The search for the curvature <math>K</math> indicates that, after making all known corrections, the number N seems to increase faster with <math>d</m… - Howard P. Robertson
" "The search for the curvature <math>K</math> indicates that, after making all known corrections, the number N seems to increase faster with <math>d</math> than the third power, which would be expected in a Euclidean space, hence <math>K</math> is positive. The space implied thereby is therefore bounded, of finite total volume, and of a present "radius of curvature" <math>R = \frac{1}{K^\frac{1}{2}}</math> which is found to be of the order of 500 million light years. Other observations, on the "red shift" of light from these distant objects, enable us to conclude with perhaps more assurance that this radius is increasing...
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About Howard P. Robertson
Howard Percy Robertson (January 27, 1903 – August 26, 1961) was an American mathematician and physicist known for contributions related to physical cosmology and the uncertainty principle. He was Professor of Mathematical Physics at the California Institute of Technology and Princeton University.
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Howard Percy Robertson
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H. P. Robertson
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Additional quotes by Howard P. Robertson
[T]he astronomical data give the number N of nebulae counted out to a given inferred "distance" <math>d</math>, and in order to determine the curvature... we must express N, or equivalently <math>V</math>, to which it is assumed proportional, in terms of <math>d</math>. ...from the second of formulae (3) and... (4)... to the approximation here adopted, 5)<math>V = \frac{4}{3} \pi d^2 (1 + \frac{3}{10} K d^2 + ...);</math>...plotting N against... <math>d</math> and comparing... with the formula (5), it should be possible operationally to determine the "curvature" <math>K</math>.
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