Einstein's Theory of Relativity

EINSTEIN'S THEORY OF RELATIVITY
A BRIEF ANALYSIS

By O.Tedenstig Idungatan 37 19551 Märsta Sweden , Date : 11/12-1994

Einstein's theory of relativity, both the special and the general, belongs to the most well known mental buildings in philosophy and science. The number of published works today can be counted in tens of thousands (no one knows exactly) and the originator himself, Albert Einstein has been subject for a countless number of person biographical works. The interest for his person in many respects can be compared with the interest dedicated the great religious leaders (Jesus, Mohammed) or the great prophets or founders of the great political mass movements (Marx, Lenin). And dealing with the theory also reminds what is caracterising such mass movements and doctrinaire systems.

Characteristics common for all types of those mass movements are the presence of a doctrinaire system of theses not permitted to be questioned, a prophet or dominant leader with an unlimited authority, a church or institution administrating the doctrines and a lot of high priests, predecessors of the scientific power establishment.

The fact that a mental building has been widely spread and got broad acceptance necessarily not constitutes any guarantee for that a theory is correct and true. In a flashback of the history looking at theory buildings of similar dogmatic nature, inspire to reflection. Most of these theories which were supported by the power elite, both in science and church during a long period of time, were later revealed as totally mad and wrong. In most cases change was propelled, not by the scientific community itself, but by individual well informed peoples, thinkers and true scientists, most often working in direct confrontation with the current opinion, sometimes with risk for their own lives, incorruptible and brave peoples who placed the truth on the first place in their scientific work. We know that there still exist such peoples active in our time but their message are like a silent voice in the dessert, few are prepared to listen.

To officially cast suspicion upon the theory of relativity, hence exposing it for criticism, is to confess your silliness and that you not has grasped anything. H.C.Andersen's anecdote of the emperor's new closes gives a good illustration. Persons who not were competent for their jobs, could not see the nice clothes the emperor was wearing, woven by the lying and cunning weavers. An innocent child said that which the prudent peoples not dared to confess, namely that the emperor was naked and that his clothes just was bluff and humbug.

Einstein's theory is naked but very few dare to confess it. What the theory has to offer of solution of real physical problems are only of pure fictive and imaginary nature, in the same way as in the story of the emperor's new clothes, lacking substance and content. It's apparent that most problems, which plead for a solution within the conceptual framework of this theory only is of artificial, fictive and imaginary nature.

A theory which has got so a large spreading and common acceptance in the world of science, impossibly can be wrong ! How can serious working scientists be so mad that they support an erroneous theory for so long time, spending so much time, sweat and troubles on a hopeless erroneous idea ? Is the fact that a theory get large acceptances a guaranty of that the theory is correct and true ? No. In a flashback of the history of science many theories have got large support during long periods of time, but was later on shown to be totally wrong. And the historians cannot either really explain why some theories or thoughts get a higher degree of acceptance and penetration than other comparable alternative theories.

One reason of the popularity may be that the theory of relativity contains parts of mystic and elements of religious supernatural nature. Many are attracted by such things, even scientist obviously. The theory also has a pronounced mathematical structure which attracts personalities specifically appreciating theoretical abstractions, not being disturbed by the fact that these abstractions not correspond to anything real in the outside world.

The theory has been criticized by many since its birth, by individual researchers, prominent scientists as well as by more unknowns individual researchers, both from outside ad inside the scientific and academic community. But commonly all this critics has been leafed not-answered. The relativists feel so secure and so safe in their position, that they not bother to reply to a given criticism. Silence is one of the weapon used, exposing an enormous self-reliance, superciliousness and disregards against them who venture to hint doubts about Einstein's theories.

The question of right or wrong, contrary to what commonly is declared, not only is a question of the presence of substantial facts. Many other factors involved are of significant importance, factors being of quite another nature than pure scientific. That is a fruitful field of research engaging historians trying to understand the mechanisms behind development of scientific theories and how the scientific community works.

One important factor in this trend is the control of power of knowledge. When a theory has been established, it seems not so important whether the theory is correct or wrong. What is important is to maintain the position of power which has been reached. That gives access to money, prestige and power over the research resources, both regarding money and human brain resources.

The theory of relativity has been very successful in that special task. The relativists have reached a position which they not are prepared to give up, even if alternative theories should be offered, which in a better way would describe the world around us. And the relativists have of that reason got access to very great resources as well as succeeded to usurp common sympathy from peoples in common, from mass media, from publishing houses, from contributors of different kinds, giving money or pure moral support to the research associated to the theory. In this way the relativists have reached full control of the free scientific press and the mass media, which without any murmur of protest proceed to spread the Einsteinium dogmas. Given critics or offering competitive alternative theories can in this way effectively be suppressed, controlled and stopped.

Many who start to have a very positive attitude to Einstein and his theories, in addition having real ambitions of understand and learn the theory, very soon is frustrated and give up. They give up, not because of intellectual inability to understand, but because there is nothing substantial there to be understood. Those who still support the theory, saying they have grasped something or at least giving impression of it, obviously not is disturbed by the fact that the theory just is producing empty, fictive and imaginary results.

And to dig one's way out of the labyrinth of relativity mostly seems to be a hopeless and frustrating task, claiming a waste of time and effort resulting in nothing. And a critical analysis of the theory, based on common scientific methods, of common sense and logical analysis, produces pure confusions which intelligent persons claiming logical consequence of their thinking, impossibly can accept.

The confusions arises by that all the time logical contradictions are pointed out, amplified by that the basic concepts used are elastic and continuously accommodated in time to that the ongoing analysis produces their own problems. By this way everything seems to float around in a chaotic mixture of hypothetical concepts and assumptions impossible to get in any order.

In spite of that the theory now is more than 75 years old, the relativists themselves are not in agree how the basic concepts of the theory shall be interpreted or how the critics of the theory shall be treated. In the light of all given criticism, if the theory was to be regarded as normal science, not much would remain by it. But obviously the theory is not normal science but something quite else, it seems to balance in the gray zone of science, science fiction, religion and pure philosophy not reachable for any common analytical method.

Science is said to be a self-controlled process where erroneous theories automatically are eliminated. But that seems not to be true for the theory of relativity, which consequently seems to disregard these basic, ethical rules of science. In spite of that the critics since long time ago ought to reject the theory from the scene of science, the theory seems today be more popular than even before.

The relativists will make show of being sound and rational in their thinking, but at the same time one are prepared to accept conclusions which are completely against ever scientific rule and all common sense. And without any signs of self-criticism one are manipulating nature on pure arbitrary basis, refusing the ability of the human mind of deciding right or wrong.

Common sense, Einstein said, only is these predestined meanings a man work out when 18-teen, then keeping these ideas the life out. And when the theory produces obvious contradict results, one even are prepared to dispute the ability of the human intellect, that instead of rejecting the theory as physically invalid. By this criminal and dishonest attitude, the theory of relativity has been a hint for a true and sound searching for truth in science and the way of solving the deep mysteries of nature.

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AND WHAT CONTAIN THE THEORY ?

Einstein's special theory of relativity from 1905 is founded on two basic hypotheses or concepts, even named postulates, which are as follows :

I. "THE SAME LAWS OF ELECTRODYNAMICS WILL BE VALID FOR ALL FRAMES OF REFERENSES FOR WHICH THE EQUATIONS OF MECHANICS HOLD GOOD"

II. LIGHT IS ALWAYS PROPAGATED IN EMPTY SPACE WITH A DEFINITE SPEED, c, WHICH IS INDEPENDENT OF THE STATE OF MOTION OF THE EMITTING BODY.

Einstein published his theory in year 1905 of the title "ON THE ELECTRODYNAMICS OF MOVING BODIES". Another principle being a part of the theory and also giving the theory its popular name is "THE PRINCIPLE OF RELATIVITY" - from the beginning originated by Poincar'e about five years before that Einstein published his theory.

The including of the relativity principle shows that the Einstein's second postulate is incomplete which conceals that Einstein himself not understood the meaning of his own postulate. The principle namely imply that the velocity of light in free space is invariant even to an observer moving in relation to the source, that is to say, the propagation of light is a real universal invariant cosmic constant, useable as a reference for all movements in the physical world. Of that reason the second postulate has to be redefined to :

II. THE PROPAGATING VELOCITY OF LIGHT IN THIS WAY IT CAN BE MEASURED BY ANY OBSERVER IS ALWAYS CONSTANT AND INDEPEN DENT OF ANY MOVEMENT OF THE SOURCE OR THE OBSERVER MOVING TO OR FROM EACH OTHER.

In a personal letter from Einstein to a friend of him, Erwin Finley Freundlich 1913 he says:

"IF THE SPEED OF LIGHT IN THE LEAST BIT IS AFFECTED BY THE SPEED OF THE LIGHT SOURCE, THEN MY WHOLE THEORY OF RELATIVITY AND THE THEORY OF GRAVITY IS FALSE."

HISTORY IN BRIEF

All revolutionary theories have had its own prehistory. A new theory will not pop up from nothing, it will be a product of many individual contributors both successful and less successful collected over a long period of time. In this time when Einstein suggested his theory, it had been preceded by a tedious scientific debate about properties of space and the basic nature of light. In the first place it was the ether theories for the propagation of light which was dominating the debate and which was amplified by Maxwell's electromagnetic theory from 1873.

Einstein was one of these persons who in this chaotic situation presented a quite different and radical idea. Instead of solving the problem which was discussed, he declared them as non-existent. He did that by introducing two postulates, where one of them proclaimed that the propagating velocity of light in vacuum was an absolute physical constant, not effected either by movements of the source nor by movements of the observer. The ether concept was eliminated, replacing it by nothing.

Einstein has been praised for his originality and boldness while he suggested principles of nature which was challenging common sense. However, his originality can be put in question because research has shown that many of his ideas were common known long before him. But Einstein was lucky because his ideas were accepted by a group of well known and prominent academics of that time : von Laue, Minkowski, Lorentz, Mach, Planck, Poincar'e and others. Einstein became an enormous authority in science and became a symbol for geniality and originality, a guarantee for that the theory of relativity was correct and true.

Einstein's theory of relativity was published 1905 by the name "ON THE ELECTRODYNAMICS OF MOVING BODIES" and was later followed by the general theory 1916. Besides these works, for which Einstein got his most fame, he did achievements in the area of quantum physics, " the photo electrical effect", a theory which later gave him the Nobel Prize Award. Hence not, contrary to what commonly is believed, he did not got the prize for his relativity theory which was judged to be too controversial of the members of the Nobel Committee.

Einstein published his theory at a time constituting a climax of debate concerning the fundamental nature of light and space going on since Newton's time. So, much was discussed and investigated when Einstein entered the scene. At an official lectures about five years earlier Poincar'e had suggested THE PRINCIPLE OF RELATIVITY in Paris and in St. Louis is USA. THE LENGTH CONTRACTION OF PHYSICAL OBJECTS had been suggested 1892 by Lorentz and Fitzgerald undependable of each other as a suggestion of solving Michelson and Morley's light interferometer experiments some years earlier with beginning from 1887 (note however that length contraction never has been proved experimentally, hence not any physical reality). THE TIME DILATION HYPOTHESIS saying that physical clocks will slow down as a result of moving in relation to a light source was suggested by J.Larmor already 1900 and the formula for it is the same as in Einstein's theory.

THE MASS INCREASE of moving particles was experimentally discovered by Kaufman in 1901, hence was no theoretical prediction by the relativity theory. This phenomenon some years later was investigated by A. Pais and Lorentz who also were suggesting mathematical expressions for this mass increase, expressions which appear in Einstein's theory later.

And even THE FORMULA E=m.c(2) suggesting a close relationship between energy and mass was suggested several years before Einstein by Lorentz, Poincar'e, Langevin and others. THE MATHEMATICS OF SPACE AND TIME was developed by Lorentz and appear in modified form in Einstein's theory. THE CONSTANT PROPAGATING VELOCITY OF LIGHT IN VACUUM had with increasing precision been confirmed by experiments with beginning by Ole Römer in the seventeenth century but not covered by any ultimate experiments including moving sources and observers, which Einstein's theory claims. It was not any great achievement to suggest it and the risk of disclosing it was minimal. And in addition, from the beginning it was Maxwell's idea to define that the velocity of light from moving sources was invariant and he had good reasons for it because his theory was an ether theory. Einstein had no such concrete reason to offer.

Hence, Einstein's theory was mainly constructed by two fundamental postulates, combined with the principle of relativity. The theory generates results which violate common sense, but the theory has in spite of that succeeded to get common acceptable. That is very strange in light of the fact that science in commonly is very careful in judging results from new theories.

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A BRIEF EXAMINATION OF THESIS AND RESULTS

A brief list over some physical facts which are treated in the theory of relativity may looks like follows :

• The velocity of light in that way it can be measured by an observer (by using measuring rods and clocks) always is constant undependable by whether the source or the observer move
• Only relative movements between objects is physically relevant, absolute movements cannot be either measured, nor defined
• Physical clocks go slower as result of relative movements in relation to another objects moving in the vicinity
• Absolute time doesn't exists and cannot even be defined
• Relative velocity between two objects cannot exceed the standard velocity of light even if each single object separately posses this velocity
• Physical objects contract as function of relative movement in relation to objects in the vicinity
• The mass content of physical objects increases as function of relative movement related to an object in the vicinity
• An event which for one observer is apprehended as simultaneous is not simultaneous for another observer who move in relation to the first observer
• Gravitation is no force, just a curvature in the space time continuum, a line which astronomical bodies follow in their movement

That is some of all those "physical" consequences which are referred to as results of the theory. In aim to in some degree illustrate some of these physical absurdities, we shall briefly examine some special cases. Much of that is already known facts from literature. And in some very troublesome cases the relativists themselves have realized that the critics may be reasonable. But the result in most cases only has resulted in slight modifications, that without taking the correct consequences by it, namely to totally reject the theory.