Related papers: From aether theory to Special Relativity
Einstein's special theory of relativity revolutionized physics by teaching us that space and time are not separate entities, but join as ``spacetime''. His general theory of relativity further taught us that spacetime is not just a stage on…
There exists some confusion, as evidenced in the literature, regarding the nature of the gravitational field in Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. It is argued here the this confusion is a result of a change in interpretation of the…
We give a critical analysis of the conceptual foundations of special relativity. We formulate a simple operational criterion for distinguishing between noninertial and inertial frames which is introduced prior to geometry. We associate the…
In this paper we bring to light an hitherto undisclosed richness of this Theory, namely its admitting a consistent reformulation which is able to provide a unified scenario for all kinds of particles, be they lightlike or not. This result…
In his Autobiographical Notes, Einstein mentioned that on his road to the final theory of general relativity it was a major difficulty to accustom himself to the idea that coordinates need not possess an immediate physical meaning in terms…
This paper completes a three-part study of Einstein's 1905 special relativity by reconstructing the experimental pressures that shaped his thinking from 1895 to June 1905. Following Stachel's historiographical line, I trace Einstein's path…
Besides the two fundamental postulates, (i) the principle of relativity and (ii) the constancy of the one-way velocity of light in all inertial frames of reference, the special theory of relativity employs another assumption. This…
Attempts to merge Einsteinian gravity with Newtonian run into inconsistencies because in Newton's gravity time is absolute and the speed of gravity is infinite. Such an assumption was in a focus of attention of scientists in 19th century…
A new formulation of Special Relativity is described. It is based on Cellular Automata theory and on a new theory of inertia called Quantum Inertia. The universe consists of a huge 3D array of cells given by C(x,y,z), whose numeric states…
This short exposition starts with a brief discussion of situation before the completion of special relativity (Le Verrier's discovery of the Mercury perihelion advance anomaly, Michelson-Morley experiment, E\"otv\"os experiment, Newcomb's…
Special relativity theory is well established and confirmed by experiments. This research establishes an operational measurement way to express the great theory in a geometrical form. This may be valuable for understanding the underlying…
Galilean Relativity and Einstein's Special and General Relativity showed that the Laws of Physics go deeper than their representations in any given reference frame. Thus covariance, or independence of Laws of Physics with respect to changes…
In the standard cosmological theory one uses the Einstein concepts of space and time as were originally introduced for the special theory of relativity and the general relativity theory. According to this approach all physical quantities…
Isaac Newton is usually associated with the idea of absolute space and time, and with ballistic light-corpuscle arguments. However, Newton was also a proponent of wave/particle duality, and published a "new" variable-density aether model in…
This paper deals with four topics: The first subject is Abraham's spherical electron, Lorentz's contracted electron and B\"ucherer's electron. The second topic is Einstein's 1905 relativity theory of the motion of an electron. Einstein…
Einstein's relativity theory demands that all meaningful physical objects should be defined covariantly, i.e. in a coordinate independent way. Concepts of relative velocity, acceleration, gravity acceleration and gravity potential are…
Spacetime curvature plays the primary role in general relativity but Einstein later considered a theory where torsion was the central quantity. Just as the Einstein-Hilbert action in the Ricci curvature scalar R can be generalized to f(R)…
The nature of gravity is fundamental to understand the scaffolding of the Universe and its evolution. Einstein's general theory of relativity has been scrutinized for over ninety five years and shown to describe accurately all phenomena…
We compare the results obtained by interpreting some fundamental relativistic experiments from the point of view of two alternative theories: Einstein's special relativity theory and the Lorentz-Poincare theory admitting the existence of a…
We review the physics at the end of the nineteenth century and summarize the process of the establishment of Special Relativity by Albert Einstein in brief. Following in the giant's footsteps, we outline the scientific method which helps to…