Results Further Test of General Relativity Theory

The first experimental results in a new attempt to verify the famous "red shift" prediction of the late Albert Einstein's theory of relativity have been reported to the American Physical Society.

The general method used in the experiments was first put forward by Robert V. Pound, professor of Physics, and Glenn A. Rebka, Jr. '53. Preliminary investigations have been made by Pound and Rebka at Harvard and also by Drs. J.P. Schiffer, T.E. Cranshaw and A. B. Whitemead at Harnwell, the main British center of atomic research.

Use Gamma Rays

Using gamma radiation of an extraordinarly precise wave-length, the scientists have attempted to send the radiation through a distance sufficient to induce a gravitational change of wave length which Einstein's theory predicts. Until the experiment was suggested, the theory's only verification came from astronomical observations whose accuracy was not great enough to establish the principle beyond doubt.

The only definite statement on the outcome of preliminary work came from the British scientists, who have observed a shift equal to 96 per cent of the Einstein prediction. The experimental error predicted odds of 60 to 1 that Einstein was correct.

Pound and Rebka, however, felt that their data had not yet yielded conclusive evidence either for or against the theory.