The concept of the theory of relativity was discovered by a Russian physicist

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The famous formula "E = mc2" was first written by the Russian physicist Nikolai Alekseevich Umov and pointed out the dependence of energy on mass "E = kmc2", back in 1873. Long before A. Einstein, he discussed in his works the formula E = kmc2, deduced earlier by Heinrich Schramm, which, according to his assumption, connected the mass and energy density of the hypothetical luminiferous ether. Subsequently, this dependence was strictly derived, without any coefficient k and for all types of matter, by Einstein in the special theory of relativity (STR). Einstein was credited with this discovery 30 years later.

Nikolai Alekseevich Umov (January 23 (February 4) 1846, Simbirsk - January 15 (28), 1915, Moscow) - theoretical physicist, philosopher, professor at Novorossiysk and Moscow universities. Born January 23 (February 4) 1846 in Simbirsk (now Ulyanovsk) in the family of a military doctor. He studied at the gymnasium in Moscow, in 1863 he entered the mathematical department of the physics and mathematics faculty of Moscow State University. After graduating from the university (1867), he remained there to prepare for a professorship. In 1871-1893 he taught at the Novorossiysk University in Odessa (from 1875 - professor). During these years, the most important theoretical studies of the scientist were carried out. In 1871 he defended his master's thesis Theory of thermomechanical phenomena in solid elastic bodies, in 1874 - his doctoral dissertation Equations of motion of energy in bodies. Umov studied theoretical physics on his own according to the works of G. Lame, R. Clebsch and R. Klausius, since no such course was taught at Russian universities at that time.

Already in 1873 N. A. Umov (Theory of simple media, St. Petersburg, 1873) pointed to the ratio of mass and energy for ether in the form E = kMC² (Umov NA Selected works. M. - L., 1950).

In his doctoral dissertation "Equations of motion of energy in bodies" Umov wrote (1874): "… the amount of energy flowing through an infinitely small flat element in an infinitely small time is equal to the negative work of elastic forces acting on this element."

"This energy is equivalent to mass, like heat and mechanical energy, and the equivalence coefficient is represented by the square of the speed of light." Umov N. A. "Equations of motion of energy in bodies". 1874.-- 56 p.

Self-education largely determined the originality of Umov's judgments and ideas. So, he was the first to introduce into science such fundamental concepts as the speed and direction of energy movement, the energy density at a given point in the medium, and the spatial localization of the energy flow. Umov himself, however, did not generalize these concepts to other types of energy, except for energy in elastic bodies. In 1884, the concept of the flow of electromagnetic energy was introduced by J. Poynting, using a vector to describe the propagation of energy, which is now called the "Umov-Poynting vector".

In 1875, Umov solved in general the problem of the distribution of electric currents on conducting surfaces of arbitrary form. In 1888-1891 he experimentally investigated the diffusion of substances in aqueous solutions, the polarization of light in turbid media, discovered the effect of chromatic depolarization of light rays falling on a matte surface. In 1893 Umov returned to Moscow and began to teach a course in theoretical physics at the university. After the death of A. G. Stoletov in 1896 he headed the Department of Physics. Together with P. N. Lebedev, he took an active part in drafting and organizing the Physics Institute at the university. In the 1900s, he conducted a deep analysis of many complex Gauss formulas in the theory of terrestrial magnetism, which made it possible to determine the secular changes in the Earth's magnetic field.

Umov was the organizer of a number of educational societies, for 17 years he was elected president of the Moscow Society of Nature Experts. In 1911, together with a group of leading professors, Umov left Moscow University in protest against the reactionary actions of the Minister of Education L. A. Kasso.

Umov died in Moscow on January 15 (28), 1915.