Dr. Cristian Bahrim - sethi

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Dr. Cristian Bahrim

WHAT IS GRAVITY?

Newton claims that every mass exerts a gravitational attraction on every other mass, no matter how far away.

Einstein considers that gravity is geometry. → the gravity arises from the curvature of space-time. A mass causes space-time to curve, and the curvature of space-time determines the paths of freely moving masses.

Dr. Cristian Bahrim

Dr. Cristian Bahrim

GEOMETRIC EFFECTS DUE TO THE CURVATURE OF SPACE-TIME

Gravitational lensing can create multiple images of a distant object.

Dr. Cristian Bahrim

GRAVITATIONAL LENSING

Dr. Cristian Bahrim

The first experimental measurement was done by Arthur Eddington (1919): during a complete solar eclipse he marked the position of certain stars and compared with the position measured during nights. He found a deviation in the position of the stars near Sun in agreement with Einstein’s predictions. FOR A RAY JUST GRAZING THE EDGE OF THE SUN THE DEFLECTION IS 1.98’’± 0.18’’ (SECONDS OF ARC).

Dr. Cristian Bahrim

EINSTEIN’S SUCCESSFUL EXPLANATION REGARDING THE DEVIATION OF LIGHT BY A MASSIVE STELLAR OBJECT The fact that a photon follows a curved path in a gravitational field can also be explained using the concept of gravitational mass associated to a photon. ♦

♦ Einstein’s equation for

the deflection of light due to the gravity gives:

θ =π +

4GM Rc 2

G = 6.67 *10 −11 Nm 2 /kg 2 c = 2.998 * 108 m/s M = mass of the stellar object R = radius of the stellar object Predicted Measured

: θ = 1.74" : θ = 1.98"

± .18"

Dr. Cristian Bahrim

General Relativity and Time Einstein suggests that time runs slower in a gravitational field or for an accelerated body.

A THOUGHT EXPERIMENT. a rocket is moving with an acceleration of g. An observer A at the nose of the rocket will release a photon which will be collected by an observer B located at the tail.

Dr. Cristian Bahrim

THE TIME RUNS DIFFERENTLY FOR ACCELERATED BODIES

Observer A (nose)

1 2 1 gt and zb = gt 2 2 2 Emission : t = 0 (1st pulse) → ∆t a (2nd pulse)

Coordinates :

za = H +

Reception : t1 (1st pulse) → ∆t b (2nd pulse) Kinematics :

1st pulse : za (t ) − zb (t1 ) = c(t1 − t ) 1 @ t = 0 → H − gt12 = ct1 (1) 2 2nd pulse : z a (∆ta ) − zb (∆t b ) = c( t1 + ∆t b − ∆t a )

H

1 1 g (∆t a ) 2 − g (t1 + ∆t b ) 2 = c( t1 + ∆t b − ∆t a ) 2 2 Expand the last equation and take times ∆t a and ∆t b small : H+

1 2 gt1 − gt1∆t b = c( t1 + ∆t b − ∆t a ) 2 Combining equations (1) and (2) we get : gt1∆t b = c∆t a − c∆t b H−

Solution :

∆t b = ∆t a (

(2)

(3)

c ) ⇒ ∆t b < ∆t a because t1 > 0. gt1 + c

Observer B (tail)

The time runs slower in the tail of the rocket than in the nose when it accelerates upward!

Dr. Cristian Bahrim

CAN GRAVITY SHIFT THE COLOR OF LIGHT? The units of time ∆tA and ∆tB can be considered as being periods of the light released by A and received by B, respectively. → The frequency (which is the reciprocal of the period), and implicitly the wavelength, of the photon traveling through the gravitational field are shifted! We can understand this effect based on the idea that we can associate an inertial mass to a photon in motion.

Dr. Cristian Bahrim

MASS OF A PHOTON By combining the Planck’s postulate regarding light with the Einstein’s relationship between energy and mass, we can define the inertial mass of a photon:

E = mc

2

E = hv hv m= 2 c

The inertial mass of a photon is defined by its energy.

Dr. Cristian Bahrim

THE PRINCIPLE OF EQUIVALENCE gravitational mass = inertial mass → an object undergoing an acceleration will behave in the same manner as it would fall in a gravitational field. Experiments testing the equality of gravitational and inertial mass compares the accelerations of bodied falling freely in a gravitational field. The most accurate test to date: accuracy of 1.5 x 10-13.

Dr. Cristian Bahrim

If we accept the principle of equivalence, we must also accept that light falls in a gravitational field with the same acceleration as material bodies. → in the laboratory frame the light ray will be accelerated downward with the acceleration of the laboratory. In a uniform gravitational field the light accelerates downward with the local acceleration of gravity.

Dr. Cristian Bahrim

GRAVITATIONAL SHIFT OF LIGHT Conservation of energy : Ea = Eb

Observer A

⇒ hν a + mgH = hvb

mgH ν a gH = 2 ⇒ vb ≠ ν a h c GMm Newton' s force of gravity : F = R2 dU GMm ⇒U = − Potential energy : F = dR R U GM ⇒V=Potential : V = m R 0 − mgH = − gH Change in potential : ∆V = Vb − Va = m ∆v gH GM =− 2 = >0 Relative shift in frequency : 2 va c Rc

νa

Shift in frequency : ∆v = vb −ν a =

H νb Observer B

Dr. Cristian Bahrim

Comparison for λ = 540 nm (Blue-shift) ∆ν

νa

=−

GM Rc 2

where : R and M are the Radius and Mass the stellar object

M (kg)

R (m)

∆ν ν/ν νa (%)

∆λ(nm)

λ(nm)

5.96E+24

6.378E+06

-6.93E-07

3.74E-7

539.999999

Jupiter

1.9E+27

7.15E+07

-1.97E-05

1.07E-5

539.99997

Sun

1.99E+30

6.96E+08

-2.12E-03

1.15E-3

539.9996

White Dwarf

2.57E+30

3.48E+08

-5.52E-03

2.98E-3

539.998

Neutron Star

2.59E+30

5E+03

-383.981

149.821

390.18

Black Hole

Huge

Very small

infinity

No light

?

Earth

Dr. Cristian Bahrim

DISCUSSIONS 1. Gravitational blue-shift – a photon is falling down. The blue-shift has nothing to do with the shifting that occurs due to the Doppler effect (relative motion of stars). Gravitational red-shift – a photon is leaving a star. 2. One second on the Sun lasts longer than one second on Earth! Larger the gravitational field, longer the duration of a second. Object 3. Light propagating through a gravitational field behaves as if it traverses an inhomogeneous medium having a positiondependent index of refraction n.

n1 n2

Snell’s law: n1 sin θ1 = n2 sin θ2 Where: n2 depends on the curvature of space-time.

Real

Observer

Virtual