1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 340 The first exact solution to the Bruce field equation! Theoretical proof of the existence of black holes! Breakthrough of the third prediction!

The time came to 1913.

The publication of the general theory of relativity and the convening of the second Bruce Conference made Ridgway a world-renowned physicist.

Whether in the academic field or the popular field, his name is well-known to everyone.

Some conclusions of the theory of relativity are also deeply rooted in people's minds.

What followed were invitations from all sides.

The various invitations Li Qiwei received have been scheduled until next year.

Fortunately, Wang Luyao and Xiang Lan helped him sort it out, otherwise he would have been in a lot of trouble.

And he couldn't turn down many invitations.

For example, Planck represents Germany, Madame Curie represents France, Lorentz represents the Netherlands, Bohr represents Denmark, and so on.

They all invited Li Qiwei to visit in the name of a government.

For the sake of the future science city plan, he couldn't refuse.

Li Qiwei sighed: "People are afraid of becoming famous just like pigs are afraid of getting fat."

Wang Luyao smiled and said, "It turns out that being a celebrity is quite tiring, traveling all over the world."

Li Qiwei hugged him and laughed, "That means I'm not famous enough."

"Sooner or later, I will have to sit at home and the leaders of various countries will have to come and visit me in person."

Wang Luyao laughed and said, "Just brag."

Just as Ridgway was preparing for his global visit, a piece of news instantly set off the physics and astronomy communities.

1913 1 Month 15 Day.

A paper was published in the famous German academic journal "Annals of Physics".

The author was Schwarzschild, who gave the first exact solution to the Bruce field equations in his paper.

Schwarzschild found the simplest possible cosmic situation.

That is, assume that there is only one celestial body in the universe, there is nothing around it and the space is isotropic.

This unique celestial body itself is stationary, non-rotating, uncharged, and spherically symmetrical.

In this case, Schwarzschild went through a complex series of calculations.

We come to a conclusion: when the radius of a celestial body is smaller than a certain value r, the celestial body will collapse.

At this time, the space-time of the celestial body is extremely curved, and even light cannot escape.

All light, from any direction, is drawn into the center of this celestial body.

This is the theoretical basis of black holes.

According to Schwarzschild's calculations, if the Earth wants to become a black hole, its radius needs to be reduced to about 9 mm, which is about the size of a ping-pong ball.

As soon as the paper was published, it caused an instant sensation.

Schwarzschild's derivation process is extremely detailed.

After the baptism of general relativity, most physicists can now read Schwarzschild's papers.

After repeated calculations by many colleagues, Schwarzschild's results were confirmed.

For a time, the physics community was shocked.

The five predicted black holes have finally been proven theoretically.

Previously, in his general theory of relativity, Ridgway had only logically predicted that such a celestial body must exist.

And now, Schwarzschild has finally found the solution to the black hole equation.

Although its form is relatively simple, its meaning is extremely profound and its importance is self-evident.

Everyone was excited.

All that remains is to formally observe the black hole through experiments.

That's another task.

All astronomers are confident that the predictions of general relativity will not be wrong.

Black holes must exist!
With this paper, Schwarzschild became a famous physicist and astronomer.

You know, before this, he was just the head of the observatory.

This solution is also called the "Schwarzschild solution", and the radius of the black hole is also called the "Schwarzschild radius".

Another major achievement has been made in the field of cosmology.

With the second Bruce Conference and Ridgwell's strong move, astronomy has now officially recognized the existence of cosmology.

This discipline, which is based on general relativity and studies the structure of the universe from a large-scale perspective, is full of infinite possibilities.

Especially its core theory: the Big Bang, has been the dream of countless astronomers and regarded as a treasure.

Schwarzschild's achievements provide important reference for the study of black holes.

More black hole theories will surely be developed on this basis.

Schwarzschild became the founder of black hole theory.

Immediately, big names in the fields of physics and astronomy publicly expressed their congratulations and praised this exciting achievement.

Li Qiwei was even more generous in his praise: "Professor Schwarzschild has his own unique insights in mathematics and physics."

"Theoretical proof of the existence of black holes will provide an important means for subsequent experimental observations."

Wow!
The academic community is shocked!

Given Li Qiwei's current status, any public statement he makes will attract the attention of countless people.

Everyone began to ask who Schwarzschild was.

Even Professor Bruce, the author of general relativity, could not find the exact solution, but he was the first to discover it.

For a time, Schwarzschild was the most popular person!

Li Qiwei looked at the paper and felt deeply moved.

Schwarzschild published his paper ahead of time, proposing an exact solution to the Bruce field equations.

In this life, I’m afraid he won’t risk his life in the trenches to write a paper.

I hope his fate can change.

At the election meeting of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, Germany.

Schwarzschild was giving a report on his published paper.

Sitting in the audience were big names like Planck, Einstein, and Laue.

Schwarzschild was in high spirits at this moment.

He thought again of the fantasies he had had with Laue and others at the observatory.

Unexpectedly, the dream actually came true.

And in such a short time.

"My paper discusses ideal situations in a mathematical sense."

"Although this state does not exist in the real universe, the solar system can be described very well by the Schwarzschild solution."

"Because the sun itself is nearly spherical, the mass of the planetary matter around it is negligible compared to the mass of the sun, which is approximately equal to a vacuum."

"So, the curvature of spacetime by the sun that I calculated can explain the orbits of the planets in the solar system."

"In addition, the solution is highly universal."

"Because its calculation process is independent of the type of star."

"The Schwarzschild solution depends on only one parameter, which is mass."

"It has nothing to do with the mass distribution and density of the sun itself."

"According to my calculations, if the sun is to become a black hole, its radius needs to collapse to about 3 kilometers."

"That is, the mass of the entire sun remains unchanged, and after continuous compression, the radius reaches its limit and becomes a black hole."

"I believe that such a process must exist in the universe."

Wow!
There was thunderous applause from the audience.

Schwarzschild's report was extremely brilliant.

All of them are precise calculations and theoretical analysis.

His understanding of the Bruce field equations surpassed everyone present.

Just looking at those formulas gives me a headache.

And Schwarzschild was able to find an exact solution from it. His mathematical skills were truly amazing.

As expected of someone who was acquainted with Hilbert and Minkowski, he is good at mathematics.

Don't think that Schwarzschild just found a special case and that the calculation is simple.

Even the simplest case of the Bruce field equations requires a large number of complex calculations.

Therefore, all the bigwigs present admired Schwarzschild very much.

This ordinary middle-aged man is a model of sudden success and late bloomer.

In this era when young people dominated the development of modern physics, Schwarzschild's success brought great inspiration to the older generation. Suddenly, Einstein asked:

"Professor Schwarzschild, how much influence do you think your exact solution will have on general relativity?"

Today, Einstein is a professor of physics in Germany.

Schwarzschild thought for a moment and said:
"As we all know, Professor Bruce proposed five major predictions in general relativity."

"Except for the black hole, the other four major predictions have all been calculated or analyzed by his theory."

"So, now I have made up for the black hole's computing shortcomings."

At this point, Schwarzschild suddenly said excitedly: "But I personally think that this is far from enough."

"Because the existence of black holes has only been proven theoretically so far."

"The existence of this extremely special celestial body, black holes, has not been formally observed in experiments."

“So, I think we still have a long way to go.”

"But, regardless, this is strong support for general relativity."

The bigwigs in the audience nodded silently.

Schwarzschild's rigor also won everyone's admiration.

This is a theoretical victory after all, but it still needs to be confirmed by experiments.

Schwarzschild went on to say:

"Two of my good friends, Eddington was working on the bending of light, and Hubble was working on the expansion of the universe."

"I believe that if the two of them make a breakthrough in their research, it will be the final result."

"The correctness of general relativity will no longer be disputed."

boom!
The crowd below the stage was shocked!

Everyone was shocked by the news.

These two are real experimental observation results. Once confirmed, their persuasiveness will far exceed that of the Schwarzschild solution.

Planck, Einstein and other great people would definitely not do these experiments.

Because they are just subsidiary experiments of general relativity.

It's just like the original photoelectric effect experiment.

These big theoretical physicists are naturally not interested.

Anyway, they already believe in their hearts that general relativity is correct.

It doesn't matter whether you do the experiment or not.

This is the confidence that Li Qiwei brings to them.

However, if the five major predictions are eventually proven one by one, it will indeed be a major event that will shock the physics community.

Therefore, although the big guys do not participate, they still care about the progress of the experiment.

Schwarzschild's report on his achievements astounded many members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences.

After a tense voting session.

Planck, president of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, came to the stage and announced the election results.

"After voting, I declare that Professor Schwarzschild has officially become a new member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences."

"Everyone is welcome!"

Wow!
Everyone stood up and applauded.

Schwarzschild was undoubtedly elected a member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences.

From then on, he became a scientific giant in Germany.

This is the greatness of general relativity.

Just because of this tiny part, a professor instantly became famous and a well-known figure in the academic world.

Next, Schwarzschild was invited by the astronomical community to give a report on black hole theory.

The Schwarzschild solution plays an important role in observing and analyzing the evolution of stars in the universe.

He stated in his report:
“The five major predictions of general relativity are actually its applications in the field of astronomy.”

“Light bending, gravitational redshift, black holes, gravitational waves, the expansion of the universe.”

“Here are five predicted experimental phenomena.”

"And now, all the theoretical calculations are over."

"The next stage for astronomy is to verify these phenomena."

"The proposal of the Schwarzschild solution is not the end of general relativity, but only the beginning."

“The existence of black holes requires not only theoretical proof but also experimental discovery.”

“It’s like Maxwell predicted the existence of electromagnetic waves through electromagnetic equations, and Hertz discovered electromagnetic waves through experiments.”

"In the future, there will be five similar results in our field of astronomy."

“The future is promising!”

Wow!
Schwarzschild's academic lecture was a huge success.

The research on general relativity in the field of astronomy has finally made a good start.

All the big names in astronomy feel the arrival of a new era.

The newly emerging cosmology has gradually enriched its content.

The Big Bang, black holes, galaxies.
The bigwigs present believe that astronomy will usher in super-fast development in the future.

In the crowd, Eddington was extremely excited.

Schwarzschild's achievements were the strongest motivation for him.

He has begun to look forward to the day when his results will be published.

However, Eddington's research is rather special.

He wanted to prove the first prediction of general relativity, the bending of light, which requires very special conditions.

Because according to calculations based on general relativity.

The curvature of space-time due to the mass of the Earth is very small, so the effect on the bending of light is very small and almost unobservable.

To this end, Eddington chose the sun as his research object.

The mass of the Sun is large enough that there is a significant bending of light passing through it.

Eddington's method was simple: a total solar eclipse.

By comparing a photo of a star during a total solar eclipse with a photo of the same star on a normal night, the difference is calculated.

Because of the principle of light bending, the position of the observed star will shift in both cases.

According to calculations based on general relativity, this offset is 1.75 arc seconds (about 0.02786 degrees).

As an astronomer, Eddington knew that the last total solar eclipse was on August 1914, 8.

So, he still needs to wait patiently.

In real history, this observation in 1914 was carried out jointly by Einstein's assistant, Freundlich, and American astronomer Campbell.

According to calculations, the best place for observation is on the Crimean Peninsula in Russia.

But unfortunately, World War I broke out at that time and Russia and Germany were not on good terms.

Therefore, as soon as Freundlich and his team arrived in Crimea, they were arrested by the Russian military as spies.

So the observation mission was aborted.

Since Campbell was from the United States, a neutral country, he was quickly released.

Campbell did not give up, he wanted to continue observing alone.

However, misfortunes followed one after another. That day, the sky was covered with dark clouds, the sun was not visible at all, and the measurement could not be carried out.

So, the experiment failed.

It is speculated that the next best time to observe a total solar eclipse will be on May 1919, 5.

That time, Eddington led the team and successfully completed the experiment, proving the correctness of the general theory of relativity.

But at this moment, Eddington had no idea that war would follow.

He had already begun preparations for the total solar eclipse of 1914.

Although this experiment sounds simple, it is very complicated to do.

It requires taking photos around the clock and having a deep understanding of celestial movement.

Eddington had already done sufficient theoretical analysis.

He is confident that he can succeed in one go.

Just as Schwarzschild became famous and Eddington was ready to make his mark.

Li Qiwei also started his journey of pretending to be cool.

(End of this chapter)