Related papers: A one-map two-clock approach to teaching relativit…
A careful study is made of the operational meaning of the time symbols appearing in the space-time Lorentz transformation. Four distinct symbols, with different physical meanings, are needed to describe reciprocal measurements involving…
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…
The special theory of relativity teaches us that, although distinct inertial frames perceive the same dynamical laws, space and time intervals differ in value. We revisit the problem of time contraction using the paradigmatic model of a…
Lorentz Transformation is reinterpreted. It is shown that by admitting the existence of a frame of reference with synchronized clocks, we conclude that any other frame of reference that moves related to the first has desynchronized clocks.…
Real Time Relativity is a computer program that lets students fly at relativistic speeds though a simulated world populated with planets, clocks, and buildings. The counterintuitive and spectacular optical effects of relativity are…
The paper presents a relativistic space-time diagram, which displays in true values the space (Cartesian and polar) and the time coordinates of the same event detected from two inertial reference frames in relative motion related by the…
The definition of a reference frame in General Relativity is achieved through the construction of a congruence of time-like world-lines. In this framework, splitting techniques enable us to express physical phenomena in analogy with Special…
The Lorentz transformation is entirely derived from length contraction, itself established through the known light-clock thought experiment . This makes the derivation accessible to beginning students once Eintein's two postulates have been…
We take causality and uniqueness of events observation as our driving forces. They are built in in the way we define distinct observers, which then require a finite time to communicate between each other. This unavoidably leads to the…
The conventional discussion of the observed distortions of space and time in Special Relativity (the Lorentz-Fitzgerald Contraction and Time Dilatation) is extended by considering observations, from a stationary frame, of : (i) objects…
In this work, we use real quaternions and the basic concept of the final speed of light in an attempt to enhance the standard description of special relativity. First, we demonstrate that it is possible to introduce a quaternion time domain…
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…
Care making only clock-specific assertions about elapsed-time, and other ``space-time smart'' strategies from the perspective of a selected inertial map-frame, open doors to an understanding of anyspeed motion via application of the metric…
Using spacetime algebra, the geometric algebra of spacetime, the general problem of relativistic addition of velocities is addressed. The successive application of non-collinear Lorentz boosts is then studied in Minkowski spacetime. Even…
The theory of relativity showed that several Newtonian ideas about spacetime are imperfect. We present here some relativistic concepts related to these ideas: simultaneity of events and synchronization of clocks (both along a line in the…
We show how a suitably prepared set of clocks can be used to determine all components of the gravitational field in General Relativity. We call such an experimental setup a clock compass, in analogy to the usual gravitational compass.…
We discuss pedagogical problems associated with the conventional approach in teaching relativity and the potential value of "Lorentzian route to relativity" for addressing these pedagogical problems. We think that Lorentzian approach may be…
The development of both special and general relativity is accomplished in a series of 6 papers using a simple approach. The purpose is to explain the how and why of relativity to a broad public, and to be useful for students of physics by…
This tutorial, addressing physics teachers and undergraduate students, aims at clarifying some aspects of time in special relativity. In particular, time dilation is usually presented only as the well-known ratio of lab time over proper…
We present a new visualization of the proper-time elapsed along an observer's worldline. By supplementing worldlines with light clocks, the measurement of space-time intervals is reduced to the "counting of ticks." The resulting space-time…