Nick Fowler

Annotated Bibliography

Baker, R.M.L. (2003). What Poincaré and Einstein have wrought: a modern, practical

application of the General Theory of Relativity (the story of high-frequency gravitational

waves). Retrieved from http://www.gravwave.com/ pdf/The%20Story%20of% 20High

Frequency%20Gravitational%20Waves.pdf

This document seeks to explain the practical uses of general relativity. One of the most
significant discoveries made after Einstein published his theory was that of gravitational
waves. It makes sense because in every other field, electromagnetic for example, waves
propagate between objects which causes movement. Therefore, in space-time, waves
must exist. If scientists can create higher frequency gravitational waves, then great
possibilities open up for communication, propulsion and imaging technology.
Baker, R.M.L. (2010). Li-Baker HFGW detector fabrication [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved

from http://www.gravwave.com/index_2.html.

This power point covers one particular HFGW machine that is dubbed as potentially
being the most sensitive in its detection of waves and the most useful. It is currently
under development in China but the technology will be available to the United States. It
utilizes detection photons generated from electro-magnetic beams with the same
frequency as the gravitational waves. The detectors are farther along than the producer
machines, which are of equal importance. This knowledge is essential for applying
relativity to communications.
Baker, R.M.L. (2010). Military applications of high frequency gravitational waves.

Retrieved from http://www.gravwave.com/docs/Military%20HFGW%20Applications.pdf

There is a company named Gravwave LLC whose sole purpose is to apply gravitational
waves predicted by Einstein to military and industrial fields. This paper goes into
immense depth in explaining the practical uses of gravitational waves once a way to
create and detect them is fully developed. This paper will serve as a major source and
will also be a challenging read.
Ferreira, P. (2017). Instant expert: General relativity. Retrieved from https://www. New
 scientist.com/round-up/instant-expert-general-relativity/

The article talks about the effect of gravitational fields on the rotation of planets. It re-
evaluates space-time and makes it visual, like a marble in a bowl. The curvature of the
bowl redirects the motion of the marble. It is a well-illustrated comparison to planetary
motion. The suns mass creates a large warp in space-time that forces earth's orbit to be in
the form of an ellipse. While Einstein's theory is best explained through the use of planets
and the solar system, its practical use is far greater. This source is an adequate summary
of a complex theory.
Lakdawalla, E. (2008, February 15). Accounting for general relativity at Mercury. Retrieved

from http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2008/1329.html.

This source explains how the Messenger space craft that was sent to Mercury was guided.
The company in charge of navigation, KinetX used NASA’s navigation software to
correctly drive the probe. According to relativity, Mercury’s orbit changes by a very
small fraction per century. The source specifically highlights how the company included
relativity calculations when guiding Messenger past Mercury. Without the calculations,
there was a significant difference in the flyby distance that could have resulted in a less
satisfying mission. This source will be very relevant to applying relativity in terms of
space exploration and possibly a Mars mission.
Mastin, L. (2009). General theory of relativity. Retrieved from https://www.physicsofthe

universe.com/topics_relativity_general.html

This article is very helpful because it applies general relativity to other physical concepts
like the Big Bang Theory. Relativity suggests that the universe began at a singularity,
through the complex equation. This website also shows how Einstein’s other theory,
Special Relativity, impacts general relativity. Special relativity claims that the speed of
light is always the same regardless of the position of the observer. Light is important
because light waves are bent by gravity as they travel around planets, which further
proves that space-time is distorted and shaped by the rotation of the planets. This source
is unique because it has multiple pages of information that go into specific mathematical
detail about topics.
Overduin, J. (2007). Einstein's space-time. Retrieved from https://einstein.stanford.edu/

SPACETIME/spacetime2.html

This article is about space-time and what it is. Space-time is a four dimensional object
that combines the three x,y,z dimensions and the 4th dimension which is time. All events
in the universe take place or have taken place in this space-time. Einstein's general
 relativity equation proved this by showing how, as a planet rotates upon its axis, it is
shifting or molding space time around it. The article also discusses gravity probe B, an
instrumental part of proving Einstein's theory. Furthermore, this article deals with the
concept of a world-line. The idea that there is a line stretching from past to future that
shows every particles position at every instant in time. However, it is not changing with
time. World-lines help explain shapes of space-time, which can be sliced using Einstein's
equation to find the shape at a particular instant. This source can be used to further
explain relativity via a demonstration.
Tong, D. (2015). What is general relativity? Retrieved from https://plus.maths.org/content

/what-general-relativity.

This website article and video delve into the physics equations behind general relativity
and explain it through an analogous comparison to electromagnetic fields. While the
equation is very complex, it is not difficult to follow along. It also chronicles the
development of gravitational warping and space-time up until Einstein and shows the
tragic flaw in Newton’s original gravity equation. While some of the concepts are hard to
understand. This information is essential to building a strong foundation in the physics
behind relativity.
Weaver, D., Villard, R., Sahu, K. (2017, August 6). Hubble astronomers develop a

new use for century-old relativity experiment to measure a white dwarf’s mass. Retrieved

from https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/hubble-astronomers-develop-a-new-

use-for-a-century-old-relativity-experiment.

This article is about the Hubble space telescope and how scientists apply relativistic
principles to the images it collects. Because light bends as it passes around objects in
space like stars and planets, astronomers can use this to calculate a star’s mass and
change in size. This microlensing can also be used to observe distant galaxies for from
our own. Microlensing is an up and coming part of astrophysics that will soon be very
popular in the field. This source is critical to understanding relativity beyond its very
abstract nature.
Will, C.M. (2017). Einstein's relativity and everyday life. Retrieved from http://physics

central.com/explore/writers/will.cfm.

This website discusses the ways in which our technological innovative society applies
relativity. The most prevalent example occurs when calculating location using a GPS.
Because of relativity it is known that satellites in earth’s orbit have clocks on them that
are moving faster than time on earth by about 45 microseconds. Therefore, satellites are
programmed to add the time difference to their calculations and relay the correct time via
radio waves to the receiver on earth. Without the relativity calculation programmed into
the computer chip, GPS would fail and not be able to accurately predict locations. This
source is instrumental because it explains one of relativities chief beneficiaries that plays
a large role in daily actions.