For geniuses, even blunders are triumphs in disguise. A
dialogue between Albert Einstein and Erwin Schrödinger, pictured,
suggests the pair stumbled upon the idea of
dark energy 80 years before its time, while toying with what they thought was an ugly fudge factor.
In 1917, Einstein's novel equations of
space-time had geometric terms on the left and energy on the right. A
constant on the left kept the universe steady, suiting observations at
the time. But in 1929, it became clear that the universe is expanding
and Einstein dubbed the constant "the biggest mistake of my life".
Now historian Alex Harvey of New York
University has re-analysed papers from the physicists, published in
1918. In one Schrödinger toyed with Einstein's equations, moving the
constant from the left to the right.
The simple move transformed the
constant from part of the geometry of space-time to a source of energy
for the universe. "While mathematically it doesn't make any difference,
physically it does," says Harvey.
Einstein responded, rather cheekily,
that the properties of this new energy term were either nothing or
demand a "non-observable negative density in interstellar spaces".
Pandora's Box
"That turns out to be dark energy,"
Harvey says – which only emerged again in 1998 to explain the universe's
accelerating expansion.
If Einstein had followed the
mathematics, he could have predicted yet another Nobel-worthy idea from
first principles. Instead, he dismissed his notion almost as soon as he
conceived of it. "The course taken by Herr Schrödinger does not appear
possible to me because it leads too deeply into the thicket of
hypotheses," Einstein wrote.
"He simply pointed out that you're
opening up a Pandora's Box here," says Harvey. "It's either trivial, or
you have a headache. That headache historically turned out to be dark
energy."
Harvey thinks Einstein was mildly
irritated by Schrödinger's mathematical games. "His language indicates a
certain degree of annoyance," he adds.
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