The world’s most iconic equation, Albert Einstein’s ‘E=mc2’, may be correct depending on where you are in space, said a physicist, proposing an experiment to test the theory in outer space. University of Arizona physics professor Andrei Lebed has proposed an experiment using a space probe carrying hydrogen atoms to test his finding that the equation ‘E=mc2’ is incorrect in curved space.
According to the Theory of General Relativity, objects curve the space around them. In the equation ‘E=mc2’, E stands for energy, M for mass and C for the speed of light (squared). Physicists have since validated Einstein’s equation, and many technologies like mobile phones depend on it.
The key to Lebed’s argument lies in the concept of mass. Accepted paradigm finds no difference between the mass of a moving object that can be defined in terms of its inertia, and the mass bestowed on that object by a gravitational field.
This equivalence principle between inertial and gravitational masses, introduced in classical physics by Galileo Galilei and in modern physics by Einstein, has been confirmed with a high accuracy level. ‘But my calculations show that beyond a certain probability, there is a very small but real chance the equation breaks down for a gravitational mass,’ Lebed said.
If one measures the weight of quantum objects often enough, the result will be the same in the vast majority of cases, but a tiny portion might give a different reading, in apparent violation of ‘E=mc2’. This has physicists puzzled, but could be explained if gravitational mass was not the same as inertial mass.
‘Most physicists believe that gravitational mass equals inertial mass,’ Lebed said. ‘But my point is that gravitational mass may not be equal to inertial mass due to some quantum effects in General Relativity, which is Einstein’s theory of gravitation. To the best of my knowledge, nobody has ever proposed this before,’ Lebed said. He suggested sending a small spacecraft with a tank of hydrogen and a sensitive photo detector into space. In outer space, the relationship between mass and energy is the same for the atom, but only because the flat space doesn’t permit the electron to change energy levels.
According to the Theory of General Relativity, objects curve the space around them. In the equation ‘E=mc2’, E stands for energy, M for mass and C for the speed of light (squared). Physicists have since validated Einstein’s equation, and many technologies like mobile phones depend on it.
The key to Lebed’s argument lies in the concept of mass. Accepted paradigm finds no difference between the mass of a moving object that can be defined in terms of its inertia, and the mass bestowed on that object by a gravitational field.
This equivalence principle between inertial and gravitational masses, introduced in classical physics by Galileo Galilei and in modern physics by Einstein, has been confirmed with a high accuracy level. ‘But my calculations show that beyond a certain probability, there is a very small but real chance the equation breaks down for a gravitational mass,’ Lebed said.
If one measures the weight of quantum objects often enough, the result will be the same in the vast majority of cases, but a tiny portion might give a different reading, in apparent violation of ‘E=mc2’. This has physicists puzzled, but could be explained if gravitational mass was not the same as inertial mass.
‘Most physicists believe that gravitational mass equals inertial mass,’ Lebed said. ‘But my point is that gravitational mass may not be equal to inertial mass due to some quantum effects in General Relativity, which is Einstein’s theory of gravitation. To the best of my knowledge, nobody has ever proposed this before,’ Lebed said. He suggested sending a small spacecraft with a tank of hydrogen and a sensitive photo detector into space. In outer space, the relationship between mass and energy is the same for the atom, but only because the flat space doesn’t permit the electron to change energy levels.