Related papers: In Praise of Slowness
It is generally admitted in thermodynamics that, for a given change in volume, the work done by a system is greater in conditions of reversibility than in conditions of irreversibility. If the basic conventions of physics are strictly…
We discuss how the finiteness and universality of the speed of light arise in the theoretical framework introduced in [1], and derive generalized coordinate transformations, that allow to investigate physical systems in a non-classical…
'Relativistic thermodynamics' should be understood not as a generalization of a non-relativistic theory but as an application of a general thermodynamic framework, neutral as to spacetime setting and allowing arbitrary conserved quantities,…
A goal of physics is to understand the greatest possible breadth of natural phenomena in terms of the most economical set of basic concepts. However, as the understanding of physics has developed historically, its pedagogy and language have…
The central concept of the theory of relativity is the relativity of velocity. The velocity of a material body is not an intrinsic property of the body; it depends on a free choice of reference system. Relative velocity is thus…
Whoever has to learn or to teach thermodynamics is confronted with conceptual difficulties which are specific to this field of physics ([1],[2]). It seems that they can be eliminated by inserting relativity in the thermodynamic theory. The…
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…
A phenomenological explanation is presented for the physics of aberration, which is in contrast with special relativity physics. The effect of relativity is identified with an effect due to the velocity of observation being affected by the…
We have defined slowness (or reciprocal velocity) corresponding to v as cc/v, where c is the speed of light and v is the corresponding velocity. Velocity and slowness are images of each other. Reciprocal symmetric law of addition of…
The special theory of relativity has fundamentally changed our views of space and time. The relativity of simultaneity in particular, and the theory of relativity as a whole, still presents significant difficulty for beginners in the…
We have defined slowness (or reciprocal velocity, corresponding to velocity v) as cc/v, where c is the speed of light. It is observed that the relative velocity remains invariant if the velocities are replaced by corresponding slownesses…
Relativity and classical dynamics, as defined so far, form distinct parts of classical physics and are formulated based on independent principles. We propose that the formalism of classical dynamics can be considered as the theoretical…
We first see that the inertia of Newtonian mechanics is absolute and troublesome. General relativity can be viewed as Einstein's attempt to remedy, by making inertia relative, to matter---perhaps imperfectly though, as at least a couple of…
In the classical (non-quantum) relativity theory the course of the moving clock is dilated as compared to the course of the clock at rest (the Einstein dilation). Any unstable system may be regarded as a clock. The time evolution (e.g., the…
In this paper we bring to light an hitherto undisclosed richness of this Theory, namely its admitting a consistent reformulation which is able to provide a unified scenario for all kinds of particles, be they lightlike or not. This result…
Einstein's relativity theory demands that all meaningful physical objects should be defined covariantly, i.e. in a coordinate independent way. Concepts of relative velocity, acceleration, gravity acceleration and gravity potential are…
In this paper I propose a new principle in physics: the principle of "finiteness". It stems from the definition of physics as a science that deals (among other things) with measurable dimensional physical quantities. Since measurement…
The mathematical properties associated with the widely accepted concept of the extensivity of many of the common thermodynamic variables are examined and some of their consequences considered. The possible conflict between some of these and…
In the Special Theory of Relativity space and time intervals are different in different frames of reference. As a consequence, the quantity 'velocity' of classical mechanics splits into different quantities in Special Relativity, coordinate…
It is proved by means of the dynamical effects of special relativity that velocity caused by accelerating process is not a relative concept. The influence of accelerating process should be considered in space-time theory. Besides the…