OSBORNE REYNOLDS AND HIS SUB-MECHANICS OF THE UNIVERSE J.D. Jackson J. Badur August 28, 1995 1 On the problematic of the universal aether. ‘The history of the unified field theory should be - because of both: meritorious and historical reasons ~ divided into few characteristic stages. The first one, primary, would has been a long period starting, probably, with the parapetitics’ mechanics and ending with Decartes. This was, as it is commonly known, the time of formulating the notions and questions with their verbal explanations . The second period - between Cartesian and Maxvellian aethers? was the time of building the first efficient mathematical models. Owing to the efforts of nineteenth century scientists such as: J. Fresnel, A.L. Cauchy, 8. Poisson, G. Green, G.G. Stokes, G.B. Airy, J. Mac Cullagh, C. Lame, J. Boussinesa, W. Thomson, F. Neumann, E. Skiba, the fundaments of the field theory - in a contemporary understanding - have been made. Models of aether were, at that time, a main driving force for development of hydrodynamics, theory of elasticity, thermodynamics, theory of gravitation, electricity and magnetism? Further, often stormy, development of mathematical and physical models of aether were lasting from the work of Clark-Maxwell [33] till to the appearance of a new paradigm based upon the theory of special relativity. Then, for a time, this notion was accounted to be useless? and come back, at least within the framework of gravitation as the metric tensor [57]. Contemporary physics (about the 80's) has still been fascinated with the question of the unified theories, continuing investigations on the ground of models such as: Mc Laren-Kaluza-Klein multidimensional continuum, super-symmetries or super-strings. comprehensive elaboration one can find in Whittaker’s monography [57] 2There are many examples which give evidence of this, but two are very characteristic. The first one is the metric measure of deformation in the Green aether [18] which passed into the continuum mechanics as the Green measure. The second one is the Maxwell siress measure (33] which passed to hydrodynamics owing to efforts of Eckart [12] as well as to to theory of elasticity owing to Eshelby [14]. Ssee, for instance the detailed study made by L. Kostzo [25] alIn these models one common background for whole forces of nature, often described as a *state of vacuum” is being searched [1]. Since the mechanical interpretation of gauge fields has officially been rejected, a question like "are intermediate bosons of quantized models of aether deformations ?” exceeds the range of interest of physics. Analysis of the period from 1862 to 1903 is, itself, a long achievement, however, giving a modern background for Reynolds’ work it is necessary required to return to variety of professional elaborations* as well as to some original papers®. Our bibliografical researches do not indicate to an existence of any unknown aether models, which could have been an prototype of Reynaolds’ theory. But some among of generally unknown within the literature models a few should be undoubtedly mentioned: Helmbolt2’s one based on a gauge symmetry group T(3) > $O(3) presented in his habilitation work®, Creg’s unified model of gravitation and electromagnetism, based upon the symmetry group T(4) > S0(A), but realized over a three-dimensional continuum 7, A polish theoreticians, Edward Skiba, who gave the basis to theories of a high-order gradiends aether, should be also reconnected among this group*. In this work we take up an effort of revalorization of the universal aether model elabo- rated by Osborne Reynolds in 1903. The base of our analysis is a 251-page paper entitled * The Sub-Mechanics of the Universe” presenting the complete set of equations describing Reynolds’ aether®. A mechanical continuum, build up by Reynolds for mathematical ex- planation of his aether, has lowerer no appeal to any earlier model” which were usually founding their equations on so-called "phenomenological premises”. Reynolds’ model is a quantum-statistical model provided with constitutive equations obtained on the base of complicated averiging technics as well as with, adopted from the kinetic theory of gases, the technics of building of the momentum equations. The final results of Reynolds’ efforts is a continuum provided with a some structure similar, considering its essence, to modern two-phase continuum!?, Both: the quantum-statistical approach for a matter of building of constitutive equa- tions describing fluxes of mass, energy and momentum as well as two-fluidness with char- acteristic exchange of mass, momentum and energy between the two phases allow to rec- ognize the Reynolds aether among original and pioneering solutions of nineteenth-century field theory. ‘sce the monographys by Whittaker [57] and Schaffuer [49] SBuijs-Ballot [7], Korn (26], Thomson [62], Larmor {25} Helmholtz, Nacht. Ges. Wiss. Gdtt.2,1868 [21] Graig, Amer.J.Math. 20 1808 [10], Sskiba, Pam. AU,L 1874 [48] the first public information is lecture given at 10. Jule 1902 [41] Sthe most similar is probably the Kelvin model, (Phil. Mag,241887 [53], see also (15]), which was inspired by Reynolds discovery of turbulence (45] “Landau, J. Phys. USSR, S141 (27], Enz, Rew.Mod.Phys.46 1974 [13]. Nowadays the two-fluids models are exploried within the modeling of superconduetivity, superfluidity and in the physics of phase transformations. Some properties of a two-Ruid medium carry even the mechanical model of the Maxwell ether [83]2 Discovery of dilatancy of granular media (1885- 1886) Great hipothesis are usualy being born as a result of happy association. The example of Lord Kelvin, who discovered the free-motion mechanism while recapitulating his work On Vortex Motion"? seems to be one of the most adequate here. So it was in the case of Osborne Reynolds; his happy chance was the discovery of dilatational expansion of granual medial being subjected to distorsional forces. This phenomenon, called by Reynolds "dilatancy”, is being observed in daily practice in grain elevators as well as during wallks along a beach. Sand, irrespective to its granulation and the extent of water saturation, pressed by the weight of a man feet, expands around it much more than the volume of the immersial feet ammounts. This, unheard of in other models, mechanical feature is being caused by non-linearity of the constitutive equation connecting distorsion 7, pressure p and the change of volume @ into the following relation. ap + agr?, @ Figure 1: Density oscilations around a rigid sphece in which coefficients a1,a2, being a sort of Hooke’s constants, depend generaly on the humidity and the averadge radious of sand grains. Futhermore, the usage of a big inpesible sphere allowed to motion, that the density of the media changes around the "laboratory feet” exponentially fluctuating between the minimal and the maximal value. 12\elvin, Trans. toy Soc.Edin.251868 [61]. ‘The problem of mutual relation of a free motion through aether to the Pirst Dynamics Principle has positively been solved also in the Reynols aether 'SReynolds, Phil. Mag,20 1885 [39]