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We outline here the design, execution, and educational outcomes of an intervention inspired by Einstein's elevator thought experiment, intended to introduce secondary school students to the principle of equivalence, which is at the basis of…
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…
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…
It is sometimes claimed that the twin "paradox" requires general relativity for a resolution. This paper presents a simple, exact resolution using only special relativity and the equivalence principle. Two earlier approximate solutions are…
The Einstein-First project aims to change the paradigm of school science teaching through the introduction of modern Einsteinian concepts of space and time, gravity and quanta at an early age. These concepts are rarely taught to school…
General Relativity is today the best theory of gravity addressing a wide range of phenomena. Our understanding of physical laws, from cosmology to local scales, cannot be properly formulated without taking into account it. It is based on…
The Einstein Equivalence Principle (EEP), stating that all laws of physics take their special-relativistic form in any local inertial (classical) reference frame, lies at the core of general relativity. Because of its fundamental status,…
This work analyzes the difficulties in learning and teaching Einstein's theory of special relativity. An extensive bibliographic review has been performed, considering articles published in the most relevant journals on science education,…
Previous research indicates that after standard instruction students at all academic levels often construct a conceptual framework in which the ideas of absolute simultaneity and the relativity of simultaneity co-exist. This article…
This review presents an overview of various kinds of models -- physical, abstract, mathematical, visual -- that can be used to present the concepts and applications of Einstein's general theory of relativity at the level of undergraduate…
This article reports on an investigation of student understanding of the concept of time in special relativity. A series of research tasks are discussed that illustrate, step-by-step, how student reasoning of fundamental concepts of…
The Equivalence Principle (EP) is not one of the ``universal'' principles of physics (like the Action Principle). It is a heuristic hypothesis which was introduced by Einstein in 1907, and used by him to construct his theory of General…
In these notes we give an introductory unified treatment to the topics of special relativity, Lorentz transformations and the Lorentz group, Einstein velocitiy addition, and gyrogroups and gyrovector spaces. An effort has been made to…
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…
Einstein's general theory of relativity is the standard theory of gravity, especially where the needs of astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology and fundamental physics are concerned. As such, this theory is used for many practical purposes…
The Equivalence Principle (EP) is at the heart of General Relativity (GR), tested in many aspects. It is often used to discuss qualitatively the influence of gravity on physical phenomena. But can this be made more precise? We compare clock…
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 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…
This paper has pedagogical motivation. It is not uncommon that students have great difficulty in accepting the new concepts of standard special relativity, since these seem contrary to common sense. Experience shows that geometrical or…
The equivalence principle was formulated by Einstein in an attempt to extend the concept of inertial frames to accelerated frames, thereby bringing in gravity. In recent decades, it has been realised that gravity is linked not only with…