Scientists capture the incredible Einstein effect for the first time

Physicists have demonstrated a century-old Einstein-related prediction that objects moving near the speed of light appear to rotate rather than being compressed when taking pictures. Using innovative laser technology to effectively reduce the speed of light to walking speeds, researchers at Tu Wien and the University of Vienna can see the elusive Terrell-Penrose effect, thus changing our understanding of how we move at relative speeds.

Prove a 65-year-old prediction that challenges our visual intuition

Einstein’s special theory of relativity tells us that objects moving near the speed of light are compressed in the direction of travel – a phenomenon called Lorentz’s contraction. But in 1959, physicists James Terrell and Roger Penrose (who later won the 2020 Nobel Prize) independently made counterintuitive predictions: We don’t actually see this compression in photos. Instead, fast moving objects rotate.

Why hasn’t anyone observed this effect before? In short, until now, it was very difficult to photograph anything moving at the speed of relativity.

Innovative “slow light” solutions

“We moved a cube and a sphere around the lab and recorded laser flashes reflected from different points on these objects at different times using a high-speed camera,” explained Victoria Helm and Dominik Hornof, students who conducted the experiment.

“If the right timing is right, you can create a situation that produces the same result, just like the speed of light does not exceed 2 meters per second.”

This breakthrough technique effectively shifts Light’s speed from its normal 300 million meters to just 2 meters per second (2 meters slower than walking), which makes for a previously invisible relativistic effect that can be observed in a laboratory environment.

How relativity photography deceives our eyes

The effect occurs because light from different parts of a moving object cannot touch our eyes or camera at the same time. For example, when shooting extremely fast cubes, for example:

• The light at the back corner is farther than the light at the front corner
• This means that the lights at the back corner were emitted earlier in the time
• In this difference, the object has been moved to a new location
• The difference in flight time creates a spinning appearance

As Professor Peter Schattschneider of Tu Wien explained, “This makes us look like the cube has rotated.” The team’s findings fit perfectly with theoretical predictions, suggesting that a cube appears distorted while the sphere is still spherical, but its characteristics seem to rotate about the axis.

Where art meets science: The abnormal origin of experiments

Interestingly, this groundbreaking scientific achievement comes from collaboration in art and science. The project began with artist Enar de dios Rodriguez, exploring the concept of ultra-fast photography and the “jogging of light” and joining researchers at the University of Vienna.

Using Picsecond laser pulses (one in a million of a second) and cameras with gating time as short as 300 picseconds, the team developed a technology that can capture reflected light from precisely positioned objects. By carefully timing these captures and combining them into synthetic “snapshots”, they created the world’s first visual demonstration of the Terrell-Penrose effect.

The researchers animate these snapshots into a short video showing an object with a digital virtual speed (80% light speed) while the sphere moves at 0.999c (99.9% light speed).

The meaning of the real world: expanding our understanding of relativity

Can this new technology enable other famous thought experiments to visualize theories of relativity? The researchers believe. They show in their paper published in Communication Physics that their approach may have the potential to prove other unobservable relativity phenomena, including Einstein’s famous “train” thought experiment, revealing the speed of light.

The study also celebrates the centenary of the 1924 paper by physicist Anton Lampa, which first explores the works that observers laid the foundation for Terrell-Penrose predictions 35 years later.

What makes these findings particularly important is how they bridge the gap between mathematical theory and visual intuition. Einstein’s relativity always challenges our everyday understanding of physics, but this experiment provides a tangible way to see these abstract concepts in action.

As we continue to explore the fundamental properties of the universe, this innovative intersection of art, photography and physics reminds us that even creative experimental techniques approach, even a century-old scientific question can generate new insights. Sometimes, to truly see the universe, we need to slow down the light itself.