The train/embankment thought experiment, Einstein's second postulate of special relativity and relativity of simultaneity
Abstract
The relativistic time dilatation effect and Einstein's second postulate of special relativity are used to analyse train/embankment thought expriments, both Einstein's original one, and an extension where observers on two trains moving at different speeds, as well as on the embankment, are considered. Whereas the relativistic analysis of Einstein's experiment shows, in contradiction to Einstein's interpretation, no `relativity of simultaneity' effect, the latter is apparent for certain events in the two-train experiment. The importance of relativistic kinematics --embodied for photons in Einstein's second postulate-- for the correct interpretation of the experiments is pointed out and demonstrated by detailed calculation of a related example.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.physics/0606135,
title = {The train/embankment thought experiment, Einstein's second postulate of special relativity and relativity of simultaneity},
author = {J. H. Field},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:physics/0606135},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
39 pages, 12 figures and 1 table v2 main conclusion unchanged but v1 contains an important conceptual error as explained in Added Note. References updated