Related papers: Special relativity without distant clock synchroni…
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…
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…
Space-like and time-like invariant space-time intervals are used to analyse measurements of spatial and temporal distances. The former are found to be Lorentz invariant --there is no `relativistic length contraction', whereas the latter…
Einstein based his special theory of relativity on two postulates: (a) physical laws appear the same in all inertial frames, and (b) the speed of light in vacuum is an observer-independent constant. However, it is already known that the…
We study the interplay of non-locality and Lorentz invariance in a version of deformed or doubly special relativity (DSR) based on kappa-Minkowski spacetime. We find that Einstein's procedure for an inertial observer to assign coordinates…
Nature succeeds in accelerating extended and massive objects to relativistic velocities. Jets in Active Galactic Nuclei and in galactic superluminal sources and gamma-ray bursts fireballs have bulk Lorentz factors from a few to several…
A special case of the relativistic Doppler effect, which occurs when light reflects from a moving mirror, is discussed. The classic formula for the Doppler shift is derived in a fully non-relativistic fashion using basic facts from…
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…
Besides two fundamental postulates, (i) the principle of relativity and (ii) the constancy of the speed of light in all inertial frames of reference, special relativity uses the assumption about the Euclidean structures of gravity-free…
The shortening of bodies in the direction of motion, Lorentz contraction, follows from the solution of Maxwell's equations. Moving light clocks will tick slower than those at rest because the speed of light does not depend on a source of…
The Lorentz transformation is used to analyse space and time coordinates corresponding to two spatially-separated clocks in the same inertial frame. The time dilatation effect is confirmed, but not `relativity of simultaneity' or…
The conventional discussion of apparent distortions of space and time in Special Relativity (the Lorentz-Fitzgerald Contraction and Time Dilatation) is extended by considering observations of : (i) moving objects of limited lifetime in…
We show the compatibility of the theory of special relativity with the absolute reference frame with a longitudinal Doppler shift. Using two absolute velocities vA and vS, the relative velocity u is derived. Thereafter the Doppler frequency…
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…
Although there is no relative motion among different points on a rotating disc, each point belongs to a different noninertial frame. This fact, not recognized in previous approaches to the Ehrenfest paradox and related problems, is…
In a previous paper published in this journal, we described a new relativistic wave equation that accounts for the propagation of light from a source to an observer in two different inertial frames. This equation, which is based on the…
The possibility of detecting the gravitomagnetic clock effect using artificial Earth satellites provides the incentive to develop a more intuitive approach to its derivation. We first consider two test electric charges moving on the same…
In Newtonian physics, the excitation spectrum of a fluid is the same in all reference frames, up to a trivial shift. In special relativity, this is no longer the case. Relativity of simultaneity causes different inertial observers to…
Entangled states of light exhibit measurable correlations between light detections at separated locations. These correlations are exploited in entangled-state quantum key distribution. To do so involves setting up and maintaining a rhythm…
In general relativity, the picture of spacetime assigns an ideal clock to each worldline. Being ideal, gravitational effects due to these clocks are ignored and the flow of time according to one clock is not affected by the presence of…