Imagine the Earth were to shrink to the size of a marble. We might be in trouble, but the planet would continue its smooth course around the Sun while the Moon would maintain its orbit, circling Earth once a month. Isaac Newton proved that the Earth’s gravitational pull would be the same even if all … Continue reading The Future of Physics may be Surreal
Tag: Relativity
Mileva Marić and the Special Theory of Relativity
The year 1905 was Albert Einstein’s “miracle year”. In that year, he published four papers in the renowned scientific journal Annalen der Physik. The first, on the photoelectric effect, established the quantum nature of light, and led to the award of a Nobel Prize some 17 years later. The second, on Brownian motion, confirmed the … Continue reading Mileva Marić and the Special Theory of Relativity
Mercury’s Mercurial Orbit
The tiny deviation of the orbit of Mercury from a pure ellipse might seem to be of no consequence. Yet the minute precession of this planet was one of the factors leading to a revolution in our world view. Attempts to explain the anomaly in the context of Newtonian mechanics were unsatisfactory. It was only … Continue reading Mercury’s Mercurial Orbit
The 3-sphere: Extrinsic and Intrinsic Forms
The circle in two dimensions and the sphere in three are just two members of an infinite family of hyper-surfaces. By analogy with the circle $latex {\mathbb{S}^1}&fg=000000$ in the plane $latex {\mathbb{R}^2}&fg=000000$ and the sphere $latex {\mathbb{S}^2}&fg=000000$ in three-space $latex {\mathbb{R}^3}&fg=000000$, we can consider hyper-spheres in higher dimensional spaces. In particular, we will consider the … Continue reading The 3-sphere: Extrinsic and Intrinsic Forms
Dynamic Equations for Weather and Climate
``I could have done it in a much more complicated way'', said the Red Queen, immensely proud. --- Lewis Carroll. Books on dynamic meteorology and oceanography usually have a full chapter devoted to the basic dynamical equations. Since the Earth's fluid envelop is approximately a thin spherical shell, spherical coordinates $latex {(\lambda,\varphi, r)}&fg=000000$ are convenient. … Continue reading Dynamic Equations for Weather and Climate
Poincare’s Square and Unbounded Gomoku
Henri Poincar'e was masterful in presenting scientific concepts and ideas in an accessible way. To explain that the Universe might be bounded and yet infinite, he imagined that the temperature of space decreased from the centre to the periphery in such a way that everything contracted with the distance from the centre. As travellers moved … Continue reading Poincare’s Square and Unbounded Gomoku
Cornelius Lanczos – Inspired by Hamilton’s Quaternions
In May 1954, Cornelius Lanczos took up a position as senior professor in the School of Theoretical Physics at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS). The institute had been established in 1940 by Eamon de Valera, with a School of Theoretical Physics and a School of Celtic Studies, reflecting de Valera's keen interest in … Continue reading Cornelius Lanczos – Inspired by Hamilton’s Quaternions
Gravitational Waves & Ringing Teacups
Newton's law of gravitation describes how two celestial bodies orbit one another, each tracing out an elliptical path. But this is imprecise: the theory of general relativity shows that two such bodies radiate energy away in the form of gravitational waves (GWs), and spiral inwards until they eventually collide. Energy and angular momentum are carried … Continue reading Gravitational Waves & Ringing Teacups
A New Window on the World
The motto of the Pythagoreans was “All is Number” and Pythagoras may have been the first person to imagine that the workings of the world might be understood in mathematical terms. This idea has now brought us to the point where, at a fundamental level, mathematics is the primary means of describing the physical world. … Continue reading A New Window on the World
Where in the World?
Here's a conundrum: You buy a watch in Anchorage, Alaska (61°N). It keeps excellent time. Then you move to Singapore, on the Equator. Does the watch go fast or slow? For the answer to this puzzle, read on. The Global Positioning System In the Irish Times column this week ( TM009 ), we look at … Continue reading Where in the World?
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