chapter 2 definitions and concepts from general relativity

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The Universe Is Only Spacetime ©2012 [email protected] 2-1 Chapter 2 Definitions and Concepts from General Relativity The primary purpose of this book is to show how it is possible for the fundamental particles and the forces of nature to be conceptually explained using only 4 dimensional spacetime. This is nothing less than a new model of the universe. Presentation of this model would be an impossibly large task for a single person if every aspect of the model needs to be analyzed with the detail that might be expected from a technical paper covering a specific aspect of a mature subject. Therefore, the concepts will be introduced using simple equations that involve approximations and ignore dimensionless constants such as or ½. These simplifications permit the key concepts of this very large subject to be explained. Later, others can analyze and expand upon this large subject in more detail. We will start by looking at the gravitational effects on spacetime in the limiting case of weak gravity. Much of the analysis to follow in subsequent chapters will deal with the gravity exhibited by a single fundamental particle such as an electron or a quark. Working with single particles or the interaction between two fundamental particles allows the proposed structure of such particles to be connected to the forces that are exhibited by these particles. At the same time, the extremely weak fields permit simplifications in the analysis. In the following discussion, a distinction will be made between the words “length” and “distance”. Normally, these words are similar, but we will make the following distinction. Length is a spatial measurement standard. This is not just a standardized size such as a meter or inch, but it also can include a qualification such as proper length or coordinate length. A unit of length can be defined either by a ruler or by the speed of light and a time interval. The concept of distance as used here is best illustrated by the phrase “the distance between two points”. A distance can be quantified as a specific number of length units. This chapter starts off with a discussion of the Schwarzschild solution to the Einstein field equation and physical examples of the effect of gravity on spacetime. This will seem elementary to many scientists, but new terminology and physical interpretations are introduced. Understanding this terminology and perspective is a requirement for subsequent chapters. Schwarzschild Solution of the Field Equation: Einstein’s field equation has an exact solution for the simplified case of a static, nonrotating and uncharged spherically symmetric mass distribution in an empty universe. This mass distribution with total mass m is located at the origin of a spherical coordinate system. The standard ሺnonisotropicሻ Schwarzschild solution in this case takes the form:

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Page 1: Chapter 2 Definitions and Concepts from General Relativity

The Universe Is Only Spacetime ©2012 [email protected] 2-1

Chapter2

DefinitionsandConceptsfromGeneralRelativity

Theprimarypurposeofthisbookistoshowhowitispossibleforthefundamentalparticlesandtheforcesofnaturetobeconceptuallyexplainedusingonly4dimensionalspacetime.Thisisnothing less than a new model of the universe. Presentation of this model would be animpossiblylargetaskforasinglepersonifeveryaspectofthemodelneedstobeanalyzedwiththedetailthatmightbeexpectedfromatechnicalpapercoveringaspecificaspectofamaturesubject. Therefore, the concepts will be introduced using simple equations that involveapproximations and ignore dimensionless constants such as 2π or½. These simplificationspermitthekeyconceptsofthisverylargesubjecttobeexplained.Later,otherscananalyzeandexpanduponthislargesubjectinmoredetail.Wewillstartby lookingatthegravitationaleffectsonspacetimeinthe limitingcaseofweakgravity.Muchoftheanalysistofollowinsubsequentchapterswilldealwiththegravityexhibitedbyasinglefundamentalparticlesuchasanelectronoraquark.Workingwithsingleparticlesorthe interaction between two fundamental particles allows the proposed structure of suchparticlestobeconnectedtotheforcesthatareexhibitedbytheseparticles.Atthesametime,theextremelyweakfieldspermitsimplificationsintheanalysis.In the following discussion, a distinction will be made between the words “length” and“distance”.Normally,thesewordsaresimilar,butwewillmakethefollowingdistinction.Lengthisaspatialmeasurementstandard.Thisisnotjustastandardizedsizesuchasameterorinch,butitalsocanincludeaqualificationsuchasproperlengthorcoordinatelength.Aunitoflengthcanbedefinedeitherbya rulerorby thespeedof lightanda time interval. Theconceptofdistanceasusedhere isbest illustratedby thephrase “thedistancebetween twopoints”. Adistancecanbequantifiedasaspecificnumberoflengthunits.This chapter starts off with a discussion of the Schwarzschild solution to the Einstein fieldequationandphysicalexamplesoftheeffectofgravityonspacetime.Thiswillseemelementaryto many scientists, but new terminology and physical interpretations are introduced.Understandingthisterminologyandperspectiveisarequirementforsubsequentchapters.Schwarzschild Solution of the Field Equation:Einstein’sfieldequationhasanexactsolutionfor the simplified case of a static, nonrotating and uncharged spherically symmetric massdistribution inanemptyuniverse.Thismassdistributionwith totalmassm is locatedat theoriginofasphericalcoordinatesystem.Thestandard nonisotropic Schwarzschildsolutioninthiscasetakestheform:

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dS2 c2dτ2 1/Г2 c2dt2–Г2dR2–R2dΩ2

Г≡dt/dτ explainedbelow

dS cdτ The invariantquantitydS is the lengthof theworld linebetweentwoevents in4dimensionalspacetime.R circumferentialradius circumference/2π explainedbelow Ω asolidangleinasphericalcoordinatesystem dΩ2 dθ2 sin2θdΦ2 c thespeedoflightconstantofnaturet coordinatetime timeinfinitelyfarfromthemass‐effectivelyzerogravity τ propertime–timeintervalonalocalclockingravityCircumferential radius:Gravitywarpsthespacearoundmass,sothatthespacearoundthetestmasshasanon‐Euclidiangeometry.Thecircumferenceofacirclearoundthemassdoesnotequal2πtimestheradialdistancetothecenterofmass.Toaccommodatethiswarpedspace,theSchwarzschildequationusesaspecialdefinitionofdistancetospecifythecoordinatedistanceinthe radial direction. Names like “R‐coordinate” and “reduced circumference” are sometimesusedtodescribethisradialcoordinatethatcannotbemeasuredwithameterstickorapulseoflight.Thenamethatwillbeusedhereis“circumferentialradius”anddesignatedwiththesymbolR.Thisisadistancethatiscalculatedbymeasuringthecircumferenceofacirclethatsurroundsamass,andthendividingthiscircumferenceby2π.Ifwemeasuretheradiususingahypotheticalmeterstickortapemeasure,thenthe“proper”radialdistancewillbedesignatedbyr.WecanseefromtheSchwarzschildmetricthatifwesetdt 0,dS cdτ dranddΩ 0then:dr ГdRGravitational Gamma Γ:ThemetrichasbeenwrittenintermsofthequantityГwhichthisbookwillrefertoasthe“gravitationalgammaГ”.ThebasicdefinitionofГis:

Г≡dt/dτ

whereГ gravitationalgammaandφ –Gm/RgravitationalpotentialГ dt/dτinthestaticcasewhendR 0anddΩ 0.gooisametriccoefficientcommonlyusedingeneralrelativityThesymbolofuppercasegammaГwaschosenbecausethisequationcanalsobewrittenasfollows:

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Г whereVe≡2

escapevelocity

ThesimilaritybetweenГandγofspecialrelativityisobvioussince:γ

Thisanalogybetweentheescapevelocityingeneralrelativityandtherelativevelocityinspecialrelativityextendsfurtherintheweakgravityapproximation.Thetimedilationduetogravityapproximatelyequalsthetimedilationduetorelativemotionwhentherelativemotionisequaltothegravitationalescapevelocity weakgravity .TheSchwarzschilduniversewithonlyonemasshaseffectively “zerogravity”atany locationinfinitelyfarfromthemass.AtsuchalocationГ 1.TheoppositeextremeofthemaximumpossiblevalueofГistheeventhorizonofablackholewhereГ ∞.Iftheearthwasinanemptyuniverse,thenthesurfaceoftheearthwouldhaveagravitationalgammaof:Г 1 7 10‐10.ItisimportanttorememberthatГisalwayslargerthan1whengravityispresent.AstationaryclockinfinitelyfarawayfromthemassinSchwarzschild’suniverseisdesignatedthe “coordinate clock” with a rate of time designated dt. In the same stationary frame ofreference,thelocalrateoftimeingravity nearthemass isdesignateddτ.Therelationshipis:Г dt/dτThereisausefulapproximationofΓthatisvalidforweakgravity.

Γ 1 weakgravityapproximationofГ

Gravitational Magnitude β: ThegravitationalgammaΓhasarangeofpossiblevaluesthatextends from 1 to infinity. There is another related concept where the strength of thegravitationaleffectonspacetimerangesfrom0to1where0isalocationinzerogravityand1istheeventhorizonofablackhole.Thisdimensionlessnumberwillbecalledthe“gravitationalmagnitudeβ”andisdefinedas:

β≡1– 1 1– 1–Гβ gravitationalmagnitude

Inweakgravitythefollowingapproximationisaccurate:

β andГ 1 βweakgravityapproximations

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Forexample,theearth’sgravity,intheabsenceofanyothergravityisβ 7 10‐10.Thesun’ssurfacehasβ 2 10‐6andthesurfaceofahypotheticalneutronstarwithescapevelocityequaltohalfthespeedoflightwouldhaveβ 0.13.In common usage, the strength of a gravitational field is normally associated with theacceleration of gravity. However, the acceleration of gravity depends on the gradient ofgravitationalpotential.Incontrast,thegravitationalmagnitudeβandthegravitationalgammaГ are measurements of the effect of gravity on time and distance without regard for thegravitational gradient. For example, there is an elevation in Neptune’s atmosphere whereNeptunehasapproximatelythesamegravitationalaccelerationastheearth.However,Neptunehasroughly16timestheearth’smassandroughly4timestheearth’sradius.ThismeansthatNeptune’sgravitationalmagnitudeβisroughly4timeslargerthanearth’satlocationswherethegravitationalaccelerationisaboutthesame.The gravitational magnitude approximation β Gm/c2r will be used frequently with weakgravity.Forexample,thisapproximationisaccuratetobetterthanonepartin1036forexamplesthatwillbepresentedlaterinvolvingthegravityofasinglefundamentalparticleatanimportantradial distance. Therefore, this approximation will be considered exact when dealing withfundamentalparticles.NotethatthisapproximationincludesthesubstitutionofproperradialdistancerforthecircumferentialradiusR. r R .Usingtheapproximationβ Gm/c2rwealsoobtainthefollowingequalitiesforβinweakgravity:

β φ –Gm/RandRs Gm/c2 Schwarzschildradius* seenotebelow

β therateoftimeapproximationforweakgravity

All of these approximationswill be considered exactwhendealingwith the extremelyweakgravityofsinglefundamentalparticlesinsubsequentchapters.

Note: The Schwarzschild radius of a nonrotating black hole is rs 2Gm/c2 and theSchwarzschildradiusofmaximallyrotatingblackhole,suchasaphotonblackhole, isRs Gm/c2.Thisbookwilloftenignorenumericalconstantsnear1,butthereisanotherreasonforusingRs Gm/c2forparticles.TheparticlemodelproposedlaterinthisbookhasenergyrotatingatthespeedoflightwhichwouldhavegravitationaleffectsscalewithRsratherthanrs.

Zero Gravity: Schwarzschild assumedanemptyuniversewithonly a singlemass. Suchauniverseapproacheszerogravityasthedistancefromthemassapproachesinfinity.However,isthere anywhere in our observable universe that can truly be designated as a zero gravitylocation?Therearevastvolumeswithvirtuallynogravitationalaccelerationcomparedtothecosmicmicrowavebackground.However,thisisnotthesameassayingthatthesevolumeshaveagravitationalgammaofГ 1 ahypotheticalemptyuniverse .Everywhereintherealuniverse

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thereisgravitationalinfluencefromallthemass/energyintheobservableuniverse.Later,inthechaptersoncosmology,anattemptismadetoestimatethebackground omni‐directional gravitationalgammaofourobservableuniversecompared toahypotheticalemptyuniverse.WhilethepresenceofauniformbackgroundГfortheuniversehasimplicationsforcosmology,wecanonlymeasuredifferencesinГ.ThereisampleevidencethatgeneralrelativityworkswellbysimplyignoringtheuniformbackgroundГoftheuniverse.EffectivelyweareassigningГ 1to the background gravitational gammaof the universe and proportionally scaling from thisassumption.Therefore,adistantlocationwhichwedesignateashavingβ 0orΓ 1willbereferredtoasa“zerogravitylocation”orsimply“zerogravity”.Theterm“zerogravity”incommonusageusuallyimpliestheabsenceofgravitationalaccelerationasmightbeexperiencedinfreefall.However,inthisbook“zerogravity”literallymeansthatweareusingtheSchwarzschildmodelofadistantlocationwhichhasbeenassignedcoordinatevaluesofβ 0andГ 1.Therateoftimeatthiscoordinate locationwillbedesignateddtandcalled“coordinaterateoftime”. Aclockatthislocationwillbedesignatedasthe“coordinateclock”.Gravitational Effect on the Rate of Time: The equation dt Γdτ is perhaps themostimportantandeasiesttointerpretresultoftheSchwarzschildequation.ItsaysthattherateoftimedependsonthegravitationalgammaГ.Thisequationhasbeenprovencorrectbynumerousexperiments.TodaytheatomicclocksinGPSsatellitesareroutinelycalibratedtoaccountforthedifferentrateoftimebetweenthelowergammaattheGPSsatelliteelevationandthehighergammaattheEarth’ssurface. Withoutaccountingforthisgravitationalrelativisticeffect,theGPSnetworkwouldaccumulate errors and cease to functionaccurately after aboutoneday.Thereisalsotimedilationcausedbytherelativemotionofthesatellite.Thisisamuchsmallercorrectionthanthegravitationaleffectandintheoppositedirection. Thedifference in therateof timewithrespect toradialdistance ingravitywillbecalled the“gravitationalrateoftimegradient”.Thegravitationalrateoftimegradientisnotatidaleffect.Anacceleratingframeofreferencehasnotidaleffects,yetitexhibitsarateoftimegradient.Ourobjectiveistoprovideanequationthatrelatestheaccelerationofgravity“g”totherateoftimegradientandutilizesproperlengthintheexpressionoftherateoftimegradient.Forexample,inside a closed room it is possible to measure the gravitational acceleration. If we cannotmeasure any tidal effects, there is no information about themass anddistanceof the objectproducingthegravity.Isitpossibletodeterminethelocalrateoftimegradient expressedusingproperlengthandpropertime fromjustthegravitationalacceleration?It has been shown1 that a uniform gravitational fieldwith proper acceleration g measuredlocally ,hasthefollowingrelationshipbetweenredshiftandgravitationalacceleration:

1 Edward A. Desloge, “The Gravitational Redshift in a Uniform Field” Am. J. Phys. 58 (9), 856-858 (1990)

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υ/υo 1–g /c2where:υo frequencyasmeasuredatthesourcelocationwithrateoftimedτoυ frequencyasmeasuredatthedetectorlocationwithrateoftimedτ verticaldistanceusingproperlengthbetweenthesourceanddetector

g accelerationofgravityReference 1 showsthatthisequationisexactifthefollowingqualificationsareplacedontheabovedefinitions.Thesequalificationsare:1 thesourcelocation subscripto shouldbeatalowerelevationthanthedetectorlocation.2 theseparationdistance shouldbetheproperlengthasmeasuredbyatimeofflightmeasurement radarlength measuredfromthesourcelocation.Aslightlydifferentradarlengthwouldbeobtainedifthisdistancewasmeasuredfromthedetectorelevationormeasuredwitharuler.However,inthelimitofagradient infinitelysmall ,thisdiscrepancydisappears.Thereforewiththesequalifications:υ/υo 1–g /c2isexact.Itshouldbenotedthattheheightdifference isaproperdistanceradarlengthmeasuredfromthesource andnotcircumferentialradius.Aswillbeshowinthenextchapter,thegravitationalredshiftisreallycausedbyadifferenceintherateoftimeatdifferentelevations.Thereisnoaccumulationofwavelengths,soυo 1/dτoandυ 1/dτ.Aftermakingthesesubstitutions,thisequationbecomes:

g c2

This is also an exact equation if the above qualifications are observed. Here the ratiodτ‐dτo /dτd willbereferredtoasthegradientintherateoftime.Therearetwopointstobenoticed.First,thegradientintherateiftimeisabletobedeterminedfromtheaccelerationofgravitywithnoknowledgeaboutthemassordistanceofthebodyproducingthegravity.Forexample,agravitationalaccelerationofg 1m/s2 isproducedbyarateof timegradientof1.113 10‐17seconds/secondpermeter.Theearth’sgravitationalaccelerationof9.8m/s2neartheearth’ssurfaceiscausedbyarateoftimegradientofabout10‐16seconds/secondpermeterofelevationdifferenceintheearth’sgravity.Themostaccurateclockpresentlyavailable 2015 isan87Sropticallatticeclock2whichhasanaccuracyof2.1x10‐18.Aclockwiththisaccuracyhasaresolutioncomparableto2cmelevationchangeintheearth’sgravity.Thesecondimportantpointisthattherateoftimegradientisafunctionofproperlengthintheradial direction. Even though dt/dτ is a function of circumferential radius, the relationshipbetweenrateoftimegradientandgravitationalaccelerationisnotafunctionofcircumferentialradius.Thisfactwillbecomeimportantinthenextchapterwhenweexaminehownaturekeepsthe laws of physics constant when there is an elevation change. The connection between

2 http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/150421/ncomms7896/full/ncomms7896.html

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gravitationalaccelerationandrateoftimegradientwillalsobeanimportantconsiderationwhenweexaminethecosmologicalmodeloftheuniverse chapters13&14 .Previously,wedefinedtheconceptof“gravitationalmagnitudeβ”as:β 1–dτ/dt.It isalsopossibletorelatetheaccelerationofgravitytothegradientinthegravitationalmagnitude.

g c2

Inertial Frame of Reference: Theconcept thatgravitycanbe simulatedbyanacceleratingframeof reference sometimes leads to theerroneous interpretation thatan inertial frameofreferenceeliminatesalleffectsofgravity.Beinginfreefalleliminatestheaccelerationofgravity,butthegravitationaleffectontherateoftimeandthespatialeffectsofthegravitationalfieldremain.AnotherwayofsayingthisisthattheeffectsofthegravitationalgammaΓonspacetimeare still present, even if amass is in an inertial frame of reference. A clock in free fall stillexperiencesthelocalgravitationaltimedilation.Arigorousanalysisfromgeneralrelativityconfirmsthispoint,buttwoexampleswillbegiventoalsoillustratetheconcept.Supposethattherewasahollowcavityatthecenteroftheearth.Aclockinthiscavitywouldexperiencenogravitationalaccelerationandwouldbeinaninertialframeofreference. Thegravitationalmagnitudeβinthiscavityisabout50%largerthanthegravitationalmagnitudeonthesurfaceoftheearth ~10.5 10‐10comparedto7 10‐10 .Forexample,ignoringairfriction,theescapevelocitystartingfromthiscavityishigherthanstartingfromthesurfaceoftheearth.Theclockinthecavityhasaslowerrateoftimethanaclockonthesurface.Theinertialframeofreferencedoesnoteliminatetheothergravitationaleffectsontherateoftimeandthegravitationaleffectonvolume.Asecondexampleisinterestingandillustratesaslightlydifferentpoint.TheAndromedagalaxyis2.5millionlightyears ~2.4 1022m awayfromEarthandhasanestimatedmassofabout2.4 1042kg includingdarkmatter .Thegravitationalaccelerationexertedbythisgalaxyatthedistance of the Earth is only about 2.8 10‐13m/s2. To put thisminute acceleration inperspective,a10,000kgspacecraftwouldaccelerateataboutthisratefromthe“thrust”ofthelight leavinga1watt flashlight. In spiteof theminutegravitationalacceleration, thedistantpresenceofAndromedaslowsdowntherateoftimeonthesurfaceoftheearthabout100timesmore than the Earth’s own gravity. This is possible because the gravitational magnitudeβ Gm/c2r forweakgravity decreasesatarateof1/rwhile thegravitationalaccelerationdecreaseswith1/r2.Attheearth’ssurface,Andromeda’sgravitationalmagnitudeisabout:β Gm/c2r G/c2 2.4 1042kg/2.4 1022m 7 10‐8Andromeda’sβatearthSincetheearth’sgravityproducesβ 7 10‐10atthesurface,Andromeda’seffectontherateoftimeattheearth’ssurfaceisabout100timesgreaterthantheeffectoftheearth’sgravity.Itdoes

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notmatterwhetheraclockisinfreefallrelativetoAndromedaorwhethertheclockisstationaryrelativetoAndromedaandexperiencestheminutegravitationalacceleration.Inbothcasesthegravitationaleffectontimeandvolumeexist.Thisexamplealsohintsthatmass/energyinotherpartsoftheuniversecanhaveasubstantialcumulativeeffectonourlocalrateoftimeandourlocalvolume.Thisconceptwillbedevelopedlaterinthechaptersdealingwithcosmology.Schwarzschild Coordinate System:ThestandardSchwarzschildsolutionusescoordinatesthatsimplifygravitationalcalculations.ThissphericalcoordinatesystemusescircumferentialradiusRascoordinatelengthintheradialdirectionandusescircumferentialradiustimesanangleΩfor the tangentialdirection. While there isnodistinction inproper length for theradialandtangentialdirections,wewilltemporarilymakeadistinctionbydesignatingproperlengthintheradial direction as LR and designating proper length in the tangential direction as LT. Thisdistinction does not exist in reality since: cdτ dL dLT dLR. However, using thesedesignations,therelationshipbetweenproperlengthandSchwarzschild’scoordinatelengthis:dLR ΓdRradiallengthLRconversiontoSchwarzschildradialcoordinateRdLT RdΩtangentiallengthLTtoSchwarzschildtangentialcoordinatelengthThe equation dLR ΓdR is obtained by setting dt 0. Ifwe are using the proper distancebetweentwopointsasmeasuredbyaruler,orthecalculatedcircumferentialradius,thenthiszerotimeassumptionisjustified.NextwewillcalculatethecoordinatespeedoflightCfortheradialandtangentialdirectionsbystartingwiththestandardSchwarzschildmetric:dS2 1/Г2 c2dt2–Г2dR2–R2dΩ2forlightsetdS2 0,1/Г2 c2dt2 Г2dR2 R2dΩ2

c2 Г4 Г2

Ifweseparatethiscoordinatespeedof light into itsradialcomponent CR and its tangentialcomponent CT ,weobtain:R dR/dt c/Г2 R coordinatespeedoflightintheradialdirection dΩ 0 T RdΩ/dt c/Г T coordinatespeedoflightinthetangentialdirection dR 0

Thisapparentdifferenceinthecoordinatespeedoflightfortheradialandtangentialdirectionsisnotexpressingaphysicallymeasurabledifferenceintheproperspeedoflight.Thedifferencefollows fromthestandard nonisotropic form of theSchwarzschildmetric. Ifwechoose theisotropic formof theSchwarzschildmetric thedifferencewilldisappearand R T c/Γ2.

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However,theisotropicformhasitsownsetofcomplexities,sowewillbeusingthestandardSchwarzschildmetric.

The Shapiro Experiment:Next,wearegoingtoswitchtoadiscussionaboutthegravitationaleffectonproperlength,propervolumeandthecoordinatespeedoflight.In1964,IrwinShapiroproposedanexperimenttomeasuretherelativisticdistortionofspacetimecausedbytheSun’sgravity.Thisnon‐NewtoniantimedelayisobtainedfromtheSchwarzschildsolutiontoEinstein’sfield equation. The Sun is a good approximation of an isolated mass addressed by theSchwarzschildsolution.Theimplicationisthatgravityaffectsspacetimesothatittakesmoretimeforlighttomaketheroundtripbetweentwopointsinspacewhenthemass gravity ispresentthanwhenthemass gravity isabsent.ShapiroandhiscolleaguesusedradartotracktheplanetVenusforabouttwoyearsasVenusandtheEarthorbitedtheSun.Duringthistime,VenuspassedbehindtheSunasseenfromtheEarth nearlysuperiorconjunction .TheorbitsofVenusandtheEarthareknownaccurately,so itwaspossibletomeasuretheadditionaltime

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delayintheroundtriptimefromtheearthtoVenusandback.Theeffectofthesun’sgravityonthisroundtriptimecouldbecalculatedfrommultiplemeasurementsmadeoverthetwoyeartimeperiod.Figure2‐1showsShapiro’sgraphoftheexcesstimedelayoverthetwoyearperiod.Thepeakdelayatsuperiorconjunctionwas190μsonahalfhourroundtriptransittime.Variationsofthisexperimenthavebeenrepeatednumeroustimesinthenormalcourseofthespaceprogram.SpacecraftontheirwaytotheouterplanetsoftenstartwithanorbitalpaththatatsomepointresultsinnearlysuperiorconjunctionrelativetotheEarth. ThemostaccuratemeasurementtodatewaswiththeCassinispacecraft.Itwasequippedwithtranspondersattwodifferentradarfrequencies,thereforeitwaspossibletodetermineandremovetheeffectoftheSun’scoronaonthetimedelay.Theresultwasanagreementwiththetimedelaypredictedbygeneralrelativityaccurateto1partin50,000.Withthistypeofagreement,itwouldseemasifthereareno remainingmysteriesabout thiseffect and thephysical interpretation shouldbeobvious.Howexactlydolength,timeandthespeedoflightcombinetoproducetheobservedtimedelayintheShapiroeffect?Forsimplicity,wewouldliketolookatthetimedelayassociatedwitharadarbeamtravelingonlyintheradialdirection.Inthelimit,wecanimaginereflectingaradarbeamoffthesurfaceoftheSun.Thispathwouldbepurelyradial.Tomakeameasurementweneedtohavearoundtrip,butforsimplicityofdiscussion,wewilltalkaboutthetimedelayforaonewaytrip.ForlightdS 0,sothemetricequationgivesusthatforlightmovingintheradialdirection:

Гcdt ГdR→dt

ГdR

WecancomputethetimeΔtittakestomovebetweentwodifferentradii:r1andr2 wherer2 r1 .

cΔt

cΔt 2 Г

Гweakgravity:

Г

Г 0

Δt

SubstitutingtheSun’smass,radiusanddistancegivesΔt 50μs.Therefore,inadditiontoanon‐relativistictimedelay about8minutes ,theonewayrelativistictimedelaywouldbeaboutanadditional50μs.The190μsdelayobservedbyShapiroisroughly4timestheoneway50μsdelayfromtheearthtothesunbecauseoftheadditionallegtoVenusandthentheroundtripdoublingofthetime.

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Normally,onEarthwewouldinterpreta50μsdelayinaradarbeamasindicatinganadditionaldistanceofabout15km.Howmuchdoesthesun’sgravitydistortspaceandincreasetheradialdistancebetweentheearthandthesun’ssurfacecomparedtothedistancethatwouldexistifwehad Euclidian flat space? The additional non Euclidian path length will be designated ΔL .Startingfrom:dLR ΓdR

ΔL

ΔL setr2 1.5 1011m,r1 7 108mandm 2 1030kg

ΔL 7.5kmnon‐EuclidianadditionalproperdistancebetweentheEarthandSunSupposethatitwaspossibletostretchatapemeasurefromtheearthtothesurfaceofthesun.Thedistancemeasuredbythetapemeasure properdistance wouldbeabout7.5kmgreaterthanadistanceobtainedfromanassumptionofflatspaceandaEuclidiangeometrycalculation.Theuseofatapemeasuremeansthatweareusingproperlengthasastandard.Gravity Increases Volume: Ifweuseproper length as our standardof length rather thancircumferentialradius,thenwemustadopttheperspectivethatgravityincreasesthevolumeoftheuniverse.However,aninterpretationbasedonpropervolumeisoftenignoredsincetheuseofcircumferentialradiusascoordinatelengtheliminatesthisvolumechangecausedbygravity.In theShapiroexperiment,wecalculatedthat therewasanon‐Euclidian increase indistancebetweentheearthandthesunof7.5km.Supposethatweimagineasphericalshellwitharadiusequaltotheaverageradiusoftheearth’sorbit.Thisisaradialdistanceequaltooneastronomicalunit AU 1.5 1011m .Thesun’smassis 2 1030kgandthesun’sSchwarzschildradiusisrs 2950meters.Whatisthechangeinvolume ΔV insidethissphericalshellifwecomparetheEuclidianvolumeoftheshell Vo andthenon‐Euclidianvolumeoftheshell V whentheSunisatthecenteroftheshell?V 4 Г Afterintegration,thedifferenceΔV V–Voisapproximately:ΔV 5π/3 rs r22–r12 setr2 1.5 1011m,r1 7 108mandrs 2950metersΔV 3.46 1026m3nonEuclidianvolumeincreaseToputthisnonEuclidianvolume increase inperspective, thesun’sgravityhas increasedthepropervolumewithinaradiusof1AUbyabout3.5 1026m3whichismorethan300,000timeslargerthanthevolumeoftheearth earth’svolumeis 1.08 1021m3 .Statedanotherway,the volume increase is about 20% smaller than the volume obtained by multiplying thenon‐Euclidianradiallengthincrease ~7,500m timesthesurfaceareaofthesphericalshell

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witharadiusof1AU.ObviouslythisnonEuclidianvolumeincreasewouldbemuchlargerifwehad chosen a larger shell radius for example, the size of the observable universe . Theimplicationsofthiswillbeexploredinthechaptersoncosmology.Concentric Shells Thought Experiment:Theconceptthatgravityincreasesthevolumeoftheuniverseisimportantenoughthatanotherexamplewillbegiven.Supposethattherearetwoconcentric spherical shells around an origin point in space. The inside spherical shell is4.4 109mincircumference aboutthecircumferenceoftheSun .Theoutsideshellis2πmeterslargercircumference.Withnomassattheoriginandinfinitelythinshells,thismeansthatthereisexactlya1metergapbetweentheshells.Wecouldconfirmthe1meterspacingwithameterstickorapulseoflightandaclock.NextweintroducetheSun'smassattheorigin.ThisintroducesgravityintothevolumebetweenthetwoshellswithanaveragevalueofaboutГ 1 2 10‐6.Thecircumferenceofeachshellproperlength doesnotchangeafterweintroducegravity.However,thedistancebetweenthetwoshellswouldnowbeabout1 2 10‐6meters.Thisis2micronslargerthanthezerogravitydistance.This2micron increase inseparation increases thepropervolumebetweenthe twoshellsbyroughly1013m3.Inthisexampleoftwoconcentricshellsweacceptedtheproperlengthofthecircumferenceoftheshells tangentialproperlength .Thequestioniswhethertherewasalsoadecreaseofthistangentiallength relativetoa“flat”coordinatesystem whenthesun’smasswasintroducedattheorigin.Itispossibletoconsiderbothradialandtangentialdirectionsaffectedequally.Thisresultsingravityproducinganevenlargerincreaseinpropervolumethanpreviouslycalculated.Thiswillbediscussedfurtherinthechaptersoncosmology.Connection Between the Rate of Time and Volume: WearegoingtocomputetheeffectofthegravitationalgammaГonpropervolumeusingthestandardSchwarzschildmetric.TheuseofthismetricmeansthatthestandardSchwarzschildconditionsapply:astaticnonrotatinganduncharged spherically symmetric mass distribution in an empty universe. This calculationinvolvesterminologyfromgeneralrelativitythatisnotexplainedhere.Readersunfamiliarwithgeneral relativity should skip the shaded calculation section below and move on to theconclusion.

Page 13: Chapter 2 Definitions and Concepts from General Relativity

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Ifweknowmetricequations,wecancomputethe3‐dimensionalvolumeandthe4‐dimensionalvolume includestime .Theeasiestwaytodoitistousethefollowingdiagonalmetric:dS2 –g00 dx0 2 g11 dx1 2 g22 dx2 2 g33 dx3 2Thenthe3‐dimensionalvolumedV 3 is:dV 3 g11 g22 g33 1/2dx1dx2dx3Andfor4‐dimensionalvolumedV 4 dV 4 –g00 g11 g22 g33 1/2dx0dx1dx2dx3IntheparticularcaseofthestandardSchwarzschildmetric:g00 –1/Г2;g11 Г2;g22 R2,g33 R2sin2θThedifferentialsof4dimensionalcoordinatesinthiscaseare:dx0 cdt; dx1 dR; dx2 dθ; dx3 dΦSo:dV 3 Г2 R2 R2sin2θ 1/2dR dθ dΦdV 3 ГR2sinθdRdθdΦnotethatvolume 3 scaleswithГV 4 – –1/Г2 Г2 R2 R2sin2θ 1/2 cdt dR dθ dΦdV 4 R2csinθdtdRdθdΦnotethatthisisindependentofГThe above calculation shows that proper volume 3 spatial dimensions scales with thegravitational gamma Г. This supports the previous examples involving the volume increaseinterpretationoftheShapiroexperimentandalsothevolumeincreasethatoccursinthethoughtexperimentwithtwoconcentricshells.Whenweincludethetimedimensionandcalculatetheeffectof thegravitygeneratedbyasinglemassonthesurroundingspacetime,weobtaintheanswerthatthe4dimensionalspacetimevolumeisindependentofgravitationalgammaГ.Theradialdimensionincreases Г dLR/dR andthetemporaldimensiondecreases Г dt/dτ .Theseoffseteachotherresultinginthe4dimensionalvolumeremainingconstant.

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Thereisasimplerwayofexpressingthisconcept.SinceГ therefore:

dτdLR dtdRThis concept will be developed further when we develop particles out of 4 dimensionalspacetimeanditalsohasapplicationtocosmology.