10 - Relativity & Black Holes

Problem:
Some aspects of electromagnetism dont work right unless
there is a preferred frame of reference - i.e. of motion
Is there? Is it the material that light propagates in - the
aether?

1887 Michelson &
Morley Experiment
speed of light in a
vacuum is independent
of the motion of the
source!
Consequence:
all observers
measure the
same speed of
light,
regardless of
their motion
w.r.t. the light
source!!!!

Ramification:
Although relative
velocities
add/subtract for most
common objects,
THIS IS NOT TRUE
FOR LIGHT! The
speed of a light
source coming toward
you is the same as
one going away from
you.



2 other points
If physical laws are
universal, everyone
should be able to
derive the same sets
of laws, even if they
dont see exactly the
same thing.
Events that
appear
simultaneous in
one frame of
reference may
not appear so
in another.

1905 Einstein published his first paper on
the special theory of relativity. In it are 2
postulates:
1. The speed of light in a vacuum is constant for
all observers
2. Every observer derives the same physical
laws
Einstein realized that Newton had not really defined time in
a consistent way: it is not an absolute quantity, but must be
defined in terms of observable quantities.

Consequences of Relativity
Time Dilation
Suppose you flew a rocket ship parallel to a perfectly
reflecting mirror, and shown a flashlight beam out the
widow so that it came right back to the flashlight.



2

( )
2

4
2

2
Time for light to hit mirror & return:

Now suppose you were stationary on the ground where the
mirror is mounted. What would you see?


t
2

2
+

2

_
,

2

2

4
2

2
+

2

2

so t
2

( )
2
+
2

2

2

2
1

2

_
,

( )
2

2

( )
2
1

2

_
,

1

2

2
The rate that time
passes for the two
observers of the
same event is
different!!
Time dilation - time
passes more slowly
when traveling fast,
compared to a
stationary observer

Observer in the Rocket:
Outside Observer:
The outside observer will see the clock time of the ship advance 1
sec for every 2.3 sec that his own clock ticks. The stationary
observer sees the ships clock running slower!
But the observer on the rocket sees the person on the ground
travel past at a high speed, and the observer on the ship must
see the same thing occurring to the clock of the outside observer!

1

t
1
1

_
,

0.9
1
1 0.81

1
0.19
2.3

Another consequence: Length Contraction
Objects appear to be compressed along their direction
of motion!!
And, as with time, the observer on the train see the
world around them compresses along the same line of
motion!!

1
1

( )
2

All these effects get
bigger/smaller with

0.0 1.0
0.1 1.005
0.5 1.155
0.8 1.667
0.9 2.294
0.99 7.089
0.999 22.366
0.9999 70.712
1.0 infinity
v
c


t

'

For moving objects with

times t, lengths L and
masses m, the
stationary person sees
it with t, L, and m:
(strictly speaking it is the
momentum, not the mass)

Other weird things:

To on outside
observer, a traveling
light source seems to
beam its light
forward


View of
space for a
stationary
observer
View of
space for a
moving
observer -
sees a
starbow

In much the same manner that the time dilation can be
derived, another direct consequence is that matter at rest
has built in energy:
E=mc
2
Most importantly, with these new clarifications the laws of
electromagnetism can be derived correctly!

So far - applies to v = constant - inertial motion
Special Theory of Relativity (for a special frame of
reference with acceleration = 0)
What about acceleration? We live in a universe
premeated by gravity, which causes
acceleration. In general, a 0.
For the more general case we need a more
General Theory of Relativity

Observed Problem
The orbit of
Mercury:
Newtonian Gravity Predicts: 5557.62 arcsec/century
Observed Value: 5600.73 arcsec/century
Difference: 43.11 t 0.45 arcsec/century too
fast!!
This seeming small inconsistency led Einstein to completely change
the way we look at the universe.
Also true for all planetary orbits, but less so further from Sun

The Principle of Equivalence
The force of gravity is, in most instances, indistinguishable
from the force due to accelerated motion.


Deflection of Starlight & Gravitational Lensing


Distant galaxies lensed/warped
in appearance by close galaxy
masses

Light travels along straight lines in a curved space-time
If this were a soccer field,
how would a soccer ball
roll on it?
Light behaves similarly
traveling through curced
3D space

Gravitational Redshift:
Light loses energy as it travels away from a source of gravity
Equivalent viewpoint: time runs more slowly
the closer you are to a source of gravity!

Black Holes
Make the gravity stronger by cramming the
mass into a smaller & smaller volume:
eventually even light cannot escape!

Its a case of extreme curvature

Non-rotating
(Schwarzschild) black
hole:
Events inside the
Schwarzschild
Radius cannot be
seen by a distant
observer - this is the
Event Horizon

R
s

2

2

R
s
3

_
,

In useful units:
Every object in the universe has a Schwarzschild radius. But
only if their mass is contained within this limiting distance
do they become a BH.

Rotating (Kerr)
BH:
Objects inside
the ergosphere
could
(supposedly) be
transported to
other
places/times!
Even outside,
frame dragging
should occur
A rotating mass has a tendency to pull space-time along with it

Frame Dragging at Earth being measured using Gravity Probe B,
launched April 20, 2004. Frame dragging occurs because a
rotating mass has a tendency to pull space-time along with it.



Observing Black Holes

Accreting Black Holes
As materials
flows down
toward the
black hole in
the form of an
accretion disk,
it does the
energy
conversion
thing:
Gravitational potential energy kinetic (motion) energy
thermal energy radiant energy

White dwarf, neutron star, or black hole? How do we know?
Size R - Varying X-ray emission - cannot occur more quickly
than it takes light to cross the diameter of the object (or else
the burst signal is washed out)
Mass M - use binary systems & Keplers 3rd Law!
Is R < R
S
?
HD 226868 = Cyg X-1 was first known BH

Black holes should also radiate Hawking Radiation

Travel into a black hole? Not me!