Ludwik Silberstein
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Ludwik Silberstein (1872 – 1948) was a Polish-American physicist who helped make
special relativity In physics, the special theory of relativity, or special relativity for short, is a scientific theory regarding the relationship between space and time. In Albert Einstein's original treatment, the theory is based on two postulates: # The law ...
and
general relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity and Einstein's theory of gravity, is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of gravitation in modern physics. ...
staples of university coursework. His textbook '' The Theory of Relativity'' was published by Macmillan in 1914 with a second edition, expanded to include general relativity, in 1924.


Life

Silberstein was born May 17, 1872 in
Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...
to Samuel Silberstein and Emily Steinkalk. He was educated in Krakow,
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
, and
Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
. To teach he went to
Bologna, Italy Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nati ...
from 1899 to 1904. Then he took a position at
Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...
. In 1907 Silberstein described a bivector approach to the fundamental electromagnetic equations. When \mathbf and \mathbf represent electric and magnetic vector fields with values in \mathbb^3, then Silberstein suggested \mathbf + i \mathbf would have values in \mathbb^3, consolidating the field description with complexification. This contribution has been described as a crucial step in modernizing
Maxwell's equations Maxwell's equations, or Maxwell–Heaviside equations, are a set of coupled partial differential equations that, together with the Lorentz force law, form the foundation of classical electromagnetism, classical optics, and electric circuits. Th ...
, while \mathbf + i \mathbf is known as the Riemann–Silberstein vector. Silberstein taught in Rome until 1920, when he entered private research for the
Eastman Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...
Company of
Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located i ...
. For nine years he maintained this consultancy with Kodak labs while he gave his relativity course on occasion at the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
, the
University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institu ...
, and
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to ...
. He lived until January 17, 1948.


Textbook inaugurating relativity science

At the
International Congress of Mathematicians The International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) is the largest conference for the topic of mathematics. It meets once every four years, hosted by the International Mathematical Union (IMU). The Fields Medals, the Nevanlinna Prize (to be rename ...
(ICM) in 1912 at
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...
, Silberstein spoke on "Some applications of quaternions". Though the text was not published in the proceedings of the Congress, it did appear in the
Philosophical Magazine The ''Philosophical Magazine'' is one of the oldest scientific journals published in English. It was established by Alexander Tilloch in 1798;John Burnett"Tilloch, Alexander (1759–1825)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford Unive ...
of May, 1912, with the title "Quaternionic form of relativity". The following year Macmillan published ''The Theory of Relativity'', which is now available on-line in the
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music ...
(see references). The quaternions used are actually biquaternions. The book is highly readable and well-referenced with contemporary sources in the footnotes. Several reviews were published.
Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans ar ...
expressed some misgivings: :A systematic exposition of the principle of relativity necessarily consists very largely in the demonstration of invariant properties of certain mathematical relations. Hence it is bound to appear a little uninteresting to the experimentalist...little is done to remove the unfortunate impression that relativity is a fad of the mathematician, and not a thing for the every-day physicist. In his review Morris R. Cohen wrote, "Dr. Silberstein is not inclined to emphasize the revolutionary character of the new ideas, but rather concerned to show their intimate connection with older ones." Another review by Maurice Solovine states that Silberstein subjected the relativity principle to an exhaustive examination in the context of, and with respect to, the principal problems of
mathematical physics Mathematical physics refers to the development of mathematics, mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The ''Journal of Mathematical Physics'' defines the field as "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and t ...
taken up at the time. On the basis of the book, Silberstein was invited to lecture at the
University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institu ...
. The influence of these lectures on
John Lighton Synge John Lighton Synge (; 23 March 1897 – 30 March 1995) was an Irish mathematician and physicist, whose seven-decade career included significant periods in Ireland, Canada, and the USA. He was a prolific author and influential mentor, and is cr ...
has been noted: :Synge had also been strongly influenced a few months previously
n January 1921 N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...
by a Toronto lecture series organized by J.C. McLennan on "Recent Advances in Physics", at which Silberstein gave eighteen lectures on "Special and Generalized Theories of Relativity and Gravitation, and on Spectroscopy", all from a mathematical standpoint. Silberstein gave a
plenary address at the International Congress of Mathematicians This is a list of International Congresses of Mathematicians Plenary and Invited Speakers. Being invited to talk at an International Congress of Mathematicians has been called "the equivalent, in this community, of an induction to a hall of fame." ...
in 1924 in Toronto: ''A finite world-radius and some of its cosmological implications''.


The Einstein–Silberstein debate

In 1935, following a controversial debate with
Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theor ...
, Silberstein published a solution of Einstein's field equations that appeared to describe a static,
axisymmetric Rotational symmetry, also known as radial symmetry in geometry, is the property a shape has when it looks the same after some rotation by a partial turn. An object's degree of rotational symmetry is the number of distinct orientations in which i ...
metric with only two point singularities representing two point masses. Such a solution clearly violates our understanding of
gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the str ...
: with nothing to support them and no
kinetic energy In physics, the kinetic energy of an object is the energy that it possesses due to its motion. It is defined as the work needed to accelerate a body of a given mass from rest to its stated velocity. Having gained this energy during its a ...
to hold them apart, the two masses should fall towards each other due to their mutual gravity, in contrast with the static nature of Silberstein's solution. This led Silberstein to claim that A. Einstein's theory was flawed, in need of a revision. In response, Einstein and
Nathan Rosen Nathan Rosen (Hebrew: נתן רוזן; March 22, 1909 – December 18, 1995) was an American-Israeli physicist noted for his study on the structure of the hydrogen atom and his work with Albert Einstein and Boris Podolsky on entangled wave functi ...
published a Letter to the Editor in which they pointed out a critical flaw in Silberstein's reasoning. Unconvinced, Silberstein took the debate to the popular press, with ''The Evening Telegram'' in
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...
publishing an article titled "Fatal blow to relativity issued here" on March 7, 1936. Nonetheless, Einstein was correct and Silberstein was wrong: as we know today, all solutions to Weyl's family of axisymmetric metrics, of which Silberstein's is one example, necessarily contain singular structures ("struts", "ropes", or "membranes") that are responsible for holding masses against the attractive force of gravity in a static configuration.


Other contributions

According to Martin Claussen, Ludwik Silberstein initiated a line of thought involving eddy currents in the atmosphere, or fluids generally. He says that Silberstein anticipated foundational work by
Vilhelm Bjerknes Vilhelm Friman Koren Bjerknes ( , ; 14 March 1862 – 9 April 1951) was a Norwegian physicist and meteorologist who did much to found the modern practice of weather forecasting. He formulated the primitive equations that are still in use in n ...
(1862 – 1951).


Works

* 1907: Electromagnetische Grundgleichungen in bivectorielle Behandlung, Ann. Physik 22 579–86 & 24:783–4 * 1912: Quaternionic form of relativity, Phil. Mag. 14 1912 790 - 809 * 1913: Second memoir on quaternionic relativity, Phil. Mag. 15 1913 135-144 * 1913
Vectorial Mechanics
2nd edition 1926, Macmillan & Company. * 1914
The Theory of Relativity
Macmillan, 2nd edition 1924. * 1918
Elements of the Electromagnetic Theory of Light
Longmans, Green & Co. * 1918
Simplified Method of Tracing Rays Through any Optical System of Lenses, Prisms, and Mirrors
Longmans, Green & Co. * 1919
Elements of Vector Algebra
Longmans, Green and Company. * 1920
Report on the Quantum Theory of Spectra
Adam Hilger IOP Publishing (previously Institute of Physics Publishing) is the publishing company of the Institute of Physics. It provides publications through which scientific research is distributed worldwide, including journals, community websites, maga ...
. * 1922
Quantum Theory of Photographic Exposure
Philosophical Magazine The ''Philosophical Magazine'' is one of the oldest scientific journals published in English. It was established by Alexander Tilloch in 1798;John Burnett"Tilloch, Alexander (1759–1825)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford Unive ...
6th series, volume 44:257–73 and 44:956–68. * 1924
The Theory of General Relativity and Gravitation
D. Van Nostrand, * 1930: ''The Size of the Universe'',
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...
* 1933: ''Causality: A Law of Nature or a Maxim of the Naturalist'', Macmillan The initials "T.G." might be those of the mathematician Thomas Greenwood, who wrote articles for ''Nature'' and had an interest in relativity theory.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silberstein, Ludwik 1872 births 1948 deaths Heidelberg University alumni Polish emigrants to the United States American physicists Polish relativity theorists