Learning the physics of Einstein with Georges Lemaitre PDF
Preview Learning the physics of Einstein with Georges Lemaitre
Georges Lemaître Learning the Physics of Einstein with Georges Lemaître Before the Big Bang Theory Jan Govaerts Jean-François Stoff el Editors Learning the Physics of Einstein with Georges Lemaître Georges Lemaître Jan Govaerts Jean-François Stoffel Editors Learning the Physics of Einstein with Georges Lemaître Before the Big Bang Theory Translated by Christine Leroy and Stephen Lyle Author Georges Lemaître Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium Editors Jan Govaerts Jean-François Stoffel Mathematics and Physics Catégorie paramédicale Catholic University of Louvain Haute École Louvain-en-Hainaut Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium Montignies-sur-Sambre, Belgium Translated by Christine Leroy Stephen N. Lyle Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium Alzen, France ISBN 978-3-030-22029-7 ISBN 978-3-030-22030-3 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22030-3 Translation of Georges Lemaître’s French language text: La Physique d’Einstein (1922) by Stephen Lyle and Christine Leroy © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland L’universn’estpastropgrandpourl’homme, iln’exce`depaslespossibilite´sdelascience nilacapacite´ del’esprithumain MonseigneurGeorgesLemaˆıtre(1894-1966) Theuniverseisnottoolargeforhumankind, neitherdoesitexceedthereachofscience northeabilitiesofthehumanmind MonsignorGeorgesLemaˆıtre(1894-1966) Preface Onthe29th October2018theInternationalAstronomicalUnion(IAU)actedon historicalandscientificfactbyrenamingthelawfortherecessionofgalaxiesandthe expansionoftheUniverseasthe“Hubble–LemaˆıtreLaw”.BydoingsotheIAUduly recognisedthecontributionsofMonsignorGeorgesLemaˆıtreasthegenuinefounder ofthetheoryoftheBigBangandavisionaryarchitectofmoderncosmology.Itwas in 1927 thatGeorges Lemaˆıtre predictedthe law for the recessionof galaxies as a directconsequenceofhistheoryoftheexpansionoftheUniverseinapublication with the Annales de la Socie´te´ Scientifique de Bruxelles.1 The astronomical and observationalcorroborationforsuchabehaviourofthegalaxieswasconvincingly establishedbyEdwinHubbleinafamouspublicationof1929.2 In this early 21st century the scientific community is finally acknowledging the full measure of the scientific legacy of a towering figure of 20th century Euro- peanphysics.Againstthebestadviceofthegreatestnamesofhistime,theyoung Lemaˆıtrewasconvinced,solelyonthebasisofthephysicsofAlbertEinstein’sthe- oryofGeneralRelativity,notonlythattheUniverseisexpandingbutevenmorere- markably,in1931,thatspaceandtimemusthavehadabeginningfroma“primeval atom” with an event known as the “Big Bang” – a fireworks of sorts with a truly singular geometric quantum state – in other words, the emergence of the quantum universe and the beginning of the quest for a quantum theory of gravity, with the hypothesisofaneverexpandingUniverseandapositivecosmologicalconstant.3 1G.Lemaˆıtre,Ununivershomoge`nedemasseconstanteetderayoncroissantrendantcomptede lavitesseradialedesne´buleusesextra-galactiques,AnnalesdelaSocie´te´ScientifiquedeBruxelles, se´rieA:SciencesMathe´matiques,1e`repartie:ComptesrendusdesSe´ances,t.47,1927,pp.49–59. 2 E.Hubble,Arelationbetweendistanceandradialvelocityamongextra-galacticnebulae,Pro- ceedingsoftheNationalAcademyofSciences15(3),15March1929,pp.168–173. 3G.Lemaˆıtre,Thebeginningoftheworldfromthepointofviewofquantumtheory,Nature127, 9May1931,p.706. vii viii Preface But how did the young Lemaˆıtre, essentially on his own, learn “The Physics of Einstein” for the gravitational interaction? While studying for the priesthood (LemaˆıtrewasordainedasadiocesanpriestinSeptember1923),GeorgesLemaˆıtre submittedadissertationdated31May1922andentitled“LaPhysiqued’Einstein”, or “The Physics of Einstein”. The thesis was to earn him Travel Fellowships and launched Lemaˆıtre onto a scientific path of ground breaking discoveries. The Fel- lowships enabled him to spend the years 1923-1924 with Arthur S. Eddington at Cambridge University (UK) and 1924-1925 at Harvard University with Harlow ShapleyandMIT(USA),whereLemaˆıtrewaseventuallygrantedaPhDin1927. AlmostacenturyafterLemaˆıtre’sseminalpublicationsof1927and1931which were to provide the basis of modern cosmology, this most pedagogical treatise of 1922remainsoftimelyinterestforyoungmindsaswellasfromahistoryofscience perspective.Forthefirsttimeever,thepresentvolumemakesavailableanEnglish translationofLemaˆıtre’searlythesistogetherwitharevisitedcriticaleditionofthe original manuscript in French and includes recently discovered notes and correc- tionsthatLemaˆıtrehimselfhadaddedtohisoriginaltext.Theoriginalmanuscript alongside these recently discovered additions are part of the invaluable resources held by the Georges Lemaˆıtre Archives at the Universite´ catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain)inLouvain-la-Neuve,Belgium.TheGeorgesLemaˆıtreArchivesalso house numerous other scientific and personal effects belonging to Lemaˆıtre and havebeengrantedthestatusof“atreasureandintangibleheritageoftheWallonia– BrusselsFederation”placedundertheauspicesofUCLouvain.Adigitisationproject iscurrentlymakingthesedocumentsaccessibleworldwideviatheinternetthrough thewebsitehttps://archives.uclouvain.be/. Following Georges Lemaˆıtre’s passing on 20 June 1966, the family specifi- cally bequeathed all of Lemaˆıtre’s archives to the French speaking UCLouvain, in Louvain-la-Neuve.Thesecomprisemanypersonaleffects,scientificitems,numer- ousscientificdocumentsincludingarichcorrespondencewithrenownedscientists of his day. As the facts would have it, from 1925 till 1966 Lemaˆıtre remained a Professor solely within the French speaking section of the then single Universite´ de Louvain geographically situated in the Flemish city of Leuven. In other words, GeorgesLemaˆıtre,proudofhisfrancophoneextraction,remainedfortheentirepe- riodofhisacademiccareerFullprofessoroftheFrenchspeakingsectionoftheUni- versite´deLouvain.ItwasshortlyafterLemaˆıtre’sdeaththattheUniversityofficially separatedintotwolinguisticallyindependentInstitutionssharingacommonheritage and proud history dating back to 1425, renamed the Flemish speaking Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven (KU Leuven) situated in Leuven, and the French speaking Universite´ catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain) situated in Ottignies–Louvain-la- Neuve. Accordingtohistoricalfact,upuntiltheearly1930sprofessorsattheUniversite´ deLouvaindidnothaveapersonalofficeattheUniversity.Consequentlyuponhis returntoBelgiumin1925andasayoungacademic,Lemaˆıtrepursuedhisresearch inhislivingquartersasaresidentoftheColle`geduSaint-Esprit(HolySpiritCol- lege),currentlytheHeiligeGeestcollegesituatedatNaamsestraat40,Leuven.Hence Preface ix theaforementionedarticlesof1927and1931–andspecificallythelatterone–are signedbyGeorgesLemaˆıtrewiththeaddressRuedeNamur40andasamemberof theUniversite´ deLouvain.AllhislifeGeorgesLemaˆıtreremaineddeeplyattached to his family, profoundly faithful to his spiritual vocation, and ever mindful of his roots in the “black mining country” of his youth in Charleroi, where he was born on17July1894.GeorgesLemaˆıtrenowrestsinthefamilyvaultattheCemeteryof MarcinellenearCharleroi,Belgium. Muchcouldandshouldbesaidabouttheremarkablescientist,thegentlehuman- ist ever inquisitive of the deeper questions of life, and the vibrant spiritual thinker wholikedtometaphoricallyrepresenthiscoremotivationasthecoherentadoption “oftwoseparatepathstowardsTruth”.Thefirstbio-bibliographyofLemaˆıtre’sca- reerandpublicationswaspublishedin1996aspartofavolumeofProceedingsofa ColloquiumheldtomarkthecentenaryofLemaˆıtre’sbirth. - MgrGeorgesLemaˆıtresavantetcroyant.Laphysiqued’Einstein.Actesducol- loquetenua`Louvain-la-Neuvele4novembre1994.Ed.J.-Fr.Stoffel,Centrein- terfacultaired’e´tudeenhistoiredessciences.CollectionRe´minisciences3,Uni- versite´ catholiquedeLouvain,1996. AnauthoritativebiographybyDominiqueLambertpublishedin2000hassincebeen madeavailableinEnglishin2015. - DominiqueLambert,UnAtomed’Univers.Lavieetl’œuvredeGeorgesLemaˆı- tre,Bruxelles:Racine&Lessius,2000. - DominiqueLambert,TheAtomoftheUniverse.TheLifeandWorkofGeorges Lemaˆıtre,Krakow:CopernicusPress,2015. AttheinitiativeoftheBelgianPhysicalSociety(BPS)anditscurrentPresident, Dr.JozefOngena,theEuropeanPhysicalSociety(EPS),on23May2019,bestowed on the Heilige Geestcollege in Leuven an EPS Historic Sites Award for being the locationinEuropethatwitnessedtheemergenceofthetheoryoftheBigBangand thefoundationofmoderncosmologybyMonsignorGeorgesLemaˆıtre.Trulyavi- sionaryEuropeanphysicistofthe20thcentury,proudlyBelgian,anelectedmember and later President of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, that humble humanist resolutely mindful of his origins from Charleroi, postulated the expansion of the Universeandtheexistenceofthe“quantumprimevalatom”.Therecognitionofthe scientific legacy of Georges Lemaˆıtre by the EPS provides a timely incentive for the present volume and fittingly follows the above cited first ever publication in 1996oftheoriginalFrenchversionofLemaˆıtre’s1922dissertation,“LaPhysique d’Einstein”ontheoccasionofthecentenaryofLemaˆıtre’sbirth. With the first ever English translation of Lemaˆıtre’s early dissertation, “The Physics of Einstein”, the reader is able to acquire some insight into the sheer au- dacity of Lemaˆıtre’s approach to Albert Einstein’s theory of the gravitational in- teraction. Contemporary scholars – scientists, philosophers and historians of sci- encealike–aregivenauniqueopportunityofaccompanyingtheyoungLemaˆıtrein hispersonalstudyandreconstructionofEinstein’stheoriesofrelativity.Lemaˆıtre’s x Preface preliminary study of the physics of Einstein provides scholars with an open win- dowintothepremisesofLemaˆıtre’sreflectiononthenewphysicsofhisday.From Lemaˆıtre’s personal understanding and interpretation of Albert Einstein’s physics would emerge the revolutionary ideas that were to lay the very foundation of Lemaˆıtre’s theory of the quantum universe and the context for his ideas of its ex- pandingevolution. The present volume is divided into four main parts, the first and the last being chaptersontheirown.Concludingwithaninvitationto,andsomesuggestionsfor further reading of available documents addressing Lemaˆıtre’s life and rich and di- versescientificlegacy,thefirstpartprovidesahistoricalperspectiveoftheparticular scientificcontextinwhichGeorgesLemaˆıtreconductedtheresearchthatledhimto submit a dissertation in May 1922 entitled in French, “La Physique d’Einstein”. This introductory chapter provides a translation of the contribution by Professor LucienBossytotheColloquiuminhonorofthecentenaryofLemaˆıtre’sbirthheld on the 4th November 1994 at the Universite´ catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la- Neuve. Professor at UCLouvain from 1964 till 1985 and member of the Belgian RoyalMeteorologicalInstitute,LucienBossy(1918-1996)wasamongstLemaˆıtre’s earlycollaborators. Thefollowingtwoparts,eachwithitsspecificchapterswhichareincorrespon- dence through translation, present Lemaˆıtre’s dissertation of 1922. The critical re- visitededitionoftheoriginalmanuscriptinFrenchistobefoundinthethirdpart, followingitsEnglishtranslationinthesecondpart. Thefourthandlastpartandchapterofthevolumeprovidesrecentlyuncovered material (in French) from the Georges Lemaˆıtre Archives of personal correspon- dence between Georges Lemaˆıtre and Maurice Alliaume, and includes additional correctionsbyLemaˆıtretohisoriginalmanuscript,“LaPhysiqued’Einstein”. As mentioned at the beginning of our Preface, Lemaˆıtre published his ground- breaking study on the expansion of the Universe and the recession of galaxies in 1927. We wish readers an enjoyable journey of rediscovery into the mind of the founder of the theory of the Big Bang by learning the physics of Einstein in the excellentcompanyofGeorgesLemaˆıtrehimself. Preface xi Acknowledgements The editors would like to express sincere thanks to Dr Christian Caron and Dr Angela Lahee, Executive Publishing Editors with Springer, for accepting this volumeintotheSpringerbookprogramme. We are indebted to Ms Liliane Moens–Haulotte for her untiring dedication as voluntarycuratorensuringtheproperconservationandpreservationoftheGeorges Lemaˆıtre Archives. Whenever the opportunity arose Liliane sought to expand the originalcollectionthroughon-goingcontactwiththeLemaˆıtrefamilyallthewhile updatinginformationandinternationalpublicationssurroundingthescientificcon- tributionofGeorgesLemaˆıtre.Thecurrentdigitisationprojectofthe“treasureofthe Georges Lemaˆıtre Archives” by the Service des Archives UCLouvain will hence- forth ensure the transmission of the legacy of Georges Lemaˆıtre to future genera- tions. Professional advice was provided by the Service des Archives UCLouvain. In particular sincere thanks go to the Directrice, Professor Aurore Franc¸ois, to Caro- line Derauw, Delphine Picron, and especially Ve´ronique Fillieux for locating the relevant information and original documents now in digitised form in the Georges LemaˆıtreArchives,UCLouvain. Finally a word of genuine gratitude and profoud appreciation should go to Ms Christine Leroy for her expert translation skills and for her precious revision oftheEnglish,therebymakingthevolumeallthemorereadableforawiderreader- ship. Louvain-la-Neuve,Belgium JanGovaerts Jean-Franc¸oisStoffel
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