Related papers: Minkowski and Special Relativity: Does His Spaceti…
Time dilation $\frac{1}{\sqrt{1-v^2}}$ and relative velocity $v$ are observationally indistinguishable in the special theory of relativity, a duality that carries over into the general theory under Fermi coordinates along a curve (in…
A simple visual representation of Minkowski spacetime appropriate for a student with a background in geometry and algebra is presented. Minkowski spacetime can be modeled with a Euclidean 4-space to yield accurate visualizations as…
The fact that in Minkowski space, space and time are both quantized does not have to be introduced as a new postulate in physics, but can actually be derived by combining certain features of General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. This is…
Simple physical models of a measuring rod and of a clock are used to demonstrate the contraction of objects and clock retardation in special relativity. It is argued that the models could help in promoting student understanding of special…
It is demonstrated that the measured spatial separation of two objects, at rest in some inertial frame, is invariant under space-time transformations. This result holds in both Galilean and Special Relativity. A corollary is that there are…
The development of both special and general relativity is accomplished in a series of 6 papers using a simple approach. The purpose is to explain the how and why of relativity to a broad public, and to be useful for students of physics by…
The shortening of bodies in the direction of motion, Lorentz contraction, follows from the solution of Maxwell's equations. Moving light clocks will tick slower than those at rest because the speed of light does not depend on a source of…
This work deals with the questions of absolute space and relativity. In particular, an alternative derivation of the effects described by special relativity is provided, which is based on a description that assumes a privileged reference…
Physicists have been interested in accelerated observers for quite some time. Since the advent of special relativity, many authors have tried to understand these observers in the framework of Minkowski spacetime. One of the most important…
Some studies interpret quantum measurement as being explicitly non local. Others assume the preferred frame hypothesis. Unfortunately, these two classes of studies conflict with Minkowski space-time geometry. On the contrary, in Aristotle…
In this paper, it is shown why Lorentz Transformation implies the general case where observed events are not necessarily in the inertia frame of any observer but assumes a special scenario when determining the length contraction and time…
We motivate and construct a mathematical theory for the separation of space and time in general relativity. The formalism only requires a single observer and an optional choice of reference frame at each instant. As the splitting is done…
In this work, the relativistic phenomena of Lorentz-Fitzgerald contraction and time dilation are derived using a modified distance formula that is appropriate for discrete space. This new distance formula is different than the Pythagorean…
Physical time intervals are attributes of single physical object whereas physical space intervals are a relational attribute of two physical objects. Some consequences of the breaking of the space-time exchange symmetry inherent in the…
We show that starting with the fact that special relativity theory is concerned with a distortion of the observed length of a moving rod, without mentioning if it is a "contraction" or "dilation", we can derive the Lorentz transformations…
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…
The picture of space-time that Minkowski created in 1907 has been followed by two important developments in physics not contained in the original picture: general relativity and quantum mechanics. We will argue that the use of concepts of…
Evaluation of the additive constants in the space-time Lorentz transformation equations required, according to Einstein, to correctly describe synchronised clocks at different spatial locations, reveals the spurious and unphysical nature of…
A two-dimensional Minkowski spacetime diagram is neatly represented on a Euclidean ordinary plane. However the Euclidean lengths of the lines on the diagram do not correspond to the true values of physical quantities in spacetime, except…
We present a novel derivation of both the Minkowski metric and Lorentz transformations from the consistent quantification of a causally ordered set of events with respect to an embedded observer. Unlike past derivations, which have relied…