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| Paper: |
“The Waters I am Entering No One yet Has Crossed”: Alexander Friedman
and the Origins of Modern Cosmology* |
| Volume: |
471, Origins of the Expanding Universe: 1912-1932 |
| Page: |
71 |
| Authors: |
Belenkiy, A. |
| Abstract: |
Ninety years ago, in 1922, Alexander Friedman (1888–1925) demonstrated
for the first time that the General Relativity equations admit non-static
solutions and thus the Universe may expand, contract, collapse, and even be
born. The fundamental equations he derived still provide the basis for the
current cosmological theories of the Big Bang and the Accelerating Universe.
Later, in 1924, he was the first to realize that General Relativity allows the
Universe to be infinite. Friedman's ideas initially met strong resistance from
Einstein, yet from 1931 he became their staunchest supporter. This essay
connects Friedman's cosmological ideas with the 1998–2004 results of the
astronomical observations that led to the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics. It also
describes Friedman's little known topological ideas of how to check General
Relativity in practice and compares his contributions to those of Georges
Lemaître. Recently discovered corpus of Friedman's writings in the Ehrenfest
Archives at Leiden University sheds some new light on the circumstances
surrounding his 1922 work and his relations with Paul Ehrenfest. |
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