The New Mind of the King [On Computers, Thinking, and the Laws of Physics] Penrose Roger

Einstein's general theory of relativity

Let us recall the great truth discovered by Galileo: all bodies fall equally quickly under the action of gravity. (This was a brilliant conjecture, hardly suggested by empirical evidence, since due to air resistance, feathers and stones do not fall. simultaneously! Galileo suddenly realized that if air resistance could be reduced to zero, then feathers and stones would fall to Earth at the same time.) It took three centuries before the profound significance of this discovery was fully realized and became the cornerstone of a great theory. I am referring to Einstein's theory of general relativity, a striking description of gravity that, as it will soon become clear to us, required the introduction of the concept curved space-time !

What does Galileo's intuitive discovery have to do with the idea of ​​"space-time curvature"? How could it be that this concept, so clearly different from Newton's scheme, according to which particles are accelerated by ordinary gravitational forces, was able not only to equal the accuracy of description with Newtonian theory, but also surpass the latter? And then, how true is the statement that there was something in Galileo's discovery that did not have later included in Newtonian theory?

Let me start with the last question because it is the easiest to answer. What, according to Newton's theory, governs the acceleration of a body under the influence of gravity? First, the body is affected by gravitational power , which, as the law of universal gravitation discovered by Newton says, should be proportional to body weight... Secondly, the amount of acceleration experienced by the body under the action given forces, according to Newton's second law, inversely proportional to body weight... Galileo's amazing discovery depends on the fact that the "mass" included in the law of universal gravitation discovered by Newton is, in fact, the same "mass" that is included in Newton's second law. (Instead of “the same,” one could say “proportional.”) As a result, the acceleration of the body under the influence of gravity does not depend from its mass. There is nothing in Newton's general scheme that would indicate that both concepts of mass are the same. This sameness Newton only postulated... Indeed, electric forces are similar to gravitational forces in that both are inversely proportional to the square of the distance, but the electric forces depend on electric charge which has a completely different nature than weight in Newton's second law. Galileo's “intuitive discovery” would be inapplicable to electric forces: bodies (charged bodies) thrown in an electric field cannot be said to “fall” at the same speed!

Just for a while accept Galileo's intuitive discovery regarding movement under the action gravity and we will try to find out what consequences it leads to. Imagine Galileo throwing two stones from the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Suppose that a video camera is rigidly attached to one of the stones, directed at the other stone. Then the following situation will be captured on the film: the stone hovers in space, as if not experiencing action of gravity (fig. 5.23)! And this happens precisely because all bodies under the influence of gravity fall at the same speed.

Rice. 5.23. Galileo throws two stones (and a video camera) from the Leaning Tower of Pisa

In the picture above, we are neglecting the air resistance. In our time, space flights offer us the best opportunity to test these ideas, since there is no air in outer space. In addition, "falling" in outer space simply means moving in a specific orbit under the influence of gravity. Such a "fall" does not have to occur in a straight line down to the center of the Earth. It may well have some horizontal component. If this horizontal component is large enough, then the body can "fall" in a circular orbit around the Earth, without approaching its surface! Traveling in free near-earth orbit under the influence of gravity is a very sophisticated (and very expensive!) Way of "falling". As in the video described above, an astronaut, making a "walk in open space", sees his spacecraft soaring in front of him and as if not experiencing the action of gravity from the huge ball of the Earth below it! (See Fig. 5.24.) Thus, passing into the "accelerated frame of reference" of free fall, it is possible to locally exclude the action of gravity.

Rice. 5.24. Astronaut sees his spaceship hover in front of him as if unaffected by gravity

We see that free fall allows to exclude gravity because the effect of the action of the gravitational field is the same as from acceleration Indeed, if you are in an elevator that moves with acceleration up, then you simply feel that the apparent gravitational field is increasing, and if the elevator is moving with acceleration down, then you it seems that the gravitational field is decreasing. If the cable on which the car is suspended broke, then (if we neglect the air resistance and the effects of friction) the resulting acceleration directed downward (towards the center of the Earth) would completely destroy the effect of gravity, and people in the elevator car would begin to swim freely in space, like an astronaut during a spacewalk, until the cockpit hits the Earth! Even on a train or on board an airplane, the accelerations can be such that the passenger's sensations about the magnitude and direction of gravity may not coincide with where, as usual experience shows, "up" and "down" should be. This is explained by the fact that the actions of acceleration and gravity are similar so much so that our senses are unable to distinguish one from the other. This fact - that local manifestations of gravity are equivalent to local manifestations of an accelerating moving frame of reference - is what Einstein called the principle of equivalence .

The above considerations are "local". But if it is allowed to make (not only local) measurements with a sufficiently high accuracy, then in principle it is possible to establish difference between the "true" gravitational field and pure acceleration. In fig. 5 25 I depicted in a slightly exaggerated form how the initially stationary spherical configuration of particles, freely falling under the influence of gravity, begins to deform under the influence of heterogeneity(Newtonian) gravitational field.

Rice. 5.25. Tidal effect. Double arrows indicate relative acceleration (WEIL)

This field is heterogeneous in two respects. First, since the center of the Earth is located at some finite distance from the falling body, particles located closer to the Earth's surface move downward with greater acceleration than particles located above (recall the law of inverse proportionality to the square of Newton's distance). Second, for the same reason, there are small differences in the direction of acceleration for particles occupying different positions on the horizontal. Due to this inhomogeneity, the spherical shape begins to deform slightly, turning into an "ellipsoid". The original sphere lengthens towards the center of the Earth (and also in the opposite direction), as those parts that are closer to the center of the Earth move with slightly more acceleration than those parts that are farther from the center of the Earth, and narrows horizontally , since the accelerations of its parts located at the ends of the horizontal diameter are slightly skewed "inward" - towards the center of the Earth.

This deforming action is known as tidal effect gravity. If we replace the center of the Earth with the Moon, and the sphere of material particles - with the surface of the Earth, then we get exactly the description of the action of the Moon, causing the tides on the Earth, and "humps" are formed in the direction of the Moon and away from the Moon. The tidal effect is a common feature of gravitational fields that cannot be "eliminated" by free fall. The tidal effect serves as a measure of the inhomogeneity of the Newtonian gravitational field. (The amount of tidal deformation actually decreases in inverse proportion to the cube, not the square of the distance from the center of gravity.)

Newton's law of gravitation, according to which force is inversely proportional to the square of the distance, allows, as it turns out, a simple interpretation in terms of the tidal effect: volume the ellipsoid into which the sphere is initially deformed, is equal to the volume of the original sphere - under the assumption that the sphere surrounds a vacuum. This property of conservation of volume is characteristic of the inverse square law; it is not fulfilled for any other laws. Let us further assume that the initial sphere is not surrounded by a vacuum, but by a certain amount of matter with a total mass M ... Then an additional component of acceleration arises, directed inside the sphere due to the gravitational attraction of matter inside the sphere. The volume of the ellipsoid into which our sphere of material particles is initially deformed, is shrinking- by the amount, proportionate M ... We would encounter an example of the effect of decreasing the volume of an ellipsoid if we chose our sphere so that it would surround the Earth at a constant height (Fig. 5.26). Then the usual acceleration, caused by the earth's gravity and directed downward (i.e., inside the Earth), will be the very reason why the volume of our sphere is shrinking.

Rice. 5.26. When a sphere surrounds some substance (in this case, the Earth), there is a net acceleration directed inward (RICCHI)

This property of volume contraction contains the rest of Newton's law of universal gravitation, namely, that the force is proportional to the mass attracting body.

Let's try to get a spatio-temporal picture of such a situation. In fig. 5.27 I have drawn the world lines of the particles of our spherical surface (shown in Fig. 5.25 in the form of a circle), and I used to describe the frame of reference in which the center point of the sphere seems to be at rest ("free fall").

Rice. 5.27. Space-time curvature: the tidal effect depicted in space-time

The position of general relativity is to regard free fall as "natural motion" - analogous to the "uniform rectilinear motion" that is dealt with in the absence of gravity. Thus, we trying describe free fall with "straight" world lines in space-time! But if you look at fig. 5.27, it becomes clear that using the words "Straight lines" in relation to these world lines can mislead the reader, therefore, for terminological purposes, we will call the world lines of freely falling particles in space-time - geodetic .

But how good is this terminology? What is usually understood as a "geodesic" line? Consider an analogy for a two-dimensional curved surface. Geodesics are those curves that on a given surface (locally) serve as "shortest routes". In other words, if we imagine a segment of a thread stretched over a specified surface (and not too long so that it cannot slip), then the thread will be located along some geodesic line on the surface.

Rice. 5.28. Geodesic lines in curved space: lines converge in space with positive curvature, and diverge in space with negative curvature

In fig. 5.28 I gave two examples of surfaces: the first (on the left) is a surface of the so-called "positive curvature" (like the surface of a sphere), the second is a surface of "negative curvature" (a saddle surface). On a surface of positive curvature, two adjacent geodesic lines extending from the starting points parallel to each other, subsequently begin to bend towards each other; and on a surface of negative curvature, they bend into parties apart.

If we imagine that the world lines of freely falling particles in some sense behave like geodesic lines on the surface, then it turns out that there is a close analogy between the gravitational tidal effect, which was discussed above, and the effects of surface curvature - moreover, as positive curvature, so and negative. Take a look at fig. 5.25, 5.27. We see that in our space-time, geodesic lines begin diverge in one direction (when they "line up" towards the Earth) - as happens on the surface negative curvature in Fig. 5.28 - and get closer in other directions (when they are displaced horizontally relative to the Earth) - as on the surface positive curvature in Fig. 5.28. Thus, it seems that our space-time, like the aforementioned surfaces, also has a "curvature", only more complex, because due to the high dimension of space-time with various displacements, it can be mixed, without being purely positive nor purely negative.

Hence it follows that the concept of "curvature" of space-time can be used to describe the action of gravitational fields. The possibility of using such a description ultimately follows from Galileo's intuitive discovery (the principle of equivalence) and allows us to eliminate the gravitational "force" by free fall. Indeed, nothing I have said so far has gone beyond the framework of Newtonian theory. The picture just drawn gives simply reformulation this theory. But when we try to combine a new picture with what Minkowski's description of the special theory of relativity gives - the geometry of space-time, which, as we know, is applied in absence gravity - new physics comes into play. The result of this combination is general theory relativity Einstein.

Let us recall what Minkowski taught us. We have (in the absence of gravity) space-time, endowed with a special kind of measure of "distance" between points: if we have a world line in space-time that describes the trajectory of some particle, then the "distance" in the sense of Minkowski, measured along this world lines, gives time actually lived by the particle. (Actually, in the previous section, we only considered this "distance" for those worldlines that consist of straight line segments - but the above statement is also true for curved worldlines if the "distance" is measured along a curve.) Minkowski geometry is considered accurate if there is no gravitational field, that is, if space-time has no curvature. But in the presence of gravity, we consider the geometry of Minkowski already only as approximate - in the same way as a flat surface only approximately corresponds to the geometry of a curved surface. Imagine that, studying a curved surface, we take a microscope that gives more and more magnification - so that the geometry of the curved surface appears to be more and more stretched. In this case, the surface will seem to us more and more flat. Therefore, we say that a curved surface has a local structure of the Euclidean plane. In the same way, we can say that in the presence of gravity, space-time locally described by the geometry of Minkowski (which is the geometry of flat space-time), but we admit some "curvature" on larger scales (Fig. 5.29).

Rice. 5.29. A picture of curved space-time

In particular, as in Minkowski space, any point in space-time is a vertex light cone- but in this case, these light cones are no longer the same. In Chapter 7 we will get acquainted with individual models of space-time, in which this inhomogeneity of the arrangement of light cones is clearly visible (see Fig. 7.13, 7.14). The world lines of material particles are always directed inside light cones, and the lines of photons - along light cones. Along any such curve, we can introduce "distance" in the sense of Minkowski, which serves as a measure of the time lived by the particles in the same way as in the Minkowski space. As in the case of a curved surface, this measure of "distance" defines geometry surface, which may differ from the plane geometry.

Geodesic lines in space-time can now be given an interpretation similar to the interpretation of geodesic lines on two-dimensional surfaces, while taking into account the differences between the geometries of Minkowski and Euclid. Thus, our geodesic lines in space-time are not (locally) shortest curves, but, on the contrary, curves that (locally) maximize"Distance" (that is, time) along the world line. The world lines of particles freely moving under the influence of gravity, according to this rule, are valid are geodetic. In particular, celestial bodies moving in a gravitational field are well described by such geodesic lines. In addition, the rays of light (world lines of photons) in empty space also serve as geodesic lines, but this time - null"Length". As an example, I sketched in fig. 5.30 world lines of the Earth and the Sun. The movement of the Earth around the Sun is described by a "corkscrew" line winding around the Sun's world line. In the same place, I depicted a photon coming to Earth from a distant star. Its world line appears to be slightly "curved" due to the fact that light (according to Einstein's theory) is actually deflected by the sun's gravitational field.

Rice. 5.30. World lines of the Earth and the Sun. A ray of light from a distant star is deflected by the Sun

We still need to figure out how Newton's inverse square law can be incorporated (after proper modification) into Einstein's general theory of relativity. Let us turn again to our sphere of material particles falling in a gravitational field. Let us recall that if only a vacuum is contained inside the sphere, then, according to Newton's theory, the volume of the sphere does not initially change; but if inside the sphere there is matter with a total mass M , then there is a reduction in volume proportional to M ... In Einstein's theory (for a small sphere), the rules are exactly the same, except that not all volume change is determined by mass M ; there is a (usually very small) contribution from pressure arising in the material surrounded by the sphere.

The complete mathematical expression for the curvature of four-dimensional spacetime (which should describe tidal effects for particles moving at any given point in all possible directions) is given by the so-called the Riemann curvature tensor ... This is a somewhat complex object; to describe it, it is necessary to indicate twenty real numbers at each point. These twenty numbers are called his components ... Different components correspond to different curvatures in different directions of spacetime. The Riemann curvature tensor is usually written as R tjkl, but since I do not want to explain here what these sub-indices mean (and, of course, what a tensor is), then I will write it simply as:

RIEMAN .

There is a way to split this tensor into two parts, called, respectively, the tensor WEIL and tensor Ricci (each with ten components). I will conventionally write this splitting like this:

RIEMAN = WEILL + Ricci .

(A detailed record of the Weyl and Ricci tensors for our purposes is now completely unnecessary.) Weyl tensor WEILL serves as a measure tidal strain of our sphere of freely falling particles (i.e., changes initial form, not sizes); whereas the Ricci tensor Ricci serves as a measure of the change in the original volume. We recall that Newton's theory of gravity requires that weight contained within our falling sphere was proportional to this change in the original volume. This means that, roughly speaking, the density masses matter - or, equivalently, density energy (because E = mc 2 ) - follows equate Ricci tensor.

Essentially, this is exactly what the field equations of general relativity claim, namely - Einstein's field equations ... True, there are some technical subtleties here, which, however, we'd better not get into now. Suffice it to say that there is an object called tensor energy-momentum , which brings together all the essential information about the energy, pressure and momentum of matter and electromagnetic fields. I will call this tensor ENERGY ... Then Einstein's equations can be very schematically represented in the following form,

Ricci = ENERGY .

(It is the presence of "pressure" in the tensor ENERGY together with some requirements for the consistency of the equations as a whole lead to the need to take into account the pressure in the effect of volume reduction described above.)

The above relation seems to say nothing about the Weyl tensor. However, it reflects one important property. The tidal effect produced in empty space is due to WEILEM ... Indeed, from the above Einstein equations it follows that there exist differential equations relating WEIL With ENERGY - almost as in the previously encountered Maxwell equations. Indeed, the point of view according to which WEIL should be considered as a kind of gravitational analogue of the electromagnetic field (in reality, the tensor - Maxwell's tensor) described by the pair ( E , V ) turns out to be very fruitful. In this case WEILL serves as a kind of measure of the gravitational field. The "source" for WEIL is an ENERGY - just like a source for an electromagnetic field ( E , V ) is an ( ? , j ) is a set of charges and currents in Maxwell's theory. This point of view will be useful to us in Chapter 7.

It may seem quite surprising that with such significant differences in formulation and underlying ideas, it is rather difficult to find the observable differences between Einstein's theories and the theory put forward by Newton two and a half centuries earlier. But if the speeds in question are small compared to the speed of light With , and the gravitational fields are not too strong (so that the escape velocity is much less With , see Chapter 7, "The dynamics of Galileo and Newton"), then Einstein's theory essentially gives the same results as Newton's theory. But in situations where the predictions of the two theories diverge, the predictions of Einstein's theory are more accurate. To date, a number of very impressive experimental tests have been carried out, which allow us to consider Einstein's new theory as quite reasonable. The clock, according to Einstein, runs a little slower in a gravitational field. Now this effect is measured directly in several ways. Light and radio signals do indeed bend near the Sun and are slightly delayed for an observer moving towards them. These effects, originally predicted by the general theory of relativity, have now been confirmed by experience. The motion of space probes and planets requires small corrections to Newtonian orbits, as follows from Einstein's theory - these corrections have also been verified empirically today. (In particular, the anomaly in the motion of the planet Mercury, known as "perihelion displacement," which has troubled astronomers since 1859, was explained by Einstein in 1915.) Perhaps the most impressive of all is a series of observations of a system called double pulsar, which consists of two small massive stars (possibly two "neutron stars", see Chapter 7 "Black holes"). This series of observations agrees very well with Einstein's theory and serves as a direct test of an effect completely absent from Newton's theory - the emission gravitational waves... (A gravitational wave is analogous to an electromagnetic wave and propagates at the speed of light With .) There are no verified observations that would contradict Einstein's theory of general relativity. For all its strangeness (at first glance), Einstein's theory works to this day!

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The article describes Einstein's theory of relativity without any formulas and abstruse words

Many of us have heard about Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, but some cannot understand the meaning of this theory. By the way, this is the first theory in history that takes us away from the usual worldview. Let's talk about her in simple words... We are all accustomed to three-dimensional perception: vertical plane, horizontal and depth. If we add time here and consider it as the fourth quantity, then we get a four-dimensional space. This is due to the fact that time is also a relative value. So, everything in our world is relative. What does it mean? For example, let's take two twin brothers, one of them will be sent into space at the speed of light for 20 years, and the other will be left on Earth. When the first twin returns from space, he will be 20 years younger than the one who remained on Earth. This is due to the fact that even time is relative in our world, like everything else. As an object approaches the speed of light, time slows down. When it reaches a speed equal to the speed of light, time stops altogether. From this we can conclude that if you exceed the speed of light, then time will go back, that is, into the past.

This is all in theory, but what about in practice? It is impossible to approach the speed of light, let alone exceed it. With respect to the speed of light, it always remains constant. For example, one person is standing on the platform of the station, and the second is traveling by train in his direction. If the one standing on the platform shines with a flashlight, then the light from it will travel at a speed of 300,000 kilometers per second. If the person who rides on the train also shines with a flashlight, then the speed of his light will not increase due to the speed of the train, it is always 300,000 kilometers per second.

Why is it still impossible to exceed the speed of light? The fact is that when approaching a speed equal to the speed of light, the mass of the object increases, and accordingly the energy required for the movement of the object also increases. If you reach the speed of light, then the mass of the object will be infinite, as, in principle, and energy, but this is impossible. Only objects that do not have their own mass can move with the speed of light, and this object is just light.

In addition, gravity is involved in this matter, it can change time. According to the theory, the higher the gravity, the slower time flows. But this is all in theory, but what about in practice? Today's navigation systems connected to satellites are so accurate because of this. If they did not take into account the theory of relativity, then the difference in measurements could be on the order of several kilometers.

"What is the theory of relativity?" - a short popular science film directed by Semyon Reitburt at the Second Creative Association of the Mosnauchfilm film studio in 1964.

Only the lazy does not know about the teachings of Albert Einstein, which testifies to the relativity of everything that happens in this mortal world. For almost a hundred years, disputes have been going on not only in the world of science, but also in the world of practicing physicists. Einstein's theory of relativity in simple terms quite accessible, and is not a secret for the uninitiated.

In contact with

A few general questions

Taking into account the peculiarities of the theoretical teaching of the great Albert, his postulates can be ambiguously assessed by a variety of currents of theoretical physicists, sufficiently high scientific schools, as well as adherents of the irrational current of the physics and mathematics school.

At the beginning of the last century, when there was a surge of scientific thought and against the background of social changes, certain scientific trends began to emerge, the theory of relativity of everything in which a person lives appeared. No matter how our contemporaries assess this situation, everything in the real world is really not static, Einstein's special theory of relativity:

• Times are changing, the views and mental opinion of society on certain social problems are changing;
• Social foundations and worldview regarding the theory of probability in various state systems and under special conditions of the development of society have changed over time and under the influence of other objective mechanisms.
• How the views of society on the problems of social development were formed, the same was the attitude and opinions about Einstein's theory of time.

Important! Einstein's theory of gravity was the basis for systemic disputes among the most respectable scientists, both at the beginning of its development and during its completion. They talked about her, there were numerous disputes, she became the topic of conversation in the highest-ranking salons in different countries.

Scientists have discussed it, it has been a topic of conversation. There was even such a hypothesis that the teaching is accessible for understanding only by three people from the scientific world. When the time came to explain the postulates, the priests of the most mysterious of the sciences, Euclidean mathematics, began to explain. Then an attempt was made to build its digital model and the same mathematically verified consequences of its action on the world space, then the author of the hypothesis admitted that it became very difficult to understand even what he had created. So what is general theory of relativity, what explores and what applications did she find in modern world?

History and roots of the theory

Today, in the overwhelming majority of cases, the achievements of the great Einstein are briefly called a complete denial of what was originally an unshakable constant. It was this discovery that made it possible to refute the physical binomial known to all schoolchildren.

Most of the world's population, in one way or another, carefully and thoughtfully or superficially, even once, turned to the pages of the great book - the Bible.

It is in it that you can read about what became the true confirmation essence of teaching- what a young American scientist was working on at the beginning of the last century. The facts of levitation, other fairly common things in the Old Testament history, once became miracles in modern times. Ether is a space in which a person lived a completely different life. The features of life on the air were studied by many world celebrities in the field natural sciences... AND Einstein's theory of gravity confirmed that what was described in the ancient book is true.

The works of Hendrik Lorenz and Henri Poincaré made it possible to experimentally discover certain features of the ether. First of all, these are works on the creation of mathematical models of the world. The basis was the practical confirmation of the fact that when material particles move in the etheric space, they are reduced relative to the direction of movement.

The works of these great scientists made it possible to create the foundation for the main postulates of the doctrine. It is this fact that provides constant material for the assertion that the works of the Nobel laureate and relativistic theory of Albert were and still are plagiarism. Many scientists today argue that many postulates were accepted much earlier, for example:

• The concept of conditional simultaneity of events;
• Principles of the constant binomial hypothesis and criteria for the speed of light.

What to do to understand the theory of relativity? The essence lies in the past. It was in the works of Poincaré that the hypothesis was expressed that high speeds in the laws of mechanics need to be rethought. Thanks to the statements of the French physicist, the scientific world learned about how relative motion in projection is to the theory of etheric space.

In static science, a large volume of physical processes was considered for various material objects moving with. The postulates of the general concept describe the processes occurring with accelerating objects, explain the existence of graviton particles and gravity itself. The essence of the theory of relativity in an explanation of those facts that were previously nonsense for scientists. If it is necessary to describe the features of motion and the laws of mechanics, the relationships between space and the time continuum in conditions of approaching the speed of light, the postulates of exclusively the doctrine of relativity should be applied.

The theory is short and clear

How is the teaching of the great Albert so different from what physicists were doing before him? Previously, physics was a fairly static science, which considered the principles of the development of all processes in nature in the sphere of the system “here, today and now”. Einstein made it possible to see everything that happens around not only in three-dimensional space, but also in relation to various objects and points in time.

Attention! In 1905, when Einstein published his theory of relativity, it made it possible to explain and in an accessible version interpret the movement between different inertial calculation systems.

Its main provisions are the ratio of constant velocities of two objects moving relative to each other instead of accepting one of the objects, which can be taken as one of the absolute reference factors.

Feature teaching is that it can be considered in relation to one exceptional case. The main factors are:

1. Straightness of the direction of movement;
2. The uniformity of movement of the material body.

When changing direction or other simple parameters, when a material body can accelerate or roll to the sides, the laws of the static doctrine of relativity are not valid. In this case, the general laws of relativity come into force, which can explain the movement of material bodies in the general situation. Thus, Einstein found an explanation for all the principles of interaction of physical bodies with each other in space.

Principles of the theory of relativity

Principles of Teaching

The assertion of relativity has been subject to the most lively discussions for a hundred years. Most scientists consider various applications of the postulates as applying the two principles of physics. And this path is most popular in the field of applied physics. Basic postulates theory of relativity, Interesting Facts which today have found irrefutable confirmation:

• The principle of relativity. Preservation of the ratio of bodies under all laws of physics. Adopting them as inertial reference systems that move at constant speeds relative to each other.
• Postulate about the speed of light. It remains unchanged constant in all situations, regardless of speed and relation to light sources.

Despite the contradictions between the new teaching and the basic postulates of one of the most exact sciences based on constant static indicators, the new hypothesis attracted with a fresh look at the world around us. The success of the scientist was ensured, which was confirmed by the presentation of the Nobel Prize in the field of exact sciences.

What was the reason for such an overwhelming popularity, and how Einstein discovered his theory of relativity? Young scientist's tactics.

1. Until now, world-renowned scientists put forward the thesis, and only then carried out a number of practical studies. If at a certain point data were obtained that did not fit the general concept, they were recognized as erroneous with summing up the reasons.
2. The young genius applied a radically different tactics, set up practical experiments, they were serial. The results obtained, in spite of the fact that they could somehow not fit into the conceptual series, were lined up in a coherent theory. And no "mistakes" and "errors", all the moments hypotheses of relativity, examples and the results of observations clearly fit into the revolutionary theoretical teaching.
3. The future Nobel laureate denied the need to study the mysterious ether, where the waves of light propagate. The belief that ether exists has led to a number of significant misconceptions. The main postulate is a change in the speed of a beam of light relative to the one observing the process in the etheric medium.

Theory of relativity for dummies

Theory of relativity - the simplest explanation

Conclusion

The main achievement of the scientist is the proof of the harmony and unity of such quantities as space and time. The fundamental nature of the connection between these two continua in the composition of three dimensions, combined with the temporal dimension, made it possible to learn many secrets of the nature of the material world. Thanks to Einstein's theory of gravity the study of depths and other achievements of modern science became available, because the possibilities of teaching have not been fully used today.

She explained the regularity of the movement of two objects relative to each other in the same coordinate system under the condition of constant speed and uniformity of the external environment.

The fundamental rationale for SRT was based on two components:

1. Experimental analytical data. When observing the moving bodies in one structural parallel, the nature of their movement, significant differences, features were determined;
2. Determination of speed parameters. The only unchangeable value was taken as a basis - the "speed of light", which is equal to 3 * 10 ^ 8 m / s.

The path of formation of the Theory of Relativity

The emergence of the theory of relativity became possible thanks to the scientific works of Albert Einstein, who was able to explain and prove the difference in the perception of space and time depending on the position of the observer and the speed of movement of objects. How did this happen?

In the middle of the 18th century, a mysterious structure called ether became a key base for research. According to preliminary data and conclusions of the scientific group, this substance is capable of penetrating through any layers without affecting their speed. It was also suggested that changes in the external perception of speed change the speed of light itself ( modern science its constancy is proved).

Albert Einstein, having studied these data, completely rejected the theory of ether and dared to suggest that the speed of light is a determinant quantity that does not depend on external factors. According to him, only the visual perception changes, but not the essence of the ongoing processes. Later, to prove his beliefs, Einstein conducted a differentiated experiment that proved the validity of this approach.

The main feature of the study was the introduction of the human factor. Several persons were asked to move from point A to point B in parallel, but at different speeds. Upon reaching the starting point, these people were asked to describe what they saw around them and their impressions of the process. Each person from the selected group made their own conclusions and the result did not match. After the same experiment was repeated, but people were moving at the same speed and in the same direction, the opinions of the participants in the experiment became similar. Thus, the final result was summed up and Einstein's theory has found a definitive confirmation.

The second stage in the development of SRT is the doctrine of the space-time continuum

The basis of the doctrine of the space-time continuum was the connecting thread between the direction of motion of an object, its speed and mass. Such a "clue" for further research was provided by the first successful demonstrative experiment conducted with the participation of outside observers.

The material universe exists in three phases of direction measurement: left-right, up-down, forward-backward. If we add to them a constant indicator of the measurement of time (the previously mentioned "speed of light"), we get the definition of the space-time continuum.

What role does the mass fraction of the measurement object play in this process? All schoolchildren and students are familiar with the physical formula E = m * c², in which: E - energy, m - body weight, c - speed. According to the law of application of this formula, the mass of the body increases significantly due to the increase in the speed of light. It follows from this that the higher the speed, the greater the mass of the original object in any direction of motion. And the space-time continuum only dictates the order of increase and expansion, the volume of space (when it comes to elementary particles on which all physical bodies are built).

Proof of this approach was the prototypes with which scientists tried to reach the speed of light. They have clearly seen that with an artificial increase in body weight, it becomes more and more difficult to achieve the desired acceleration. This required a constant inexhaustible source of energy, which simply does not exist in nature. After receiving the opinion Albert Einstein's theory has been fully proven.

Studying the theory of relativity requires a significant understanding of physical processes and the basics of mathematical analysis, which take place in high school and in the first years of vocational technical schools, higher educational institutions technical profile. Without presenting the basics, it is simply not possible to master the full information and appreciate the importance of the research of a brilliant physicist.

Einstein's theory of relativity has always seemed like something abstract and incomprehensible to me. Let's try to describe Einstein's theory of relativity in simple terms. Imagine you are outside in a heavy rain and the wind is blowing on your back. If you start running fast, the raindrops will not fall on your back. The drops will be slower or not at all reaching your back, this is a scientifically proven fact, and you can check it yourself in the shower. Now imagine if you turned around and ran against the wind with the rain, the drops would hit your clothes and face more strongly than if you were just standing.

Previously, scientists thought that light acts like rain in windy conditions. They thought that if the Earth moves around the Sun, and the Sun moves around the galaxy, then it is possible to measure the speed of their movement in space. In their opinion, all they have to do is measure the speed of light and how it changes relative to two bodies.

Scientists did it and found something very strange... The speed of light was the same, no matter what, no matter how the bodies moved and no matter in which direction to take measurements.

It was very strange. If we take the situation with a downpour, then under normal circumstances the raindrops will affect you more or less depending on your movements. Agree, it would be very strange if a downpour with the same force blew in your back, both when running and when stopping.

Scientists have discovered that light does not have the same properties as raindrops or anything else in the universe. No matter how fast you move, and no matter which direction you go, the speed of light will always be the same. This is very confusing and only Albert Einstein was able to shed light on this injustice.

Einstein and another scientist, Hendrik Lorenz, figured out that there is only one way to explain how all this could be. This is only possible if time is slowing down.

Imagine what happens if time slows down for you and you don't know you are moving slower. You will feel like everything else happens faster., everything around you will move like in a movie in fast forward.

So now let's pretend that you are again in a rainstorm with wind. How is it possible that rain will affect you the same way, even if you are running? It turns out if you tried to run away from the rain, then your time would slow down and the rain would speed up... Raindrops would hit your back at the same rate. Scientists call this expansion of time. No matter how fast you move, your time slows down, at least for the speed of light this expression is true.

Duality of measurements

Another thing that Einstein and Lorenz found out is that two people under different circumstances can get different calculated values ​​and the strangest thing is that they both will be right. This is another side effect of the fact that light always travels at the same speed.

Let's do a thought experiment

Imagine that you are standing in the center of your room and you have installed a lamp right in the middle of the room. Now imagine that the speed of light is very slow and you can see how it travels, imagine that you turn on the lamp.

As soon as you turn on the lamp, the light will begin to diverge and illuminate. Since both walls are at the same distance, light will reach both walls at the same time.

Now imagine that there is a large window in your room and your friend is driving by. He will see something else. To him, it will look like your room is moving to the right, and when you turn on the lamp, he will see the left wall moving towards the light. and the right wall is moved away from the light. He will see that the light first hit the left wall, and then the right. It seems to him that the light did not illuminate both walls at the same time.

According to Einstein's theory of relativity, both points of view are correct.... From your point of view, light hits both walls at the same time. From the point of view of your friend, this is not the case. There is nothing wrong.

This is why scientists say that "simultaneity is relative." If you are measuring two things that must happen at the same time, then someone who is moving at a different speed or in a different direction will not be able to measure them in the same way as you.

This seems very strange to us, because the speed of light is instantaneous for us, and we move very slowly compared to it. Since the speed of light is so fast, we do not notice the speed of propagation of light until we do special experiments.

The faster the object moves, the shorter and smaller it is

Another very strange side effect the fact that the speed of light does not change. At the speed of light, things in motion get shorter.

Again, let's pretend the speed of light is very slow. Imagine that you are riding a train and you have installed a lamp in the middle of the carriage. Now imagine that you turn on the lamp, like in a room.

The light will spread and reach the walls in front and behind the carriage at the same time. This way, you can even measure the length of the carriage by measuring how long it took for the light to reach both sides.

Let's make the calculations:

Imagine that it takes 1 second to travel 10 meters, and it takes 1 second for the light to travel from the lamp to the wall of the carriage. This means that the lamp is located at a distance of 10 meters from both sides of the car. Since 10 + 10 = 20, then the length of the carriage is 20 meters.

Now let's imagine that your friend is on the street, watching the train pass by. Remember that he sees things differently. The rear wall of the car moves towards the lamp, and the front wall moves away from it. Thus, for him, the light will not touch the front and back of the carriage wall at the same time. The light will first come to the back and then to the front.

Thus, if you and your friend measure the speed of propagation of light from the lamp to the walls, you will get different values, while from the point of view of science, both calculations will be correct. Only for you, according to measurements, the length of the carriage will be the same size, but for a friend, the length of the carriage will be less.

Remember, it's all about how and under what conditions you take measurements. If you were inside a rocket in flight that travels at the speed of light, you would not feel anything out of the ordinary, unlike people on earth measuring your movement. You would not be able to understand that time is passing slower for you, or that the front and rear of the ship have suddenly become closer to each other.

At the same time, if you were flying on a rocket, then it would seem to you as if all the planets and stars are flying past you at the speed of light. In this case, if you try to measure their time and size, then, logically, for them, time should slow down, and their size should decrease, right?

All this was very strange and incomprehensible, but Einstein proposed a solution and combined all these phenomena into one theory of relativity.