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119-479: The Torchwood Institute , or simply Torchwood , is a fictional secret organisation from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-off series Torchwood . It was established in 1879 by Queen Victoria after the events of " Tooth and Claw ". Its prime directive is to defend Earth against supernatural and extraterrestrial threats. It is later revealed in " Army of Ghosts " that

238-648: A "soulless" woman based on someone Davies had met. He originally based the Torchwood seen in the Doctor Who series 2 episodes " Army of Ghosts " and " Doomsday " (both aired 2006) over a rift in Cardiff introduced in " The Unquiet Dead " (2005), but while developing the Torchwood spin-off series over the summer of 2005, he relocated the Torchwood seen in "Army of Ghosts" and "Doomsday" to London, while maintaining

357-451: A . The pulse is reflected from a mirror situated a distance a from the light source (event Q), and returns to the light source at x ′ = 0,  ct ′ =  a (event R). The same events P, Q, R are plotted in Fig. 2-3b in the frame of observer O. The light paths have slopes = 1 and −1, so that △PQR forms a right triangle with PQ and QR both at 45 degrees to

476-565: A Catholic (or Christian or "white") form of Freemasonry . Other critics label Opus Dei as "Holy Mafia" or "Santa Mafia" The National Christian Association (1868–1983) is an example of an organization opposed to secret societies. Because some secret societies have political aims, they are illegal in several countries. Italy ( Constitution of Italy, Section 2, Articles 13–28 ) and Poland, for example, ban secret political parties and political organizations in their constitutions. Many student societies established on university campuses in

595-445: A fourth dimension, it is treated differently than the spatial dimensions. Minkowski space hence differs in important respects from four-dimensional Euclidean space . The fundamental reason for merging space and time into spacetime is that space and time are separately not invariant, which is to say that, under the proper conditions, different observers will disagree on the length of time between two events (because of time dilation ) or

714-453: A great shock when Einstein published his paper in which the equivalence of the different local times of observers moving relative to each other was pronounced; for he had reached the same conclusions independently but did not publish them because he wished first to work out the mathematical structure in all its splendor. He never made a priority claim and always gave Einstein his full share in the great discovery. Minkowski had been concerned with

833-574: A light signal in that same time interval Δ t {\displaystyle \Delta t} . If the event separation is due to a light signal, then this difference vanishes and Δ s = 0 {\displaystyle \Delta s=0} . When the event considered is infinitesimally close to each other, then we may write In a different inertial frame, say with coordinates ( t ′ , x ′ , y ′ , z ′ ) {\displaystyle (t',x',y',z')} ,

952-434: A location. In Fig. 1-1, imagine that the frame under consideration is equipped with a dense lattice of clocks, synchronized within this reference frame, that extends indefinitely throughout the three dimensions of space. Any specific location within the lattice is not important. The latticework of clocks is used to determine the time and position of events taking place within the whole frame. The term observer refers to

1071-711: A major role in Chinese affairs for centuries. They were a key aspect of the Anti-Qing sentiments of the 20th century. After the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, they were tacitly supported by and actively collaborated with the Nationalist government. Having played prominent roles in history, they were targeted by the anti-secret society campaigns of the newly established government of the People's Republic of China during

1190-442: A mere shadow, and only some sort of union of the two shall preserve independence." Space and Time included the first public presentation of spacetime diagrams (Fig. 1-4), and included a remarkable demonstration that the concept of the invariant interval ( discussed below ), along with the empirical observation that the speed of light is finite, allows derivation of the entirety of special relativity. The spacetime concept and

1309-467: A permanently comatose Jack Harkness, whose immortality allows the Rift to be held open safely, thus allowing two-way travel. The radio drama " Asylum " also suggests that Torchwood might gain control over the Rift in the near future, using it to send a half-alien girl back to the present day. Torchwood was also mentioned in the Doctor Who episode "Bad Wolf" when Rose is forced to play on a game show and one of

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1428-419: A person moving with respect to the first observer will see the two events occurring at different places, because the moving point of view sees itself as stationary, and the position of the event as receding or approaching. Thus, a different measure must be used to measure the effective "distance" between two events. In four-dimensional spacetime, the analog to distance is the interval. Although time comes in as

1547-702: A secret society as an organization that: Historian Richard B. Spence of the University of Idaho offered a similar three-pronged definition: Spence also proposes a sub-category of "Elite Secret Societies" (composed of high-income or socially influential people) and notes that secret societies have a frequent if not universal tendency towards factionalism, infighting, and claiming origins older than can be reliably documented. Spence's definition includes groups traditionally thought of as secret societies ( Freemasons and Rosicrucians ) and other groups not so traditionally classified such as certain organized crime cabals (

1666-413: A single point in spacetime. Although it is possible to be in motion relative to the popping of a firecracker or a spark, it is not possible for an observer to be in motion relative to an event. The path of a particle through spacetime can be considered to be a sequence of events. The series of events can be linked together to form a curve that represents the particle's progress through spacetime. That path

1785-433: A spacetime diagram illustrating the world lines (i.e. paths in spacetime) of two photons, A and B, originating from the same event and going in opposite directions. In addition, C illustrates the world line of a slower-than-light-speed object. The vertical time coordinate is scaled by c {\displaystyle c} so that it has the same units (meters) as the horizontal space coordinate. Since photons travel at

1904-399: A spatial breach 660 feet above sea level. Unbeknownst to Torchwood, the breach had been caused by the entrance into the universe of a "void ship", a vessel designed to travel through the void between parallel universes. Torchwood had been conducting experiments on the breach, in an attempt to harness its energy and reduce Britain's reliance on Middle Eastern oil, but these experiments had caused

2023-490: A spatial distance Δ x . {\displaystyle \Delta x.} Then the squared spacetime interval ( Δ s ) 2 {\displaystyle (\Delta {s})^{2}} between the two events that are separated by a distance Δ x {\displaystyle \Delta {x}} in space and by Δ c t = c Δ t {\displaystyle \Delta {ct}=c\Delta t} in

2142-519: A television broadcast during the London 2012 Olympics . In the future seen in the novel Twilight Streets , Torchwood is no longer a private organisation and has branches all across the Torchwood Empire. At the center of the organisation's new image is the Cardiff branch, a new building in the center of the city. The Rift Manipulator has been moved to the new building and has been plugged into

2261-437: A universal quantity of measurement that is uniform throughout, is separate from space, and is agreed on by all observers. Classical mechanics assumes that time has a constant rate of passage, independent of the observer's state of motion , or anything external. It assumes that space is Euclidean : it assumes that space follows the geometry of common sense. In the context of special relativity , time cannot be separated from

2380-643: A year before his death), Minkowski introduced his geometric interpretation of spacetime in a lecture to the Göttingen Mathematical society with the title, The Relativity Principle ( Das Relativitätsprinzip ). On 21 September 1908, Minkowski presented his talk, Space and Time ( Raum und Zeit ), to the German Society of Scientists and Physicians. The opening words of Space and Time include Minkowski's statement that "Henceforth, space for itself, and time for itself shall completely reduce to

2499-408: Is "invariant". In special relativity, however, the distance between two points is no longer the same if measured by two different observers, when one of the observers is moving, because of Lorentz contraction . The situation is even more complicated if the two points are separated in time as well as in space. For example, if one observer sees two events occur at the same place, but at different times,

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2618-415: Is a measure of separation between events A and B that are time separated and in addition space separated either because there are two separate objects undergoing events, or because a single object in space is moving inertially between its events. The separation interval is the difference between the square of the spatial distance separating event B from event A and the square of the spatial distance traveled by

2737-419: Is actually what is indicated by moving clocks by applying an explicitly operational definition of clock synchronization assuming constant light speed. In 1900 and 1904, he suggested the inherent undetectability of the aether by emphasizing the validity of what he called the principle of relativity . In 1905/1906 he mathematically perfected Lorentz's theory of electrons in order to bring it into accordance with

2856-574: Is also shown in the episode " Exit Wounds ", where a black Torchwood member called Charles Gaskell is shown in 1901, an era of widespread racial prejudice . Other events in the 20th century have attributable dates. At the time of the British Raj , Torchwood also maintained a branch in Delhi . This was shut down in 1924, Torchwood anticipating Indian independence; agent Jack Harkness was sent to recover all their artifacts. In 1965, agent Jack Harkness

2975-462: Is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla warfare insurgencies, that hide their activities and memberships but maintain a public presence. The exact qualifications for labeling a group a secret society are disputed, but definitions generally rely on

3094-550: Is called the particle's world line . Mathematically, spacetime is a manifold , which is to say, it appears locally "flat" near each point in the same way that, at small enough scales, the surface of a globe appears to be flat. A scale factor, c {\displaystyle c} (conventionally called the speed-of-light ) relates distances measured in space to distances measured in time. The magnitude of this scale factor (nearly 300,000 kilometres or 190,000 miles in space being equivalent to one second in time), along with

3213-568: Is no preferred origin, single coordinate values have no essential meaning. The equation above is similar to the Pythagorean theorem, except with a minus sign between the ( c t ) 2 {\displaystyle (ct)^{2}} and the x 2 {\displaystyle x^{2}} terms. The spacetime interval is the quantity s 2 , {\displaystyle s^{2},} not s {\displaystyle s} itself. The reason

3332-485: Is nothing more than a legend; Harkness and Cooper essentially re-establish the institute with some Central Intelligence Agency agents in Torchwood: Miracle Day (2011), although new member Rex Matheson notes at one point that 'Torchwood' is essentially just a name given their current renegade status. In the Doctor Who episode " Fear Her ", set in 2012, Torchwood is public enough to be mentioned in

3451-514: Is positive, the spacetime interval is referred to as timelike . Since spatial distance traversed by any massive object is always less than distance traveled by the light for the same time interval, positive intervals are always timelike. If s 2 {\displaystyle s^{2}} is negative, the spacetime interval is said to be spacelike . Spacetime intervals are equal to zero when x = ± c t . {\displaystyle x=\pm ct.} In other words,

3570-417: Is referred to. It is public enough for a survey carried out by it to be reported in a news item, and for someone to be publicly asked about their work there. Prior to "Army of Ghosts", a group led by Pete Tyler (and including Jake Simmonds and Mickey Smith ), which worked for the alternate world's People's Republic, took over the parallel Earth Torchwood. The people of this alternate universe discovered what

3689-596: Is that of The Philomaths , which is now a legitimate academic association founded on a strict selection of its members. While their existence had been speculated for years, Internet-based secret societies first became known to the public in 2012 when Cicada 3301 began recruiting from the public via Internet-based puzzles. The goals of the society remain unknown, but it is believed to be involved in cryptography . The following contemporary and historic secret societies formed in Africa, by country: Secret societies played

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3808-599: Is that unlike distances in Euclidean geometry, intervals in Minkowski spacetime can be negative. Rather than deal with square roots of negative numbers, physicists customarily regard s 2 {\displaystyle s^{2}} as a distinct symbol in itself, rather than the square of something. In general s 2 {\displaystyle s^{2}} can assume any real number value. If s 2 {\displaystyle s^{2}}

3927-693: Is the secret society of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers . Notable examples in Canada include Episkopon at the University of Toronto 's Trinity College , and the Society of Thoth at the University of British Columbia . Secret societies are disallowed in a few colleges. The Virginia Military Institute has rules that no cadet may join a secret society, and secret societies have been banned at Oberlin College from 1847 to

4046-578: Is to monitor the rift and control and seize what comes through it. Whereas the London branch is originally staffed by hundreds of individuals, the Cardiff branch is considerably smaller and employs only a small team of experts, hired by Captain Jack and is described as a "renegade outpost". It is located beneath Roald Dahl Plass , and may be entered via an "invisible lift" in the Plass, which can't be seen because of

4165-400: The c t {\displaystyle ct} -coordinate is: or for three space dimensions, The constant c , {\displaystyle c,} the speed of light, converts time t {\displaystyle t} units (like seconds) into space units (like meters). The squared interval Δ s 2 {\displaystyle \Delta s^{2}}

4284-461: The distance Δ d {\displaystyle \Delta {d}} between two points can be defined using the Pythagorean theorem : Although two viewers may measure the x , y , and z position of the two points using different coordinate systems, the distance between the points will be the same for both, assuming that they are measuring using the same units. The distance

4403-553: The Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection and Seventh-day Adventists . California drought manipulation Spacetime Until the turn of the 20th century, the assumption had been that the three-dimensional geometry of the universe (its description in terms of locations, shapes, distances, and directions) was distinct from time (the measurement of when events occur within the universe). However, space and time took on new meanings with

4522-561: The Cartesian coordinate system , these are often called x , y and z . A point in spacetime is called an event , and requires four numbers to be specified: the three-dimensional location in space, plus the position in time (Fig. 1). An event is represented by a set of coordinates x , y , z and t . Spacetime is thus four-dimensional . Unlike the analogies used in popular writings to explain events, such as firecrackers or sparks, mathematical events have zero duration and represent

4641-516: The Lorentz transformation and special theory of relativity . In 1908, Hermann Minkowski presented a geometric interpretation of special relativity that fused time and the three spatial dimensions into a single four-dimensional continuum now known as Minkowski space . This interpretation proved vital to the general theory of relativity , wherein spacetime is curved by mass and energy . Non-relativistic classical mechanics treats time as

4760-429: The ct ′ axis is tilted with respect to the ct axis by an angle θ given by The x ′ axis is also tilted with respect to the x axis. To determine the angle of this tilt, we recall that the slope of the world line of a light pulse is always ±1. Fig. 2-3c presents a spacetime diagram from the viewpoint of observer O′. Event P represents the emission of a light pulse at x ′ = 0, ct ′ = −

4879-587: The data reduction following an experiment, the time when a signal is received will be corrected to reflect its actual time were it to have been recorded by an idealized lattice of clocks. In many books on special relativity, especially older ones, the word "observer" is used in the more ordinary sense of the word. It is usually clear from context which meaning has been adopted. Physicists distinguish between what one measures or observes , after one has factored out signal propagation delays, versus what one visually sees without such corrections. Failing to understand

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4998-642: The "Battle of Canary Wharf", the Institute feels it must "learn by heart" a lesson about its own arrogance. It was later revealed that the London branch of Torchwood, called Torchwood One, lost 796 members of staff and was ultimately ordered to close by Queen Elizabeth II . The threat is ended when the Doctor and Rose Tyler use Torchwood One's equipment to banish the Daleks and Cybermen into the Void between worlds and end

5117-731: The 1950s. Examples of Chinese secret societies include: Secret societies in India include: Secret societies in Japan include: Secret societies in Malaysia include: Secret societies in the Philippines include: Secret societies in Australia include: Several secret societies existing across Europe, including: Other organizations are listed by country. Secret societies in Canada that are non-collegiate include: Secret societies in

5236-862: The 19th century. British universities have a long history of secret societies or quasi-secret clubs, such as The Pitt Club at Cambridge University , Bullingdon Club at Oxford University , the Kate Kennedy Club , The Kensington Club and the Praetorian Club at the University of St Andrews , and the 16' Club at St David's College . Another British secret society is the Cambridge Apostles , founded as an essay and debating society in 1820. Not all British universities host solely academic secret societies; both The Night Climbers of Cambridge and The Night Climbers of Oxford require both brains and brawn. In France, Vandermonde

5355-460: The 456, the government orders the assassination of all Torchwood Three staff to stop them interfering with the operation. While they evade assassination, Jones dies in the line of duty, and Harkness abandons the planet after having to kill his grandson. According to Joshua Naismith ( David Harewood ) in " The End of Time ", the institute is no longer functional in December 2009. For a time, Torchwood

5474-448: The Doctor before being put to work for the Institute as a freelance agent for over a century. A few years later (1901), whilst this Harkness was in Torchwood's employ, Guppy and Charles Gaskell ( Cornelius Macarthy ) found and disinterred another Harkness on a different timeline , who instructs them to immediately "cryofreeze" and store him for 107 years to avoid him meeting his other self – they comply with his request. The activities of

5593-588: The Exam Ethics Project lobby group estimated that 115 students and teachers had been killed between 1993 and 2003. The Mandatory Monday Association is thought to operate out of a variety of Australian universities including the Australian Defence Force Academy . The Association has numerous chapters that meet only on Mondays to discuss business and carry out rituals. The only secret society abolished and then legalized

5712-543: The Institute officially disbanded after the events of Children of Earth , Jack and Gwen work with several individuals from the United States to solve the Miracle Day phenomenon. CIA operative Rex Matheson and analyst Esther Drummond join the operation in " Rendition ", but Esther dies in " The Blood Line ", and Rex gets shot, only to discover that he is immortal, like Jack. Surgeon Vera Juarez allies herself to

5831-575: The Institute used to recreate ancient "Huon particles". Over a period of months, H. C. Clements' Human Resources Manager, Lance Bennett ( Don Gilet ), had courted and poisoned Donna with Huon particles, intending to sacrifice her to the Empress of the Racnoss ( Sarah Parish ). It would appear that Lance was not acting on behalf of the institute, and the lab was in disuse since the Battle of Canary Wharf and

5950-585: The Lorentz group are closely connected to certain types of sphere , hyperbolic , or conformal geometries and their transformation groups already developed in the 19th century, in which invariant intervals analogous to the spacetime interval are used. Einstein, for his part, was initially dismissive of Minkowski's geometric interpretation of special relativity, regarding it as überflüssige Gelehrsamkeit (superfluous learnedness). However, in order to complete his search for general relativity that started in 1907,

6069-636: The Mafia ), religious groups ( Order of Assassins and Thelema ) and political movements ( Bolsheviks and Black Dragon Society ). Historian Jasper Ridley says that Freemasonry is "the world's most powerful secret Society". The organization " Opus Dei " ( Latin for "Work of God") is portrayed as a "secret society" of the Catholic Church . Critics such as the Jesuit Wladimir Ledóchowski sometimes refer to Opus Dei as

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6188-515: The Queen's official closure of Torchwood One. In 2007, following Torchwood One's closure, Torchwood Three leader Captain Jack Harkness allows former Torchwood One researcher Ianto Jones ( Gareth David-Lloyd ) to join his team and is no longer working under the authority of the headquarters in London; he is the de facto leader of the entire organisation. This team worked together until later

6307-531: The Royal Connaught Club. The store is powered by taking people's potential futures, killing them. Torchwood Three prevent the Duchess's plan to turn the whole planet back to 1924, resulting in the time store overloading. The club members refuse to leave before the building is frozen in time. Due to the popularity of Doctor Who and Torchwood , Torchwood has had an influence on popular culture. On

6426-458: The Sycorax ship was fired from five different locations around London, suggesting a number of properties are owned by Torchwood One in the area. The tower installations were destroyed during the events of " Doomsday ". According to the Torchwood website, there were 823 members of staff, of which only 27 were known to have survived. In the wake of the "Battle of Canary Wharf", Her Majesty ordered

6545-599: The Torchwood Institute during the 20th century are, for the most part, yet to be revealed. It is known that the organisation "flourished down the decades, becoming stronger" and grew "more arrogant." Some insights into the World War I -era organisation (such as their progressive policies regarding women's civil rights) were offered in Torchwood episode " To the Last Man ". Torchwood Three's progressive stance

6664-484: The Torchwood Institute has begun to use their findings to restore the British Empire to its former glory. To those ends, the organisation started to acquire and reverse engineer alien technology. Within Torchwood, an unofficial slogan evolved: "If it's alien, it's ours". According to one base director, Yvonne Hartman, its nationalist attitude includes refusing to use metric units. While described as "beyond

6783-607: The UN", the Torchwood Institute is seen to cooperate with UNIT to some extent. There appears to have been some rapport with the Prime Minister , although it is noted by Harriet Jones in " The Christmas Invasion " that she is not meant to know the existence of Torchwood. Those who have come into contact with Torchwood primarily believe it to be a special forces team. Torchwood maintains this illusion by using false witnesses, or by sectioning any journalists who threaten to expose

6902-542: The United States have been considered secret societies. Perhaps one of the most famous secret collegiate societies is Skull and Bones at Yale University . The influence of undergraduate secret societies at colleges such as Harvard College , Cornell University , Florida State University , Dartmouth College , Emory University , the University of Chicago , the University of Virginia , Georgetown University , New York University , and Wellesley College has been publicly acknowledged, if anonymously and circumspectly, since

7021-574: The United States that are non-collegiate include: The Catholic Church strongly opposed secret societies, especially the Freemasons . It did relent somewhat in the United States and allowed membership in labour unions and the Knights of Columbus , but not the Masons. Some Christian denominations continue to forbid their members from joining secret societies in the 21st century. Others example,

7140-455: The acquisition of alien technology, creating the policy that "if it's alien, it's ours". In 1888, Victoria reiterated the secrecy policy of the Torchwood Institute, protecting her subjects from the "evils that [Torchwood] fight[s]". Not long after the foundation of the institute, a spacetime rift was identified in Cardiff , and, as a result, a smaller branch of the institute (Torchwood Three)

7259-471: The alternate world, goes on to work for the reformed organisation. From this accelerated parallel universe, Rose's Torchwood becomes aware of "the darkness" causing the stars to go out, mentioned in the episode " Journey's End ", and returns in " Turn Left " and " The Stolen Earth " to defend London and find the Doctor in his reality. She is followed shortly by Mickey and Jackie, armed with Torchwood-developed anti-Dalek weaponry, in "Journey's End". Torchwood One

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7378-587: The attraction the Torchwood 'Hub' has brought to the Wales Millennium Centre, as Minister for Heritage Alun Ffred Jones announced that resultingly, "the Wales Millennium Centre building itself is now established as a symbol of modern Welsh culture ". In the Sherlock episode, " The Lying Detective " a card with the Torchwood logo on it can be seen on Sherlock's mantlepiece under a magnifying glass. Secret society A secret society

7497-435: The best suited to the description of our world". Even as late as 1909, Poincaré continued to describe the dynamical interpretation of the Lorentz transform. In 1905, Albert Einstein analyzed special relativity in terms of kinematics (the study of moving bodies without reference to forces) rather than dynamics. His results were mathematically equivalent to those of Lorentz and Poincaré. He obtained them by recognizing that

7616-474: The branch's cover as a gentlemen's club named the Royal Connaught Club. It was closed down by Captain Jack in 1924, when Torchwood realised the Raj was coming to an end, and all their alien equipment was taken to Britain. In 2009 Jack and Torchwood Three trace an alien energy field to the site of Torchwood India, and discover Eleanor and the other Torchwood India agents are using a time store to prevent time passing in

7735-424: The breach to widen. The "ghosts" turned out to be Cybermen from an alternate universe, which were using the widening breach to travel between universes. A small advance force of Cybermen infiltrated Torchwood, "upgrading" or subverting Torchwood personnel, before eventually seizing control and opening the breach wide enough for ghost-like creatures around the world to manifest fully as millions of Cybermen. However,

7854-585: The canonicity of this remains unclear. An e-mail shown in part one of Children of Earth (set in September 2009) suggests that Torchwood Two disbanded some time before the events of the first encounter with the 456, and that Torchwood Three is the only branch remaining. Torchwood Three, whose base is also known as the Torchwood Hub , primarily serves as a monitoring station for a rift in time and space that runs through Cardiff. The job of Torchwood Three

7973-458: The cause in "The Categories of Life" but is killed off on her first undercover mission. Torchwood Four is described as "missing". It is not specified how this happened or where it may previously have been located before its disappearance. Some evidence suggests it is linked to an energy node on a ley line in north-west Tasmania. Captain Jack stated they would find it some day. In the novel The Twilight Streets , Jack says that in 1941, Torchwood Four

8092-578: The concept of the Männerbund, the all-male "warrior-band" or "warrior-society" of pre-modern cultures (see H. Schurtz, Alterklassen und Männerbünde , Berlin, 1902; A. Van Gennep , The Rites of Passage , Chicago, 1960). A purported "family tree of secret societies" has been proposed, although it may not be comprehensive. Alan Axelrod , author of the International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders , defines

8211-416: The degree to which the organization insists on secrecy , and might involve the retention and transmission of secret knowledge, the denial of membership or knowledge of the group, the creation of personal bonds between members of the organization, and the use of secret rites or rituals which solidify members of the group . Anthropologically and historically, secret societies have been deeply interlinked with

8330-450: The difference between what one measures and what one sees is the source of much confusion among students of relativity. By the mid-1800s, various experiments such as the observation of the Arago spot and differential measurements of the speed of light in air versus water were considered to have proven the wave nature of light as opposed to a corpuscular theory . Propagation of waves

8449-457: The distance between the two events (because of length contraction ). Special relativity provides a new invariant, called the spacetime interval , which combines distances in space and in time. All observers who measure the time and distance between any two events will end up computing the same spacetime interval. Suppose an observer measures two events as being separated in time by Δ t {\displaystyle \Delta t} and

8568-422: The entire theory can be built upon two postulates: the principle of relativity and the principle of the constancy of light speed. His work was filled with vivid imagery involving the exchange of light signals between clocks in motion, careful measurements of the lengths of moving rods, and other such examples. Einstein in 1905 superseded previous attempts of an electromagnetic mass –energy relation by introducing

8687-436: The existence of Torchwood in the 2006 series' two-part finale, " Army of Ghosts " and " Doomsday " set in 2007. At this time, Torchwood operated software which blocked access to Internet searches about UFO activity (" School Reunion "). The TARDISODE for "Army of Ghosts" showed Torchwood agents abducting a journalist who was investigating the Institute and arranging to admit him to a psychiatric institution. While investigating

8806-507: The existence of a Cardiff branch for the Torchwood series he was preparing. The institute was founded by Queen Victoria in 1879, following the events of the Doctor Who episode " Tooth and Claw ". While staying at Torchwood House, the Scottish estate of Sir Robert MacLeish, the Queen ( Pauline Collins ) was attacked by a werewolf, in reality an alien intelligence that planned to infect her with its consciousness by biting her. The werewolf

8925-615: The fact that spacetime is a manifold, implies that at ordinary, non-relativistic speeds and at ordinary, human-scale distances, there is little that humans might observe that is noticeably different from what they might observe if the world were Euclidean. It was only with the advent of sensitive scientific measurements in the mid-1800s, such as the Fizeau experiment and the Michelson–Morley experiment , that puzzling discrepancies began to be noted between observation versus predictions based on

9044-556: The further development of general relativity, Einstein fully incorporated the spacetime formalism. When Einstein published in 1905, another of his competitors, his former mathematics professor Hermann Minkowski , had also arrived at most of the basic elements of special relativity. Max Born recounted a meeting he had made with Minkowski, seeking to be Minkowski's student/collaborator: I went to Cologne, met Minkowski and heard his celebrated lecture 'Space and Time' delivered on 2 September 1908. [...] He told me later that it came to him as

9163-497: The general equivalence of mass and energy , which was instrumental for his subsequent formulation of the equivalence principle in 1907, which declares the equivalence of inertial and gravitational mass. By using the mass–energy equivalence, Einstein showed that the gravitational mass of a body is proportional to its energy content, which was one of the early results in developing general relativity . While it would appear that he did not at first think geometrically about spacetime, in

9282-408: The geometric interpretation of relativity proved to be vital. In 1916, Einstein fully acknowledged his indebtedness to Minkowski, whose interpretation greatly facilitated the transition to general relativity. Since there are other types of spacetime, such as the curved spacetime of general relativity, the spacetime of special relativity is today known as Minkowski spacetime. In three dimensions,

9401-580: The heels of being featured in Torchwood , Cardiff has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in the UK, in particular, the Wales Millennium Centre , with a resident commenting that tourists often jump on the paving slab that was used as the "magic lift" in the series. In January 2008, such was the popularity of Torchwood that being near the "Torchwood Tower" was used in advertising for local property. A January 2009 article comments on

9520-418: The hypothetical aether on the speed of light, and the most likely explanation, complete aether dragging, was in conflict with the observation of stellar aberration . George Francis FitzGerald in 1889, and Hendrik Lorentz in 1892, independently proposed that material bodies traveling through the fixed aether were physically affected by their passage, contracting in the direction of motion by an amount that

9639-590: The immediate closure of Torchwood One. Some of the notable employees included: All that is known about the Glasgow division of the Torchwood Institute is that it is run by a "very strange man". In the novel The Twilight Streets (set in February 2008), Jack contacts the "very strange man" whose name is revealed as Archie, and Torchwood Two's headquarters are near the River Clyde . As with all spin-off media,

9758-419: The implicit assumption of Euclidean space. In special relativity, an observer will, in most cases, mean a frame of reference from which a set of objects or events is being measured. This usage differs significantly from the ordinary English meaning of the term. Reference frames are inherently nonlocal constructs, and according to this usage of the term, it does not make sense to speak of an observer as having

9877-539: The institute's small workforce, journalists such as Vivien Rook ( Nichola McAuliffe ) of The Sunday Mirror investigate controversial figures such as Harold Saxon ( John Simm ) on behalf of the institute. Saxon sent Torchwood Three on a 'wild goose chase' to the Himalayas to prevent them from helping Jack or the Doctor. Torchwood Three later fought against the Daleks in their second invasion of Earth . Torchwood used

9996-590: The invasion. In " The Runaway Bride ", it is revealed that the London-based security firm "H. C. Clements" (which employed secretary Donna Noble ( Catherine Tate ), who inexplicably materialised in the TARDIS just as she was about to get married) was a front company for the Torchwood Institute. On a restricted basement level of the company situated beneath the Thames Barrier was a secret laboratory which

10115-488: The manifestation of "ghosts" on Earth, the Doctor traced their origin back to Torchwood Tower, known publicly as One Canada Square , where Yvonne Hartman ( Tracy-Ann Oberman ) placed the Doctor in custody and confiscated the TARDIS . To Torchwood, the Doctor was a source of vast information and familiarity with alien technology, which they could exploit to further the organisation's aims. Torchwood Tower had been built to reach

10234-438: The math with no loss of generality in the conclusions that are reached. In Fig. 2-2, two Galilean reference frames (i.e. conventional 3-space frames) are displayed in relative motion. Frame S belongs to a first observer O, and frame S′ (pronounced "S prime") belongs to a second observer O′. Fig. 2-3a redraws Fig. 2-2 in a different orientation. Fig. 2-3b illustrates a relativistic spacetime diagram from

10353-411: The only remaining Torchwood agent left. Doctor Who two-parter " The End of Time " refers to the Institute as no longer existing. Torchwood: Miracle Day (2011) shows that Gwen similarly left Torchwood Three behind after the events of Children of Earth . The Central Intelligence Agency believes all individuals previously affiliated with Torchwood to be dead. Some notable employees include: Whilst

10472-572: The perception filter that resides on that spot, or through a run-down Tourist Information Centre nearby. Torchwood Three is the setting of the eponymous Torchwood series. It is said by Jack Harkness that the Cardiff Branch has nothing to do with London and that all links were severed. In Torchwood: Children of Earth (2009), Torchwood became a fugitive organisation, the Hub was destroyed, Ianto died, and Jack abandoned Earth, leaving pregnant Gwen

10591-471: The physical constituents of matter. Lorentz's equations predicted a quantity that he called local time , with which he could explain the aberration of light , the Fizeau experiment and other phenomena. Henri Poincaré was the first to combine space and time into spacetime. He argued in 1898 that the simultaneity of two events is a matter of convention. In 1900, he recognized that Lorentz's "local time"

10710-441: The planet to be towed by the TARDIS. Sometime prior to the 456 incident, Torchwood Two had closed down. Torchwood Three was the only force on Earth posed to combat the threat of the 456 invasion. However, Home Office Permanent Secretary John Frobisher ( Peter Capaldi ) ordered the assassination of remaining Torchwood agents Harkness, Cooper and Jones to cover up the UK's history with the aliens. On receiving communication from

10829-486: The postulate of relativity. While discussing various hypotheses on Lorentz invariant gravitation, he introduced the innovative concept of a 4-dimensional spacetime by defining various four vectors , namely four-position , four-velocity , and four-force . He did not pursue the 4-dimensional formalism in subsequent papers, however, stating that this line of research seemed to "entail great pain for limited profit", ultimately concluding "that three-dimensional language seems

10948-478: The present, and at Princeton University since the beginning of the 20th century. Confraternities in Nigeria are secret-society-like student groups within higher education, some of which have histories of violence and organized crime. The exact death toll from confraternity activities is unclear. One estimate in 2002 was that 250 people had been killed in campus cult-related murders in the previous decade, while

11067-601: The questions is about the remains of a Torchwood location. In the 42nd century, the Torchwood Archives sent a group of explorers to investigate a mysterious power source that kept a planet in stable orbit around a black hole . By the 2002nd century, the Great Cobalt Pyramid has been built on the ruins of the Torchwood Institute. In " Rise of the Cybermen ", a parallel Earth Torchwood Institute

11186-550: The rift to make contact with the Doctor. Although they were incapacitated in the main battle, thanks to a time lock created by Tosh some time earlier that prevented them from escaping the Hub, Torchwood Three made a contribution to the Earth's return to the Solar System by putting a lasso of temporal energy around the Earth with the help of K-9 (voiced by John Leeson ) and Mr Smith (voiced by Alexander Armstrong ), allowing

11305-410: The same year, when the hiring of policewoman Gwen Cooper ( Eve Myles ) coincided with the suicide of second-in-command Suzie Costello. In " The Sound of Drums ", Jack indicates to the Doctor that, with Torchwood One gone, fewer than ten staff remain (between Wales and Scotland). He mentions that he rebuilt the Institute "in the Doctor's honour", with a new regime and a less aggressive stance. Outside

11424-733: The spacetime interval d s ′ {\displaystyle ds'} can be written in a same form as above. Because of the constancy of speed of light, the light events in all inertial frames belong to zero interval, d s = d s ′ = 0 {\displaystyle ds=ds'=0} . For any other infinitesimal event where d s ≠ 0 {\displaystyle ds\neq 0} , one can prove that d s 2 = d s ′ 2 {\displaystyle ds^{2}=ds'^{2}} which in turn upon integration leads to s = s ′ {\displaystyle s=s'} . The invariance of

11543-584: The spacetime interval between the same events for all inertial frames of reference is one of the fundamental results of special theory of relativity. Although for brevity, one frequently sees interval expressions expressed without deltas, including in most of the following discussion, it should be understood that in general, x {\displaystyle x} means Δ x {\displaystyle \Delta {x}} , etc. We are always concerned with differences of spatial or temporal coordinate values belonging to two events, and since there

11662-416: The spacetime interval between two events on the world line of something moving at the speed of light is zero. Such an interval is termed lightlike or null . A photon arriving in our eye from a distant star will not have aged, despite having (from our perspective) spent years in its passage. A spacetime diagram is typically drawn with only a single space and a single time coordinate. Fig. 2-1 presents

11781-436: The speed of light, their world lines have a slope of ±1. In other words, every meter that a photon travels to the left or right requires approximately 3.3 nanoseconds of time. To gain insight in how spacetime coordinates measured by observers in different reference frames compare with each other, it is useful to work with a simplified setup with frames in a standard configuration. With care, this allows simplification of

11900-402: The state of electrodynamics after Michelson's disruptive experiments at least since the summer of 1905, when Minkowski and David Hilbert led an advanced seminar attended by notable physicists of the time to study the papers of Lorentz, Poincaré et al. Minkowski saw Einstein's work as an extension of Lorentz's, and was most directly influenced by Poincaré. On 5 November 1907 (a little more than

12019-403: The three dimensions of space, because the observed rate at which time passes for an object depends on the object's velocity relative to the observer. General relativity provides an explanation of how gravitational fields can slow the passage of time for an object as seen by an observer outside the field. In ordinary space, a position is specified by three numbers, known as dimensions . In

12138-528: The truth, and via the use of memory-altering drugs. Following a major incident which led to the destruction of Torchwood One, Jack Harkness rebuilds Torchwood to become less confrontational and more secretive in honour of the Doctor . The name "Torchwood" is an anagram of "Doctor Who", with which tapes of series 1 of the revived Doctor Who TV series were labelled to prevent the footage from being leaked. While writing Doctor Who series 2 , head writer and executive producer Russell T Davies established

12257-447: The viewpoint of observer O. Since S and S′ are in standard configuration, their origins coincide at times t  = 0 in frame S and t ′ = 0 in frame S′. The ct ′ axis passes through the events in frame S′ which have x ′ = 0. But the points with x ′ = 0 are moving in the x -direction of frame S with velocity v , so that they are not coincident with the ct axis at any time other than zero. Therefore,

12376-471: The void ship had nothing to do with the Cybermen and had in fact been created by the Daleks (voiced by Nicholas Briggs ), four of whom had used it to escape the Time War . Caught between warring Daleks and Cybermen, many Torchwood workers were either killed or "upgraded" to Cybermen (including Hartman herself—although she retained some semblance of her identity). In the wake of these events, referred to as

12495-406: The whole ensemble of clocks associated with one inertial frame of reference. In this idealized case, every point in space has a clock associated with it, and thus the clocks register each event instantly, with no time delay between an event and its recording. A real observer, will see a delay between the emission of a signal and its detection due to the speed of light. To synchronize the clocks, in

12614-493: The word "Torchwood"—which was the name of an institute previously mentioned in the episode " Bad Wolf " (2005)—in his script for the 2005 Christmas Special " The Christmas Invasion ", both as a motif of the series similar to the "Bad Wolf" motif in series 1, and as a lead-in to the Torchwood spin-off series Davies was planning for BBC Three . Torchwood was conceived by Davies as a ruthless but professional organisation helmed by

12733-566: Was Torchwood's head office and operated out of Torchwood Tower, located within One Canada Square , the tallest of the three Canary Wharf skyscrapers, although it carried out operations across London, including beneath the Thames Barrier , and through front organisations such as "H. C. Clements". To those that have come in contact with Torchwood, they are primarily believed to be a special forces team. The beam which destroyed

12852-420: Was elected on behalf of the institute (along with representatives of different government agencies) to facilitate the sacrifice of twelve children to aliens known as the 456 to save the planet at large. In 1983, Torchwood became the sole proprietor of H. C. Clements, a security firm. Torchwood One owned a holding facility which was then abandoned in 1995. In 1996 a "Jathaa sunglider" flew into British airspace and

12971-555: Was exactly what was necessary to explain the negative results of the Michelson–Morley experiment. No length changes occur in directions transverse to the direction of motion. By 1904, Lorentz had expanded his theory such that he had arrived at equations formally identical with those that Einstein was to derive later, i.e. the Lorentz transformation . As a theory of dynamics (the study of forces and torques and their effect on motion), his theory assumed actual physical deformations of

13090-435: Was formed there to monitor and exploit the Rift. As shown in the episode " Fragments ", Jack Harkness ( John Barrowman ) came to the attention of Torchwood Three in 1899, due to visiting the rift and talking about the Doctor. He was coerced into working for the organisation. Captured by two Torchwood agents—Alice Guppy ( Amy Manson ) and Emily Holroyd ( Heather Craney )–Jack was subjected to torture and interrogation regarding

13209-444: Was going on at Torchwood and it became a re-developed organisation run in full view of the public. In " Doomsday ", it is revealed that the parallel Earth Torchwood had also been conducting experiments on the spatial breach, which led (between " The Age of Steel " and " Army of Ghosts ") to it being infiltrated by the Cybermen, who used the breach to travel to Rose's universe. Following the events of "Doomsday", Rose Tyler , confined to

13328-536: Was less than the sum of the speed of light in air plus the speed of the water by an amount dependent on the water's index of refraction. Among other issues, the dependence of the partial aether-dragging implied by this experiment on the index of refraction (which is dependent on wavelength) led to the unpalatable conclusion that aether simultaneously flows at different speeds for different colors of light. The Michelson–Morley experiment of 1887 (Fig. 1-2) showed no differential influence of Earth's motions through

13447-447: Was not ready. Left in charge of Torchwood Three, Jack began severing the links with Torchwood One and their more aggressive policy on extraterrestrial life. Over the next few years, Jack recruited his own team; Suzie Costello ( Indira Varma ), Toshiko Sato ( Naoko Mori ) and Dr. Owen Harper ( Burn Gorman ). By 2006, the existence of Torchwood was apparently a secret known only to the British military and police. Knowledge of Torchwood

13566-451: Was shot down by Torchwood. From its remains, an energy weapon was installed in London and later onto the UNIT aircraft carrier Valiant . On New Year's Eve 1999, the then-leader of Torchwood Three (named "Alex Hopkins" by the Torchwood website) killed all the staff apart from Jack, ending with himself. He claimed that he was "saving" them, as the 21st century was when it all changed and humanity

13685-415: Was still missing. In the novel Risk Assessment , Torchwood's immortal assessor Agnes Haversham refers to Torchwood Four's disappearance as having been something of a messy business. An Indian branch of Torchwood introduced in the radio play " Golden Age ". Torchwood India was founded by Queen Victoria to find alien technology in the British Raj . It was led by Eleanor, Duchess of Melrose, who maintained

13804-556: Was supposedly kept even from Prime Minister Harriet Jones ( Penelope Wilton ) and the UN. However, Jones did know about its existence anyway, and ordered Major Richard Blake ( Chu Omambala ) of UNIT to prepare Torchwood for the impending arrival of the Sycorax on Christmas Day. On the command of Prime Minister Harriet Jones, Torchwood used the Jathaa sunglider weapon to destroy a Sycorax ship on Christmas Day 2006. The Doctor discovered

13923-414: Was then assumed to require the existence of a waving medium; in the case of light waves, this was considered to be a hypothetical luminiferous aether . The various attempts to establish the properties of this hypothetical medium yielded contradictory results. For example, the Fizeau experiment of 1851, conducted by French physicist Hippolyte Fizeau , demonstrated that the speed of light in flowing water

14042-614: Was ultimately dispatched, thanks to the efforts of the Tenth Doctor ( David Tennant ) and the sacrifice of Sir Robert. Having discovered that "Great Britain had enemies beyond imagination," Victoria decided to establish the Torchwood Institute in memory of Sir Robert (who lived on the Torchwood Estate). She also decided that the Doctor was a potential threat and declared that if he ever returned (against her orders never to return), Torchwood would be waiting. The Doctor's name

14161-719: Was written into the Torchwood Foundation's charter as an enemy of the Crown. Her Majesty states in the Torchwood Charter 31 December 1879 that "Torchwood is also to administer to the Government thereof in our name, and generally to act in our name and on our behalf, subject to such orders and regulations as Torchwood shall, from time to time, receive from us through one of our Principal Secretaries of State". In 1882, Victoria expanded Torchwood's role to include

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