Related papers: Student understanding of time in special relativit…
Despite being a major component in the teaching of special relativity, the twin `paradox' is generally not examined in courses on general relativity. Due to the complexity of analytical solutions to the problem, the paradox is often…
Lecture notes written for a one-semester course in mathematical relativity aimed at mathematics and physics students. Not meant as an introduction to general relativity, but rather as a complementary, more advanced text.
This thesis explores the central question of how to leverage temporal relations among video elements to advance video understanding. Addressing the limitations of existing methods, the work presents a five-fold contribution: (1) an…
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…
In this work, we address the problem of measuring and predicting temporal video saliency - a metric which defines the importance of a video frame for human attention. Unlike the conventional spatial saliency which defines the location of…
We develop an extension of special relativity in $1+3$ dimensional spacetime to account for superluminal inertial observers and show that such an extension rules out the conventional dynamics of mechanical point-like particles and forces…
Instruction in quantum mechanics is becoming increasingly important as the field is not only a key part of modern physics research, but is also important for emerging technologies. However, many students regard quantum mechanics as a…
This work may be defined as a modern philosophical approach to theoretical physics. Since ancient times science and philosophy evolved in parallel, thus renewing from time to time the epochal paradigms of human thought. We could not…
We explore the difficulties that advanced undergraduate and graduate students have with non-relativistic quantum mechanics of a single particle in one spatial dimension. To investigate these difficulties we developed a conceptual survey and…
In the framework of special relativity, all particles are point-like or string-like. This nature of particles has caused the divergence difficulties in quantum field, string and superstring theories. In the framework of special relativity,…
In a way similar to classical mechanics where we have the concept of inertial time as expressed in the motions of bodies, in the (special) theory of relativity we can regard the inertial time as the only notion of time at play. The inertial…
The perspectives of introductory classical physics students can often negatively influence how those students later interpret quantum phenomena when taking an introductory course in modern physics. A detailed exploration of student…
We investigate the interplay and connections between symmetry properties of equations, the interpretation of coordinates, the construction of observables, and the existence of physical relativity principles in spacetime theories. Using 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…
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…
General Relativity (GR) represents the most recent theory of gravity, on which all modern astrophysics is based, including some of the most astonishing results of physics research. Nevertheless, its study is limited to university courses,…
The classifying space of inertial reference frames in special relativity is naturally hyperbolic. There is a remarkable interplay between central elements of hyperbolic geometry and those of special relativity -- which, to a certain extent,…
An elementary account of special relativity for school-children.
The meaning of instantaneous action at a distance is elucidated. It is shown that the absence of a medium to transmit action (usually referred to as AAD in the literature) and instantaneous action are not identical. Since the term…
Students are often mystified by the reasoning that leads from the postulates of special relativity to the requirement of covariance. This is partly due to the lack of transparency resulting from the failure to clearly separate the roles the…