Ludwik Silberstein
Encyclopedia
Ludwik Silberstein was a Polish-American physicist who helped make special relativity
and general relativity
staples of university coursework. His textbook The Theory of Relativity was published by Macmillan & Co Ltd in 1914 with a second edition, expanded to include general relativity, in 1924.
Silberstein was born May 17, 1872 in Warsaw
to Samuel Silberstein and Emily Steinkalk. He was educated in Cracow, Heidelberg
, and Berlin
. To teach he went to Bologna, Italy from 1899 to 1904, switching then to the University of Rome until 1920. That year he entered private research for the Eastman Kodak
Company of Rochester, New York
. For nine years he maintained this consultancy with Kodak labs while he gave his relativity course on occasion at the University of Chicago
, the University of Toronto
, and Cornell University
.He lived until January 17, 1948.
in 1912 at Cambridge
, Silberstein spoke on "Some applications of quaternions". The text was not published in the proceedings of the congress, but rather was placed in the Philosophical Magazine
of May, 1912, with the title "Quaternionic form of relativity". The following year Macmillan & Co Ltd published The Theory of Relativity, which is now available on-line in the Internet Archive
(see references). The quaternions used are actually biquaternions. The book is highly readable and well-referenced with contemporary sources in the footnotes.
with only two point singularities
representing two point masses. Such a solution clearly violates our understanding of gravity: with nothing to support them and no kinetic energy
to hold them apart, the two masses should fall towards each other due to their mutual gravity, in contrast with the static nature of Silberstein's solution. This led Silberstein to claim that Einstein's theory was flawed, in need of a revision. In response, Einstein and Rosen
published a Letter to the Editor in which they pointed out a critical flaw in Silberstein's reasoning. Unconvinced, Silberstein took the debate to the popular press, with The Evening Telegram in Toronto
publishing an article titled "Fatal blow to relativity issued here" on March 7, 1936. Nonetheless, Einstein was correct and Silberstein was wrong: as we know today, all solutions to Weyl's family of axisymmetric metrics, of which Silberstein's is one example, necessarily contain singular structures ("struts", "ropes", or "membranes") that are responsible for holding masses against the attractive force of gravity in a static configuration.
Special relativity
Special relativity is the physical theory of measurement in an inertial frame of reference proposed in 1905 by Albert Einstein in the paper "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies".It generalizes Galileo's...
and general relativity
General relativity
General relativity or the general theory of relativity is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1916. It is the current description of gravitation in modern physics...
staples of university coursework. His textbook The Theory of Relativity was published by Macmillan & Co Ltd in 1914 with a second edition, expanded to include general relativity, in 1924.
Silberstein was born May 17, 1872 in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
to Samuel Silberstein and Emily Steinkalk. He was educated in Cracow, Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
, and Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. To teach he went to Bologna, Italy from 1899 to 1904, switching then to the University of Rome until 1920. That year he entered private research for the Eastman Kodak
Eastman Kodak
Eastman Kodak Company is a multinational imaging and photographic equipment, materials and services company headquarted in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded by George Eastman in 1892....
Company of Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
. For nine years he maintained this consultancy with Kodak labs while he gave his relativity course on occasion at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
, and Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
.He lived until January 17, 1948.
Textbook inaugurating relativity science
At the International Congress of MathematiciansInternational Congress of Mathematicians
The International Congress of Mathematicians is the largest conference for the topic of mathematics. It meets once every four years, hosted by the International Mathematical Union ....
in 1912 at Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, Silberstein spoke on "Some applications of quaternions". The text was not published in the proceedings of the congress, but rather was placed in the Philosophical Magazine
Philosophical Magazine
The Philosophical Magazine is one of the oldest scientific journals published in English. Initiated by Alexander Tilloch in 1798, in 1822 Richard Taylor became joint editor and it has been published continuously by Taylor & Francis ever since; it was the journal of choice for such luminaries as...
of May, 1912, with the title "Quaternionic form of relativity". The following year Macmillan & Co Ltd published The Theory of Relativity, which is now available on-line in the Internet Archive
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
(see references). The quaternions used are actually biquaternions. The book is highly readable and well-referenced with contemporary sources in the footnotes.
The Einstein-Silberstein debate
In 1935, following a controversial debate with Einstein, Silberstein published a solution of Einstein's field equations that appeared to describe a static, axisymmetric metricMetric tensor
In the mathematical field of differential geometry, a metric tensor is a type of function defined on a manifold which takes as input a pair of tangent vectors v and w and produces a real number g in a way that generalizes many of the familiar properties of the dot product of vectors in Euclidean...
with only two point singularities
Mathematical singularity
In mathematics, a singularity is in general a point at which a given mathematical object is not defined, or a point of an exceptional set where it fails to be well-behaved in some particular way, such as differentiability...
representing two point masses. Such a solution clearly violates our understanding of gravity: with nothing to support them and no kinetic energy
Kinetic energy
The kinetic energy of an object is the energy which it possesses due to its motion.It is defined as the work needed to accelerate a body of a given mass from rest to its stated velocity. Having gained this energy during its acceleration, the body maintains this kinetic energy unless its speed changes...
to hold them apart, the two masses should fall towards each other due to their mutual gravity, in contrast with the static nature of Silberstein's solution. This led Silberstein to claim that Einstein's theory was flawed, in need of a revision. In response, Einstein and Rosen
Nathan Rosen
Nathan Rosen was an American-Israeli physicist noted for his study on the structure of the hydrogen molecule and his work with Albert Einstein and Boris Podolsky on entangled wave functions and the EPR paradox.-Background:Nathan Rosen was born into a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York...
published a Letter to the Editor in which they pointed out a critical flaw in Silberstein's reasoning. Unconvinced, Silberstein took the debate to the popular press, with The Evening Telegram in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
publishing an article titled "Fatal blow to relativity issued here" on March 7, 1936. Nonetheless, Einstein was correct and Silberstein was wrong: as we know today, all solutions to Weyl's family of axisymmetric metrics, of which Silberstein's is one example, necessarily contain singular structures ("struts", "ropes", or "membranes") that are responsible for holding masses against the attractive force of gravity in a static configuration.
Other contributions
According to Martin Claussen, Ludwik Silberstein initiated a line of thought involving eddy currents in the atmosphere, or fluids generally. He says that Silberstein anticipated foundational work by Vilhelm Bjerknes (1862 – 1951).Other works
- Vectorial Mechanics 1913, 1926
- Simplified Method of Tracing Rays Through Lenses 1918
- Projective Vector Algebra 1919
- Elements of the Electromagnetic Theory of Light 1918
- Elements of Vector Algebra 1919
- Theory of General Relativity and Gravitation 1922
- The Size of the Universe 1930
- Causality 1933