Related papers: Relativistic Distance
In this paper, we endeavour to show that from the noncommutative nature of spacetime one can deduce the concept of relativity in the sense that the velocity cannot be infinite as in the case of Galilean relativity.
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…
What is the distance between two points in spacetime? This is a basic geometric question, which so far has no single, definitive answer. Unlike their Riemannian cousins, Lorentzian manifolds are not known to carry a canonical distance…
Relying on the equivalence principle, a first approach of the general theory of relativity is presented using the spacetime metric of an observer with a constant proper acceleration. Within this non inertial frame, the equation of motion of…
Measurements of the position of a relativistic particle is considered in the framework of the Restricted-Path-Integral (RPI) approach. The amplitude describing such a measurement is shown to be exponentially small outside the light cone of…
A flat membrane with given shape is displayed; two points in the membrane are randomly selected; the probability that the separation between the points have a specified value is sought. A simple method to evaluate the probability density is…
The goal of this lecture is to introduce the student to the theory of Special Relativity. Not to overload the content with mathematics, the author will stick to the simplest cases; in particular only reference frames using Cartesian…
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…
Similarity search is an important problem in information retrieval. This similarity is based on a distance. Symbolic representation of time series has attracted many researchers recently, since it reduces the dimensionality of these high…
We have argued that quantum mechanics and general relativity give a lower bound $\delta l \gtrsim l^{1/3} l_P^{2/3}$ on the measurement uncertainty of any distance $l$ much greater than the Planck length $l_P$. Recently Baez and Olson have…
We prove that there exists a norm in the plane under which no n-point set determines more than O(n log n log log n) unit distances. Actually, most norms have this property, in the sense that their complement is a meager set in the metric…
A careful look at an allegedly well-known century-old concept reveals interesting aspects in it that have generally avoided recognition in literature. There are four different kinds of physical observables known or proclaimed as…
Time-like and space-like invariant space-time intervals are used to analyse measurements of spatial and temporal distances defined by two spatially-separated clocks. The time dilatation effect is confirmed, but not `relativity of…
The concept of velocity dependent mass, relativistic mass, is examined and is found to be inconsistent with the geometrical formulation of special relativity. This is not a novel result; however, many continue to use this concept and some…
In this paper we prove a number of exact relations between optical observables, such as trigonometric parallax, position drift and the proper motion of a luminous source in addition to the variations of redshift and the viewing angle. These…
The development of science and technology has progressively demonstrated the ability of humankind to understand and manipulate the physical world, and it has also shown some fundamental limitations to predictability of physical events. This…
We present a simple thought experiment in which a beam of light of a finite length (a light-pulse) enters a detection device that consists of a wave detector and a light bulb. We examine the experiment from the reference frame where the…
Observing artificial satellites is a relatively new and unique branch of astronomy that is very interesting and dynamic. One specific aspect of observing these objects is that although they appear amongst the celestial background, as…
A brief summary of the objections to the relational nature of inertial mass, gravitational mass and electric charge is presented. The objections are refuted by showing that the measurement process of comparing an instrument reference clock…
An exact analytical expression for the bending angle of light due to a non-rotating massive object, considering the actual distances from source and observer to the gravitational mass, is derived. Our novel formula generalizes Darwin…