Related papers: Light is Heavy
While the numerical value of the speed of light is known with extraordinary precision, its theoretical definition remains a subject of fundamental interest. We show that the definition of mass and velocity of light follow from the conserved…
It is pointed out that at present we only prove that inertial static mass and gravitational static mass are equivalent. We have not proved that inertial moving mass and gravitational moving mass are also equivalent. It is proved by the…
The constancy of the speed of light (the maximum velocity of interaction) is the second postulate of Albert Einstein's special theory of relativity. Currently, there is no correct theoretical proof of this constancy in all inertial frames…
On the basis of the relativistic mass-energy concept we found that a proper mass of a test particle in a gravitational field depends on a potential energy, hence, a freely falling particle has a varying proper mass. Consequently, a…
Einstein based his special theory of relativity on two postulates: (a) physical laws appear the same in all inertial frames, and (b) the speed of light in vacuum is an observer-independent constant. However, it is already known that the…
It has been tested precisely that the inertial and gravitational masses are equal. Here we reveal that the inertial and gravitational momenta may differ. More generally, the inertial and gravitational energy-momentum tensors may not…
This paper generalizes the Stefan-Boltzmann law to include massive photons. A crucial ingredient to obtain the correct formula for the radiance is to realize that a massive photon does not travel at the speed of (massless) light. It follows…
One of the most widespread interpretations of the mass-energy equivalence establishes that not only can mass be transformed into energy (e.g., through nuclear fission, fusion, or annihilation) but that every type of energy also has mass…
The properties of light in the presence of electromagnetic and gravitational fields are compared. Once one takes account of the fact that clock rates vary with distance from a massive object, it is argued that in an absolute sense light…
In order to make plausible the idea that light exerts a pressure on matter, some introductory physics texts consider the force exerted by an electromagnetic wave on an electron. The argument as presented is both mathematically incorrect and…
According to Larmor's formula, accelerated electric charges radiate electromagnetic waves. Hence charges should radiate, if they are in free fall in gravitational fields, and they should not radiate if they are supported at rest in…
According to the general theory of relativity, kinetic energy contributes to gravitational mass. Surprisingly, the observational evidence for this prediction does not seem to be discussed in the literature. I reanalyze existing experimental…
The equivalence of mass and energy is indelibly linked with relativity, both by scientists and in the popular mind. I prove that E = mc^2 by demanding momentum conservation of an object that emits two equal electromagnetic wave packets in…
A major consequence of special relativity, expressed in the relation $E_0 = m c^2$, is that the total energy content of an object at rest, including its thermal motion and binding energy among its constituents, is a measure of its inertia,…
The Einstein postulates assert an invariance of the propagation speed of light in vacuum for any observer, and which amounts to a presumed absence of any preferred frame. The postulates appear to be directly linked to relativistic effects…
The behavior of mass is well known, as described by Newton's Laws of Motion, the Lorentz Contractions, and Einstein's mass - energy equivalence. But just what mass is, how those behaviors come about, what in material reality produces the…
The inertial and gravitational mass of electromagnetic radiation (i.e., a photon distribution) in a cavity with reflecting walls has been treated by many authors for over a century. After many contending discussions, a consensus has emerged…
Recent astronomical observations verify the new scenario resulting from new conservation laws and a new relativity principle fixed either by dual properties of light or by new gravitational (G) tests and the Einstein's equivalence…
Lorentz [of the Lorentz transforms and Lorentz contractions fame] contended against Einstein that there had to be a medium in which electro-magnetic waves exist and propagate, and that that would of necessity be an absolute frame of…
In general relativity, gravitational waves propagate at the speed of light, and so gravitons are massless. The masslessness can be traced to symmetry under diffeomorphisms. However, another elegant possibility exists: masslessness can…