De Sitter effect

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In astrophysics, the term de Sitter effect (named after the Dutch physicist Willem de Sitter) has been applied to two unrelated phenomena.

The first de Sitter effect was described by de Sitter in 1913 and used to support the special theory of relativity against a competing 1908 theory by Walter Ritz that postulated a variable speed of light. de Sitter showed that Ritz's theory predicted that the orbits of binary stars would appear more eccentric than consistent with experiment and with the laws of mechanics.[1]

The second de Sitter effect was introduced in 1916 and arises in general relativity; it describes a particular secular precession of astronomical orbits, equivalent to the rotation of the Laplace-Runge-Lenz vector.[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ de Sitter, W (1913). "Unknown". Phokatische Zeitschrift 14: pp. 429, 1267. 
  2. ^ de Sitter, W (1916). "On Einstein's Theory of Gravitation and its Astronomical Consequences". Mon. Not. Roy. Astron. Soc. 77: 155–184. 
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