This is not a picture of the entrance to the courthouse on SE 17th Street, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Although it should be.
This is not a depiction of a career path in civil law. Although it could be.
This is not what a calendar call is before certain unnamed judges, where time slows down.
This is the first ever picture of a black hole.
Longtime and careful readers of blog know that we have a deep interest in cosmology.
So lets dive in.
There is a central theory of general relativity called Local Position Invariance (or LPI to us cosmologists). LPI posits that a measurement on a freely falling object should be the same in a strong gravitational field (like those around black holes) or a weak or non-existent gravitational field- like the legal library of cases in most judicial chambers.
In other words, the watch of suspect "accidentally" pushed out of a window of a ten story building by a Miami Beach Police Officer should tick the same as the fake Rolex of a Judge in the courthouse, or the watch of an astronaut in space.
This is a big deal because if a measurement does not follow LPI, then all of General Relativity follows the suspect out the window in Miami Beach.
Now follow us on this. Colors are wavelengths of light. Stars are mostly made of hydrogen and helium. The wavelength colors of hydrogen and helium have been measured in the earth's atmosphere.
At the center of our Milky Way galaxy is our own black hole called Sagittarius A.
Recently, Star S2 went nearby Sagittarius A.
So the experiment to prove LPI was simple- the wavelength of the colors of hydrogen and helium from S2 as it passed near Sagittarius A were measured.
Would the color of the gasses near the black hole be the same as the colors near earth?
Would LPI be validated? Or would General Relativity be trashed like the Exclusionary Rule before a Trump appointed judge?
Fear not members of the universe. All is relatively well (we crack ourselves up). LPI was confirmed which is the good news.
The bad news is the universe is slowly expanding. The expansion will never stop. Eventually all the stars will be so far away that light will never reach our skies. Our earth will be cold and dark, like the heart of a Judge at SE 17th Avenue in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
But until then, there is always the exclusionary rule; Einstein; LPI; general relativity; and suspects who accidentally tumble out of windows.
BTW- PAY YOUR TAXES TODAY
Rump, for the benefit of millennials, you need to add a definitional footnote to "cosmologist." They might think you had dedicated a post to hair styling.
ReplyDeleteTrue story. Decades ago on an ill-conceived foray into the civil courthouse I am reading a book on Cosmology- maybe by Kip Thorn. I walk into chambers. Judge sees the book and says "you have a book on cosmology?"
ReplyDeleteMe taking it as an insult, I respond in a very testify manner "Yes. It's a hobby of mine. Does that seem strange?
Judge: No you just never stuck me as a guy who is interested in hair and grooming.
I paused and could not suppress a laugh at the stupidity of the judge but needing to win my motion I collected myself and said "to each his own" and let it be.
And I won the motion.
How can you possibly try to explain LPI when you don’t even know the correct location of the Broweird Courthouse.
ReplyDeleteIts true I refuse to go to Broward anymore so I wrote it from memory. Did they move it?
ReplyDeleteThey moved it next door, but the old one is still there blocking the sidewalk.
ReplyDelete