolute mag- even looking for this result. But, he announced it at

nitude of a Cepheid variable depends on other fac- a meeting of astronomers in 1914. The discovery
tors besides its period. The temperature of the was received with unprecedented enthusiasm in the
star's surface, for example, has some effect, inde- scientificcommunity; cosmologists did not know
pendent of the absolute brilliance. But, when some exactly what it meant, but they had a feeling it was
nebulous patches containing Cepheids were care- extremely significant Their hunch has proved to be
.

fully observed, the resulting estimates of their dis- well founded.

tances were astounding. These nebulae were evi- At about the same time Slipher made his acci-
dently ouside our own Milky Way, and not just a dental finding, a Dutch astronomer named Willem
little outside, but very faraway. All the stars in our deSitter found that, according to the equations of
galaxy appeared much nearer. Careful photograph- Einstein's general theory of relativity, the size of
ing of these strange nebulae revealed fantastic the universe ought to be constantly increasing.
geometric configurations: spheres, ellipses, spi- Another scientist, the Russian mathematician Al-
rals, and irregular shapes. The existence of other exander Friedmann, found a different solution to

188
Einstein's equations that also predicted an expand- when all the material in the cosmos
ginning of time"
ing universe. At first, Einstein did not take this was concentrated in one place. This would imply
seriously, perhaps because of his own emotional that, prior to the instant the expansion began, we
preference for a static cosmos. However, Einstein should never be able to tell what happened. How
was finally convinced that he had made a would we ever determine the events before the
mathematical error in his own calculations that led beginning of all things? While some cosmologists
him to believe the universe was unchanging in size. have been upset by this strange impasse, others are
The error was a simple matter of inadvertently awed, and some even point to this finding as proof of
dividing by zero. But the notion of an expanding the existence of a supreme being— the only possi-
universe repulsed Einstein. He, and many other ble reason for the original formation of matter!
scientists, objected to the theological implications After Slipher first noticed the spectral red
of such a theory shifts of the distant spiral nebulae, he decided that
To accept the idea of an expanding universe further investigation should be conducted. He
seemed to mean that there must have been a "be- clocked the apparent velocities of many more

Four-sphere
universe

Fig. 9-11. We might look several times around a great-circle line of sight to see a distant galaxy. Unless we were able to
conclusively show that the multiple objects were really the same galaxy, we might think the universe was much larger than it
actually is.

189
all of them were
galaxies, and found that nearly of a galaxy is a direct, linear function of its distance
moving away from the Milky Way at enormous from us (Fig. 9-12).
speeds. It was Edwin Hubble who compiled this Hubble's Law is actually a necessary math-
data along with the results of his
, own research and
, ematical result of a uniformly expanding universe.
came to one of the most famous conclusions that If the distances between all of the galaxies in the
cosmology has ever known. universe doubles in a certain period of time, then a
At first, no one seemed to notice the connec- galaxy at distance d should seem to be retreating at
tion between Slipher's observations and the pre- just half the speed of a galaxy at distance 2d, when
dictions of Willem de Sitter. Together with Milton the distances are measured at the same time (Fig.
Humason, Hubble began an extensive investigation 9- 13 A).
of the distant spiral nebulae using the 100-inch You can observe Hubble's Law in operation by
telescope at Mount Wilson. Like Slipher, Hubble blowing up a spherical party balloon. Inflate the
and Humason found red shifts in the spectra of these balloon somewhat, and have a friend make several
objects. All the very distant galaxies, they found, dots on the surface of the balloon with a felt marker.
are moving away from the earth. Some are moving Then, blow up the balloon to twice its former size.
at greater speeds than others; some are receding Every mark will then be twice as far from its
with almost unbelievable rapidity. But, it was not neighbors as it was before, as measured over the
immediately clear how distant the spiral nebulae in surface of the balloon. This is illustrated by Fig.
fact are. Some astronomers believed they were 9-13B. Two dots that were originally one inch apart
relatively small objects, within or near our own will be two inches apart after the additional infla-

Milky Way system, and perhaps the red shifts oc- tion; two dots were two inches apart will be-
that
curred because the nebulae were being ejected come separated by four inches. As the balloon is
from our own galaxy. Other scientists believed that blown up, the pair of dots originally an inch from
the spiral nebulae were indeed "island universes," each other will move apart at a certain speed v; the
separated from our galaxy and from each other by two inches apart will move
pair of dots originally
enormous distances, and that our Milky Way was away from each other by 2v. This is the essence of
but one such system. Hubble found that all the Hubble's Law as it applies to galaxies in our uni-
spiral nebulae contained an enormous number of verse. Apparently the four-sphere of the cosmos is

stars each; he measured the distances to some of expanding, just as the balloon expands when you
them by means of Cepheid variable stars, as we inflate it. The galaxies are carried along in this
have seen, and found that they were very far away. expansion just as are the little dots on the balloon.
For galaxies too far away to be located using the The slope of the line in the graph of Fig. 9-12
Cepheids, Hubble estimated the distance by means has been revised several times since the concept of
of the combined brilliance of all the stars in the the uniformly expanding universe was introduced
whole galaxy. Some of the galaxies were as faraway by Hubble. The revisions are the result of im-
as seven million light years! Since Hubble's time, provements in the methods of estimating the dis-
astronomers have found objects that are billions of tances to remote galaxies. Figure 9-12 shows the
light years from us. latest data.
Hubble was the first to notice a strange corre- Perhaps it is hasty to conclude that the red
lation between the distances to the spiral nebulae, shifts in the spectra of distant galaxies are the result

and their red shifts. It appeared to him that the of motion. We have seen that a gravitational field

farther away a galaxy was, the greater was its red can cause red shifts in the frequencies of radiant
and thus the faster it must be moving. By
shift, energy. Is it possible that the universe is not ex-
making meticulous observations over a long period panding, and that the red shifts we see are caused
of time, he found the relation that we now call by something other than motion? Yes, this is possi-

Hubble's Law of the expanding universe. The speed ble.

190
1 2

Distance, billions of light years

Fig. 9-12. The most recently updated data for the speed of recession of galaxies as a function of their distance from us. The
slope of this line, approximately 0. 1 2c per billion light years, is called the Hubble Constant, after the astronomer who first found
the linear function.

191
Light beams traveling over the surface of a is some evidence that the rate of expansion may
four-sphere universe are, in effect, orbiting a huge have been greater in the past than presently.
black hole comprised of all the matter in the cos- This tiny thread of hope for those wishing to
mos. This light energy is constantly trying to es- avoid a theory' of massive creation has been used as
cape the overall gravitation of the universe, but is an argument in support of an idea sometimes called
being held in orbit by that gravitation. This might the steady-state model of the universe.
produce a spectral shift toward the red and , it would A theory proposed by Hoyle, Bondi and Gold
be expected to increase linearly with distance. maintains that, while the universe is in fact getting
Further research might provide better insight into bigger all the time, its density is held constant by
this possibility. Red shifts may also be caused by the continuous generation of matter everywhere in
other effects, such as a change in the rate of time space. This strange picture of the cosmos allows us
progression as the universe ages. Light from the to envision its expansion without changes in den-
distant galaxies left them many millions of years sity, but its effectiveness in getting rid of the crea-

ago; if the rate at which time "moves" is different tionproblem seems doubtful. Where would such
now than it was then, we would see a shift in the newly formed matter come from? It supposedly
spectra emitted by distant stars. Perhaps inter- forms, according to the proponents of the theory, at
galactic matter is responsible for a loss in the the incredibly slow rate of one atom per million
energy of light propagated over great distances. cubic meters per century, and it forms, apparently,
This, too, could cause a red shift. from nothing. The opponents of the creation con-
Arguments such as these have been proposed cept are thus faced with exactly what they wish to
by astronomers who have difficulty accepting the avoid: Rather than one big event, there are billions
idea of a "beginning of time ."
But, they are all quite upon It seems absurd to as-
billions of little ones.
tentative arguments. Other observations besides sume that matterwould form spontaneously at such
the red shifts in the spectra of distant galaxies lend a controlled rate; it would have to come from some-

support to the idea of an expanding universe. Be- place, but we have no idea where. Furthermore,
fore we examine the evidence that points to a cos- tracing backward in the steady-state model of the
mic explosion, or "big bang," billions of years ago, expanding universe leads to a time when there must
let us look at a theory that was invented for the have been nothing at all in the cosmos. Where did
purpose of avoiding a creation or beginning of time, that first particle come from?
but still explains how the universe is expanding. Variations of the steady-state theory have
been proposed. Some astronomers have suggested
THE STEADY-STATE THEORY that novae and supemovae explosions might be
The density of matter in the cosmos appears, on objects through which new matter is created. The
the average, to be fairly constant, at least in the same might be true of the quasars. Perhaps gravi-
neighborhood of our galaxy. Determination of the tational energy is converted, by some as-yet un-
density of the universe at great distances is compli- known cosmic process, into matter. Perhaps the
cated by the fact that it is hard to measure the entire universe is pulling matter in from another
separation of far-off objects with much precision. If universe, as we discussed in Chapter 8. This last

the universe is expanding from a primordial ball of idea seems to be the best escape from the idea of
compact matter, however, we should notice a creation; a huge collapsar might create a small uni-
change in the density of the universe with increas- verse within our cosmos, so why couldn't our uni-
ing distance . If the cosmos was more tightly packed verse be a great collapsing object in some other,
in the past than it is today, we should see greater external continuum?
and greater material density as we probe farther The daydreaming can go on and on. Those who
and farther into space. No conclusive data of this wish to believe in creation, in a beginning of all

nature has been obtained, however, although there things, can find solace in the big-bang theory.

192
2v
V /

Milky Way
2d s-

s—

Four-sphere

Fig. 9-13. Hubbies Law. At A, galaxies in the universe seem to retreat from us at a speed that depends on their distance. A
galaxy at initial distance d may retreat at speed v; then a galaxy at initial distance 2d will retreat at a speed 2v. This would be the
case as seen from any galaxy in the universe, not just our Milky Way. At B, the four-sphere universe expands, and carries the
galaxies outward with it, creating the "spreading" effect we observe on the three-dimensional surface. It is very much like
blowing up a spherical party balloon.

193
Those who dislike such an idea might prefer to Perhaps then, ironically the original radiation from
,

believe that our universe huge black hole,

is a the birth of thecosmos will be the only evidence
expanding as it pulls matter in from somewhere that anything ever took place there.
else. More scientific investigation has been con-
ducted, however, and the results seem to confirm THE END OF TIME
the big-bang theory. Most modern cosmologists If our universe began as a violent fireball, how will
accept this model whether they "like it or not." it end? Will the expansion carry the matter outward
Reason must, after all, override emotionalism in
indefinitely, as in the gloomy scenario just de-
scientific inquiry. scribed? Or is it possible that gravitation might pull
it back together again?
THE BEGINNING OF TIME This depends on how powerful the overall
The most powerful evidence for the big-bang theory gravitation of the universe is, as compared to the
was, like so many other things, discovered inad- speed with which the galaxies are separating. The
vertently. In 1965, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson total amount of mass, as estimated from the visible
of the Bell Laboratories were testing a highly sen- sources in the observable universe, seems in-

sitive radio receiver, when they noticed strange adequate to pull the universe back together again.
background noise. The noise seemed to have no But, as we have seen from the last chapter, much of
definite direction; it was coming from every region the matter in space is probably not visible, occur-
of the sky. The receiver was found to be in perfect ring as intergalactic dust, gas, and dead stars and
working order; there were no faulty components black holes. We do not know precisely how much of
that were causing the noise. It was coming from the matter in the cosmos is invisible, and this
space! makes it hard to estimate the overall density of
This radiation had been predicted by other matter. Astronomers are constantly working on
scientists as the cosmic birthmark of the big bang, thisproblem, because it affects the outcome of
but their results were ignored until the strange cosmic events so profoundly. At present, it appears
radiation was discovered by accident. No explana- that there is not a great enough concentration of
tion has been found satisfactory to fit this phenome- matter in the cosmos to stop the expansion. This
non, except a primordial explosion billions of years would indicate a gradual end, rather than a violent
ago. collapse. It means that, apparently, the end will be
According to the big-bang theory, all the mat- cold and dark. In a few tens of billions of years, our
ter in our universe was originally concentrated into universe will evidently have only lifeless chunks of
a space smaller than a single atomic particle. Imag- matter: dust, gas, dead stars and collapsars. The
ine the density of such an object; imagine how primordial radiation will still be there, its energy
bright it must have been! Penzias and Wilson were being red-shifted more and more as eternity goes
evidently listening to the greatly red-shifted radiant on.
energy that comes from that original fireball. It If new discoveries are made that provide evi-
appears to arrive from all directions, because it is dence more matter in the universe, we may be
for
forever traveling around and around the three- able to offer a more optimistic prediction of the fate
dimensional surface of a four-sphere universe (Fig. of ourcosmos. It is possible that the galaxies might
9-14) . It will never totally disappear. It was present slow their rate of expansion to a halt and then begin ,

when stars first began to form from the whirlpools to fall back inward. This contraction would begin
of gas in the galaxies;it was there when the earth gradually, becoming more and more rapid over a
was born; was there when the dinosaurs per-
it period of billions of years. The stars and galaxies
ished. It is here at this moment, and it will be would have gone dark long since, but they would
coursing through space when the sun burns out, and ultimately have a fiery end: The density of the
after every other star in the universe has gone cold. universe would increase, and finally the matter

194
Path of
primordial
Big bang radiation

Universe at
the present
Milky
time
Way

Fig. 9-14.We see the radiation from the primordial fireball coming from all directions. In this dimensionally reduced illustration,
the paths of photons from that explosion follow curved paths through four-space as the universe expands. The rate of
expansion is slowing, as indicated by the concentric circles which represent the universe at intervals of about two billion years.
The most recent estimates of the age of the cosmos range from 10 to 20 billion years.

195
would be recompressed. Each atom would lose its believe that the matter in the universe will fall into a
identity With all the force of the original explosion
. single point and disappear altogether from exis-
the universe would be crushed down to an im- tence? The equations do not tell us which of these
measurably tiny volume. It would appear as a things is correct Astronomers are doubtful that any
.

reverse-motion picture of the primordial explosion breakthrough will ever be made in this respect. If
It is sheer speculation to predict what might we cannot find any more information to work with,
then happen. Time and space, reduced to a singu- then we have reached the limit of our knowledge
larity as in the beginning, erases all clues as to what about the universe.
might take place before the birth, or after the death, Is this the final product of all our troubles: an
of the cosmos. unanswerable question? We might find comfort
Would you prefer a recurrence of the primor- from the thought that we have been at this kind of
dial fireball, perhaps in the form of antimatter, with impasse before Astronomers have
. felt this sense of
a repeat universe? Do you like the idea of an oscil- frustration and conquest many times. But always,
lating universe, which alternately falls inward and just when it seems that science has reached a dead
explodes outward, with similar (or perhaps much end, a whole new world of knowledge has been
different) events each time in between? Do you uncovered.

196
aq |> ))

Suggested
Additional Reading
Born, Max. Einstein's Theory of Relativity. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1965.
Boslough, John. Stephen Hawking's Universe. New York: Avon Books, 1985.
Clark, Ronald W. Einstein: The Life and Times. New York: The World Publishing Company, 1971.
Einstein, Albert. Relativity. New York: Crown Publishers, 1961.
Hawking, Stephen. A Brief History of Time. New York: Bantam Books, 1988.
Herbert, Nick, Ph.D. Faster than Light. New York: NAL Penguin, Inc., 1988.
Jastrow, Robert. God and the Astronomers. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1978.
Sagan, Carl. Cosmos. New York: Random House, 1980.
Taylor, John G. Black Holes. New York: Avon Books, 1973.

197
«<GO»
Index
Collapsars and space travel, 168 Disk, 138
Acceleration, distortion of time and Collapsars and time travel, 170 Disk, distortion of a, 62
space caused by, 1 23 Collapsing star, 160 Distance and time, 19, 24
Acceleration and gravitation, 121 Conservation of momentum, 66 Distance formula for plane geometry,
Acceleration distorts space, 137 Continuum, negatively curved, 115 93
Alpha Centauri, a trip to, 73 Coordinates, polar, 90 Doppler compression, 26
Coordinates, rotating, 129 Doppler effect, 149
B Coordinates in "non-spherical" uni- Doppler effect and relativistic time
Big bang theory, 192 verses, 114 distortion, 43
Binary stars, strange, 165 Coordinates in "spherical" universes, Doppler shift, 27
Black hole, 153, 155, 159, 163 113 Doppler shift and sound waves, 31
Black hole, extremely large, 162 Coordinate system, polar, 130 Double-slit experiment, 17
Black hole, is our universe a, 172 Copernicus, Nicholas, 176, 179
Black hole, rapidly rotating, 167 Cosmic time, 35
Black-hole universes, 170 Cosmology, modern, 185 E = mc 2 18,

Blue shift, 34, 149, 150 Cosmos, distance measurements in Einstein, Albert, 112, 118, 150, 153,
Bussard Ramjet, 72-73 the, 187 186-187
C Crab Nebula, 155 Electromagnetic spectrum, 18
Cartesian coordinates, 135 Curvature of space, 153, 156 Ellipse,182
Cartesian coordinate system, 89-90 Cygnus X-1, 166 Energy and matter, 19
Cell, escaping from a, 102 Epicycles, 176, 178
Centrifugal force, 118 Equally valid points of view, 133
Cepheid variable stars, 188 Daedalus, 72 Equivalence, principle of, 142
Classical physics, 118 Deflection of a photon, 140 Ether, lumeniferous, 185
Clock, light-beam, 39 Descartes, Rene, 90 Ether theory, 5
Clock paradox, the, 46 de Sitter, Willem, 190 Ether theory, experiments and the, 8
Clocks in space, 22 Dimensions, 87 Euclidean geometry, 95, 108
Close encounters, 83 Dimensions, distance through pro- Euclidean space experiment, 109
Collapsar, 158, 161 gressively more, 115 Event horizon, 162, 169

198
Expanding space, 35 Light sources, moving, 33 Quasi-stellar radio sources, 166-167
Light speed, indirect observations of, 7
Lumeniferous ether, 185
Foucault pendulum, 185 Radiation, primordial, 194-195
Foucault pendulum experiment, 184 M Red shift, 34, 149-150, 189
Four-cube, 98-99 Mach, Ernst, 121 Red shift, gravitational, 151
Four dimensions, more than, 107 Mass, inertial, 64 Red shift caused by
gravitation, 148
Four-sphere, 98 Mass and space, distortion of, 58 Reference frame, inertial, 49
Four-sphere universe, 187 Mass versus velocity, 69 Reference frames, 2
Friedmann, Alexander, 188 Matter and energy, 19 Reference points, 119
Mercury, perihelion of, 146, 185 Refraction, 109
Mesons, 63 Relativistic addition of collinear
Galaxies, clusters of, 163 Meteors, 80 speeds, 51
Galaxies, invisible, 163 Milky Way galaxy, 168 Relativistic time distortion, 38, 41
Galilei, Galileo, 180 Momentum, conservation of, 66 Relativistic time distortion and Doppler
General theory of relativity, 49, 118, Motion, standards of, 49 effect, 43
150, 154 Motion, the effect of, 26 Relativity, fundamental axiom of, 1

Geodetic lines, 112, 129, 141 Motion and time, 26 Relativity, general theory of, 118, 150,
Geometry, Euclidean, 108 Motion of a viewer, 29 154
Gravitation, Newton's principle of, 181 Moving disks, 61 Relativity, special,128
Gravitation, Newton's theory of, 151 Moving rods, 60 Rod, distortion of a, 128
Gravitation and acceleration, 121 Rope-and-pulley experiment, 13
Gravitation and change in velocity, N Rotating coordinates, 129
122 Neutron star, 155 Rotational acceleration field, 125
Gravitation and time, 126 Newton, Sir Isaac, 180 Rotation paradox, 47
Gravitational collapse, 155, 159 Newton's absolute space and time,
Gravitational radius versus mass, 1 59 182
Gravitational red shift, 148, 151 Newton's principle of gravitation, 181 Schwarschild radius, 158
Gravitationalshock waves, 163-164 Non-Euclidean geometry, 95 Simultaneous, definition of, 21
Gravity waves, 144, 150-152 Number line, 91 Singularity, 173
Slipher, Vesto Melvin, 188
H Sound waves and Doppler shift, 31
Homeomorphism, 134, 136 One-to-one correspondence, 1 35 Space, anomalies in, 154
Hubble, Edwin, 190 Orbital geometry, Newton and, 180 Space, curvature of, 153, 156
Hubble constant, 191 Orion, 71 Space and mass, distortion of, 58
Hubbies Law, 190, 193 Oscillating universe, 196 Space and time, distortion of, 123
Humanson, Milton. 190 Space and time, Newton's absolute,
Hyperbola, 182 182
"Hyperspace" communication, 86 Parabola, 182 Spaces, intersecting, 104
Hypersphere, 37, 87, 98 Paradox, the clock, 46 Spaceship design for high speed, 70
Paradox, the rotation, 47-48 Spatial dimensions, 63
I Paradox, the twin, 46 Special principle of relativity, 118
Inertia, 183 Penzias, Arno, 194 Special relativity, 39, 128
Inertial mass, 64 Perihelion of Mercury, 146, 185 Spectral lines, 150
Inertial mass, determining, 65 Photon, 130-132, 157 Spectrum, electromagnetic, 18
Inertial reference frame, 49 Photon, deflection of a, 140 Sphere, 138
Interior angles of a triangle, 108 Photon, energy in a, 16 Sphere, distortion of a, 63
Intersecting spaces, 104 Plane continuum, space-time model Star, collapsing, 160
Interstellar atoms, 80 for a, 20 Star, death of a, 154
Interstellar travel, 78 Planetary motions, 177 Star, deflection of light from a, 1 46-1 47
Planetary motion, Ptolemy's, 178 Star, neutron, 155
Point of view, 40 Star hopping, 81
Kepler, Johannes, 178-179 Points of view, equally valid, 133 Stars, Cepheid variable, 188
Polar coordinates, 90 144
Stars, light from the,
Polar coordinate system, 130 Steady-state theory, 192
Lesser spaces, how we see, 104 Primordial radiation, 194-195 Straight lines, 143
Light, apparent speed increase of, 10 Principia, 180 Surface, positively curved, 110
Light, particle theory, 14 Project Ozma, 85
Light, speed of, 1, 4 Ptolemy, the universe of, 176
Light, speeds faster than, 10-11 Tangential velocity, 119
Light, wave theory, 18 Telecommunications, 78
Light beams, quantized, 15 Quasars, 167 Three-spaces, 105

199
Three-spheres, 106 Time stations, 21 Universe, structure of, 174
Time, beginning of, 194 Time travel, 75 Universe, three-dimensional, 88
Time, cosmic, 35 Time travel, backward, 76, 79 Universe planes moving along non-
Time, end of, 194 Triangle, interior angles of a, 108 parallel time axis, 55
Time, differences in, 23 Twin paradox, 46 Universe planes moving along per-
Time, seeing back in, 13 Twin paradox, resolving the, 124 pendicular time axes, 56
Time and distance, 19, 24 Two-dimensional continuum, curva- Universes, black hole, 170
Time and gravitation, 126 ture in a, 145
Time and motion, 26 Two-space, 92
V
Time and space, distortion of, 123 Two-space, curved, 116
Time as the fourth dimension, 100 Velocities, addition of, 49-50
Two-space coordinates, 115
Velocities, ordinary addition of, 50
Time compression, 29 Tycho Brahe, 1 78
Velocity, 121
Time dilation, 38
Time dimensions, 54 Velocity-corrected space-time, 58
U
Velocity versus mass, 69
Time distortion, 37-38 UFOs, 83
Velocity versus time curve, 74
Time distortion as a result of motion, Unified field theory, 152
38 Universe, early model of the, 175
Time distortion factor, 44-45 Universe, evolution of the, 174 W
Time-distortion factor, calculating the, Universe, four-sphere, 187 Weber, Joseph, 165
42 Universe, oscillating, 196 Wilson, Robert, 194
Time lines, 171 Universe, "rip" in a, 136 WWV, 22

200
A CATALOG OF SELECTED DOVER
BOOKS IN ALL FIELDS OF INTEREST
CONCERNING THE SPIRITUAL IN ART, Wassily Kandinsky. Pioneering work
by father of abstract art. Thoughts on color theory, nature of art. Analysis of earlier
masters. 12 illustrations. 80pp. of text. 5% x 8'/;. 23411-8

ANIMALS: 1,419 Copyright-Free Illustrations of Mammals, Birds, Fish, Insects, etc.,

Jim Harter (ed.). wood engravings present, in extremely lifelike poses, over
Clear
1,000 species of animals. One of the most extensive pictorial sourcebooks of its kind.
Captions. Index. 284pp. 9 x 12. 23766-4

CELTIC ART: The Methods of Construction, George Bain. Simple geometric tech-
niques for making Celtic interlacements, spirals, Kells-type initials, animals, humans, etc.
Over 500 illustrations. 160pp. 9 x 12. (Available in U.S. only.) 22923-8

AN ATLAS OF ANATOMY FOR ARTISTS, Fritz Schider. Most thorough refer-

ence work on art anatomy in the world. Hundreds of illustrations, including selec-
tions from works by Vesalius, Leonardo, Gova, Ingres, Michelangelo, others. 593
illustrations. 192pp. Ti x lO'/i 20241-0

CELTIC HAND STROKE-BY-STROKE (Irish Half-Uncial from "The Book of

Kells"): An Arthur Baker Calligraphy Manual, Arthur Baker. Complete guide to cre-
ating each letter of the alphabet in distinctive Celtic manner. Covers hand position,
strokes, pens, inks, paper, more. Illustrated. 48pp. 8'a x 11. 2 1M36-2

EASY ORIGAMI, John Montroll. Charming collection of 32 projects (hat, cup, pel-
ican, piano, swan, many more) specially designed for the novice origami hobbyist.
Clearly illustrated easy-to-follow instructions insure that even beginning paper-
crafters will achieve successful results. 48pp. 8
1

/) x 11. 27298-2

THE COMPLETE BOOK OF BIRDHOUSE CONSTRUCTION FOR WOOD-

WORKERS, Scott D. Campbell. Detailed instructions, illustrations, tables. Also data
on bird habitat and instinct patterns. Bibliography. 3 tables. 63 illustrations in 15 fig-
ures. 48pp. 5'/» x 8'L 24407-5

BLOOMINGDALE'S ILLUSTRATED 1886 CATALOG: Fashions, Dry Goods

and Housewares, Bloomingdale Brothers. Famed merchants' extremely rare catalog
depicting about 1,700 products: clothing, housewares, firearms, dry goods, jewelry,
more. Invaluable for dating, identifying vintage items. Also, copyright-free graphics
for artists, designers. Co-published with Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village.
160pp. 8% x 11. 25780-0

HISTORIC COSTUME IN PICTURES, Braun & Schneider. Over 1,450 costumed

figures in clearly detailed engravings-from dawn of civilization to end of 19th cen-
tury. Captions. Many folk costumes. 256pp. 8% x WL 23150-X
CATALOG OF DOVER BOOKS

STICKLEY CRAFTSMAN FURNITURE CATALOGS, Gustav Stickley and L. &

J. G. Stickley.
Beautiful, functional furniture in two authentic catalogs from 1910. 594
illustrations, including 277 photos, show settles, rockers, armchairs, reclining chairs,
bookcases, desks, tables. 183pp. 6 k x 9 L l
23838-5
l

AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVES IN HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHS: 1858 to 1949,

RonZiel (ed.). A rare collection of 126 meticulously detailed official photographs,
called "builder portraits," of American locomotives that majestically chronicle the
rise of steam locomotive power in America. Introduction. Detailed captions. xi+
129pp. 9 x 12. 27393-8

AMERICA'S LIGHTHOUSES: An Illustrated History, Francis Ross Holland, Jr.

Delightfully written, profusely illustrated fact-filled survey of over 200 American light-
houses since 1716. History, anecdotes, technological advances, more. 240pp. 8 x 10%.
25576-X

TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE, Le Corbusier. Pioneering manifesto by

founder of "International School." Technical and aesthetic theories, views of industry, eco-
nomics, relation of form to function, "mass-production split" and much more. Profusely
illustrated. 320pp. 6'i x 91 (Available in U.S. only.) 25023-7

HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES, Jacob Riis. Famous journalistic record, expos-
ing poverty and degradation of New York slums around 1900, by major social
reformer. 100 striking and influential photographs. 233pp. 10 x TL 22012-5

FRUIT KEY AND TWIG KEY TO TREES AND SHRUBS, William M. Harlow.
One of the handiest and most widely used identification aids. Fruit key covers 120
deciduous and evergreen species; twig key 160 deciduous species. Easily used. Over
300 photographs. 126pp. 5% x 8'/>. 20511-8

COMMON BIRD SONGS, Dr. Donald J. Borror. Songs of 60 most common U.S.
birds: robins, sparrows, cardinals, bluejays, finches, more— arranged in order of
increasing complexity. Up to 9 variations of songs of each species.
Cassette and manual 9991 1-4

ORCHIDS AS HOUSE PLANTS, Rebecca Tyson Northen. Grow cattleyas and

many other kinds of orchids-in a window, in a case, or under artificial light. 63 illus-
trations. 148pp. 51 x 8 . 23261-1

MONSTER MAZES, Dave Phillips. Masterful mazes at four levels of difficulty.

Avoid deadly perils and evil creatures to find magical treasures. Solutions for all 32
exciting illustrated puzzles. 48pp. 8
1

/, x 11. 26005-4

MOZART'S DON GIOVANNI (DOVER OPERA LIBRETTO SERIES),

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Introduced and translated by Ellen H. Bleiler. Standard
Italian libretto, with complete English translation. Convenient and thoroughly
portable-an ideal companion for reading along with a recording or the performance
itself. Introduction. List of characters. Plot summary. 121pp. 5'A x S L 24944-1 [

TECHNICAL MANUAL AND DICTIONARY OF CLASSICAL BALLET, Gail

Grant. Defines, explains, comments on steps, movements, poses and concepts. 15-
page pictorial section. Basic book for student, viewer. 127pp. 5% x 8'k. 21843-0
CATALOG OF DOVER BOOKS
THE CLARINET AND CLARINET PLAYING, David Pino. Lively, comprehen-
sive work and musical interpre-
features suggestions about technique, musicianship,
tation, as well as guidelines for teaching, making your own reeds, and preparing for
public performance. Includes an intriguing look at clarinet history. "A godsend,"
The Clarinet, Journal of the International Clarinet Society. Appendixes. 7 illus. 320pp.
5% x 8'/,. 40270-3
HOLLYWOOD GLAMOR PORTRAITS,John Kobal (ed.). 145 photos from 1926-
49. Harlow, Gable, Bogart, Bacall; 94 stars in all. Full background on photographers,
technical aspects. 160pp. 8% x 111 23352-9
THE ANNOTATED CASEY AT THE BAT: A Collection of Ballads about the
Mighty Casey/Third, Revised Edition, Martin Gardner (ed.). Amusing sequels and
parodies of one of America's best-loved poems: Casey's Revenge, Why Casey
Whiffed, Casey's Sister at the Bat, others. 256pp. 5% x 8'L 28598-7
THE RAVEN AND OTHER FAVORITE POEMS, Edgar Allan Poe. Over 40 of
the author's most memorable poems: "The Bells," "Ulalume," "Israfel," "To Helen,"
"The Conqueror Worm," "Eldorado," "Annabel Lee," many more. Alphabetic lists of
tides and first lines. 64pp. 5'L x 8'A. 26685-0
PERSONAL MEMOIRS OF U. S. GRANT, Ulysses Simpson Grant. Intelligent,
deeply moving firsthand account of Civil War campaigns, considered by many the
finest military memoirs ever written. Includes letters, historic photographs, maps and
more. 528pp. 6'A x 9 1

/.. 28587-1

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN MATERIALS AND INDUSTRIES, A. Lucas and J.

Harris. Fascinating, comprehensive, thoroughly documented text describes this
ancient civilization's vast resources and the processes that incorporated them in daily
including the use of animal products, building materials, cosmetics, perfumes
life,

and incense, fibers, glazed ware, glass and its manufacture, materials used in the
mummification process, and much more. 544pp. 6'/» x 9'A. (Available in U.S. only.)
40446-3
RUSSIAN STORIES/RUSSKIE RASSKAZY: A Dual-Language Book, edited by
Gleb Struve. Twelve tales by such masters as Chekhov, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Pushkin,
others. Excellent word-for-word English translations on facing pages, plus teaching
and study aids, Russian/ English vocabulary, biographical/critical introductions,
more. 416pp. 5% x 8 1
/;. 26244-8
PHILADELPHIA THEN AND NOW: 60 Sites Photographed in the Past and
Present,Kenneth Finkel and Susan Oyama. Rare photographs of City Hall, Logan
Square, Independence Hall, Betsy Ross House, other landmarks juxtaposed with
contemporary views. Captures changing face of historic city. Introduction. Captions.
128pp. 8
1

/, x 11. 25790-8
AIA ARCHITECTURAL GUIDE TO NASSAU AND SUFFOLK COUNTIES,
LONG ISLAND, The American Institute of Architects, Long Island Chapter, and
the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities. Comprehensive, well-
researched and generously illustrated volume brings to life over three centuries of
Long Island's great architectural heritage. More than 240 photographs with authori-
tative, extensively detailed captions. 176pp. 8'/, x 11. 26946-9
NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN LIFE: Customs and Traditions of 23 Tribes, Elsie
Clews Parsons (ed.). 27 fictionalized essays by noted anthropologists examine reli-

gion, customs, government, additional facets of life among the Winnebago, Crow,
Zuni, Eskimo, other tribes. 480pp. 6'k x 9M. 27377-6
CATALOG OF DOVER BOOKS
FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT'S DANA HOUSE, Donald Hoffmann. Pictorial essay
of residential masterpiece with over 160 interior and exterior photos, plans, eleva-
tions, sketches and studies. 128pp. 9'A x 10%. 29120-0

THE MALE AND FEMALE FIGURE IN MOTION: 60 Classic Photographic

Sequences, Eadvveard Muvbridge. 60 true-action photographs of men and women
walking, running, climbing, bending, turning, etc., reproduced from rare 19th-
century masterpiece, vi + 121pp. 9 x 12. 24745-7

1001 QUESTIONS ANSWERED ABOUT THE SEASHORE, N. J. Berrill and

Jacquelyn Queries answered about dolphins, sea snails, sponges, starfish, fish-
Berrill.
es, shore birds, manv others. Covers appearance, breeding, growth, feeding, much
more. 305pp. 5'/. x 8'/4. 23366-9

ATTRACTING BIRDS TO YOUR YARD, William J. Weber. Easy-to-follow guide

offers advice on how to attract the greatest diversity of birds: birdhouses, feeders,
water and waterers, much more. 96pp. 5% x 8'A. 28927-3

MEDICINAL AND OTHER USES OF NORTH AMERICAN PLANTS: A

Historical Survey with Special Reference to the Eastern Indian Tribes, Charlotte
Erichsen-Brown. Chronological historical citations document 500 years of usage of
plants, trees, shrubs native to eastern Canada, northeastern U.S. Also complete iden-
tifying information. 343 illustrations. 544pp. 6'h x 9'A. 25951-X

STORYBOOK MAZES, Dave Phillips. 23 stories and mazes on two-page spreads:

Wizard of Oz, Treasure Island, Robin Hood, etc. Solutions. 64pp. 8'A x 11. 23628-5

AMERICAN NEGRO SONGS: 230 Folk Songs and Spirituals, Religious and
Secular, John W. Work. This authoritative study traces the African influences of songs
sung and played by black Americans at work, in church, and as entertainment. The
author discusses the lyric significance of such songs as "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,"
"John Henry," and others and offers the words and music for 230 songs.
Bibliography. Index of Song Titles. 272pp. &A x 9'/,. 40271-1

MOVIE-STAR PORTRAITS OF THE FORTIES, John Kobal (ed.). 163 glamor,

studio photos of 106 stars of the 1940s: Rita Hayworth, Ava Gardner, Marlon
Brando, Clark Gable, many more. 176pp. 8% x 11%. 23546-7

BENCHLEY LOST AND

FOUND, Robert Benchley. Finest humor from early 30s,
about pet peeves, child psychologists, post office and others. Mostly unavailable else-
where. 73 illustrations by Peter Anno and others. 183pp. 5% x 8'k. 22410-4

YEKL and THE IMPORTED BRIDEGROOM AND OTHER STORIES OF

YIDDISH NEW YORK, Abraham Cahan. Film Hester Street based on M/(1896).
Novel, other stories among first about Jewish immigrants on N.Y.'s East Side. 240pp.
5% x 8'A. 22427-9

SELECTED POEMS, Walt Whitman. Generous sampling from Leaves of Grass.

Twenty-four poems include "I Hear America Singing," "Song of the Open Road," "I
Sing the Body Electric," "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd," "O Captain!
My Captain!"-all reprinted from an authoritative edition. Lists of titles and first lines.

128pp. 5%. x 8'/,. 26878-0

CATALOG OF DOVER BOOKS
THE BEST TALES OF HOFFMANN, E. T A. Hoffmann. 10 of Hoffmann's most
important stories: "Nutcracker and the King of Mice," "The Golden Flowerpot," etc.
458pp. 5'k x 814. 21793-0

FROM FETISH TO GOD IN ANCIENT EGYPT, E. A. Wallis Budge. Rich

detailed survey of Egyptian conception of "God" and gods, magic, cult of animals,
Osiris, more. Also, superb English translations of hymns and legends. 240 illustra-
tions. 545pp. 5% x 8!4. 25803-3

FRENCH STORIES/CONTES FRANCAIS: A Dual-Language Book, Wallace

Fowlie. Ten stories by French masters, Voltaire to Camus: "Micromegas" by Voltaire;
"The Atheist's Mass" by Balzac; "Minuet" by de Maupassant; "The Guest" by
Camus, six more. Excellent English translations on facing pages. Also French-English
vocabulary list, exercises, more. 352pp. 5% x 814. 26443-2

CHICAGO AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY IN PHOTOGRAPHS: 122

Historic Views from the Collections of the Chicago Historical Society, Larry A.
Viskochil. Rare large-format prints offer detailed views of City Hall, State Street, the
Loop, Hull House, Union Station, many other landmarks, circa 1904-1913.
Introduction. Captions. Maps. 144pp. 9t x 12'/.. 24656-6

OLD BROOKLYN IN EARLY PHOTOGRAPHS, 1865-1929, William Lee

Younger. Luna Park, Gravesend race track, construction of Grand Army Plaza, mov-
ing of Hotel Brighton, etc. 157 previously unpublished photographs. 165pp. 8% x 11%.
23587-4

THE MYTHS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS, Lewis Spence. Rich

anthology of the myths and legends of the Algonquins, Iroquois, Pawnees and Sioux,
prefaced by an extensive historical and ethnological commentary. 36 illustrations.
480pp. 5% x 814. 25967-6

AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BATTLES: Accounts of Over 1,560 Battles from 1479

b.c. David Eggenberger. Essential details of every major battle in
to the Present,
recorded history from the first battle of Megiddo in 1479 b c to Grenada in 1984. List
of Battle Maps. New Appendix covering the years 1967-1984. Index. 99 illustrations.
544pp. 614 x 9%. 24913-1

SAILING ALONE AROUND THE WORLD, Captain Joshua Slocum. First man
to sail around the world, alone, in small boat. One of great feats of seamanship told
in delightful manner. 67 illustrations. 294pp. 5% x 814. 20326-3

ANARCHISM AND OTHER ESSAYS, Emma Goldman. Powerful, penetrating,

prophetic essays on direct action, role of minorities, prison reform, puritan
hypocrisy, violence, etc. 271pp. 5'i x 8'L 22484-8

MYTHS OF THE HINDUS AND BUDDHISTS, Ananda K. Coomaraswamy and

Sister Nivedita. Great stories of the epics; deeds of Krishna, Shiva, taken from
puranas, Vedas, folk tales; etc. 32 illustrations.400pp. 5t x 814. 21759-0

THE TRAUMA OF BIRTH, Otto Rank. Rank's controversial thesis that anxiety-
neurosis is caused by profound psychological trauma which occurs at birth. 256pp.
5% x 8'A. 27974-X

A THEOLOGICO-POLITICAL TREATISE, Benedict Spinoza. Also contains

unfinished Political Treatise. Great classic on religious liberty, theory of government
on common consent. R. Elwes translation. Total of 421pp. 5% x 814. 20249-6
CATALOG OF DOVER BOOKS

MY BONDAGE AND MY
FREEDOM, Frederick Douglass. Born a slave,
Douglass became outspoken force in antislavery movement. The best of Douglass'
autobiographies. Graphic description of slave life. 464pp. 5'k x 814. 22457-0

FOLLOWING THE EQUATOR: A Journey Around the World, Mark Twain.

Fascinating humorous account of 1897 voyage to Hawaii, Australia, India, New
Zealand, etc. Ironic, bemused reports on peoples, customs, climate, flora and fauna,
politics, much more. 197 illustrations. 720pp. 5% x 8'L 26113-1

THE PEOPLE CALLED SHAKERS, Edward D. Andrews. Definitive study of

Shakers: origins, beliefs, practices, dances, social organization, furniture and crafts,
etc. 33 illustrations. 351pp. 5% x 8'L 21081-2

THE MYTHS OF GREECE AND ROME, H. A. Guerber. A classic of mythology,

generously illustrated, long prized for its simple, graphic, accurate retelling of the
principalmyths of Greece and Rome, and for its commentary on their origins and
significance.With 64 illustrations by Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Rubens,
Canova, Bernini and others. 480pp. 5% x 8'L 27584-1

PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSIC, Carl E. Seashore. Classic work discusses music as a

medium from psychological viewpoint. Clear treatment of physical acoustics, audi-
tory apparatus, sound perception, development of musical skills, nature of musical
feeling, host of other topics. 88 figures. 408pp. 5% x 8'L 21851-1

THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY, Georg WHegel. Great classic of Western

thought develops concept that history is not chance but rational process, the evolu-
tion of freedom. 457pp. 5% x 81 201 12-0

THE BOOK OF TEA, Kakuzo Okakura. Minor classic of the Orient: entertaining,
charming explanation, interpretation of traditional Japanese culture in terms of tea
ceremony. 94pp. 5% x8'L 20070-1

LIFE IN ANCIENT EGYPT, Adolf Erman. Fullest, most thorough, detailed older
account with much not in more recent books, domestic life, religion, magic, medi-
cine, commerce, much more. Many illustrations reproduce tomb paintings, carvings,
hieroglyphs, etc. 597pp. 5% x 8'L 22632-8

SUNDIALS, Their Theory and Construction, Albert Waugh. Far and away the best,
most thorough coverage of ideas, mathematics concerned, types, construction,
adjusting anywhere. Simple, nontechnical treatment allows even children to build
several of these dials. Over 100 illustrations. 230pp. 5% x 8'L 22947-5

THEORETICAL HYDRODYNAMICS, L. M. Milne-Thomson. Classic exposition

of the mathematical theory of fluid motion, applicable to both hydrodynamics and
aerodynamics. Over 600 exercises. 768pp. 6% x 9'L 68970-0

SONGS OF EXPERIENCE: Facsimile Reproduction with 26 Plates in Full Color,

William Blake. 26 full-color plates from a rare 1826 edition. Includes "The Tyger,"
"London," "Holy Thursday," and other poems. Printed text of poems. 48pp. 5V1 x 7.
24636-1

OLD-TIME VIGNETTES IN FULL COLOR, Carol Belanger Grafton (ed.). Over

390 charming, often sentimental illustrations, selected from archives of Victorian
graphics-pretty women posing, children playing, food, flowers, kittens and puppies,
smiling cherubs, birds and butterflies, much more. All copyright-free. 48pp. 9% x 12%.
27269-9
CATALOG OF DOVER BOOKS

PERSPECTIVE FOR ARTISTS, Rex Vicat Cole. Depth, perspective of sky and sea,
shadows, much more, not usually covered. 391 diagrams, 81 reproductions of draw-
ings and paintings. 279pp. 51 x 8'L 22487-2

DRAWING THE LIVING FIGURE, Joseph Sheppard. Innovative approach to

anatomy focuses on specifics of surface anatomy, rather than muscles and
artistic
bones. Over 170 drawings of live models in front, back and side views, and in wide-
ly varying poses. Accompanying diagrams. 177 illustrations. Introduction. Index.
144pp. 8% xlll 26723-7

GOTHIC AND OLD ENGLISH ALPHABETS: 100 Complete Fonts, Dan X. Solo.
Add power, elegance to posters, signs, other graphics with 100 stunning copyright-
free alphabets: Blackstone, Dolbey, Germania, 97 more-including many lower-case,
numerals, punctuation marks. 104pp. 8'A x 11. 24695-7

HOW TO DO BEADWORK, Mary White. Fundamental book on craft from simple

projects to five-bead chains and woven works. 106 illustrations. 142pp. 514 x 8.

20697-1

THE BOOK OF WOOD

CARVING, Charles Marshall Sayers. Finest book for
beginners discusses fundamentals and offers 34 designs. "Absolutely first rate well . . .

thought out and well executed. "-E. J. Tangerman. 118pp. 1% x 10%. 23654-4

ILLUSTRATED CATALOG OF CIVIL WAR MILITARY GOODS: Union Army

Weapons, Insignia, Uniform Accessories, and Other Equipment, Schuyler, Hartley,
and Graham. Rare, profusely illustrated 1846 catalog includes Union Army uniform
and dress regulations, arms and ammunition, coats, insignia, flags, swords, rifles, etc.
226 illustrations. 160pp. 9 x 12. 24939-5

WOMEN'S FASHIONS OF THE EARLY 1900s: An Unabridged Republication of

"New York Fashions, 1909," National Cloak & Suit Co. Rare catalog of mail-order
fashions documents women's and children's clothing styles shortly after the turn of
the century. Captions offer full descriptions, prices. Invaluable resource for fashion,
costume historians. Approximately 725 illustrations. 128pp. 8% x ll'/i. 27276-1

THE 1912AND 1915 GUSTAV STICKLEY FURNITURE CATALOGS, Gustav

Stickley. With over 200 detailed illustrations and descriptions, these two catalogs are
essential reading and reference materials and identification guides for Stickley furni-
ture. Captions cite materials, dimensions and prices. 112pp. 6'/> x 9'/i. 26676-1

EARLY AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVES, John H. White, Jr. Finest locomotive

engravings from early 19th century: historical (1804-74), main-line (after 1870), spe-
cial, foreign, etc. 147 plates. 142pp. 11% x 8
1

/,. 22772-3

THE TALL SHIPS OF TODAY IN PHOTOGRAPHS, Frank O. Braynard.

Lavishly illustrated tribute to nearly 100 majestic contemporary sailing vessels:
Amerigo Vespucci, Clearwater, Constitution, Eagle, Mayflower, Sea Cloud, Victory,
many more. Authoritative captions provide statistics, background on each ship. 190
black-and-white photographs and illustrations. Introduction. 128pp. 8% x 11%.
27163-3
CATALOG OF DOVER BOOKS

UTILE BOOK OF EARLY AMERICAN CRAFTS AND TRADES, Peter

Stockham (ed.). 1807 children's book explains crafts and trades: baker, hatter, cooper,

potter, and many others. 23 copperplate illustrations. 140pp. 4'A x 6. 23336-7

VICTORIAN FASHIONS AND COSTUMES FROM HARPER'S BAZAR,

1867-1898, Stella Blum Day costumes, evening wear, sports clothes, shoes,
(ed.).

hats, other accessories in over 1,000 detailed engravings. 320pp. 9Sf> x 12'L 22990-4

GUSTAV STICKLEY, THE CRAFTSMAN, Mary Ann Smith. Superb study sur-
\ broad scope of Stickley's achievement, especially in architecture. Design phi-
ej s

losophy, rise and fall of the Craftsman empire, descriptions and floor plans for many
Craftsman houses, more. 86 black-and-white halftones. 31 line illustrations.
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THE LONG ISLAND RAIL ROAD IN EARLY PHOTOGRAPHS, Ron Ziel.

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VOYAGE OF THE LIBERDADE, Joshua Slocum. Great 19th-century mariner's

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TEN BOOKS ON ARCHITECTURE, Vitruvius. The most important book ever

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TREES OF THE EASTERN AND CENTRAL UNITED STATES AND CANADA,

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SONGS OF WESTERN BIRDS, Dr. Donald J.

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GROWING AND USING HERBS AND SPICES, Milo Miloradovich. Versatile

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BIG BOOK OF MAZES AND LABYRINTHS, Walter Shepherd. 50 mazes and

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THE COMPLETE NONSENSE OF EDWARD LEAR, Edward Lear. All nonsense

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VICTORIAN PARLOUR POETRY: An Annotated Anthology, Michael R. Turner.

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GREAT WEIRD TALES: 14 Stories by Lovecraft, Blackwood, Machen and Others,

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NEW RUSSIAN-ENGLISH AND ENGLISH-RUSSIAN DICTIONARY, M. A.

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HISTORIC HOMES OF THE AMERICAN PRESIDENTS, Second, Revised

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NEW YORK IN THE FORTIES, Andreas Feininger. 162 brilliantphotographs by

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THE WIT AND HUMOR OF OSCAR WILDE, Alvin Redman (ed.). More than
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SHAKESPEARE LEXICON AND QUOTATION DICTIONARY, Alexander

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SELECTED POEMS, Emily Dickinson. Over 100 best-known, best-loved poems by

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THE MA T.I FT IS MALEFICARUM OF KRAMER AND SPRENGER, translated

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SPANISH STORIES/CUENTOS ESPANOLES: A Dual-Language Book, Angel

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GARDEN CITY, LONG ISLAND, IN EARLY PHOTOGRAPHS, 1869-1919,

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OLD OJJEENS, N.Y, IN EARLY PHOTOGRAPHS, Vincent F. Seyfried and

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CAPTURED BY THE INDIANS: 15 Firsthand Accounts, 1750-1870, Frederick

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THE WORLD'S GREAT SPEECHES (Fourth Enlarged Edition), Lewis Copeland,

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AUTOBIOGRAPHY: The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Mohandas K.
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CELTIC MYTHS AND LEGENDS, T W. Rolleston. Masterful retelling of Irish and

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THE PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOLOGY, William James. Famous long course com-

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THE WORLD AS WILL AND REPRESENTATION, Arthur Schopenhauer.

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MAGIC AND MYSTERY IN TIBET, Madame Alexandra David-Neel. Experiences

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THE EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD, E. A. Wallis Budge. Complete repro-

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MATHEMATICS FOR THE NONMATHEMATICIAN, Morris Kline. Detailed,

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PROBABILISTIC METHODS IN THE THEORY OF STRUCTURES, Isaac

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THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER, Gustave Dore, S. T Coleridge.

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NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN DESIGNS FOR ARTISTS AND CRAFTSPEOPLE,

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SCULPTURE: Principles and Practice, Louis Slobodkin. Step-by-step approach to

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THE INFLUENCE OF SEA POWER UPON HISTORY, 1660-1783, A. T Mahan.

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CATALOG OF DOVER BOOKS
THE STORY OF THE TITANIC AS TOLD BY ITS SURVIVORS, Jack Winocour
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FAIRY AND FOLK TALES OF THE IRISH PEASANTRY, William Butler Yeats
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BUDDHIST MAHAYANA TEXTS, E. B. Cowell and others (eds.). Superb, accu-

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ONE TWO THREE . . . INFINITY: Facts and Speculations of Science, George

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EXPERIMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT, W.J. Youden. Introductory man-

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DALI ON MODERN ART: The Cuckolds of Antiquated Modern Art, Salvador Dali.
modern art and its practitioners. Outrageous evaluations of
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ANTIQUE PLAYING CARDS: A Pictorial History,Henry Rene D'Allemagne.

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MAKING FURNITURE MASTERPIECES: 30 Projects with Measured Drawings,

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THE FOSSIL BOOK: A Record of Prehistoric Life, Patricia V. Rich et al. Profusely
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Paperbound unless otherwise indicated. Available at your book dealer, online at

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(continued from front flap)

Excursions in Number Theory, C. Stanley Ogilvy and John T. Anderson.

(25778-9)
The Enjoyment of Mathematics, Hans Rademacher and Otto Toeplitz.
(26242-1)
Discovering the Natural Laws, Milton Rothman. (26178-6)
Prelude to Mathematics, W. W. Sawyer. (24401-6)
Wonders of the Sky, Frederick Schaaf. (24402-4)
Relativity in Illustrations, Jacob T Schwartz. (25965-X)
Great Experiments in Physics, Morris H. Shamos. (25346-5)
Great Ideas of Modern Mathematics: Their Nature and Use, Jagjit Singh.
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How to Calculate Quickly, Henry Sticker. (20295-X)
Introduction to Logic and to the Methodology of Deductive Sciences,
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Landmark Experiments in Twentieth Century Physics, George L. Trigg.
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1001 Questions Answered About Earthquakes, Avalanches, Floods and
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All About Lightning, Martin A. Uman. (25237-X)
Basic Machines and How They Work, U.S. Navy. (21709^1)
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Lady Luck: The Theory of Probabiuty, Warren Weaver. (24342-7)
How to Solve Mathematical Problems, Wayne A. Wickelgren. (28433-6)

The Compleat Strategyst: Being a Primer on the Theory of Games of

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Crystals and Light: An Introduction to Optical Crystallography,
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Temperatures Very Low and Very High, Mark W. Zemansky. (24072-X)

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UNDERSTANDING
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Mans New Perspective on the Cosmos
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Understanding Einstein's Theories of Relativity

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Understanding Einstein's Theories of Relativity

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UNDERSTANDING

Sidelights on Relativity, Albert Einstein. (2451 1-X)

The Great Physicists from Galileo to Einstein, George Gamow. (25767-3)

Entertaining Science Experiments wrm Everyday Objects, Martin Gardner.

An Illustrated Guide to Linear Programming, Saul I. Gass. (26258-8)

Gossamer Odyssey: The Triumph of Human-Powered Flight, Morton

Physics and Philosophy, Sir James Jeans. (24117-3)

(continued on back flap)

DOVER PUBLICATIONS, INC, New York

This Dover edition, first publishedin 1991, is an unabridged, corrected republication of

Original edition edited by Roland Phelps

Manufactured in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

cosmos / by Stan Gibilisco.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1 The Speed of Light Is the Speed of Time

5 Journeys to the Stars 70

7 The Theory of General Relativity 118

8 Anomalies in Space 154

9 The Structure and Evolution of the Universe 174

Suggested Additional Reading 197

The Speed of Light

Is the Speed of Time

299 ,792 .50 kilometers per second We measure the

Fig. 1 -2. A from a gun at 1 ,000 meters per second

fired; at B, several bullets are fired in succession.

equivalent. mated by means of a lens and the resulting beam is

the distance d divided by the delay time

but at B, v, > v 2 where velocities are measured relative to

to detect the motion of the between A and B , so that we , at C can watch

when the earth is moving toward the star.

Of course, such a model is impractical for sev-

How can the speed of light be so absolute?

come the time when a contradiction is derived from

to develop a scientific theory, we must have such

SEEING BACK IN TIME

that ship and travel a distance of two light years

Light beam Screen

10- s - thought that there must be some kind of conductive

and wavelength (represented by the Greek letter

where k is specified in meters, f in oscillations per

measured millionths of meters, or microns; they

speed in a Hence the speed of light,

medium is not a vacuum, in order for c to be con-

whether scientists really know what light is . In fact,

Einstein's equation, E = mc 2 , gives us one of the trating certain space-time effects.

would seem everywhere on a circle run-

CLOCKS IN SPACE point would clock M ever seem to be ahead of clock

astronauts with NASA. Did you notice strange gaps a plane.

does not interfere with star view-

P2 Some of those stars are relatively nearby, if

you can call distances of hundreds of trillions of

10 out. A power failure! How could you be so lucky? It

the Great Nebula in Andromeda, a different galaxy

Earth even yet That observer,

ofone part in 1,000; an earthbound observer would

When the ship is at point A, its velocity in line

B, it 260 km/sec, as we have just calculated. As

300 x cos (73.3°) km/sec

at the observation point, to 999.133 kHz. Shift (%) = 100 x -86.2/300,000

nals from A and Bsame instant. A ship H,

hyperspace! This possibility has been pondered by

some good theoretical evidence that our universe is

in fact a "hypersphere"— a set of points in four-

Universe equidistant from every point in our universe. From

to have "ticked" once. If the space ship is 300 POINT OF VIEW

pretty big space ship!)

to be whizzing by Either point of view

rate difference will be. time.

CALCULATING THE TIME-DISTORTION FACTOR y

As we have seen, the light beam must travel extra

— + 90,000 = x" 90,000 =

external observers: 300,000 kilometers, or 300, we say that:

THE GENERAL CASE V -» c

later see. no material object can be put in motion time-distortion factor:

y = x(v/c) denominator of the equation. From Fig. 3-7, it ap-