he’s at work on a theory that challenges the Big Bang—the prevailing explanation among scientists for how the universe came about. It’s not clear how developed it is, but experts say he’s asking the right questions.

“The theory that he’s working on involves several of the toughest problems in astrophysics and theoretical physics,” Scott Tremaine of Princeton University’s Institute for Advanced Studies—where Einstein (pictured) himself worked—wrote in an email to Jake’s family. “Anyone who solves these will be in line for a Nobel Prize.”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNypTxvOxxQ[/youtube]

I would like to add "attempts" to the title. He hasn't done it yet lol
One thing that struck me as interesting, was his comment about the speed of light being varied by the density of the universe. It makes sense to a degree but i'm not sure why.

Anyone know what the short of his theory is? I hate watching videos.

Tyrannical wrote:Anyone know what the short of his theory is? I hate watching videos.

It's 1:46 long lol

I'm in the same boat with his mom. Was he even speaking English?

The video didnt do a very good job of explaining it, I think. It'd be better if he wrote down his argument. Sounds fairly interesting though, especially for a 12 year old kid.

C. Cochran wrote:I would like to add "attempts" to the title. He hasn't done it yet lol
One thing that struck me as interesting, was his comment about the speed of light being varied by the density of the universe. It makes sense to a degree but i'm not sure why.

I am afraid I could not really follow what he was saying, but it appears I am not the only one, was it english?

The only thing I will say regarding the speed of light and the denstity of the universe, is that the speed of light does vary according to the density of the medium through which it is travelling. The change in density at an interface say air/glass gives the refractive index, light travels slower in glass compared to air, the ratio being for crown glass 1.523 for the mean d-line.

Einstein assumed the speed of light in vacuo, I wonder do cosmologists assume a uniform optical density to the cosmos, and do they in their calculations etc regarding the size of the universe make warrented assumptions about the path of light to their detectors?

ramseyoptom wrote:

Einstein assumed the speed of light in vacuo, I wonder do cosmologists assume a uniform optical density to the cosmos, and do they in their calculations etc regarding the size of the universe make warrented assumptions about the path of light to their detectors?

It's called the Tired Light Theory:

Tired light is a class of hypothetical redshift mechanisms that was proposed as an alternative explanation for the redshift-distance relationship as alternatives to the Big Bang and the Steady State cosmologies, both of which proposed that Hubble's law was associated with a metric expansion of space. The concept was first proposed in 1929 by Fritz Zwicky, who suggested that photons lose energy over time through collisions with other particles. Alternative models of gravity that do not produce an expanding universe sometimes appeal to tired light to explain Hubble's Law. Today, tired light is remembered mainly for historical interest, and almost no scientist accepts tired light as a viable explanation for Hubble's Law.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tired_light

I don't think tired light has anything to do with Ramseyoptom's query. He was asking about the proposition of the refractive index of space changing from place to place or over time. You would expect that a change in the refractive idex of free space would be noticed by a change in the fine structure constant. There have been claims that the fine structure constant may have been slightly different in the early universe but some far not confirmed.

BTW, given e=mc^2, has anyone ever measured the energy and mass close enough so that the speed of light c could be derived from knowing e & m?

Tyrannical wrote:BTW, given e=mc^2, has anyone ever measured the energy and mass close enough so that the speed of light c could be derived from knowing e & m?

Electron - positron anihilation I guess.

When I was about 13 I used to come out with shit like this.... not as advanced, but it sounded clever, even though it was all total horseshit. I remember when I had the 'revelation' that sound waves were just low frequency light waves... lol

He mentions light accelerating as it is bent by gravity. But in GR are things said to 'accelerate' when they move through curved space? Surely they are just following space, and not accelerating at all? My bullshit detector is bleeping.

Still, if he got an email from a Princeton Prof....

Wouldn't we have seen this variation in the speed of light with all the measurements that are made? I'm specifically referring to the discovery of the inflationary period in our universe's history and how that was confirmed. With our ability to "look back in time", why haven't we seen this variation? If the cosmic density is varying as a function of time and space, I'm sure we would have had plenty of time to realize that our value of light was varying.

Tyrannical wrote:BTW, given e=mc^2, has anyone ever measured the energy and mass close enough so that the speed of light c could be derived from knowing e & m?

That's what facilities like CERN do every day in their particle accelerators.

Sometimes, it should be legal to "clip" your offspring. Just sometimes, gently.

james1v wrote:Sometimes, it should be legal to "clip" your offspring. Just sometimes, gently.

Huh?

Also has this kid appeared on Ellen? If not then it strikes me as a cynical attempt to get him on, she mentions watching Ellen about 80 times before the kid starts talking.

Can some actual physicist please confirm he's talking rubbish please?

In one of the youtube videos he's talking about integration by parts. Pretty impressive for a 12yo.

What hes saying isnt exactly right but with the limited amount of education hes had excluded he makes some interesting observations.

death wrote:What hes saying isnt exactly right but with the limited amount of education hes had excluded he makes some interesting observations.

, One aspergers syndrome kid on the other thread and now 12 yr old , maybe I shud have taken to ornithology.

Welcome, , dont mind my muttering, have a good stay.