Abstract
SO much has been written in recent years on the subject of the expanding universe from the theoretical point of view, that there is no need here to give more than a summary of the position, following Sir Arthur Eddington. The ‘Einstein universe’ was a conception based on a static solution of Einstein's field equations in which matter was distributed with uniform density, filling a closed space, and in equilibrium owing to the balancing of gravitational attraction and cosmical repulsion. In 1917, Prof. W. de Sitter, of Leyden, put forward his now famous hypothesis, predicting large velocities of recession for distant objects, which was based on a small modification of Einstein's equations. The difficulty about the ‘De Sitter universe’ was that it was empty, so that the cosmical repulsion acted without hindrance.
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REYNOLDS, J. Physical and Observational Evidence for the Expanding Universe. Nature 130, 458–462 (1932). https://doi.org/10.1038/130458a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/130458a0