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Under the assumption of closed-path velocity of light invariant, we show both the general expression of velocity of light in an ordinary inertial reference frame and the generalized Lorentz transformation between the ordinary inertial…

Classical Physics · Physics 2015-06-03 Daqing Liu , Xinghua Li , Yanshen Wang

I suggest that the common unease with taking quantum mechanics as a fundamental description of nature (the "measurement problem") could derive from the use of an incorrect notion, as the unease with the Lorentz transformations before…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2009-10-30 Carlo Rovelli

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…

Mathematical Physics · Physics 2011-04-11 Domenico Giulini

Objections to pilot-wave theory frequently come in three mutually-contradictory categories: that the theory is too bizarrely different from ordinary physics, that the theory is not radically different enough, and that the physics of…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2026-04-14 Antony Valentini

Nature succeeds in accelerating extended and massive objects to relativistic velocities. Jets in Active Galactic Nuclei and in galactic superluminal sources and gamma-ray bursts fireballs have bulk Lorentz factors from a few to several…

Astrophysics · Physics 2007-05-23 Gabriele Ghisellini

In a previous work we have shown that the null result of the Michelson-Morley experiment in vacuum is deeply connected with the notion of time. The same is true for the the postulate of constancy of the two-way speed of light in vacuum in…

Physics Education · Physics 2007-05-23 Rodrigo de Abreu , Vasco Guerra

Theory of Relativity (Special and General) is one of the most influential theories of the 20th century and has changed the way we view the world. It is part of many undergraduate curriculums and it is often suggested that it should be…

Physics Education · Physics 2023-11-17 Dimitrios Gousopoulos , Efstratios Kapotis , George Kalkanis

The concepts of primary and reciprocal experiments and base and travelling frames in special relativity are concisely described and applied to several different space-time experiments. These include Einstein's train/embankment thought…

General Physics · Physics 2011-11-14 J. H. Field

General relativity and quantum mechanics are perhaps the two most successful theories of the XXth century. Despite their impressive accurate predictions, they are both valid at their own scales and do not seem to be expressible using the…

General Physics · Physics 2019-03-01 Benoît Pairet

Quantizing the gravitational field described by General relativity being a notorious difficult, unsolved and maybe meaningless problem I use in this essay a different strategy: I consider a linear theory in the framework of Special…

General Physics · Physics 2016-03-28 Ll. Bel

The teaching of special relativity still follows Einstein's original two-postulate approach and thus recreates the relativistic revolution in the minds of students again and again, with all its attendant shocking and mysterious aspects. As…

General Physics · Physics 2026-05-21 Zurab K. Silagadze

In this essay we marshal evidence suggesting that Einstein gravity may be an emergent phenomenon, one that is not ``fundamental'' but rather is an almost automatic low-energy long-distance consequence of a wide class of theories.…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2014-11-17 Carlos Barcelo , Matt Visser , Stefano Liberati

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…

History and Philosophy of Physics · Physics 2018-01-30 Dennis Dieks

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…

General Physics · Physics 2012-09-24 Ibrahim M. Alabdulmohsin

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…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2009-11-11 James B. Hartle

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…

History and Philosophy of Physics · Physics 2015-12-24 Lee Smolin

In a foregoing paper, gravity has been interpreted as the pressure force exerted on matter at the scale of elementary particles by a perfect fluid. Under the condition that Newtonian gravity must be recovered in the incompressible case, a…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2007-05-23 Mayeul Arminjon

The theoretical framework of electromagnetism played a foundational role in Einstein's development of special relativity. To support conceptual understanding, we present a fully special relativistic computer simulation that visualizes…

Physics Education · Physics 2025-05-28 Daiju Nakayama , Kin-ya Oda , Koichiro Yasuda

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…

General Physics · Physics 2008-05-19 B. Chaverondier

This article presents a brief review of some historical and philosophical aspects of Einstein's 1917 paper 'Cosmological Considerations in the General Theory of Relativity', a landmark work that denoted the starting point of modern…

History and Philosophy of Physics · Physics 2019-06-21 Cormac O'Raifeartaigh