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Relativity
We continue our survey with Einstein's special and general relativity.
Principle ideas are bulletted; supporting evidence is emphasized subsequently.
- Formal and experimental equivalence of physics on platforms moving at
constant velocity with respect to one another.
Stellar spectra.
- Constancy of the speed of light.
Diurnal and equinoxial invariance of a multi-path interference pattern
(Michelson-Morley).
- Equivalence of mass and energy.
Particle-anti-particle production through scattering of high-energy
photons.
- Equivalence of physics on accelerating platforms and platforms at rest in a
gravitational field.
Time dilation of satellite clocks.
- The geodesic - gravity arises through the distortion of spacetime by mass.
All particles move on their geodesic: the path, determined by their initial
position and velocity, that has the shortest "length".
The perihelion of Mercury.
Influence of the sun on stellar parallax, gravitational lensing.
- Black holes - a sufficiently massive object will cause enough curvature in
space-time that not even light will be able to escape from its surface.
Active galactic nuclei.
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