Gravitation,
Electromagnetism and Cosmology:toward a new synthesis
(paperback, 177 pages; ISBN 0-9683689-6-4)
Gravitation,
Electromagnetism and Cosmology:
toward a new synthesis
(paperback,
177 pages; ISBN 0-9683689-6-4)
edited
by Konrad Rudnicki
Based
on papers originally presented at an international conference on Redshifts
and gravitation in a relativistic universe, held
From the Editor’s Introduction
Fritz
Zwicky, the great 20th century
astronomer, astrophysicist and theoretical physicist, also dealt with
methodology of research, which is considered to be one of branches of the
philosophy of science. Zwicky, unlike most
philosophers working in this area, not only discussed methods used by others but
applied his methodological ideas to a new practical approach in his highly
successful scientific research. This approach helped him to discover new objects
and new facts. His activity in the fields of the exact sciences and of
philosophy in science formed an
integral whole. He advocated taking all possible, even exotic hypotheses into
consideration, and never adhering only to a single hypothesis. In his Morphological
Astronomy he wrote the following words, which should be taken as a
fundamental principle in all research:
If
rain begins to fall on previously dry areas on the earth, the water on the
ground will make its way from high levels to low levels in a variety of ways.
Some of these ways will be more or less obvious, predetermined by pronounced
mountain formations and valleys, while others will appear more or less at
random. Whatever courses are being followed by the first waters, their existence
will largely prejudice those chosen by later floods. A system of ruts will
consequently be established which has a high degree of permanence. The water
rushing to the sea will sift the earth in these ruts and leave the extended
layers of earth outside essentially unexplored. Just as the rains open up the
earth here and there, ideas unlock the doors to various aspects of life, fixing
the attention of men on some aspects while partly or entirely ignoring others.
Once man is in a rut he seems to have the urge to dig even deeper, and what
often is most unfortunate, he does not take the excavated debris with him like
the waters, but throws it over the edge, thus covering up the unexplored
territory and making it impossible for him to see outside his rut. The mud he is
throwing may even hit his neighbours in the eyes, intentionally or
unintentionally and make it difficult for them to see anything at all.
This
volume, devoted to the problems of relativity, gravitation and related issues in
physics, presents papers delivered and/or discussed during the conference “Redshifts
and Gravitation in a Relativistic Universe” held in Cesena
on September 17-20th 1999. In a way, this conference represents a response to Zwicky’s
method, outlined above. Its main aim was to serve as a forum for ideas and
theories that go against the mainstream of science. Some of the theories are
already cast in their final form; some are just rough ideas still undergoing
development. Not all of them will prove correct, just as not all of the
mainstream theories are wrong. Only reality is an absolute truth, while our
theories have only approximate validity. The great German thinker Johann
Wolfgang von Goethe wrote: not
distinguishing between reality and theory is like not distinguishing between a
building and its scaffolding. Theories are tools, not objects of scientific
investigation, but indispensable tools. Only a wide variety of tools can enable
us to carry out such a complicated task as scientific research.
In
addition, a wide variety of observed phenomena have to be taken into
consideration in a properly organized scientific investigation. Some phenomena
which are seldom mentioned by others—such as quantization of redshifts—are
discussed in this volume.
Some
of the papers are presented here in more or less the same form in which they
were delivered during the conference. Some were reworked more recently and take
a final form different from the presentation. No minutes of the extensive
discussion in the conference auditorium or the more lively discussions that
continued during breaks and around dinner tables were recorded. In some cases
the discussions are reflected in the final shape of the papers. Two of the
papers included here were not presented as such during the conference, but their
content was mentioned and taken under consideration during the debate. This
volume therefore should not be regarded as a formal
proceedings of the Cesena Conference,
although it does fairly reflect the substance of the event.
In
his contribution A.K.T. Assis proposes the principle
of physical proportions, according to which all laws of physics can depend only
on the ratio of known quantities of the same type. An alternative formulation is
that all universal constants of physics (G, c,
Planck’s constant, Boltzmann’s constant, etc.)
must depend on cosmological or microscopic properties of the universe. There is
a discussion of laws satisfying this principle and of other laws which do not
follow it, implying that the corresponding theories must be incomplete. The
author shows how to implement this principle by means of his theory of
Relational Mechanics, as set out in the book of the same title (Apeiron,
Montreal, 1999).
The
paper presented by H. Broberg is based on the
equivalence between gravitation and acceleration, initially suggested by
Einstein. This introduces a new geometric approach to quantum gravity, the
missing link to unification, extended to a discussion of energy flows in the
vacuum as the key mechanism of the gravitational process. His ideas also relate
to string theory in a scenario where the extra dimension, representing the
“thickness of the line,” can be allowed to exist from the Planck length up
to the Hubble scale.
An
alternative picture of the structure of galaxies is proposed in the paper by Marek
Biesiada, Konrad Rudnicki
and Jacek Syska. The
authors discuss the possible explanation of dynamical properties of galaxies
with the theory of dilatonic balls using
six-dimensional space.
In
the paper “Electromagnetism and Cosmology” by Edward Kapuścik
a rather convincing argument is given that the correct unification of
electromagnetism and gravity should start from some elementary and basic
proto-fields which are neither electromagnetic or
gravitational fields. The presently observed division of fundamental
interactions into gravitational and electromagnic
must be achieved by constructing composite fields from the proto-fields. In
addition to the field equations, the gauge conditions
also express physical laws and determine these composite fields. The last
statement contradicts the point of view commonly adopted, which treats the gauge
fields as auxiliary quantities.
Two
papers by F. Selleri show that transformations of
space and time between inertial systems exist which are almost empirically
equivalent to the Lorentz transformations.
They contain a free parameter e1, the coefficient of x in the
transformation of time. He shows that Michelson type experiments, aberration,
occultation of Jupiter satellites, and radar ranging of planets are insensitive
to the choice of e1. An exception is represented by experiments in
slowly accelerated frames, e.g., those concerning the Sagnac
effect. The best choice emerging from Selleri’s
work is where the parameter e1 = 0,
i.e., a theory different from Special Relativity.
One
of the goals of the
Many
physicists point to the proper functioning of the International Atomic Time
system (TAI) in order to support the postulate of Special Relativity Theory
about the one-way isotropy of light velocity in every inertial system, which has
never been demonstrated. Contrary to this view, Manaresi
demonstrates that the proper functioning of the TAI system does not imply the
one-way isotropy of light on the moving Earth. This means that the second
postulate of Special Relativity still remains merely conventional.
Astronomical
observations show that some fundamental cosmic properties come in discrete
values. The ratio of observed properties, such as redshift
or mass, for example, yields a ubiquitous factor of 1.23. In the paper by A. and
J Rubčić and H. Arp
in this volume the properties of fundamental particles such as leptons and
quarks are examined. The surprising result is that they also obey this
“quantization” rule. While there is no current explanation, these empirical
results point to similar physical laws which extend from the smallest to the
largest entities in the universe. This may lead to a physical understanding of redshift
quantization.
A
very straightforward paper by K. Rudnicki, W. Godłowski
and A. Magdziarz presents a statistical elaboration
of a very small sample of objects within the Iwanowska
lines of galaxies and globular clusters. It shows that globular clusters, even
located together with galaxies on the same lines, do not show redshift
periodisation, whereas the galaxies do show the periodisation.
B.
Bligh starts with some basic notions of thermodynamics to expose some of the
errors made by cosmologists. Thermodynamic calculations require an energy
balance. He then presents calculations on the Hot Big Bang Theory using data
provided by cosmologists. The results are presented in a table and graphs which
show that the Big Bang Theory cannot be true. Mr. Bligh also explains that
thermodynamic calculations are most easily done with the aid of a
temperature-entropy diagram for hydrogen, a method that is demonstrated in
detail in his book The Big Bang Exploded!
Lastly,
the paper by Cardone and Mignani
deals with a problem that has been the subject of long-standing debate in the
literature, namely the possibility of a breakdown of local Lorentz
invariance (a subject revived in recent years, e.g., by S. Coleman, S.L. Glashow
and R. Jackiw). In their paper, Cardone
and Mignani report the preliminary positive results
of an experiment which seems to evidence a DC voltage across a conductor induced
by the static magnetic field of a coil. This intriguing finding ought, of
course, to be confirmed by further independent tests, aimed at excluding
possible gravitational effects, among the other things.
A.K.T.
Assis
Applications
of the Principle of Physical Proportions
to Gravitation
Henrik
Broberg
The
Geometry of Acceleration in Space-Time:
Application to the Gravitational Field and Particles
M.
Biesiada, K. Rudnicki, J. Syska
An
Alternative Picture of the Structure of Galaxies
Edward
Kapuścik
Electromagnetism
and Cosmology
F.
Selleri
Space
and Time should be Preferred to Spacetime - 1
F.
Selleri
Space
and Time should be Preferred to Spacetime - 2
Tom
Van Flandern
Physics
Has its Principles
Romano
Manaresi
International
Atomic Time and the One-Way Speed of Light
A.
Rubčić, J. Rubčić, H. Arp
New
Empirical Clues for the Factor 1.23
Konrad
Rudnicki, Włodzimierz Godłowski, Anna Magdziarz
Testing
the Hypothesis of Redshift Quantization in Iwanowska Galaxy Lines Connected with
our Galaxy and M31
Bernard
R. Bligh
Application
of Thermodynamics to Cosmology
Fabio
Cardone and Roberto Mignani
On
Possible Experimental Evidence for a Breakdown of Local Lorentz Invariance
Konrad
Rudnicki was born in 1926 in
His work focuses on stellar and extragalactic
astronomy, the foundations of cosmology and methodology of science. He is the
author of 12 scientific books, 103 original astronomical papers and some 240
popular essays in astronomy. He discovered (together with B. Wszolek, P. de
Bernardis and