| HPS 2590 |
Einstein | Fall 2015 |
Back to course documents.
Schedule
| Week | Date | Subject and Readings | Presenter |
| 1 | Sept. 2 | Introduction. Review of menu of topics. Selection of topics to be covered. | Norton |
| 2 | Sept. 9 | Introduction to Einstein's special relativity paper of 1905. Preparation for all: Read 1. Einstein's "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies." Online here and here. 2. John D. Norton, "Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity and the Problems in the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies that Led him to it." pp. 72-102 in Cambridge Companion to Einstein, M. Janssen and C. Lehner, eds., Cambridge University Press. Background reading: John D. Norton, "Einstein's Investigations of Galilean Covariant Electrodynamics prior to 1905," Archive for History of Exact Sciences, 59 (2004), pp. 45-105. |
Norton Powerpoints: How Did Einstein Discover Special Relativity? Three Possible Ways Einstein’s Electrodynamical Pathway to Special Relativity How Did Einstein take “The Step”? |
| 3 | Sept. 16 | Section by section reading of Einstein's "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies." Online here and here. Resources: Norton's notes on Einstein's paper. New notes of Section 8. Norton's notes: Electrodynamics 001 Robert E Kennedy, A Student's Guide to Einstein's Major Papers Oxford University Press, 2012. Richard Becker, Electromagnetic Fields and Interactions. Dover. This is the latest incarnation of the original August Foeppl, Introduction to Maxwell's Theory, which was a standard text in Einstein's time and has great historical depth. |
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| Introduction § 1. Definition of Simultaneity. Note error in standard translation. § 2. On the Relativity of Lengths and Times |
Tyler Ahlstrom (15 min) | ||
| § 3. Theory of the Transformation of Co-ordinates and Times from a Stationary System to another System in Uniform Motion of Translation Relatively to the Former | Dana Mathiessen (15 min) | ||
| § 4. Physical Meaning of the Equations Obtained in
Respect to Moving Rigid Bodies and Moving Clocks
§ 5. The Composition of Velocities |
Siska De Baerdemaeker (15 min) | ||
| § 6. Transformation of the Maxwell-Hertz Equations for Empty Space. On the Nature of the Electromotive Forces Occurring in a Magnetic Field During Motion § 9. Transformation of the Maxwell-Hertz Equations when Convection-Currents are Taken into Account |
Shahin Kaveh (15 min) | ||
| § 7. Theory of Doppler’s Principle and of Aberration | Willy Penn (15 min) | ||
| § 8. Transformation of the Energy of Light Rays. Theory of the Pressure of Radiation Exerted on Perfect Reflectors | Norton (15 min) notes |
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| § 10. Dynamics of the Slowly Accelerated Electron | George Borg (15 min) | ||
| E=mc2 | |||
| 4 | Sept. 23 | Albert Einstein, “Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?” (1905) Online. John Stachel and Roberto Torretti, "Einstein's First Derivation of Mass-Energy Equivalence," American Journal of Physics, 50 (1981), pp. 760-63, Link behind paywall. Norton's notes. |
Dana Mathiessen (30 min) |
| Albert Einstein, "Das Prinzip von der Erhaltung der Schwerpunktsbewegung und die Trägheit der Energie," Annalen der Physik 20(1906), pp. 627–633. Einstein Papers, Vol. 2., Doc. 35 Translated as "The Principle of the Conservation of Motion of the Center of Gravity and the Inertia of Energy." In Einstein Papers online. |
Willy Penn (30 min) | ||
| Albert Einstein, "Über die vom Relativitätsprinzip geforderte Trägheit der Energie,' Annalen der Physik, 23(1907), pp. 371-84. Einstein Papers, Vol. 2, Doc. 45. Translated as "On the Inertial of Energy Required by the Relativity Principle." in Einstein Papers online. |
Norton (45 min) notes |
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| Relativistic Mechanics | Michel Janssen slides here or here or here. |
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| Background readings: Later derivations Albert Einstein, "Elementary derivation of the equivalence of mass and energy," Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 41 (1935), 223-230. This is the lecture Einstein gave in Pittsburgh in 1934! See David Topper and Dwight Vincent, "Einstein's 1934 two-blackboard derivation of energy-mass equivlance," American Journal of Physics, 75 (11), November 2007, pp. 978-983. Albert Einstein, "An Elementary Derivation of the Equivalence of Mass and Energy," Ch. 17 in A. Einstein, Out of My Later Years. |
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| Einstein's Statistical Papers of 1905 | |||
| 5 | Sept. 30 | General discussion and review of special relativity section. | |
| John D. Norton, "Atoms Entropy Quanta: Einstein's Miraculous Argument of 1905," Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, 37 (2006), pp. 71-100. Shorter version: John D. Norton, "Einstein's Miraculous Argument of 1905: The Thermodynamic Grounding of Light Quanta" in C. Joas, C. Lehner and J. Renn (eds.), HQ1: Conference on the History of Quantum Physics: Preprint 350. Vol. 1, pp. 67-82. Even shorter: "Atoms Entropy Quanta: Einstein's Statistical Physics of 1905," Goodies page. |
Norton (45 min) Powerpoints |
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| Norbert Straumann, "On Einstein’s Doctoral Thesis."
Background: Albert Einstein, "A New Determination of Molecular Dimensions" (Doctoral Dissertation) Online here. |
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| Albert Einstein, "On the Movement of Small Particles Suspended in Stationary Liquids as Required by the Molecular-Kinetic Theory of Heat." (Brownian motion paper. Online here or here.) Norton's notes. Section 1-3. Einstein treats the motion of small suspended particles statistically as if they were molecules of an ideal gas. Diffusion coefficient derived. |
Tyler Ahlstrom (30 min) |
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| 6 | Oct. 7 | Albert Einstein, "On the Movement of Small Particles Suspended in Stationary Liquids as Required by the Molecular-Kinetic Theory of Heat." (Brownian motion paper. Online here or here.) Sections 4-5. Einstein then treats the diffusion process as a random walk, inventing the theory of stochastic processes. |
Siska De Baerdemaeker (30 min) |
| Albert Einstein, "On a Heuristic Viewpoint Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light." (The light quantum paper) Online here. Norton's notes. Introduction. Sections 1-2. Einstein gives a clear demonstration of the failure of classical electrodynamics to accommodate heat radiation. |
George Borg (20 min) | ||
| Sections 3-4. Einstein derives the volume dependence of entropy for high frequency heat radiation. All that follows depends on it. | Norton (20 min) | ||
| Sections 5-6. The core ("miraculous") argument in which light quanta appear. | Norton (20 min) Powerpoint synopsis |
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| Sections 7-9. The three empirical vindications; includes the photoelectric effect. | Nora Boyd (20 min) |
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| 7 | Oct. 14 | Albert Einstein, "On the Present Status of the Radiation Problem," Physikalische Zeitschrift, 10(1909), pp. 185-93. Einstein Papers, Vol. 2, Doc. 56. (Wave-particle duality). English translation here or here. See shorter statement in Albert Einstein, "On the Development of Our Views Concerning the Nature and Constitution of Radiation." Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft, Verhandlungen7(1909), pp. 482-500. John D. Norton, "Thought Experiments in Einstein's Work," in Thought Experiments In Science and Philosophy, eds. T. Horowitz, G. J. Massey, Savage, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1991. |
George Borg/ Shahin Kaveh (45 min) |
| Albert Einstein, "Theorie der Opaleszenz von Homogenen Fluessigkeiten und Fluessigkeitsgemischen in der Naehe des kritischen Zustandes," Annalen der Physik, 33 (1910), pp. 1275-1298. German. English | Norton
(45 min) notes |
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| General Discussion | Everyone brings one "nugget" that they found striking. | ||
| Oct. 21 | No seminar. Norton out of town. | ||
| Einstein and Philosophy of Science | |||
| 8 | Oct 28 | Einstein, "Principles of Theoretical Physics" (1914); "Principles of Research" (1918). Here. | Tyler Ahlstrom (30 min) |
| Einstein, "What is the Theory of Relativity?" (1919). Here (constructive versus principled theories) | All A few min. |
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| Einstein, "Geometry and Experience." (1921) Here. | Dana Mathiessen (30 min) |
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| Einstein, "On the Method of Theoretical Physics." (1933) Here Background: John D. Norton, "'Nature in the Realization of the Simplest Conceivable Mathematical Ideas¹: Einstein and the Canon of Mathematical Simplicity," Studies in the History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, 31 (2000), pp.135-170. Here. |
Willy Penn (30 min) |
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| John D. Norton, "How Hume and Mach Helped Einstein Find Special Relativity." pp. 359-386 in M. Dickson and M. Domski, eds., Discourse on a New Method: Reinvigorating the Marriage of History and Philosophy of Science. Chicago and La Salle, IL: Open Court, 2010. | Norton (30 min) Powerpoint |
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| Einstein Completes General Relativity | |||
| Nov. 3 | Michel Janssen, "The arch and the scaffold: How Einstein found the field equations of general relativity," 4:30 pm, Physics Department, University of Pittsburgh, 102 Thaw Hall.Abstract. | ||
| 9 | Nov. 4 | From the principle of equivalence to the "Entwurf" theory, in brief. Einstein's Zurich Notebook. (Goodies page) |
Norton (45 min) |
| Einstein's "hole argument" and his resolution of it in the "point-coincidence argument." See Einstein's Hole Argument | Willy Penn (45 min) |
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| Hilbert's resolution in "Die Grundlagen der Physik," Mathematische Annalen, 92 (1924), pp 1-32. Fragments | Norton (10 min) Notes |
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| 10 | Nov. 11 | Michel Janssen and Jürgen Renn, "Arch and scaffold: How Einstein found his field equations." Physics Today, forthcoming (November 2015). Special article to mark the centenary of the first presentation of the Einstein field equation on November 25, 1915. Michel Janssen and Jürgen Renn, How Einstein found the field equations of general relativity. New York: Springer, in preparation. Introduction. This is the introduction to a source book with (excerpts of) the most important papers, manuscripts and letters documenting Einstein's search for the field equations of general relativity. The introduction is an extended version of our article in Physics Today and includes an extensive bibliography on the subject. Albert Einstein, "The Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity" (1916). English translation: Pp. 111–164: Albert Einstein et al, The Principle of Relativity. New York: Dover, 1952. Read Part C, secs. 13–18, pp. 142–151. |
Michel Janssen |
| Nov. 18 | Term paper proposals due in email prior to seminar today. | ||
| The Einstein Universe, De Sitter spacetime and the Expanding Universe | |||
| 11 | Nov. 18 | What are the principles underying general relativity? John D. Norton, "General Covariance and the Foundations of General Relativity: Eight Decades of Dispute," Reports on Progress in Physics, 56(1993), pp.791-858. |
Norton (40 Min) |
| Albert Einstein, "Cosmological Considerations on the General Theory of Relativity." | Nora Boyd (40 min) |
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| Michel Janssen, “5. Fourth Attempt: Mach’s Principle and Cosmological Constant” in “‘No Success like Failure . . .’ Einstein’s Quest for General Relativity, 1907-1920” Background reading: Read for de Sitter's critique of Einstein's use of Mach's principle. De Sitter's mathematical development is labored. W. de Sitter “On Einstein’s Theory of Gravitation, and its Astronomical Consequences. Third Paper.” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 78 (1917), pp. 3-28. W. de Sitter “On the Relativity of Inertia. Remarks Concerning Einstein’s Latest Hypothesis.” Proc. Amsterdam Academy of Arts and Sciences, 19 (1917), pp. 1217-1225. Weyl's later treatment of the mass horizon in his text Space-Time-Matter recounts both views: mass horizon and no mass horizon. Hermann Weyl, §34.Concerning the Inter-connections of the World as a Whole. in Space-Time-Matter. 1922 |
Siska De Baerdemaeker (40 min) |
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Background reading: Christopher Smeenk, "Einstein's Role in the Creation of Relativistic Cosmology." in Cambridge Companion to Einstein. |
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| Nov. 25 | Thanksgiving recess. | ||
| 12 | Dec. 2 | George Lemaitre, "A Homogeneous Universe of Constant Mass and Increasing Radius accounting for the Radial Velocities of Extra-galactic Nebulae," Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 91 (1931), pp. 483-490. |
Siska De Baerdemaeker (40 min) |
| Arthur Eddington, "On the Instability of Einstein's Spherical World," Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 90 (1930), pp. 668-678. | Willy Penn (40 min) |
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| A. Einstein and W. de Sitter, "On the Relation between the Expansion and the Mean Density of the Universe," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,"18 (1932), pp. 213-214.
Harry Nussbaumer , "Einstein’s conversion from his static to an expanding universe." |
Shahin Kaveh (40 min) |
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Background reading: Christopher Smeenk, "Einstein's Role in the Creation of Relativistic Cosmology." in Cambridge Companion to Einstein. |
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| Einstein's Critique of the New Quantum Theory | |||
| 13 | Dec. 9 | Background reading: The EPR paper A. Einstein, B. Podolsky, and N. Rosen, "Can Quantum-Mechanical Description of Physical Reality Be Considered Complete?," Physical Review, 47 (1935), pp. 777-780. |
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| Albert Einstein, "Quanten-Mechanik und Wirklichkeit," Dialectica, 2, issue 3-4, (1948) pp.320-324 (1948). English translation "Quantum Mechanics and Reality," in Max Born, The Born-Einstein Letters . London: MacMillan, 1971. pp. 168-173. (Also here.) | Shahin Kaveh (40 min) |
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| Niels Bohr, "Can Quantum-Mechanical Description of Physical Reality be Considered Complete?" Physical Review. 48 (1935), pp. 696-702. | George Borg (30 min) |
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| Niels Bohr (1949) "Discussions with Einstein on Epistemological Problems in Atomic Physics" From P. A. Schilpp, ec., Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist. | Dana Mathiessen (30 min) |
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| Albert Einstein, "Reply to Criticisms" From P. A. Schilpp, ec., Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist. (Only parts pertaining to Einstein's critique of quantum theory.) | Tyler Ahlstrom (20 min) |
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| Friday, Dec. 18 | Term papers due. |
Error in standard translation of Einstein's 1905 "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies." Section 1. Definition of Simultanteity
We have not defined a common “time” for A and B, for the latter cannot be defined at all unless we establish by definition that the “time” required by light to travel from A to B equals the “time” it requires to travel from B to A.
should read
... a "time" common from A and B. The latter can be determined by establishing by definition that the "time" needed for light to travel from A to B is equal to the "time" it needs to travel from B to A.