Related papers: The Thomas rotation
An apparent paradox in Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity, known as a Thomas precession rotation in atomic physics, has been verified experimentally in a number of ways. However, somewhat surprisingly, it has not yet been demonstrated…
Exact and simple calculation of Thomas rotation and Thomas precessions along a circular world line is presented in an absolute (coordinate-free) formulation of special relativity. Besides the simplicity of calculations the absolute…
The purpose of this paper is to provide an elementary introduction to the qualitative and quantitative results of velocity combination in special relativity, including the Wigner rotation and Thomas precession. We utilize only the most…
A relativistic particle undergoing successive boosts which are non collinear will experience a rotation of its coordinate axes with respect to the boosted frame. This rotation of coordinate axes is caused by a relativistic phenomenon called…
The circular twin paradox and Thomas Precession are presented in a way that makes both accessible to students in introductory relativity courses. Both are discussed by examining what happens during travel around a polygon and then in the…
In this paper I argue for a reassessment of special relativity. The fundamental theory of relativity applicable in this Universe has to be consistent with the existence of the massive Universe, and with the effects of its gravitational…
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…
This work gives an explicit exact expression for the Thomas precession arising in the framework of Special Theory of Relativity as the spatial rotation resulting from two subsequence Lorentz boosts. The final result for the orthogonal…
We show that some primary special relativity effects, which are believed to be hardly detectable in everyday life, such as time dilation, relativistic Doppler effect, and length contraction, should tangibly and spectacularly show up here on…
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…
This preprint concerns a mathematically rigorous treatment of an interesting physical phenomenon in relativity theory. We would like to draw the reader's attention particularly to the abstract mathematical formalism of relativity (which was…
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…
Evaluation of the additive constants in the space-time Lorentz transformation equations required, according to Einstein, to correctly describe synchronised clocks at different spatial locations, reveals the spurious and unphysical nature of…
We analyze the angular momentum balance for a particle undergoing Thomas precession. The relationships among relativistic torque, the center of mass, and the center of inertia for a spinning particle are clarified. We show that spin…
This paper aims to provide teachers with a tool to teach the essential features of special relativity, considering the students' difficulties highlighted by numerous studies. Our proposal presents special relativity as the solution to the…
Special Relativity is taught to physics sophomores at Johns Hopkins University in a series of eight lectures. Lecture 1 covers the principle of relativity and the derivation of the Lorentz transform. Lecture 2 covers length contraction and…
The classical rotation is not self-consistent in the framework of the special theory of relativity. the Relativistic rotation is obtained, which takes the relativistic effect into account. It is demonstrated that the angular frequency of…
We show that starting with the fact that special relativity theory is concerned with a distortion of the observed length of a moving rod, without mentioning if it is a "contraction" or "dilation", we can derive the Lorentz transformations…
A simple, though rarely considered, thought experiment on relativistic rotation is described in which internal inconsistencies in the theory of relativity seem to arise. These apparent inconsistencies are resolved by appropriate insight…
Non-commutativity of the Einstein velocity addition, in case of non-collinear velocities, seemingly gives rise to a conflict with reciprocity principle. However, Thomas rotation comes at a rescue and the paradox is avoided. It is shown that…