A Tribute to Einstein: His theory of relativity and their implications.

Lets get started

Starting today, I’ll be writing some articles about general science, which I am sure, will spur your interest in the subject. Let me set something straight at the very outset. I am not a scientist in the first place, but I come from a backdrop of science which helps matters. Again the articles are not intended to be taken as reference material for scientific pursuits (okay, that’s exaggeration) but are merely meant for reading pleasure. My motive is to open the reader’s mind to the breathtaking landscape of science. So, fasten your belts and we are set to go.

The first one of the many articles that will follow is about theory of relativity postulated by Albert Einstein and other models stemming from it. We will look at what makes the universe so fascinating and why the theory of relativity has accrued the attention it did. In fact terming the universe as fascinating is an understatement. It is well beyond that. Let’s begin then, folks.

In 1905, Albert Einstein published three papers that established his reputation as one of the greatest brains to have ever blessed the science fraternity. To really appreciate why Einstein’s research was groundbreaking, it is imperative to understand the landscape of science before Einstein arrived.

Before Einstein

In the early 80’s of the nineteenth century, the universe was generally accepted to be made up of a fluid substance, called ether, and light was considered to be waves propagating through it. As an analogy, light waves are to ether what sound is to air. Another, widely accepted school of thought was that the speed of light should inherently differ to an observer depending on the speed and the direction in which he was moving. It is exactly the same as the difference of speed you would feel, contingent on the direction of your travel, relative to another car that is moving. So, by the same token, the speed of light should appear less to you if you are moving in its direction, and the speed should appear more if your direction of travel is against its direction. However experiments carried out by researchers in Cleveland, Ohio, suggested that the speed of light is the same irrespective of the motion or the direction of the observer.

Timelessness

Enter Einstein. Taking cue from the above fact, Einstein dismissed the idea of ether as redundant. He is even believed to have termed the ether theory as bogus. He believed that all physical phenomena should be governed by laws that are uniform and constant, regardless of whether the person was moving or stationary. This was one blow to classical physics. But the final nail on the coffin proved to be his idea that time is not a universal absolute as it was widely conceived to be, but relative.

Though the idea seems counter-intuitive at first blush, there are ample proofs that suggest the veracity of the concept. The first among them is when two clocks are brought together and synchronized, and then one is moved away and brought back, the clock which has undergone the traveling would be found to be lagging behind the clock which has stayed put. This clearly shows that time is relative. Another extension of this concept is the twin paradox which is explained below.

The Twin Paradox

Imagine there are two folks who are identical to each other in all respects. One of them (say, Harry) embarks on a space-craft and blasts away into space at a speed proportionate to that of light. The other twin (say, Sally) stays on earth. Our beloved space tourist gets the surprise of his life when he sets his foot on earth after his expedition. Can you guess what? He finds that his sister has grown older than he. Did time stop for him? Or was it the other way round – time passed too quickly for his sister than it did for him? The answer is yes and no, both. Confused? Well, theory of special relativity provides the answer. To pit it in Einstein’s own words,”Time is personal and not universal.”

E=MC²

Let’s now shift focus and explore yet another of Einstein’s invaluable contribution. He came up with the most famous equation known to man, E=MC². This equation gracefully elucidates why it is impossible for a physical body to surpass the speed of light. Einstein proposed that to accelerate, one needs to expend energy. To even equal the speed of light, one would therefore need an infinite expenditure of energy which is inconsistent with the law of conservation of energy.

The Atom Bomb

As it turns out, this equation has been also responsible for bringing untold calamities to mankind. Atom Bombs! At the core of the most destructive of bombs, this equation is at work. To know how a bomb works, read on. An atom is made up of several neutrons and protons with electrons revolving around it. Experiments have shown that the total mass of the nucleus (which is aggregation of protons and neutrons), is less than the sum of the masses of the individual protons and neutrons that go into making it. Where is the missing mass? Again, E=MC² explains it. The mass that apparently seems to disappear is indeed converted into energy. If you could by any way, give vent to that energy, you have the ultimate disaster recipe in place for you, ready to be served. This is how atom bombs found their way into history.

It is noteworthy to mention that even though Einstein laid the foundation on which atom bombs could be built, he himself was never a part of the Manhattan project that led to the dropping of the two deadly bombs at Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

Einstein and Gravity

This however did not mean it was plain sailing for Einstein all through. Though his theory of relativity could explain concepts like magnetism and electricity, it was not compatible with Newton’s laws of gravitation. Newtonian theory suggests that if there is any change in the distribution of matter of the universe at some point in the space, the change must innately be felt elsewhere instantaneously, which in a way meant that it is possible for the change to propagate at the speed of light. That is what the word instantaneously is suggestive of. But Einstein had long dismissed the absoluteness of time. So he refused to buy Newton’s theory. He was aware that there was a missing link and he set out to find it.

Newtonian theory suggests that an apple falls to the ground because the earth exerts a pull on it, which we all know to be the gravitational pull. In scientific literature, the apple crashing down on Newton’s head is the same as Newton accelerating upwards to hit the stationary apple. This theory works fine if we consider the world as flat, but how does one explain the spherical shape of the earth. In a spherical earth, Einstein suggested that people living at opposite ends of the earth must continue to accelerate outward, with the distance between them remaining the same. It was this anomaly that convinced Einstein to come to yet another groundbreaking conclusion – a physical body warps space-time and it is this curvature that went on to explain so many phenomena that had remained unexplained so far, like explaining gravity in the pretext of a spherical earth.

Space-time

Einstein was convinced that space-time is curved and not flat as it was assumed to be hitherto. What this meant in layman terms was that gravity is just an expression of the fact that space time is curved. Very simply stated this means that the apple inherently tries to move in a straight line, but because a massive body as the earth warps space-time, it appears to fall into the earth. This new theory was called the general theory of relativity to distinguish it from the original theory without gravity, which is now known as the special theory of relativity. Extending the same concept to the universe we get another interesting observation. Since the universe is full of matter, it follows that all bodies should continue to fall through the space-time continuum. This implies the universe is either expanding or contracting and as observations have shown the universe is indeed expanding with every passing day.

The Universe through Einstein’s eyes

As it turns out astronomical data collected from various sources showed that galaxies are moving away from each other and their speed is in direct proportion to the distance between them. So, it is reasonably easy to conclude that at one point of time they must have been close together. This was one major reason that led scientists to adopt the big-bang theory to explain the origin of the universe. Again there were issues that were not resolved. Big bang suggested that time must have a beginning - an idea Einstein had dismissed at the very outset. Further the theory predicted that as a star continued to burn its nuclear fuel, eventually a time would come when the star would exhaust the fuel and the warping of space-time would become so severe (read extremely large gravity) that not even light would escape from it. This state is more commonly referred to as the black hole. To put it in Einstein's linguistics, time would come to an end, which is again a contradiction to what he proposed. Thus, theory of relativity failed at the beginning and at the end of a star's lifecycle. Later scientists discovered that this was not exactly a fallacy but just a gap that arose because quantum mechanics was not taken into account. With quantum theory considered, all the pieces of the puzzle fit together.

Finally

Exhilarating, isn't it? When World War 2 finally came to an end he was offered to take over the newly created state of Israel, which he ardently refused saying this, which still lingers on, 'Politics is for the moment, but an equation is for eternity.' How true. E=MC² is still his best epitaph and memorial. It should last till the end of time.

Me, her and the teddy

It's three o'clock in the morning. The cool September night is looking caressingly at me through my window; stars twinkling in her bosom as if playing hide and seek with each other. Not a trace of sleep in my eyes. I am so excited.

I keep twisting and turning in my bed; every time I move, the bed cries out a disapproving creaking sound, as if flustered by my ingratitude of not being nice to her. Tired of feeling like an insomniac, I desperately want sleep to seduce me but she betrays. My entire being, from head to toe, is bursting with a strange, incomprehensible feeling. I am awake, thinking of my love, when the entire town is in deep slumber. Unable to stand my bed any longer, I jump out of it. Putting on a shirt, I take the stairs leading me to the door that opens to the terrace. I flung open the door. A gentle burst of cool breeze, smelling strongly of fresh jasmine, welcomes me. The fragrance leaves me softly intoxicated. The night is very beautiful and soothing. Too splendid a night to be wasted under the blankets, I think. The entire locality is enshrouded by the darkness of the night - the darkness only occasionally broken by flashes of light of the fireflies which abound the air at this time of the year. There is no sound except for that of the crickets who seem to be having a grand party with the fireflies as their guests.

My mind is wandering. 'What could she be doing at this time of the night?', I ask myself. 'Must be sound asleep as a baby', my mind retorts back. I conjure up her image, sleeping soundly in her cosy bed, a big teddy beside her. My lips broaden into a lavish smile looking at the gargantuan size of the teddy. He has very impressive features. Eyes as black as the night itself, giant drooping ears that almost seem to cover the sides of his face. He has rather short and slender legs for his heavy frame, making me wonder if those legs can stand his weight. Beside him, to his left, sleeps the lady. I look at her, admiring her immaculate beauty. She has one arm around the teddy. They seem to be enjoying each others company. All of a sudden, she grimaces, tugs the teddy closer to her, as though annoyed by my invasion into her privacy. Then a whiff of wind ruffles the curtains, blows a tuft of her hair across her face. She curls up her legs drawing them towards her chest. Apparently, she is feeling cold. I reach out for her quilt and gently pull it over her. My eyes turn to the teddy, who is looking at me, annoyed and irritated, a slight tinge of envy in his big black eyes. He presumably does not want me to come between him and her. As I prepare myself to apologise for my misconduct, her hand flings in and goes round the teddy's waist, pulling him closer to her chest. In an instant the envy in his eyes disappears only to be replaced by a teasingly mocking look suggestive of saying,'Back off, Weirdo. She is my girl!' I give out a suppressed laugh, careful not to wake up the sleeping beauty.

Suddenly, I feel the wetness of water around me and instantly I am out of the trance. It's drizzling, the rain drops piercing against my face like sharp needles. In an instant, the irritated but cute teddy, the sleeping beauty and the ambient atmosphere of the room are all gone. I am back at the terrace. A faint smile comes over my lips, as I think of the teddy approaching the rain gods and secretly conspiring to drive me away so that i am no longer an unwanted guest in his room. The faint smile widens into a yawn. My eyelids are feeling heavy now. I return to my bed. Sleep is beckoning me and this time I really want to yield to its temptation.

Duality

One of the most intriguing subjects that I ever studied as a student of science is Physics. Amongst other equally mystifying concepts, the one that has fascinated me the most is the principle of duality, postulated by the renowned German physicist, Max Planck. He made a rather weird albeit entrancing discovery - it is inherently possible for a physical entity (say, an electron) to have more than one existence in the space-time continuum. The idea seemed whimsical and preposterous at first blush, but Planck went on to substantiate his theory with scientific proofs which could no longer be dismissed as outlandish.

This is Physics, pure and sublime and in its most natural form. Let's momentarily extend the concept to our lives. All we need to do is extrapolate the definition of the 'physical entity' from a minuscule electron to something not quite minuscule as humans. From the principle of duality it stands to reason that I, you or anything in the whole wide world must innately have more than one existence in the space-time continuum. Thus, there is a Sankash that exists alongside this one in some other world (known or unknown to humankind). And he is as real, or unreal for that matter as the Sankash who owns this blog. That the two different Sankashes, who are apparently unknown to each other now, were borne out of a single Sankash is a school of thought that cannot be ruled out. It is just that each of them took a different turn at one of the many cross-roads they have come across in their life, and thereby chose not only different futures for themselves but also different destinies.

Skeptics will argue that I must be out of my mind (read insane) to write what I have written. In fact being insane is the most basic form of sanity that you can ever hope to manifest. To a clinically (note the word clinically) healthy person a mentally retarded person is insane, but from the retarded person's perspective he himself is as sane as any other - may be for him, on the contrary, the clinically healthy person is insane. So, who is sane and who is not? Figure out the answer yourself. The fact of the matter is we are so busy looking at everything through the periscope of reason, trying to be reasonable all the time that we end up being reasonably unreasonable most of the time, if not all the time. We always keep looking for that line that tells right from wrong, reality from illusion, permanent from transient, mortality from immortality completely ignorant of the fact that the line was never there in the first place. All that you see, hear, feel is as real or unreal, as right or wrong, as good or bad as you perceive them to be.

So, is the principle of duality reasonable or unreasonable? Only you know the answer.

The demise of a heart

No other phenomenon has intrigued me as much love; in fact, it is so extraordinarily fascinating. Come to think of it - it takes a fraction of a millisecond(may be lesser) to fall for someone but a trifle longer than a lifetime to fall out of it. Also as I have discovered,the road to love is strikingly easy to take, for it is paved with roses- red and sublime, however the way back is just a dead impasse made with pretty lies and broken dreams.....

How did it all come about, you might ask. Well, here is the story.

"How does an angel look like?" This was a question which I often asked people as a kid. Their answers, as varied and diverse as they were, never really convinced me. Then one fine day, I saw HER. I have not bothered to ask that question any further since - the question answered itself. I felt as if a bomb had detonated and in a moment my defense was gone rendering me vulnerable like never before. As the dust settled, the realisation dawned on me that now there was a hole where my heart used to be.....

That was way back in August, 2007 in Mumbai. Plenty of water has flown under the bridge since. The hole, however, is still there. It has only expanded with every passing day to the world outside,and I find myself constantly walking around in the daytime, and falling into it at night.

And if you thought that was the end of it, you are mistaken. Parting was so much more subdued compared to the first meeting. There were no explosions this time. It was as quiet as a feather falling through the thin air. And the most painful part is nobody hears it except you. I was being transferred to Bangalore and it was my last day in Mumbai. The mere thought of not being able to see her ever again gave me shivers. I felt the air vanish from my lungs. Drawing whatever courage I could from my last reserves, I went up to her to say 'Good Bye'. With moist eyes and a lump in my throat I extended my wavering hand to touch her one final time. How I wished time stopped. She reciprocated with a pat on my shoulders and a blinding smile. That smile is still vivid in my memory. She turned around to leave. I wanted to cry out - "Don't"; but the words betrayed me. And I stood there defenselessly watching the distance between our two bodies expand until there was nothing left but empty space......and silence.

Ever since that profound moment, I have been trying to console myself telling that a time will come when I will stop loving you and with the distance we have between us, I will forget you. But then I realised that since you left me, time had stopped and distance had no measure. I simply cannot reconcile with your absence, despite knowing fully well that you were never meant to be mine. I can't even escape the thought of you. Even in my dreams you are there. It just ain't fair how you are gone, and how you are moving on so fast, while I am still living in the past.

Why do I still hanker for you? A million words wouldn't bring you back. I know because
I have tried. Nor would a million tears. I know because I have cried....

An unforgettable day!

Reminiscing of that unforgettable day still conjures up your innocent face in my imagination. You looked so stunning that all I could do was just stand and look at you. As I stood there transfixed by your impeccable beauty, time seemed to come to a standstill. I remember you were wearing a red suit and talking on the phone. How I wished I could capture that moment for keep in embedded in my heart for eternity. Very seldom do we come face to face with moments like these. I knew I was looking at someone who could never be mine. The odds were too great, probably insurmountable. Nonetheless, my heart refused to give up. Probably I expected miracles to come to my rescue.

And suddenly the sky turned black with dark clouds. That rain was coming was imminent. How was I supposed to keep my emotions on guard? Suddenly a burst of wind came and started playing with her hair. With her hair flying like crazy, I experienced heaven. A silent prayer was uttered to keep the rains at bay so that I could dwell in that trance a little longer. But that was not to be. Rain played spoilt sport and she went away to take cover from the rain. And that timeless moment was lost- forever.

My take on love

Have you ever wondered what is feels to be in love? Terrible. Infact it is one of the craziest and most weird thing that you can ever experience. You simply let some weirdo who is no different than you to enter your stupid life expecting that in some way or the other things will turn for the better - it is like hoping that the stupid person would restore some sanity into your life. And then you are pleasantly surprised. Bed of roses- this is what love is not; a bunch of thorns-that it sure is.

But I reckon, we are all meant to be insane and what better way to make it more conspicuous than by falling in love with someone. Come to think of it, you surrender your heart, your soul and what not, just because that pimple faced girl smiled at you. You loose your focus. You loose your mind. Before you realise what went wrong, it is already too late. People start noticing you- you become so miserable. The sweet world has turned its back on you. Finally it dawns on you that the whole ordeal is not worth the pain you are going through. You decide to put an end to all this trash- easier said than done. It's soul hurt- a real gets inside you and rips you apart pain. I hate love