Gravitation, electromagnetism and cosmology: toward a new synthesis

Gravitation, Electromagnetism and Cosmology: toward a new synthesis

Edited by Konrad

Rudnicki

Apeiron Montreal

Published by C. Roy Keys Inc. 4405, rue St-Dominique Montreal, Quebec H2W 2B2 Canada http://redshift.vif.com © C. Roy Keys Inc. 2001 First Published 2001

National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data Main entry under title: Gravitation, electromagnetism and cosmology: toward a new synthesis Based on papers originally presented at an international conference on Redshifts and gravitation in a relativistic universe, held Sept. 17-20, 1999, Cesena, Italy. ISBN 0-9683689-6-4 1. Gravitation. 2. Electromagnetism. 3. Cosmology. I. Rudnicki, Konrad QB981.G73 2001

530.11

Cover design by Dominic Turgeon

C2001-900455-9

INTRODUCTION

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ritz 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 Gravitation, Electromagnetism and Cosmology: Toward a New Synthesis edited by Konrad Rudnicki (Montreal: Apeiron 2001)

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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 considera-

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tion 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 protofields 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 protofields. 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

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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 Cesena conference was to find common ground among the dissidents beyond their certitude that some mainstream models are wrong. That proved surprisingly difficult, and the discussions showed why— we differed about which fundamental starting points were a valid basis for building models. Should model-building be driven my math or by physics? Are singularities allowed by reality? Can matter and energy be created or destroyed? Must the causality principle be respected? And so forth. One session on the last day of the conference was devoted to a discussion of these points, and we found that no unanimity existed about any of them. That led directly to the contribution by Van Flandern, “Physics has its Principles,” which attempts to examine several such fundamental principles and show the consequences in each case of making a wrong assumption about its applicability or non-applicability. Whether or not this initial effort brings dissident views closer, it has certainly highlighted the points that must be resolved for any hope of a convergence of models and viewpoints in the future. 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

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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. Konrad Rudnicki

Table of Contents A.K.T. Assis Applications of the Principle of Physical Proportions to Gravitation .......................................................................................................... 1 Henrik Broberg The Geometry of Acceleration in Space-Time: Application to the Gravitational Field and Particles .............................................. 9 M. Biesiada, K. Rudnicki, J. Syska An Alternative Picture of the Structure of Galaxies.............................................. 31 Edward Kapuścik Electromagnetism and Cosmology ....................................................................... 49 F. Selleri Space and Time should be Preferred to Spacetime - 1.......................................... 57 F. Selleri Space and Time should be Preferred to Spacetime - 2.......................................... 73 Tom Van Flandern Physics Has its Principles ..................................................................................... 87 Romano Manaresi International Atomic Time and the One-Way Speed of Light ............................ 103 A. Rubčić, J. Rubčić, H. Arp New Empirical Clues for the Factor 1.23............................................................ 115 Konrad Rudnicki, Włodzimierz Godłowski, Anna Magdziarz Testing the Hypothesis of Redshift Quantization in Iwanowska Galaxy Lines Connected with our Galaxy and M31 ........................................... 133 Bernard R. Bligh Application of Thermodynamics to Cosmology ................................................. 143 Fabio Cardone and Roberto Mignani On Possible Experimental Evidence for a Breakdown of Local Lorentz Invariance .............................................................................................. 165

Applications of the Principle of Physical Proportions to Gravitation A.K.T. Assis1 We propose the principle of physical proportions, according to which all laws of physics may depend only on the ratio of quantities of the same type. We present examples of laws that satisfy this principle, and others that do not. These examples suggest that the theories leading to these laws must be incomplete. PACS numbers: 01.55.+b (General physics), 01.70.+w (Philosophy of science). Keywords: relative and absolute magnitudes, relational mechanics.

The Principle of Physical Proportions

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ewton, in his Principia (1687), introduced the concepts of absolute space, absolute time and absolute motion. Leibniz, Berkeley and Mach were against these concepts and proposed that only relative space, relative time and relative motion could be conceived and perceived by the senses. We agree with these authors and propose a generalization of their ideas through the principle of physical proportions, which can be stated as follows: “All laws of physics can depend only on the ratio of quantities of the same type.” The meaning of this principle is illustrated by the examples below. The law of the lever satisfies this principle. According to Archimedes two weights P1 and P2 at distances d1 and d2 from a fulcrum remain in horizontal static equilibrium only when P1/P2 = d2/d1. Only ratios of local weights and local distances are relevant here. On the other hand, classical mechanics does not satisfy this principle. For instance, the acceleration of free fall near the surface of the earth is given by 1

Instituto de Física “Gleb Wataghin” Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Unicamp, 13083-970 Campinas, São Paulo, Brasil. E-mail: [email protected]. Homepage: http://www.ifi.unicamp.br/~assis. Gravitation, Electromagnetism and Cosmology: Toward a New Synthesis edited by Konrad Rudnicki (Montreal: Apeiron 2001)

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a=

GM e 4π = GRe ρ e . 3 Re2

is the constant of gravitation, Here G = 6.67 × 10−11 Nm 2 / kg 2 24 M e = 5.98 × 10 kg is the earth’s mass, Re = 6.37 × 106 m is its average radius and ρ e = 5.52 × 103 kg / m3 its average mass density. This acceleration of free fall depends only on the mass (or density) of the earth, and not on the ratio of this mass (or density) to other masses (or densities) in the universe. Although the constant G has the dimensions of acceleration divided by (distance times density), it is not dependent on other bodies in the universe, since it is a universal constant. This situation is in conflict with the principle of physical proportions. Relational mechanics (Assis 1999, Section 8.1) has resolved this problem, as it is completely compatible with the principle of physical proportions. It is based on Weber’s law for gravitation and electromagnetism, and on the principle of dynamical equilibrium: The sum of all forces of any nature (gravitational, electric, magnetic, elastic, nuclear, etc.) acting on any body is always zero in all frames of reference. As the sum of all forces is zero, only ratios of forces will be detectable or measurable. The system of units (MKSA, cgs, etc.) to be employed is not relevant. Moreover, the unit or dimension of the forces can be whatever we wish. According to relational mechanics the acceleration of free fall is given by (Assis, 1999, Sections 8.5 and 9.2) a=

2

α

Re H o2

ρe . ρo

Here H o is Hubble’s constant and ρ o is the average matter density of the distant universe. Moreover, α is a dimensionless number with value 6 if we work with a finite universe and integrate Weber’s law for gravitation up to Hubble’s radius c / H o . If we work with Weber’s law and an exponential decay in gravitation we can integrate up to infinity, and in this case α = 12 . The important aspect of this result is that only a ratio of densities is important here. Doubling the earth’s density while keeping the mass density of the distant universe unaltered is equivalent to keeping the earth’s density unaltered while halving the mass density of the distant universe. In both

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cases the acceleration of free fall doubles compared to its present value of 9.8m/s2. Next we consider the figure of the earth.

The Flattening of the Earth Due to its diurnal rotation around the North-South axis the earth takes essentially the form of an ellipsoid of revolution. Its equatorial radius R> is greater than the polar radius R − R< 15ω 2 ≈ ≈ 0.004 . 16π G ρ e R
− R< 5α ω eU ≈ . 2 8 H o ρe R