Related papers: Captain Einstein: a VR experience of relativity
Doubly special relativity has been studied for the last twenty years as a way to go beyond the special relativistic kinematics, trying to capture residual effects of a quantum gravity theory. In particular, in doubly special relativity the…
We present a theory based upon the treatment of the gravitational field as a sea of gravity quanta, as defined elsewhere. The resultant model for the Universe is a static one, like Einstein first saw, with a new feature: a local shrinking…
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…
This paper explores the idea that the universe is a virtual reality created by information processing, and relates this strange idea to the findings of modern physics about the physical world. The virtual reality concept is familiar to us…
The acceleration of the cosmic expansion is a fundamental challenge to standard models of particle physics and cosmology. The new physics of dark energy may lie in the nature of gravity, the quantum vacuum, or extra dimensions. I give a…
Vection, the visual illusion of self-motion, provides a strong marker of the VR user experience and plays an important role in both presence and cybersickness. Traditional measurements have been conducted using questionnaires, which exhibit…
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…
Gravitational waves, as predicted by Einstein's general relativity theory, appear as ripples in the fabric of spacetime traveling at the speed of light. We prove that the propagation of small amplitude gravitational waves in a curved…
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 Einstein-First project approaches the teaching of Einsteinian physics through the use of physical models and analogies. This paper presents an approach to the teaching of quantum physics which begins by emphasising the particle-nature…
These lectures notes contain an introduction to General Relativity. They are addressed to a general mathematical audience with no specific background in physics. The goal is to motivate and explain Einstein's theory of gravity and discuss…
This is a prelude to a book which I intend to publish. This paper describes my temporary thoughts on Einstein's pathway to the special theory of relativity. See my papers on my thoughts on Einstein's pathway to his general theory of…
The confrontation between Einstein's theory of gravitation and experiment is summarized. Although all current experimental data are compatible with general relativity, the importance of pursuing the quest for possible deviations from…
In 1907, Einstein suggested an experiment with flying atoms for corroborating time dilation. In that paper, the flying atom was conceived as a flying clock: the reference to the Doppler effect was only indirect (the experiments by Stark to…
We argue that the construction of spacetime is personal, specific to each observer, and requires combining aspects of both discovery and creation. What is usually referred to as the block universe then emerges by noting that part of the…
Equivalence principles are a major part of modern relativity theory. Gravitational shifts can already be calculated within the time domain as motion shifts, and we examine the consequences of reversing this argument and describing motion…
Relativistic equation of state and velocity comparable with the speed of light are included in consideration of a superfluid rotating in a cylindrical container. Minimizing the free energy, we derive the equation of motion. It admits an…
We study the physical effects of torsion as predicted by the Einstein-Cartan theory in the test particle approximation and the non-relativist limit. We first present the corresponding non-relativistic Hamiltonian for a 2-spinor. Then, we…
This paper studies composite quantum systems, like atom-cavity systems and coupled optical resonators, in the absence of external driving by resorting to methods from quantum field theory. Going beyond the rotating wave approximation, it is…
We state a condition for an observer to be comoving with another observer in general relativity, based on the concept of lightlike simultaneity. Taking into account this condition, we study relative velocities, Doppler effect and light…