Related papers: Poincare and Special Relativity
In this pedagogical article, we explore a powerful language for describing the notion of spacetime and particle dynamics intrinsic to a given fundamental physical theory, focusing on special relativity and its Newtonian limit. The starting…
Einstein's general relativity is increasingly important in contemporary physics on the frontiers of both the very largest distance scales (astrophysics and cosmology) and the very smallest(elementary particle physics). This paper makes the…
I review, some of the algebraic and geometric structures that underlie the theory of Special Relativity. This includes a discussion of relativity as a symmetry principle, derivations of the Lorentz group, its composition law, its Lie…
Einstein presented the Hole Argument against General Covariance, understood as invariance with respect to a change of coordinates, as a consequence of his initial failure to obtain covariant equations that, in the weak static limit, contain…
Einstein's argument on the relativity of simultaneity itself is the first result of the special theory of relativity. The nature of this result is explored, and implications of this result for the structure and functioning of the physical…
There is a myth that Einstein's discovery of general relativity was due to his following beautiful mathematics to discover new insights about nature. I argue that this is an incorrect reading of the history and that what Einstein did was to…
The principles of the special theory of relativity are extremely simple. A knowledge of the Pythagorean theorem and an ability to perform the simplest algebraic operations are sufficient to be conversant with the kinematics of the special…
Einstein's general theory of relativity is the standard theory of gravity, especially where the needs of astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology and fundamental physics are concerned. As such, this theory is used for many practical purposes…
We propose a modification of special relativity in which a physical energy, which may be the Planck energy, joins the speed of light as an invariant, in spite of a complete relativity of inertial frames and agreement with Einstein's theory…
This is a semipopular introduction to the Special and General Theory of Relativity, with special emphasis on the geometrical aspects of both theories and their physical implications.
Simply by assuming the first postulate of Special Relativity and by exploring Gedankenexperiments with electromagnetic forces, we suggest that there is a speed limit in the universe, which can be determined as a relation between vacuum…
It is well known that relativistic invariance introduce strong constraints in the interactions of classical particles. We generalize the non-interaction theorems for Lorentz violating systems which still preserve a subgroup of Poincar\'e…
I argue that in the Lagrangian formulation of standard, Galilei-invariant Newtonian mechanics there are subtle but concrete signs of {\em Lorentz} invariance. In fact, in a specific sense made explicit in the paper, Newtonian mechanics is…
The replacement of the Poincar\'e-invariant Einstein special relativity by a de Sitter-invariant special relativity produces concomitant changes in all relativistic theories, including general relativity. A crucial change in the latter is…
The Galilean symmetry and the Poincare symmetry are usually taken as the fundamental (relativity) symmetries for `nonrelativistic' and `relativistic' physics, respectively, quantum or classical. Our fully group theoretical formulation…
We review here the main contributions of Einstein to the quantum theory. To put them in perspective we first give an account of Physics as it was before him. It is followed by a brief account of the problem of black body radiation which…
This paper aims to discuss two issues that can have a significant impact on the foundations of the theory of gravitation: (1). The existence of relativity of space-time geometry with respect to the properties of used reference frame, which…
Einstein's general theory of relativity is the standard theory of gravity, especially where the needs of astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology and fundamental physics are concerned. As such, this theory is used for many practical purposes…
Besides the defining space-time symmetries (homogeneity and isotropy) of inertial frames, the derivation of Lorentz transformation requires postulating the principle of relativity and the existence of a finite speed limit. In this article,…
It is rarely emphasized in modern physics textbooks that our definitions of space and time have to reflect their complete interdependence. Our intuitive methods of always picturing one-dimensional space as a sum of unit-length rods and of…