Einstein's Gravitational Ether

[Doug]

Following on the discussion of Time/Space, I was surprised to finfd that Einstein presented a paper in 1920 on the theory of relativity and the ether.
here is a link to one of many articfles quoting from his work.
http://www.mu6.com/einstein.html (http://www.mu6.com/einstein.html)

cheers,
Doug

[xelasnave]

Very interesting.
alex

[xelasnave]

The more I think of it the more I like the expression ether even though totally out of fashion its merit is that it to me implies there is something to space rather than a nothing concept. I like to think of how many photons one may find wizzing past a spot in space.. hard to say that spot is "empty"... however the term wont get up as no one will dig up a word with a realtionship to a past world of science now not looked upon with favour. I think ether gives an indicator of something present whereas "space" seems so empty.

alex

[xelasnave]

the rest of the site is rather novel
alex

[Starcrazzy]

hmmm...the ether and the cosmological constant, in einsteins own words.."my greatest mistake"..;)

[xelasnave]

It is interesting the recent revival of the cosmological contant also seems fashion may enter here also... its been mentioned a lot lately it seems to me
alex

[xelasnave]

Needless to say gravity rain is my candidate to provide the forces they seek by such speculation. I was reading today cosmological constant is again the flavour of the month..If you getJuly/August Australian Sky & Telescope page 28..The Science of Gemini you will see the proposition is now totaly ligitimate.
Dr A gave in the idea because the news didnt fit..or so he thought.. but the cutting edge reasearch seems not to be treating it like a big mistake..which I dont think it was... (as I said re gravity rain it does the job perfectly..)
They talk of a "equation of state" for dark energy called W. This is the ratio of dark energies "pressure" (remember my words re gravity rain I expressed it as a universal pressure) to its energy density... anyways I dont want to spoil the ending for you...
I posted something on astronomy daily a long time ago trying to revive the cosmological constant but the planning for the Gemini must have been in full swing then but one never heard about a cosmological constant..it still was Drs " biggest mistake" well its not anymore so it seems..
I wonder if the ether is going to get another run also..
There is nothing new under the stars except the stars themselves I guess
alex
alex

[mickoking]

Einstien origionally used the cosmological constant to make the Universe static. I think its been revised to account for its acceleration.

An accelerating universe, wow it still blows me away :eyepop:

[xelasnave]

And on page 20 of same magazine...
"According to the reigning theory of cosmic structure formation, known as "the cosmological constant plus cold dark matter" theory (or ACDM for short)... and it goes on..
Talk about coming from the back of the pack.... anyways I have a feeling its going to be with us for a while.
alex