Abstract
IN NATURE of October 9, 1937, under the heading "Red shifts and the Distribution of the Nebulæ", there is repeated a statement of Dr. Hubble's to the effect that hyperbolic space of negative curvature leads to a distance-distribution of nebulæ which is contrary to observation. It is, however, well known that the distances of nebulæ are in no sense 'observed': they are defined by means of theoretical formulæ in terms of the observed apparent magnitudes of the nebulæ. Moreover, the definitions vary with the process of distance-measurement envisaged. Dr. Hubble's statement is, therefore, only true if (a) we accept his particular definition of distance in terms of apparent photographic magnitude, and if (b) we also accept his identification of this distance with a certain one of the quantities figuring as distance in the model universes of general relativity.
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MCVITTIE, G. Hyperbolic Space. Nature 140, 773–774 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/140773c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/140773c0
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