# Einstein Definition and 97 Discussions

Albert Einstein ( EYEN-styne; German: [ˈalbɛʁt ˈʔaɪnʃtaɪn] (listen); 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest physicists of all time. Einstein is known for developing the theory of relativity, but he also made important contributions to the development of the theory of quantum mechanics. Relativity and quantum mechanics are together the two pillars of modern physics. His mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2, which arises from relativity theory, has been dubbed "the world's most famous equation". His work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect", a pivotal step in the development of quantum theory. His intellectual achievements and originality resulted in "Einstein" becoming synonymous with "genius".In 1905, a year sometimes described as his annus mirabilis ('miracle year'), Einstein published four groundbreaking papers. These outlined the theory of the photoelectric effect, explained Brownian motion, introduced special relativity, and demonstrated mass-energy equivalence. Einstein thought that the laws of classical mechanics could no longer be reconciled with those of the electromagnetic field, which led him to develop his special theory of relativity. He then extended the theory to gravitational fields; he published a paper on general relativity in 1916, introducing his theory of gravitation. In 1917, he applied the general theory of relativity to model the structure of the universe. He continued to deal with problems of statistical mechanics and quantum theory, which led to his explanations of particle theory and the motion of molecules. He also investigated the thermal properties of light and the quantum theory of radiation, which laid the foundation of the photon theory of light. However, for much of the later part of his career, he worked on two ultimately unsuccessful endeavors. First, despite his great contributions to quantum mechanics, he opposed what it evolved into, objecting that nature "does not play dice". Second, he attempted to devise a unified field theory by generalizing his geometric theory of gravitation to include electromagnetism. As a result, he became increasingly isolated from the mainstream of modern physics.
Einstein was born in the German Empire, but moved to Switzerland in 1895, forsaking his German citizenship (as a subject of the Kingdom of Württemberg) the following year. In 1897, at the age of 17, he enrolled in the mathematics and physics teaching diploma program at the Swiss Federal polytechnic school (later renamed as ETH Zurich) in Zürich, graduating in 1900. In 1901 he acquired Swiss citizenship, which he kept for the rest of his life, and in 1903 he secured a permanent position at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern. In 1905, he was awarded a PhD by the University of Zurich. In 1914, Einstein moved to Berlin in order to join the Prussian Academy of Sciences and the Humboldt University of Berlin. In 1917, Einstein became director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics; he also became a German citizen again – Prussian this time. In 1933, while Einstein was visiting the United States, Adolf Hitler came to power. Einstein did not return to Germany because he objected to the policies of the newly elected Nazi-led government. He settled in the United States and became an American citizen in 1940. On the eve of World War II, he endorsed a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt alerting him to the potential German nuclear weapons program and recommending that the US begin similar research. Einstein supported the Allies, but generally denounced the idea of nuclear weapons.
Einstein bequeathed his personal archives, library and intellectual assets to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel.

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1. ### Einstein's Electrodynamics of moving Bodies

Okay I’m assuming I have to use √1- v^2/c^2 multiplied by some coefficient of length but I don’t understand any of this and could really use help understanding the process and/or reference material that might point me in the right direction
2. ### I Orbital precession unit

Hi, I've just calculated the orbital precession for the earth using the sigma formula of general relativity. $$\sigma=\frac{24 \pi^{3} R^{2}}{T^{2} c^{2}\left(1-e^{2}\right)}=\frac{24\pi^3×1.5×10^{11}}{3×10^7×3×10^8(1-0.0034^2)}=0.012$$ What is the unit of the result? Degrees per century or...
3. ### B Einstein's weak EP?

Alright, this is my idea of an experiment that could distinguish between the examples of the EP. Now, obviously I'm wrong (I don't say this because of your acceptance, i say this because I've tried with other ideas but they were wrong). The thing here is that i don't see where I'm wrong, and i...
4. ### I What if Einstein equivalence principle is proven wrong one day?

What would be the consequences of such thing? How it will affect physics theories and the world?
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Good day. I have read many books, forums, and articles, and watched many youtube videos, all in an effort to understand special relativity and time dilation. Or rather, more precisely, trying to find a valid explanation that does not result in contradictions and paradoxes, and if it does, one...
6. ### Casimir Effect experiment and implications on motion theory

Quantum mechanics has argued for years that space is not a vacuum. Arguments attempting to brush aside quantum mechanics vacuum theory claiming, it's 'just a quantum mathematical theory' can now put to rest. In this article, laboratory experimentation demonstrates that the Casimir Effect can...
7. ### B Why is "space" relative?

Hello everybody, my question may sound stupid, especially speaking of such a mind-blowing and important theory... but here I am! I'm 17 and I'm reading a fabulous book by Stephen Hawking, "A Brief History of Time", and it introduced me to relativity theories... I literally started looking the...
8. ### I Many-Worlds Theory: Simulation Program in C#

Here is the Code File in an txt. I can on request provied the whole Program, which includes the PSE, AtomFunctions and many useful but not all implemented Funtions to solve the Many Worlds Problem in C#. Please feel free to ask questions via here or email [e-mail address deleted by Mentors] I...

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10. ### I Einstein aberration formula

Hello, everyone. I am trying to find an aberration of light formula in Einstein's writings that is given in terms of tangents. I did a fairly thorough internet search and all I could find was the formula he wrote in terms of cosines. Yet I have a vague memory that somewhere he did give the...
11. ### I Lorentz arguments about the ether (original paper)

I bought the book "The principle of Relativity" by Einstein et al. and was really surprised by the (low) level of explanation by Lorentz regarding the compression of rods on the experiment carried out by Michelson & Morley. I reproduce part of it below: Well, he gave absolutely no arguments to...
12. ### I General Relativity and Chaos Theory

I am very new to such ideas but was wondering if there is any connection to what I am asking. Taking two events, let's say at opposite ends of the globe. Would even A, only have a potential on event B, if light could travel between these event in the given time frame of these event occurring...
13. ### B Question about the relative nature of speed

At the risk of sounding stupid, this question has always perplexed me. Einstein theorized that mass can not travel faster than the speed of light. I don't really understand it, I assume it has something to do with mass just being energy. Anyway imagine two objects in orbit of something with...
14. ### I Another mirror question....

If you’re traveling at the speed of light TOWARDS a mirror, will you be able to see yourself?
15. ### B Is anything in this thread true or are these people cranks? (finding flaws in General Relativity)

This thread is supposed to be about finding flaws in General Relativity, but the way these people talk they sound like they have no real knowledge of GR. I was just curious if any of you guys could explain further.
16. ### B Questions about Einstein and the Block Universe

I find this subject fascinating. Einstein said the distinctions between past, present and future is just a persistent illusion. I was watching a special with Brian Greene and other Physicist who think we do live in a Block Universe and they explained it very well. Here's my question. Say there...
17. ### Courses How difficult is an undergraduate course in GR?

Just wondering if I'm going to be in over my head here, as I'm not sure what to expect. A notoriously "difficult" professor as my school is teaching a senior level undergraduate course "Introduction to General Relativity Physical consequences of Einstein's equations, including the principle of...
18. ### I Problems with Einstein's 1920 "Relativity"

Hi, I have been reading and watching a lot of physics lately but I have come across this problem. I have the basics of special relativity down, and it all seems clear to me. This is not in question to me. For example, I am reading a book on string theory by Brain Greene, and in it he covers...
19. ### B How did Einstein come up with the thought of a space fabric?

I've always wondered how we came to come up with such an idea. Was he one day sitting around and thinking, then made a random assumption and go "ah hah!". Or did his idea come up through his calculations on the nature of how gravity should cause interaction? Is their a literal fabric of space...
20. ### Genius (TV Series on Einstein)

I just finished watching this biographical drama on Einstein's life. I found it quite good. Has anyone else here seen it?
21. ### I Favorite Visualization of General Relativity?

I am collecting ways to visualize the curvature of spacetime -- and movement of objects affected by gravity -- as per Einstein's GR. Alternatives to the bowling ball / trampoline image so often used in the popular press. Images that show the similarities / differences between Newton & Einstein...
22. ### I Is quantum mechanics formulated from 1st principles?

I was surprised recently to learn that one of the reasons both Newton and Einstein were so revolutionary was that they performed a neat mathematical trick. For Newton, it was the mathematical derivation of Kepler's laws from Newton's laws of gravitation and motion. For Einstein, it was the...
23. ### Should I use time dilation or length contraction?

1. Homework Statement [/B] This is a problem that was in my Physics HW. Two powerless rockets are on a collision course. The rockets are moving with speeds of 0.800c and 0.600c and are initially ## 2.52 × 10^{12} ## m apart as measured by Liz, an Earth observer, as shown in Figure P1.59. Both...
24. ### I Why E=mc^2 is different from E=1/2 mv^2?

Why kinetic energy is ½ m v2? Why it is different from Einstein’s equation for Energy E= m c2?
25. ### I How does the speed of light affect clocks?

If the speed of light would change in the universe without any other natural constant changing, would all clocks be affected in the same way by this? This is implied by Einstein in this paper on page 368 http://myweb.rz.uni-augsburg.de/~eckern/adp/history/einstein-papers/1912_38_355-369.pdf...
26. ### I Relativity Confirmed Again

A star and a black hole again confirm Relativity. https://www.space.com/41291-relativity-revealed-milky-way-core.html
27. ### B Is this statement correct about Einstein's theories?

Please let me know if this statement is correct, too vague, or blatantly wrong. I am doing research for an article I am writing, but am not a physicist, nor have I ever taken any physics instruction. If you have suggestions to fix it, please let me know! Thanks! Einstein thought the initial...
28. ### B Newbie question on Einstein and Simultaneity

Hello I am investigating a thought experiment conducted by Einstein in which he imagines a man on a train platform (it is being explained on a documentary I am watching). Two lightning bolts equidistant from him strike at either side. He sees these bolts of lighting strike at the same time. A...
29. ### The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict

I am glad that this Summer I was introduced to an awesome novel, The Other Einstein. The book is the fictional portrayal of Mileva Maric, the wife of my favorite scientist Albert Einstein, and her struggles to balance life and work. The author has done a good job in researching the life of...
30. ### What representation of time did Poincare use in his work in 1905?

Recently have a discussion with a Scientist (myself is not a Scientist, but trying to become :P), about priority of Einstein and Poincarè for Special Relativity Theory invention in Science. Those, what actually contribution of Einstain, what actually contribution of Poincarè and what...
31. ### I Gravity in general relativity

So the other day I saw a YouTube video on how gravity works according to general relativity. From what I understand, objects bend space_time with their mass and create a shape which is close to a cone. Since objects only move forward in time through a straight line, the bent space_time makes...
32. ### I Einstein-Bohr "photon box" debate and general relativity

I see this has been already discussed but the old threads are closed. EPR before EPR: a 1930 Einstein-Bohr thought experiment revisited "In this example, Einstein presents a paradox in QM suggesting that QM is inconsistent, while Bohr attempts to save consistency of QM by combining QM with the...
33. ### B Gravity and human population, Solved?

The next questions will be in english and spanish, since my birth language is spanish I may be mistaken in a few english words. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spanish Debo advertir...
34. ### B ¿Why does this definition define common time?

Hi. Thanks for letting me ask this question. It is a stupid one. I'm a newbie at relativity theory, and I'm reading On the electrodynamics of moving bodies, By Einstein, A. He associates time with space, and tells us that you can measure the "time" of an event if you are in the coordinates of...
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### B Planck-Einstein relation and the Photoelectric Effect

Hi everyone, I just have some confusion regarding Planck's and Einstein's equation. The following is an explanation of the photoelectric effect using Einsteins theory: Light is composed of photons. Each photon has energy hf and mass hf/c^2. When ultraviolet photons are brought to rest by zinc...
36. ### B What is dark energy in the fabric of space-time?

I know that according to Einstein's theory of relativity, space-time is like a fabric which can be pliable. Gravity is the shape, or the warping of that fabric. In this analogy, what would dark energy (the unknown form of energy that is causing the universe to expand) be?
37. ### B So, the 2017 Eclipse ....

Did the 2017 eclipse prove Einstein was right or the jury is still out? I can't find any references to the new measurements and what they proved (or did not).
38. ### Relativity Learning Einstein's General Relativity

So, I'm going to learn general relativity but I'm confused in which book I start with Bernard Schutz book seems excellent but I'm more interested in d'Inverno book, And Misner/Throne Book Seems complete but its giant and good for reference, So I think I will go with d'Inverno , but first I need...
39. ### B Special relativity and the flow of time?

Pardon me if this has been asked before, but I'm confused with the implication that SR makes, that there is no objective moment of present. Do the science still believe that the time flows (i don't mean the arrow of time, but the phenomena of flowing/passing, eq. flowing of a river)? I mean, how...
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### I Einstein's light clock thought experiment

I'm an engineer who has an amateur interest in physics. I have been reading about Einsteins light clock experiment. I understand the principal that when a light clock on a train etc is moving relative to a standing still observer then the light must travel a longer distance per tick. given that...
41. ### B Einstein's Unified Field Theory - Details

I saw a documentary the other day where Michio Kaku said something that really peaked my interest. He said that Einstein in his last days was working on something having to do with how small geometries of some sort being the cause of gravity. Does anyone know the details of Einstein's Unified...
42. ### What is so "genius" about the work of genius scientists?

Many scientists are regarded as geniuses based on their work (Einstein, Newton, etc). What is it about their work that is so clever that few others could have done it?
43. ### B Gravity and a spinning object

This is a just for fun question. I saw the movie "Contact" and they built a machine that generated gravity by spinning rapidly. I assume this comes form general relativity. Is this correct? My question then is this. Is there a simple formula that can be used in which something moving in an orbit...
44. ### I Twin Paradox - Observation at Turnaround Moment

Dear All, I am doing the Special Relativity course at World Science U, and came across this question which I got wrong: When 100 nanoseconds have elapsed on traveling Gracie's watch, she immediately stops, turns around, and heads back toward George at the same speed of her outbound journey...
45. ### I Special Relativity Course at World Science University by Brian Greene

Dear All, Just wanted to share this excellent free Special Relativity online course I came across by Brian Greene, which I believe is one of the best around. Not sure if it's been shared before here. Special Relativity — World Science U, by Brian Greene...
46. ### Simulating 1D time-independent Bose Einstein Condensation

Hello! I'm trying to simulate a one dimensional time independent BEC, I hope this is the right place to ask for help. First of all, here's my code in Python. import sys import numpy as np import matplotlib.pyplot as plt if len(sys.argv) == 1: niter = 100 elif len(sys.argv) == 2: niter...
47. ### I Ponderomotive Force - What is it?

Sometimes as I am reading about the history of physics I run across this phrase. Ponderomotive force. I have tried looking it up several times but can never find an answer that explains what is meant by this phrase. Can someone tell me in laymens terms what is a Ponderomotive Force? Sometimes...
48. ### B General Relativity Aces a Test at Supermassive Black Hole

General relativity passes test at Milky Way’s central black hole by Ken Croswell For the first time, astronomers use stars orbiting a supermassive black hole to test Einstein's general theory of relativity, finding no sign of a fifth fundamental force. Links: John Batchelor Show...
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### Einstein's 98% Riddle

The original thread was closed << Mentor's Note -- the previous thread was closed because of age, not a rules issue >>, but I am really interested in hearing your opinions on a couple of theories I had. I am baffled at the idea that someone, with the ability to understand the math language to...