Spring Break
Black holes: Einstein could have been wrong
Jacques Lebrument
Issue date: 2/9/09 Section: Culture
Professor Charles D. Baylin grabbed the audience's attention by holding up a football, explaining that he had discovered a new pedagogical method to teach Physics.
"What goes up, must come down," Professor Charles D. Baylin said.
He threw the football in the air to illustrate that even if a piece of fundamental physics science often applies, it is not always true.
Baylin argued that even if detailed research agrees with the existence of black holes and their associated behaviors, it could be wrong.
Have you ever seen a black hole? Do they even exist?
Last week, UMKC sought to answer these questions in the seventh annual Paul D. Bartlett, Sr., Lecture Series at the Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering and Technology.
This year, the Linda Hall Library invited Bailyn, the Thomas E. Donnelley Professor of Astronomy and Physics at Yale University, for a lecture called "How to See a Black Hole."
The event was sponsored in association with The Yale Club of Kansas City, The Harvard/Radcliffe Club of Kansas City and The Princeton Alumni Association Of Greater Kansas City.
Since 2003, the series' mission statement has been to invite prestigious faculty in to illustrate the library's content.
Baylin began the lecture by explaining the fundamentals of astronomy and physics, such as escape velocity, speed of light, Einstein's theories of Special and General Relativity, using the velocity to the relativity theory of Einstein to reach the explanation of a black hole.
He explained it is impossible to observe a black hole itself because it is, by definition, invisible. The only way to see one is if there is material gravitating in its "events horizon."
In the second part of his lecture, illustrated with many anecdotes, he explained the assumption made during those years of collaboration, over hypothesis of a non-existing Einstein Relativity Theory
The observation of such phenomena made him and his research team reach a point where they needed to formulate a null hypothesis in order to demonstrate that "if general relativity applied, then the compact object must be a black hole," and if it is not a black hole, then the theory of relativity doesn't apply.
The whole lecture, by demonstrating the discovery he made, showed all the assumptions they made in order to conclude that a "dynamically confirmed black hole candidate" exists.
Bailyn concluded his lecture by confirming the existence of black holes. Answering questions, from a fascinated audience seemingly afraid of the potential consequences of a false relativity theory, he ended on a reassuring note.
He explained the low probability of this event, and said the purpose of the research was simply to reach the "limits to scientific knowledge."
jlebrument@unews.com
"What goes up, must come down," Professor Charles D. Baylin said.
He threw the football in the air to illustrate that even if a piece of fundamental physics science often applies, it is not always true.
Baylin argued that even if detailed research agrees with the existence of black holes and their associated behaviors, it could be wrong.
Have you ever seen a black hole? Do they even exist?
Last week, UMKC sought to answer these questions in the seventh annual Paul D. Bartlett, Sr., Lecture Series at the Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering and Technology.
This year, the Linda Hall Library invited Bailyn, the Thomas E. Donnelley Professor of Astronomy and Physics at Yale University, for a lecture called "How to See a Black Hole."
The event was sponsored in association with The Yale Club of Kansas City, The Harvard/Radcliffe Club of Kansas City and The Princeton Alumni Association Of Greater Kansas City.
Since 2003, the series' mission statement has been to invite prestigious faculty in to illustrate the library's content.
Baylin began the lecture by explaining the fundamentals of astronomy and physics, such as escape velocity, speed of light, Einstein's theories of Special and General Relativity, using the velocity to the relativity theory of Einstein to reach the explanation of a black hole.
He explained it is impossible to observe a black hole itself because it is, by definition, invisible. The only way to see one is if there is material gravitating in its "events horizon."
In the second part of his lecture, illustrated with many anecdotes, he explained the assumption made during those years of collaboration, over hypothesis of a non-existing Einstein Relativity Theory
The observation of such phenomena made him and his research team reach a point where they needed to formulate a null hypothesis in order to demonstrate that "if general relativity applied, then the compact object must be a black hole," and if it is not a black hole, then the theory of relativity doesn't apply.
The whole lecture, by demonstrating the discovery he made, showed all the assumptions they made in order to conclude that a "dynamically confirmed black hole candidate" exists.
Bailyn concluded his lecture by confirming the existence of black holes. Answering questions, from a fascinated audience seemingly afraid of the potential consequences of a false relativity theory, he ended on a reassuring note.
He explained the low probability of this event, and said the purpose of the research was simply to reach the "limits to scientific knowledge."
jlebrument@unews.com
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