Chapter 18

Relativity and
Black Holes

21st CENTURY ASTRONOMY

Fifth EDITION
Kay | Palen | Blumenthal
Black Hole

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What is absolute about relativity?

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 Michelson-Morley Experiment

Case Western Reserve

Summer, 1887

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 Path of Ball in a Stationary Train

Thinking about the motion of a ball on a train

will prepare us for the next thought
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 Path of Ball in a Moving Train

The ball still is going straight up and down

according to the man inside the train.
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 Path of Ball in a Moving Train

Someone outside
the train would
see the ball
travel a longer
path in one up-
down cycle.
The faster the
train is moving,
the longer that
path would be.

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 The Time Dilation Formula
c t + v t = c t
2 2 2 2 2 2

v 2 2
t = t - 2 t
2 2

v2
t = t 1- 2
c

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 Formulas of Special Relativity

2
Time dilation : t' = t 1
c2

2
Length contraction : l' = l 1
c2
m
Mass increase : m' =
2
1
2 c
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 Simultaneous Events?

In your reference frame, red and green lights on

other spaceship appear to flash simultaneously.
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 Simultaneous Events?

But someone on the other spaceship sees the

green light flash firstsimultaneity is relative!
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A Paradox of Non-relativistic Thinking

If speed of light were

not absolute, you
would see the car
coming toward you
reach the collision
point before the car
it struck.

There is no paradox if
light speed is same
for everyone.

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Light and Special Relativity, Part 1

In everyday life, your

perspective is easily
related to someone
elses.
In such an inertial
frame of reference, the
usual laws of physics
apply.
Velocities simply add.
Newtons laws should
apply to the universe.

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Light and Special Relativity, Part 2

Things are different at

high speeds.
All observers will see
that light moves at a
speed of c, regardless
of their motion.
Motion must be
analyzed differently,
using Einsteins special
theory of relativity.

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Light and Special Relativity, Part 3

Usually, the perceived

speed depends on the
relative motion of the
object to the observer.
Example: If a spaceship
is going by Earth at a
speed of c/2 and emits
light, well still see the
light pass by Earth at a
speed of c, not c + c/2.

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 Light and Special Relativity, Part 4

An event describes something that happens at

a specific location and specific time.
Special relativity describes the relationship
between events in space and time.
Combines those two aspects into a four-
dimensional spacetime.
Something that must be analyzed using special
relativity is called relativistic.
Newtons laws dont apply to the universe, but
they are not wrong; they are contained in
special relativity.

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 Implications of Special Relativity, Part 1
There are many important implications of special
relativity.
These apply to many areas of physics, including
very small scales.
Here are five important implications:

1. Mass and energy are directly related.

Matter can be converted into energy and vice

versa.

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 Implications of Special Relativity, Part 2

2. The speed of light c is the ultimate speed

limit.
3. At the same time is relative.
Perceived information is dependent on relative
motion.
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 Implications of Special Relativity, Part 3

4. Time passes more slowly in a moving

reference frame time dilation.
5. An object is shorter in motion than it is at
rest length contraction.
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 Attainable Speeds

Human space travel is currently difficult.

Current technology can make ships travel
at speeds of 20,000 m/s.
Would take over 50,000 years to get to our
nearest neighbor star, Proxima Centauri.
Moving at high speeds takes a lot of
energy.

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 General Relativity

The general theory of relativity

describes how mass distorts the geometry
of spacetime.
Asks us not to think of gravity as a force,
but rather the result of the shape of
spacetime that objects move through.
The greater an objects mass, the more it
will bend the spacetime around it.

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Equivalence, Part 1
Special relativity: You
cant tell the difference
if youre in a spaceship
at rest or moving at a
constant velocity.
Both are valid inertial
reference frames.

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 The Equivalence Principle

Einstein preserved the idea that all motion is relative by

pointing out that the effects of acceleration are exactly
equivalent to those of gravity.
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Equivalence, Part 2
General relativity:
You cant tell the
difference between
being stationary on
Earth and
accelerating at 9.8
m/s2 in a spaceship.
The equivalence
principle is the idea
that a freely falling
reference frame is
equivalent to a freely
floating reference
frame.

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 Gravity = Geometry

An object in spacetime follows the geometry of

spacetime as the object moves.
Imagine spacetime as a rubber sheet.
Path = geodesic (shortest distance between 2
points).
Falling objects have curved geodesics.
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 Consequences of General Relativity, Part 1
There are many consequences of general
relativity. Here are four:
1. Mercurys orbit is not completely stable it
precesses about 43 arcseconds per
century.

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 Consequences of General Relativity, Part 2

2. Light will also follow curved space and be

bent around massive objects.
This gravitational lensing can displace and
distort an objects image.
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 Consequences of General Relativity, Part 3

3. Time runs more slowly near massive objects

general relativistic time dilation.
Results in gravitational redshift of light coming
from near those massive objects.
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 Consequences of General Relativity, Part 4

4. Gravitational waves should move

through spacetime like ripples through the
rubber sheet.
Should move at the speed of light.
Have not yet been observed.
LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-
Wave Observatory) is looking found
gravitational waves emitted by colliding
black holes.

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What are the major ideas of general relativity?

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Black Holes, Part 1

A black hole is a
singularityall the
matter has collapsed
to one point.
Infinitely dense.
It is a bottomless well
in the fabric of
spacetime.

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 Black Holes, Part 2

If the mass of a neutron star exceeds 3 M, it

will collapse into a black hole.
Not even light can escape the gravitational
pull of a black hole.
Can form directly from Type II supernova (if
massive enough) or from accretion by a
neutron star in a binary system.
Makes us question our assumptions about
the nature of space and time.

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Black Holes, Part 3

Once you get too

close, no geodesics
lead out, not even for
light.
The boundary of no
return is called the
event horizon or the
Schwarzschild radius.

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Black Holes, Part 4

Event horizon of a
1 M black hole =
3 km.
Extreme tidal forces
would rip an object
or human apart as it
fell in.
Gravitational time
dilation and redshift
become infinite.

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Black Holes, Part 5

Black holes should lose

energy by Hawking
radiation: Virtual particles
come into existence near it,
and one falls into the black
hole while the other
becomes real and leaves.

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 Finding Black Holes, Part 1

Black holes can be found by effects of their

gravity.
Can exist in X-ray binary systems.
Rapidly varying X-ray sources require a
very small, very massive object.

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 Finding Black Holes, Part 2

It is possible that some gamma-ray bursts

(GRBs) are given off by the creation of black
holes.
The intense amount of radiation would spell
trouble for life on a planet in its way.
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PROCESS OF SCIENCE

Scientists check
theories by
considering their
limits.
General
relativity
reduces to
Newtons laws
in the limit of
being far from a
mass.

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 Check Your Understanding 18.1

Which beam of light is moving faster:

a) that from the headlight of a parked car;

b) that from the headlight of a moving car;
c) that from the headlight of a moving spaceship;
d) all the beams are moving at c.

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 Check Your Understanding 18.2

Suppose that your friend flies past you in a spaceship,

and both of you measure the time it takes the
spaceship to pass your location. Which of the
following is true?

a) The time you measure is longer than the time your

friend measures;
b) The time you measure is shorter than the time your
friend measures;
c) You both measure the same amount of time.

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 Check Your Understanding 18.3

Suppose that you observe gravitational lensing as a

distant object passes behind a nearer object. As the
light from the more distant object bends around the
nearer one, how will the brightness of the more
distant object change?

a) It will get brighter because light rays will converge;

b) It will get fainter because light rays will diverge;
c) It will remain the same brightness because of
conservation of energy;
d) It will become invisible because the light rays will be
absorbed by the curvature.

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 Check Your Understanding 18.4

If a black hole suddenly doubled in mass, the event

horizon would become ____ its original size:

a) one-quarter
b) one-half;
c) twice;
d) 3 times;
e) 4 times.

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 Working It Out 18.1Time Dilation
The Lorentz factor tells you how much time
dilation or length contraction occurs when
something is moving at a given speed.

The Lorentz factor is always 1.

If you are traveling at a high speed through space,
you will make your trip in a shorter distance and
shorter time than that observed by someone on
Earth.
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Working It Out 18.2Masses in X-Ray Binaries
You can find the total mass of two objects in an X-
ray binary by considering the general form of
Keplers third law, knowing their separation and
orbital period.
For a blue supergiant and a compact object
separated by 0.2 AU with a period of 5.6 days:

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 This concludes the Lecture PowerPoint presentation for Chapter 18

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21st CENTURY
ASTRONOMY
Fifth EDITION
Kay | Palen | Blumenthal