Evening Star Newspaper, February 3, 1929, Page 33

1 . Einstein’s New Theory (Continued From First Page.) the idea of action at a distance. Fara- day also had the bold idea that under sppropriate circumstances fields might detach themselves from the bodies pro- ducing them and speed away through space as free flelds: this was his in- terpretation of light. Dualism of Theory Disapproved. Maxwell then discovered the wonder- ful group of formulae which seemed so simple to us nowadays and which finally built the bridge between the theory of electromagnetism and the theory of light. It appeared that light consists of rapildy oscillating electromagnetic fields. After Hertz, in the 80s of the last century. had confirmed the existence of the electromagnetic waves and displayed their identity with light by means of his wonderful experiments, th: great intellectual revolution in physics grad- ually became complete. People slowly accustomed themselves to the idea that the physical states of space itself were the final physical reality, especially after Lorentz had shown in his pene- trating theoretical researches that even inside ponderable bodies the electro- magnetic fields are not to be regarded as states of the matter, but cssentially as states of the empty space in which the material atoms are to be consid- ered as loosely distributed. At the turn of the century physicists began to be dissatisfied with the dualism of a theory admitting two kinds of fundamental physical reality, on the one hand the field and on the other hand the material particles. It is only nat- ural that attempts were made to rep- resent the material particles as struc- tures in_ the field—that is, as places where the fields were exceptionally con- centrated. Any such representation of particles on the basis of the field theory would have been a great achievement, but, in spite of all efforts of science, it has not been accomplished. It must even be admitted that this dualism is today sharper and more troublesome than it was 10 years ago. This fact is connected with the latest impetus to de- velopments in quantum theory, where the theory of the continuum (field the- ory) and the essentially discontinuous interpretation of the elementary struc- tures and processes are fighting for supremacy. Relativity Theory Is Outlined. ‘We shall not here discuss questions concerning molecular theory, but shall describe the improvements made in the | field theory during this century. These all arise from the theory of relativity, which has in the last six months entered its third stage of de- velopment. -Let us briefly examine the chief points of view belonging to these three stages and their relation to field theory. The first stage, the special theory of relativity, owes its origin principally to Maxwell's theory of the electromag- netic fleld. From this, combined with the empirical fact that there does not exist any distinguishable state of m ‘which may be called “absolute rest,” grose & new theory of space and time, It is well known that this theory discarded the absolute char- acter of the conception of the simul- taneity of two spatially separated events. Well known is also the courage of despair with which some philosophers still defend themselves in a profusion of proud but empty words against this { simple theory. On the other hand, the services ren- | dered by the special $heory of relativity to its parent, Maxwell's theory of the | electromagnetic field, are less ade- | quately recognized. Up to that time the lelectric field and "the magnetic field | were regarded as existing separately even if a close causal correlation be- tween the two types of field was pro- vided by Maxwell's fleld equations. But | the special theory of relativity showed | that this casual correlation corresponds | to an essential identity of the two types | of fleld. In fact, the same condition of space, which in one coordinate system | appears as a pure magnetic field, ap- | péars simultaneously in another co-or- | dinate system in relative motion as an | electric fleld and vice versa. Relation- ship of this kind displaying an identity | between differsnt conceptions which | therefore reduce the number of inde- pendent hypotheses and concepts of field theory and heighten its logical self-containedness are a characteristic | feature of the theory of relativity. For | instance, the special theoryalso indi- | cated the essential identity of the con- | ceptions inertial mass and energy. This | is all generally known and is only men- tion here in order to emphasize the | unitary tendency which dominates the whole development of the theory. Euclidian Basis is Abandoned. | We now turn to the second stage in the development of the theory of rela- tivity, the so-called general theory of | relativity. This theory also starts from a fact of experience which till then had | received no satisfactory interpretation. the equality of inertial and gravitational | mass or, in other words, the fact known | since the days of Galileo and Newton | that all bodies fall with equal accelera- tion in the earth’s gravitational field. ‘Th- theory uses a special theory as its basis, and at the same time modifies it; the recognition that there is no | state of motion whatever which is {only velocity but also acceleration are without absolute significance—forms the starting point of the theory. It then compels & much more profound modi- fication of the conceptions of space and $ime than were involved in the special ‘heory. For even if the special theory forced us to fuse space and time to- gether to an invisible four-dimensional continuum, yet the Euclidian char- acter of the continuum remained es- sentially intact in this theory. In the general theory of relativity this hypoth- esis regarding the Euclidian character of our space-time continuum had to be abandoned and the latter given the structure of a so-called Riemannian space. Before we attempt to under- recall what this theory accomplished. Gravitation and Inertia Are Fused. It furnished an exact fleld theory of gravitation and brought the latter into a fully determinate relationship to the metrical properties of the continuum. | physically privileged—that is, that not | stand what these terms mean let us| THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, FEBRUARY 3, 1929—PART (RS L o' 2. The theory of gravitation, which until then had not advanced beyond Newton, was thus brought within Faraday’s co) ception of the field in a necessary man- ner—that is, without any essential arbi- trariness in the selection of the fleld laws. At the same time gravitation and inertia were fused into an essential identity. The confirmation which this theory has received in recent years through the measurement of the deflec- tion of light rays in a gravitational fleld and the spectroscopic examination of binary stars is well known. The characteristics which especially distinguish the general theory of rela- tivity and even more the new third stage of the theory, the unitary field theory, from other physical theories are the degree of formal speculation, the Islender ampircal basis, the boldness in | theoretical ~construction and, finally, the fundamental reliance on the uni- formity of the secrets of natural law and their accessibility to the speculative intellect. It is this feature which ap- pears as a weakness to physicists who incline toward realism or positivism, but is especially attractive—nay, fasci- | nating—to the speculative mathematical i mind. Meyerson :n his brilliant studies | on the theory of knowledge justly draws ’.\ comparison of the inteliectual atti- tude of the relativity theoretician with that of Descartes. or even of Hegel, without thereby implying the censure which a physicist would read into this. However that may be, in the end ex- | perience is the only competent judge. Yet in the meantime one thing. may be said in defense of the theory. Ad- vance in scientific knowledge must bring about the result that an increase in formal simplicity can only be won at . the cost of -an increased dis- tance or gap between the funda- mental hypothesis of the theory on the one hand and the directly observed facts on the other hand. Theory is compelled to pass more and more from the induc- tive to the deductive method, even though the most important demand to be made of every scientific theory will always remain, that it must fit the facts. We now reach the difficult task of 1gl\-mg to the reader an idea of the methods used in the mathematical theory of relativity and to the new unitary field theory. The Problem Stated. The general problem is: Which are the simplest formal structures that can be attributed to a four-dimensional con- tinuum and which are the simplest laws that may be concelved to govern these structures? We then look for the math- ematical expression of the physical fields in these formal structures and for the field laws of physics—already known to a certain approximation from earlier researches—in the simplest laws gov- erning this structure. The conceptions which are used in this connection can be explained just as well in a two-dimensional continuum (a surface) as in the four-dimensional continuum of space and time. Imagne a plece of paper ruled in millimeter squares. What does it mean if I say that the printed surface is two-dimen- | sional? If at any point P is marked on the paper one can define its position by using two numbers. Thus, starting from the bottom left-hand corner, move a pointer toward the right until the lower end of the vertical through the point P is reached. Suppose that in doing this one has passed the lower ends of X vertical (millimeter) lines. construction which led to the general | Then move the ter up to the point P passing ¥ ho tal lines. The point P is then described without ambiguity by the numbers X Y (co-ordinates). If one had used, instead of ruled milli- meter paper, & piece which had been stretched or deformed the same de- termination could still be carried out; but in this case the lines passed would no longer be horizontals or verticals or even straight lines. The same point would then of course yield different niumbers, but the possibility of deter- mining a point by means of two num- bers (Gaussian co-ordinates) still re- mains. Moreover, if P and Y are two points which lie very close to one an- other then their co-ordinates only dif- fer very slightly. ‘When a point can be described by two numbers in this way we speak of a two-dimensional continuum (surface). Explains Riemannian Metric. Now consider two neighboring points P, Q on the surface and a little way off another pair of points P’, Q. What does it mean to say that the distance PQ is equal to the distance P'Q’? This statement only has a clear meaning when we have a small measuring rod which we can take from one pair of points to the other and if the result of the comparison is independent of the particular measuring rod selected. If this is so, the magnitudes of the tracts PQ, P'Q’ can be compared. If a continuum is of this kind we say it has a metric. Of course, the distance of the two points PQ must depend on the co-ordinate differences (DX, DY). But the form of this dependence is not known a priori. If it is of the form: ds?=g''dx*+g'*dxdy+g**dy* ‘Then it is called a Riemannian met- ric, If it is possible to choose the co-or- dinates so that this expression takes the form: ds’=dx-dy’ (Pythagoras's theorem), then the continuum is Eu- clidean (a plane). Thus it is clear that the Euclidean continuum s a special case of the Riemannian. Inversely, the Rieman- nian continuum is a metric continuum which is Eclidean in infinitely small re- glons, but not in finite regions. The quantities, g'’, g'*, g'*, describe the metrical properties of the surface, that is the metrical field. By making use of empirically known properties of space, especially the law of the propagation of light, it is pos- sible to show that the space—time continuum has a Riemannian metric. The quantities g'', etc., appertaining to it determine not only the metric of the continuum, but also the gravita- tional field. The law governing the gravitational field is found in answer to the question: Which are the simplest mathematical laws to which the metric (that is the g'*, etc.) can be subjected? The answer was given by the discovery of the fleld laws of gravitation, which have proved themselves more accurate than the Newtonian law. This rough outline is intended only to give a gen- eral idea of the sense in which I have spoken of the “speculative” methods of the general theory of relativity. Expanding the Theory. This theory having brought together the metric and gravitation would have been completely satisfactory if the world had only gravitation fields and no electro-magnetic fields. Now it is true that the latter can be included within the general theory of relativity by taking over and appropriately mod: 2000000 couldnt buy its secret Famous “miracle cream” brings new beauty quickly TRY IT—THIS WEEK ONLY ALL PEOPLES ‘ DRUG . this £ Refines Skin Closes large pores—and improves skin texture to @ remarkable degree. cated NMR before has any toilet cream achieved fame so quickly as " Noxtéma! Urnknown a few years ago, probably the most talked of beauty treatment in America! Recently over $2,000,000 was offered for the secret of its formula—offered and refused! Last year nearly 4,000,000 women used it as a beauty protection and aid. Noxzema is_entirely unique among skin creams—it protecting the skin in 2 way no other cream can do. It is not only featured by beauty parlors but is recommended by doetors a8 well—for doctors know better than anyone else why this medi- STORES emarkable skin cream is today als as it beautifies, cream can bring such amazing improvement to the skin. larity chapy Its that snow- Beautifies Chapped Hands . o Protective as well asheal- i i most Banishes roughness, ss and dryness al- over night. in chi Clears Blemishes Corrects skin imperfec- tions and_blemishes of ong-standing — leaving lowing loveliness in eir stea . . .Back of Noxzema's sensational popu- Originally it was not a beauty cream at all. Doctors first prescribed it for burns, Noxzemaasafacecream. Results wereso remarkable that today millions of other women are following their example. The secret of Noxzema's wonderful would remain as attractive as they were hidden poisons that creep in. These poisons, absorbed through the pores, are the cause of blemishes, coarseness, roughness and oiliness— skin faults which destroy the natural beauty every woman was intended to possess. Noxzema draws them out—quickly and Nurses Discover It this is a strange and interesting fact. hands and other skin troubles. fect on the skin was so marvelous nurses, attracted by its delicate, -white smoothness, began to use itself is cost of iveness is not hard to understand. door. specialists tell us that a// skins ildhood if it were not for certain This -SKIN CREAM “feel it heal” R é safely—Ileaving the skin glowing with youthful health and beauty once more. ‘The Health Way Try Noxzema ainty, snow- theskin. Find out how surely its gentle medication clears away poisons—stimu- lates and tones—and leaves the com- plexion soft and clear once more. Right now—under the terms of this special offer—you can geta full jar of Noxzema without charge. The cream ten cents ifi stamps to pay postage and to have the cream delivered to your hands at night—massage it into your face, t0o0. Use it as a powder base dur- ing the day. After ten days notice the difference. ably smoother and finer—yet that, only the beginning of the new and last- ing loveliness Noxzema can bring! enerous offer is limited to one wrek onhy coupon now and mail it today! New Beauty— ourself. See how ite cream sinks into free. All weask is that you send non-breakable container nceded ‘When it arrives, use it on your Your skin will be noti —s0 don’t delay. Tear out the skin cream. OVER $2.000000 BENG. OFFERED FOR NOXZEMA Discoverer of Famous Healing Beauty Cream Refuses to Baltimore:—At therate of over $2,000,000 is being offered by independent investors to purchase the stock Chemical Company, manufacturers of Noxzema Skin Cream. Several of the While complete details could not be obtained, it is understood § Bunting, Presidentof NoxzemaChemical Company and discoverer of the famous formula, has refused all offers. The development of Noxzema in the E:.bl three years has been sensational. rom an unknown he scribed by a few ph come one of the biagest creams in the East. Mai believe that Noxzema marl in beauty culture, that it will eventually replace many of the cold creams an vanishing creams now used. For those who have never tried Noxzema Skin Cream Stop at the nearest Peoples Drug Store and get a jar of this famous See for yourself how " it refines and béautifies. RS 5 P R MR R0 .+ Lk o TG || R AR ey RS Sell at that price. of Noxzema ican drug and_banking also making strenuous that G. A. ng cream pre- physicians, it has be. selling toilet authorities new era A. fying Maxwell’s equations of the elec- tro-magnetic fleld, but they do not then appear like the gravitational fields as structural properties of the space-time continuum, but as logically independent constructions. The two types of field are casually linked in this theory, but still not fused to an identity. It can, however, scarcely be imagined that empty space has conditions or states of two essentially different kinds, and it is natural to suspect that this only appears to be so because the structure of the physical continuum is not completely described by the Riemannian metric. ‘The new unitary field theory removes this fault by displaying both types of fleld as manifestations of one compre- hensive type of spatial structure in the space-time continuum. The stimulus to the new theory arose from the dis covery that there exists a structure be- tween the Riemannian space structure and the Euclidean, which is richer in formal relationships than the former, but poorer than the latter. Consider a two-dimension Riemannian space in the form of the surface of a hen's egg. Since this surface is embedded in our (accurately enough) Euclidean space. it possesses a Riemannian metric. In fact, it has a perfectly definite meaning to speak of the distance of two neigh- boring points P, @ on the surface. Similarly it has, of course, a meaning to say of two such pairs of points (PQ) Genuine Wilton Rugs Rugs for a lifetime of wear—in beautiful patterns and colors. Super quality and specially priced in the February Sale. Room sizes, 9x12 feet or $69:L_§ 814x101; ft. Choice .... Room Size Wool Brussel Rugs Attractive and serviceable Rugs in a number of handsome designs and patterns. Two popular sizes, 9x12 feet or 8Yx10'; feet. February s 1 ;§_§ Sale Price .....0 (P'Q), at separate parts of the surface of the egg, that the distance PQ is equal to the distance P'Q. On the other it is impossible now to compare the direction PQ with the direction P Q. In particular it is meaningless to demand that P'Q shall be chosen parallel to PQ. In the corresponding Euclidean geometry of two dimensions, the Euclidean geometry of the plane, directions can be compared and the re- lationship of parallelism can exist be- tween lines in regions of the plane at any distance from one another (dis- tant parallelism). To this extent the Euclidean continuum is richer in rela- tionships than the Riemannian. Theory Based on Mathematical Discovery. The new unitary field theory is based on the following mathematical discov- ery: There are continua with a Rie- mannian metric and distant parallel- ism which, nevertheless, are not Euc- lidean. It is easy to show, for instance, in the case of three-dimensional space, how such a contnuum differs from a Euclidean. Pirst of all, in such a continuum there are lines whose elements are par- allel to one another. We shall call those “straight lines.” It also has a definite meaning to speak of two parallel straight lines as in the Euclidean case. Now choose two such parallels E'L' Room Size Axminster Rugs Room size 9x12 feet and 914x10"; feet, woven with a deep velvety nap, in a host of designs 528:_2 and colors. Choice. .. Room Size Axminster Rugs Room size 6x9 feet, woven with deep velvety nap. A most un- common value in an Alex Smith & Sons Axminster Rug. Various pat- terns in nu- s 1 $1Q).65 combinations 1 CONGOLEUM 9x12-foot Felt-Base Perfect Rugs with A serviceable, practical and neat floor covering. February Sale Price, borders. $4.95 6x9 Feet Size, $2.95 22V;-inch Felt-Base Runner, cut from full rolls (not from remnants), a good, Special February Sal heavy quality. Price, square yard 35¢ 8-4 Inlaid Linoleum, Sq. Yd. Patterns to go through to back, cut from rolls 2 yards wide—every yard perfect — various patterns, assortment of colors....... 8-4 Felt-Base Perfect Floor Covering Cut from full Any quantity desired. February in a variety of patterns. rolls. Sale Price, yard...... $5.00 Down Delivers a Suite of Furniture 1$1.29 39c in a good aluminum .ware outfit, a tablecloth and six napkins. | Which are the simplest and most na and E'L' and mark on each a point E'L. On E'L' choose in addition a point Q'Q'. If we now draw through Q'Q' a straight line Q'—R parallel to the straight line P'P?, then in Euclidean geometry this will cut the straight line E°L’; in the geometry now used the line Q' and the line E’L’ do not in general cut one another. To this ex- tent the geometry now used is not only a specialization of the Riemannian, but also a generalization of the Euclidean geometery. My opinion is that -our space-time continuum has a structure of the kind here outlined. The, mathematical problem whose so- lution, in my view, leads to the correct field laws is to be formulated thu: ural conditions to which a continuum of this kind can be subjected? The an- swer to this question, which I have at- tempted to give in a new paper, yields | unitary fleld laws for gravitation and electro-magnetion. (Copyright, 1929. by the New York Times. Al rights’ throughout the world reserved.) . Massachusetts, years been displacing weeds at the | edges of her 60-foot new highways with blossoming shrubs and native wild- flowers. Fringed Velvet Rugs Fine quality rugs that reflect careful workmanship in designs and colors that meet every exacting de- mand. Choice of 9x12 feet or 8Yx 10%; feet. }52652 Special Room Size February Sale Price.. Axminster Rugs Room size, seamless, high-grade, close woven in beautiful designs and color combinations. 9x12 feet or 8% x 10Y2 feet. $32-65 Choice.. . B with its customary | | display of enlightenment, has for seven Weighs Half of World’s Gold. More than half of the gold produced in the world is now passed through the weighing rooms of a refinery at Germis- ton, near Johannesburg, South Africa. Unrefined blocks of the yellow metal are placed on scales in dust-proof cases by the official weigher to be recorded before going to the refining plants. Lat- est available figures show that of nearly $400,000,000 worth of gold produced in the world in a year $200,000,000 comes from the Transvaal ' BumsteadsWormSyrup “To children an angel of merey.” Where directions ar followed. IT NEVER FAILS. Despite scarcity and enormous ‘vost of SANTONIN. it contains full dose. Stood sixty vears’ test. Sold everywhere Axminster Rugs Scatter size, 27x54 inches. These attractive mottled rugs are suitable for halls, bedside, etc. Sizes 27x54 s inches ...... Scatter Size Axminster Rugs Size 27x54 inches. Pat. terns and colors match the room-size rugs. These are velry unusual Fho 1$7.65 Sale Price... Warm Bedwear Cotton Filled Comforts 60x76-Inch Double Cotton Blankets 64x72-Inch Single Cotton Blankets $1.69 98¢ 66x80- Inch Part-Wool Blankets 72x80-Inch Double Cotton Blankets $2.29 16x26- Inch Coco Door Mat $1.79 | $4.499 | 98¢ This 122-Piece Outfit Illustrated 75 Here’s an outfit any home- maker will welcome. It consists of a 100-piece decorated dinner set (complete service for 12 persons), 15-piece pure A most amazing value. Young couples just starting housekeeping will be impressed with this opportunity to obtain a combination kitchen ware and dinner ware outfit such as this! 50c a Week—The HUB $1.00 Down Delivers “a Single Item