Einstein's 1917 Static Model of the Universe: A Centennial Review

TL;DR

This paper reviews Einstein's 1917 static universe model, analyzing its historical context, mathematical aspects, and its influence on modern cosmology, highlighting overlooked issues and its legacy in current theories.

Contribution

It provides a detailed historical and technical analysis of Einstein's 1917 cosmological model, including overlooked aspects and its influence on subsequent cosmological theories.

Findings

Einstein did not test his model against observations.

He failed to consider the stability of the model.

There was a mathematical oversight regarding the cosmological constant.

Abstract

We present a historical review of Einstein's 1917 paper 'Cosmological Considerations in the General Theory of Relativity' to mark the centenary of a key work that set the foundations of modern cosmology. We find that the paper followed as a natural next step after Einstein's development of the general theory of relativity and that the work offers many insights into his thoughts on relativity, astronomy and cosmology. Our review includes a description of the observational and theoretical background to the paper; a paragraph-by-paragraph guided tour of the work; a discussion of Einstein's views of issues such as the relativity of inertia, the curvature of space and the cosmological constant. Particular attention is paid to little-known aspects of the paper such as Einstein's failure to test his model against observation, his failure to consider the stability of the model and a mathematical oversight concerning his interpretation of the role of the cosmological constant. We recall the response of theorists and astronomers to Einstein's cosmology in the context of the alternate models of the universe proposed by Willem de Sitter, Alexander Friedman and Georges Lemaitre. Finally, we describe the relevance of the Einstein World in today's 'emergent' cosmologies.