Spacetime continuum

Disproving its existence.

◣ QUESTION 1

When a smooth circular object is placed in the path of light, its shadow behind will be dark except for a small bright spot at the centre. What is the spot called? Its discovery in 1818 was a strong indicator that light behaves like a wave.

◣ QUESTION 2

Backed by discoveries like those in Q1, pointing to the possibility that light can behave like a wave, scientists assumed space should be filled with a medium the wave can pass through. Name the famous 1887 experiment that looked for this medium but ended up

QUESTION 3

The answers to Q1 and Q2 plus other events disrupted what scientists believed they knew of light and space. In 1898, a French mathematician first combined space and time into spacetime and advanced some principles that explained the discrepancy in Q2. Name him.

◣ QUESTION 4

The spacetime of our universe has four dimensions – three of space and one of time. What is the name for a point on this spacetime?

◣ QUESTION 5

Mathematically, spacetime is a ________. This means a very small portion of spacetime will appear flat when zoomed

Answers to March 21 quiz:

1. Observatory that studies gamma-ray sources from low-earth orbit –

2. Probe launched by Japan propelled in orbit by a solar sail – Ans: IKAROS

3. India’s first dedicated space telescope – Ans: AstroSat

4. ESA observatory launched in 2013 for astrometry – Ans: Gaia

5. The telescope among NASA’s flagship four that observes ◣-rays –

Visual: Lyman Spitzer

First contact: Muhammed Shahid Suri | Yogapriya K. | K.N. Viswanathan | Srinivasan G. | Alex Abraham

IUCAA in but can be part of a curved surface when zoomed out – like how the earth appears flat to someone standing on the ground but whose spheroidal shape becomes apparent when standing on a mountain. Fill in the blank. Ans: Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Ans: Chandra Visual: Name this Indian physicist who provided the first, if also incomplete, proof that the general theory of relativity allowed spacetime to become infinitely curved in some places.