Related papers: Einstein's mirror revisited
Understanding the deflection of light by a massive deflector, as well as the associated gravitational lens phenomena, require the use of the theory of General Relativity. I consider here a classical approach, based on Newton's equation of…
We give precise details to support that observations of gravitational lensing at scales of individual, groups and clusters of galaxies can be understood in terms of non-Newtonian gravitational interactions with a relativistic structure…
In this paper, we present a new heuristic derivation of the gravitational deflection of light around the Sun at the undergraduate level. Instead of solving the geodesic equation directly, we compute the correct deflection angle by focusing…
We present a didactic derivation of the special theory of relativity in which Lorentz transformations are `discovered' as symmetry transformations of the Klein-Gordon equation. The interpretation of Lorentz boosts as transformations to…
Entangled Relativity is a non-linear reformulation of Einstein's theory that cannot be defined in the absence of matter fields. It recovers General Relativity without a cosmological constant in the weak matter density limit or whenever $\Lm…
We revisit Eisenstein's geometric proof of quadratic reciprocity and make explicit the involutive symmetry underlying Eisenstein's lattice-point argument. Building on Gauss's lemma, we interpret the Legendre symbols as counts of lattice…
Einstein equations for several matter sources in homogeneous, isotropic metric are shown to reduce to a second order nonlinear ordinary differential equation. An analysis of its solutions is made in an important case.
The description of gravity in the form of an embedding theory is based on the hypothesis that our space-time is a four-dimensional surface in a flat ten-dimensional space. The choice of standard Einstein-Hilbert action leads in this case to…
We investigate imaging point sources with a monopole gravitational lens, such as the Solar Gravitational Lens in the geometric optics limit. We compute the light amplification of the lens used in conjunction with a telescope featuring a…
Students in introductory physics courses struggle to understand virtual image formation by a plane mirror and the proper construction of ray diagrams. This difficulty, if not sufficiently addressed, results in further problems throughout…
As is well-known, Newton's gravitational theory can be formulated as a four-dimensional space-time theory and follows as singular limit from Einstein's theory, if the velocity of light tends to the infinity. Here 'singular' stands for the…
Recent results on solutions of the Einstein equations with matter are surveyed and a number of open questions are stated. The first group of results presented concern asymptotically flat spacetimes, both stationary and dynamical. Then there…
We begin by admitting the following: (i) there is a frame of reference where the speed of light is the same in any direction (that speed is c) (ii) the average speed of light on a two-way journey is c in every frame of reference. From this…
Within classical optics, one may add microscopic "roughness" to a macroscopically flat mirror so that parallel rays of a given angle are reflected at different outgoing angles. Taking the limit (as the roughness becomes increasingly…
We express the defining relations of the $q$-deformed Minkowski space algebra as well as that of the corresponding derivatives and differentials in the form of reflection equations. This formulation encompasses the covariance properties…
Einstein's general relativity is the best available theory of gravity. In recent years, spectacular proofs of Einstein's theory have been conducted, which have aroused interest that goes far beyond the narrow circle of specialists. The aim…
We found strong similarities between the gravitational lensing and the conventional optical lensing. The similarities imply a graded refractive index description of the light deflection in gravitational field. We got a general approach to…
The recent classical nonlocal generalization of Einstein's theory of gravitation is presented within the framework of general relativity via the introduction of a preferred frame field. The nonlocal generalization of Einstein's field…
Using the implicit function theorem we demonstrate that solutions to the classical part of the relativistic Lippmann-Schwinger equation are in one-to-one correspondence with those of the energy equation of a relativistic two-body system. A…
We define the stretched future light cone, a timelike hypersurface composed of the worldlines of radially accelerating observers with constant and uniform proper acceleration. By attributing temperature and entropy to this hypersurface, we…