Asri-unix.939
net.space
utcsrgv!utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!C70:sri-unix!KING@KESTREL
Wed Mar 10 08:32:29 1982
anisotropic monobloc radiation
	Consider  the  following   thought  experiment:  Construct   a
transparent [crystal?] sphere a  parsec or so in  diameter, and a  few
meters outside that another sphere, painted black on the inside, whose
temperature is 3 deg. K.  At or near the center of the sphere place  a
measuring apparatus which is  moving with some  speed relative to  the
transparent and black spheres.  Observe the deviation in the radiation
field caused by the Doppler shift.
	Now remove the  black sphere  and set  the transparent  sphere
into motion so it feels isotropic radiation from the Big Bang.   Since
the radiation field on  the surface of the  transparent sphere is  the
same in this experiment as it was before, the motion of the  measuring
apparatus has the same effect on the anisotropy of the radiation as it
would have had the black sphere been there.
	It is thus an easy matter to measure our absolute motion.   We
are actually measuring our motion relative to the part of the monobloc
that occupied our position in the universe in the olden days.
	I believe, by  the way,  that if  I took  two spaceships  tied
together by  a very  long  (1 megaparsec  might  be enough)  piece  of
string, that the string would be under constant tension.  The galazies
aren't receding - there keeps on coming to be more space in between us
and the nearest galaxy.  This  means that another galaxy with  respect
to which we have no red/blue  shift would have a different  anisotropy
in its monobloc radiation measurement.  I haven't quite worked out the
paradox yet,  but I  think that  if  my 1  parsec black  sphere  were,
instead, a megaparsec or so in diameter it would matter which wall  we
were closer to.
	Comments?


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