Related papers: Captain Einstein: a VR experience of relativity
The relativistic Doppler effect comes from the fact that observers in different inertial reference frames experience space and time differently, while the speed of light remains always the same. Consequently, a wave packet of light exhibits…
What is Virtual Reality? A professional tool, made to facilitate our everyday tasks? A conceptual mistake, accompanied by cybersickness and unsolved locomotion issues since the very beginning? Or just another source of entertainment that…
We present the special theory of relativity taking the Doppler effect as the starting point, and derive several of its main effects, such as time dilation, length contraction, addition of velocities, and the mass-energy relation, and…
Previously we have shown that three-dimensional concepts are more readily learned in a three-dimensional context. Although VR headsets are growing in popularity, they only provide a quite limited field of view, and each person in a group…
I discuss the notions of traditional vector length, and suggest defining a complex vector length for complex vectors, as opposed to the traditional Hermitian real length. The advantages of this are shown in the development of rotations…
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…
The determination of whether two distant events are simultaneous depends on the velocity of the observer. This velocity dependence is typically explained in terms of the relativity of space and time in a counterintuitive manner by the…
Is time travel possible? What is Einstein's theory of relativity mathematically predicting in that regard? Is time travel related to the so-called clock 'paradoxes' of relativity and if so how? Is there any accurate experimental evidence of…
The idea of quantum relativity as a generalized, or rather deformed, version of Einstein (special) relativity has been taking shape in recent years. Following the perspective of deformations, while staying within the framework of Lie…
This paper presents some ideas which might assist teachers incorporating special relativity into an introductory physics curriculum. One can define the proper-time/velocity pair, as well as the coordinate-time/velocity pair, of a traveler…
We present an investigation of game-like simulations for physics teaching. We report on the effectiveness of the interactive simulation "Real Time Relativity" for learning special relativity. We argue that the simulation not only enhances…
A challenge in teaching about special relativity is that a number of the theory's effects are at odds with the intuition of classical physics, as well as student's everyday experience. The relativity of simultaneity, time dilation and…
We show that when the observers are located in a plane electromagnetic wave it is not compulsory for them to take into account the time dilation and length contraction effects when the wave is detected from two inertial reference frames in…
This paper constitutes a background to the paper 'Quantum mechanics as "space-time statistical mechanics"?', arXiv:quant-ph/0501133, presented previously by the author. But it is also a free-standing and self-contained paper. The purpose of…
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…
The theory of special relativity can be generalized by means of a new principle called Conservation of Information. This allows a derivation of the constancy of the velocity of light with respect to moving frames, and, consequently, of…
Virtual Reality (VR) has repeatedly proven its effectiveness in student learning. However, despite its benefits, the student equipped with a personal headset remains isolated from the real world while immersed in a virtual space and the…
In this article, we argue that the theory of special relativity, as formulated by Einstein, is a philosophical rather than a scientific theory. What is scientific and experimentally supported is the formalism of the relativistic mechanics…
The visual distortion effects visible to an observer traveling around and descending to the surface of an extremely compact star are described. Specifically, trips to a ``normal" neutron star, a black hole, and an ultracompact neutron star…
The twin paradox is the best known thought experiment associated with Einstein's theory of relativity. An astronaut who makes a journey into space in a high-speed rocket will return home to find he has aged less than a twin who stayed on…