Cosmology Old and New

Author(s): G R Jain
Publisher: Bharatiya Gyanpith

Page 17

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the universe has been concluded on the basis of feeble red shift of the spectral lines. The red shift of the spectral lines must be attributed to some other cause, not to the expan
sion of the universe.' (ii) Aether, the medium of motion, cannot be eliminated
out of the scheme of the universe. It is a non-material medium and all attempts to associate physical properties
with it are bound to fail. (iii) Aether is the seat of a stationary system of waves. (iv) The Field or the medium of rest, through which the
forces of gravitation and electromagnetism operate, is quite a separate reality, non-active and non-material. Its functions cannot be usurped by the Space. It has
been confirmed by Einstein's Unified Field theory. (v) Space without matter and time does not mean void
space is a substance and a reality in itself in which the
property of expansion inheres. (vi) Space and time form a mixed continuum and this four
dimensional continuum forms a finite universe beyond which no particle of matter or energy can travel on account of the absence of aether but bevond this finite universe there is an infinite extension of pure mathematical
space. (vii) The postulate that the space becomes warped in the
presence of matter is unnecessary at least in the
explanation of the finite universe. (viii) According to the Jain view, even the modern atom is
a molecule (skandha) and something akin to Raman effect would be discovered in the nucleii of atoms
some day. (ix) According to the laws of union of the elementary grains
of energy mesons, positive and negative, of different masses are possible.
1. Zwicky has already given an alternative explanation. According to him when light passes by a large mass such as a star, not only is it deflected but it also deflects the mass to a small extent. Thus it loses energy. According to quantum theory this means a diminution in the frequency of light and hence an increase in the wavelength i.e., the light looks redder or the spectral lines are shifted towards the red.