indicates If one looks at the starry sky, then a little on greater momentum. The other planets pass by. But the fixed stars were observed, as the Name says, more or less in the same Position, you already the old Greeks. The universe seems to be a static Entity.

And therefore, Albert Einstein was looking for, after he had formulated about 100 years ago, the General theory of relativity (read here, how it came to be), on the Basis of his formulas to a static model of the cosmos. The solution in 1917: an immutable, finite Structure is very similar to the surface of a sphere has no boundaries presented. From a religious perspective, the played for Einstein, although not a role, but for many of his contemporaries, one could say: The universe was as God had created it.

From Uratom to the big Bang

It was, of all things, a cleric who brought this static view of the world to collapse. In June 1927, the young Roman Catholic priest and physicist Georges Lemaître, also showed, on the Basis of Einstein’s General theory of relativity, and based on observations that our universe is expanding.

a Few years after its discovery, Lemaître spoke of a Uratom, the broke apart, and the expanding universe has brought forth. The usual concept of the big Bang, the British astronomer Fred Hoyle first in 1948 coined. So if a physicist of the title “Creator of the big Bang model” worthy, then the 125 years ago in the Belgian city of Charleroi-born Lemaître. “Without a doubt, Lemaître is one of the great astrophysicists,” says Norbert Straumann, Emeritus Professor of theoretical astrophysics at the University of Zurich.

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Only his ground-breaking work of 1927 was almost forgotten. Not Lemaître, but the US-American astronomer Edwin Hubble was given the honour to have the Expansion of the universe discovered. Hubble was world famous. The Hubble space telescope was later named after him. There is a after the Americans named the moon crater, an asteroid and a mountain in the Antarctic. “Hubble aspired to the Nobel prize,” says Harry Nussbaumer, Professor Emeritus of astrophysics at ETH Zurich. Lemaître, however, was largely empty. “It’s just amazing how Lemaître was ignored, and not only regarding this work from 1927,” says Straumann.

How could this happen? Lemaître had published his discovery in 1927 in French in the “annals of the scientific society of Brussels”, a quite prestigious and also widely-spread Journal. At least in Europe, some of the experts seem to have been of the French powerful and the article have read. The Brit Sir Arthur Eddington, one of the leading astrophysicists of his Generation, got the publication of Lemaître in the Hand, forgot you again.

“Physically repulsive,”

In the case of Einstein bite Lemaître on granite. As this was October in 1927 by Lemaîtres model, he commented: this is formally correct but physically hideous. For Einstein, the idea of an expanding universe was, apparently, unacceptable. And Lemaître, modest as he was, not weibelte for his dynamic model, especially since Einstein made to a work by the Russian theoretical physicist Alexander Friedman’s attention. This had derived in 1922 from Einstein’s equations of dynamic solutions, one of which was that of Lemaître possible.

However, Friedman suggested no bridge from models to observation, he showed just basically, what are the mathematical solutions of Einstein’s equations, in principle, allow. He never spoke of an expanding universe. “But from the Moment Lemaître has quoted in this context Friedman,” says Nussbaumer. “Lemaître was a priest, but not a missionary for his own celebrity.”

“Lemaître was a priest, but not a missionary for his own celebrity.”To know Harry Nussbaumer, Professor emeritus of astrophysics, ETH Zurich

Without Georges Lemaîtres important work, published by Hubble two years later, on 15. In March 1929, remove in the journal of the US Academy of Sciences which was named after him the law: galaxies are receding faster from us the further away they are. Like Lemaitre, he used the data that had been collected by the American astronomer, Vesto Slipher at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona. Slipher measurement of the speed at which spiral galaxies move away from us, or on us to move.

Hubble is not interpreted his measurement data, such as the Lemaître in the framework of the General theory of relativity as an expanding universe. He only cared about the observation. The explanation he gave to the theorists, in particular, Eddington, and the Dutch astrophysicist Willem de Sitter. However, the two theorists found simply no explanation for Hubble’s data also do not thought of a dynamic universe.

As Lemaître in 1930 by the mystery Eddington’s and De Sitter’s rates las, he sent Eddington again a copy of his work from 1927. “As it fell Eddington and De Sitter-like scales of the eyes”, says Nussbaumer. “The two recognized immediately that Lemaître had solved your Problem.” Eddington arranged, that from the French into English translated Version of Lemaîtres work was reprinted in the “Monthly Notices of the Royal Academy of Sciences”.

Principal section

all it took was just that section, in the Lemaître first is the Hubble law presented was missing in the Translation. It has been speculated, Hubble had made his influence felt, and the Translation of this portion is prevented. However, as the Israeli astrophysicist Mario Livio of 2011 revealed, it was Lemaître himself, the stroke of this aspect of the Translation. He saw no reason to publish his four-year-old findings, together with the still revolutionary, but now a little outdated observational data. “That was one of the reasons why the Hubble the discoverer of the expanding universe was chosen”, says Straumann. The Hubble-law went down in the annals.

Einstein was reluctant of Lemaîtres big Bang model to convince – and, although only Lemaître and, a little later, Eddington proved once again that Einstein’s static universe is unstable, so physically no sense. After discussions with Eddington in 1930, and a visit to the USA in 1931, Einstein was converted and recognized Lemaîtres model of the dynamic universe.

In October 2018, the International astronomical Union (IAU) had a View. The discovery of the us to remove galaxies is one of the pillars of modern Cosmology, it is said, in a statement. To acknowledge the contributions of the Belgian astronomers to the theory of the expanding universe, recommend to the IAU, “the Hubble law, Hubble-Lemaître-law to rename.” This was 91 years after Lemaîtres discovery.

According to Nussbaumer Lemaître has separated, even though he was a priest, religious Considerations strictly from his science. He fought back against it, he discovered the big Bang to the biblical act of creation to be equated.

for The 21. In November, the University of Bern organized a Symposium in honor of 125 years ago-born Georges Lemaître: www.sps.ch

Created: 17.11.2019, 18:39 PM