Physics

Einstein’s Biggest Blunder, Explained

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This video is about how Albert Einstein made a mistake when applying the Field Equations of General Relativity to cosmology (in particular, to a static, constant density universe), and solved the problem by introducing the cosmological constant, rather than allowing for a dynamic universe with a scale factor – that is, the Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker universe, first developed by Alexander Friedmann of Russia. Later, it was discovered by the Slipher and Hubble red-shift that the universe is indeed expanding, and even later, by Schwarz and company in 1998, that the expansion is accelerating – aka, dark energy. And the cosmological constant was re-introduced.

Thanks to Grant Sanderson of http://www.youtube.com/3Blue1Brown for help with the fancy equation animation!

REFERENCES

The Einstein Field Equations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein_field_equations

Interrogating the Legend of Einstein’s “Biggest Blunder”
https://arxiv.org/abs/1804.06768

On the General Theory of Relativity (Einstein)
https://einsteinpapers.press.princeton.edu/vol6-trans/110

The Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity (Albert Einstein)
https://einsteinpapers.press.princeton.edu/vol6-trans/158

Cosmological Considerations in the General Theory of Relativity
https://einsteinpapers.press.princeton.edu/vol6-trans/433

Einstein Wrongly Criticizes Alexander Friedmann
https://einsteinpapers.press.princeton.edu/vol13-trans/301

Alexander Friedmann Corrects Einstein
https://einsteinpapers.press.princeton.edu/vol13-trans/363

Einstein Admits his Mathematical Mistake
https://einsteinpapers.press.princeton.edu/vol14-trans/77

The Field Equations of Gravitation
https://einsteinpapers.press.princeton.edu/vol6-trans/129

George Gamow
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gamow

Mach’s Principle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mach%27s_principle

Equivalence Principle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equivalence_principle

Sean Carroll and William Press Paper
https://preposterousuniverse.com/wp-content/uploads/cpt92.pdf

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Created by Henry Reich

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