Special Relativity| Special Relativity |
In General > s.a. minkowski spacetime;
modified classical mechanics [relationship to Newtonian mechanics].
* Motivation: (E) If
Galilean relativity is right, when I move at the speed of light I should see
a static pattern, but Maxwell's equations do not admit such a solution!
* Postulates: (i) All
inertial observers are equivalent (including laws of electromagnetism);
(ii) The speed of light c is constant, independent of the motion
of the observer (or the source) – inconsistent with Galilean physics;
> s.a. lorentz symmetry.
* Particles / fields: Dynamical
equations must be tensorial (Lorentz-covariant), a severe restriction on
physical laws; > s.a. relativistic
particles.
* Remark: Not all coordinate systems
are allowed; Hilbert used 1 timelike and 3 spacelike coordinates; More recently, 4
null ones have also been used [@ Hilbert GN(17)].
Particle-related concepts: see energy;
force; momentum;
particle models; special-relativistic kinematics.
Applications, Effects, Tests > s.a. causality violations;
constants [speed of light]; electromagnetism.
* Constancy of c:
Michelson-Morley experiment; Ether-drift experiments based on the Mössbauer
effect; 2000, Independence of vsource
confirmed to 1 × 10−20, with
γ-rays from GRBs; 2001, improved Kennedy-Thorndike Tests on
independence of vlab; 2002,
Experiments by University of Konstanz and Düsseldorf checked isotropy of
c to 1.7 parts in 1015 with optical
cavities; Precise tests are motivated in part by some versions of string theory.
* Time dilation: High-speed
electrons from certain radioactive decays, accelerated particles, cosmic rays and
muons; Conceptually better than atomic clocks.
* Properties of materials:
Special relativity shifts around the energy levels of electrons in gold atoms,
causing the metal to absorb blue light, and thereby making reflected light appear
more yellow.
@ General references: Holton AJP(62)jun [RL];
Drell PhyA(79);
Sherwin PRA(87);
Pool Sci(90)nov [including antirelativity];
Vetharaniam & Stedman PLA(93);
Will in(05)gq,
Wolf et al LNP(06)phy/05 [rev];
Varcoe CP(06) [with slow light];
in Thorne & Blandford 15 [applications].
@ Astrophysics, particle physics:
Coleman & Glashow PLB(97) [cosmic rays and neutrinos];
Fogli et al PRD(99)hp [violations and neutrino oscillations].
@ Experiments: Zhang 97;
Bonizzoni & Giuliani phy/00-wd [time dilation, history];
Braxmaier et al PRL(02) [KT experiments];
Dryzek & Singleton AJP(07)aug [constancy of c];
Bertolami & Páramos a1212 [status];
Ahmed et al a1310,
Wojtsekhowski EPL(14)-a1409,
a1509 [anisotropy of the speed of light];
> s.a. lorentz-group phenomenology.
@ In other fields: Van Bladel 84;
Ghisellini ap/99-conf [astrophysics];
Aloisio et al PRD(00)ap,
Grillo & Aloisio ap/00-conf [cosmic rays].
@ Paradoxes: Terletskii 68;
Matsas PRD(03)gq,
Vieira EPL(16)-a1611 [submarine paradox];
García-Islas RMF-a1412 [four-particles paradox].
@ Other effects: Wolf & Petit PRA(97) [GPS test];
Low EJP(07);
Werner a1904-MG15
[Struble effect, de Sitter's binary star test].
@ And technology: Mermin AJP(88)jul;
Taylor AJP(89)jun [microcomputers];
Ahuja et al PRL(11)
+ focus(11)jan [lead-acid batteries].
> Related topics: see Kennedy-Thorndike Test;
Lorentz-FitzGerald Contraction; mass
[E = mc2, etc]; Rigid Body;
Sagnac Effect.
References
> s.a. clocks; determinism;
history of special relativity; physics teaching;
relativistic quantum mechanics; spacetime.
@ General: Einstein AdP(05),
AdP(05),
JR(08);
Lorentz et al 23.
@ I: Durell 60;
Mermin 68;
Russell 69;
in Lightman 86, 58-69;
Fang & Chu 87;
Mook & Vargish 87;
Rohrlich 87;
Fritzsch 94;
Ellis & Williams 00;
Mermin 05;
Bais 07;
Styer 11;
Griffiths 13;
Egdall 14.
@ II: French 68;
Rindler 80,
91;
Burke 80;
Rosser 91;
Resnick & Halliday 92;
Taylor & Wheeler 92;
Mould 94;
Moore 95;
Adams 97;
McGlinn 02;
Giulini 05;
Ferraro 07;
Woodhouse 07;
Freund 08;
Fayngold 08;
Helliwell 09;
Takeuchi 10 [pictorial];
Hraskó 11;
Dray 12 [geometrical];
Faraoni 13;
Christodoulides 16 [including tests and applications];
Nolting 17;
Susskind & Friedman 17.
@ III: Das 93;
Laurent 95 [geometrical];
Robinson 96 [applications];
Rindler 06;
Gourgoulhon 13 [in general frames];
Steane 12;
Tsamparlis 19 [with problems].
@ Books and reviews: Bolton 21;
Synge 64;
Bohm 65;
Nevanlinna 68;
Møller 72 [including fields];
Dixon 78;
Aharoni 85;
Bowler 86;
Stephenson & Kilmister 87;
in Naber 88;
Qadir 89;
Schröder 90;
Naber 92;
Will in(06)gq/05 [intro, history];
Müller-Kirsten 08 [and classical mechanics];
Dragon 12.
@ Axiomatic, conceptual: Reichenbach 24,
57;
Goldblatt 87;
Field AJP(01)may [from spacetime exchange invariance];
Lucas & Hodgson 90;
Svozil FP(02)qp/01 [conventionalism];
Balashov & Janssen BJPS(03) [and presentism];
Brown & Pooley phy/04-ch ["constructive" formulation];
Madarász et al FP(06)gq/05 [based on first-order logic];
Feigenbaum a0806 [as extension of Galilean thinking];
Andréka et al a1005,
HPR-a1105 [and general relativity];
Székely PhD(09)-a1005 [first-order logic, and accelerated observers];
Frisch SHPMP(11) [special relativity as a principle theory];
Van Camp PhSc(11) [kinematic vs dynamic approaches];
Jizba & Scardigli PRD(12)-a1105,
JPCS(12),
EPJC(13)-a1301
[emergent special relativity from coarse-graining average of small-scale Brownian motion];
Gürel & Gürel a1107;
Gomori & Szabó a1109;
Sid-Ahmed a1112;
Dotson SHPMP(12) [the Dingle-Popper debate and the issue of symmetry];
Hartmann a1205 [based on measurements];
Gillis a1210-FQXi
[relativity is not about ontological features of spacetime];
Andréka & Németi a1307-ch [first-order logic axiomatizations];
Kim a1307 [2D, without linearity assumption];
Drory a1408 [function of the second postulate];
Galiautdinov a1701 [without the second postulate];
Hertzberg & Sandora PRD(17)-a1704
[from theories of massless spin-2 and spin-1 particles, and soft gravitons];
Basu a1812 [without the second postulate].
@ Related topics: Feynman TPT(64);
Komar AJP(65)dec [and conformal mappings of the 2-sphere];
Moreau AJP(94)may [wave fronts];
Rindler AJP(94)oct [and general relativity];
Brown & Pooley gq/99-ch [Lorentzian pedagogy];
Giulini LNP(06)mp [algebraic and geometric structures];
Baierlein AJP(06)mar [misconceptions];
Kraus EJP(08) [visualizations];
Weinstein a1205;
Ungar a1302 [hyperbolic geometry viewpoint];
Hartman et al a1706
[origin, effective light cone from bound on diffusion].
> Online resources:
Einstein Light site (animations);
Tatsu Takeuchi's lecture notes (Virginia Tech);
Ute Kraus' Space-Time Travel site [visualizations];
David Waite's modernrelativity.
Extensions, Variations
> s.a. DSR [deformed or double]; finsler geometry;
Fock-Lorentz Symmetry; modified lorentz symmetry;
spacetime models.
@ Limits of special relativity: Sidharth FP(08) [and the theory of the electron];
Carmona Symm(18)-a1806 [scenarios].
@ Poincaré's version:
Arminjon www(02);
Pierseaux PS(03).
@ Based on SO(1, 4), de Sitter group: Aldrovandi et al CQG(07)gq/06;
Cacciatori et al AdP(08)-a0807 [introduction];
Aldrovandi & Pereira FP(09) [and quantum gravity],
G&C(09)-a0812 [and cosmology],
IJMPD(08);
Gazeau et al Sigma(10)-a1001 [and Krein spaces];
Beltrán Almeida et al G&C(12)-a1103 [and an evolving cosmological constant];
Yan 15;
Araujo et al CQG(17)-a1704 [and dark energy].
@ Other formulations: Hsu & Hsu PLA(94) [only relativity postulate];
Sorensen AJP(95)may [length contraction is physical];
Klauber FPL(98)gq/01 [non time-orthogonal frames];
Rizzi et al FP(05)gq/04-fs [different synchronizations];
Sobczyk a0710-in [geometric algebra];
Minguzzi a1412
[as a limit of an Aristotelian universal friction theory];
> s.a. clifford algebra.
@ Different mathematical basis: De Leo JMP(96)ht/95 [quaternionic];
Iovane et al CSF(04)mp [Fantappiè group and Cantorian spacetime].
@ Other variations: Asaro AJP(96)apr [complex speeds];
Svozil FP(00)phy/98 [2 limit speeds];
Manida gq/99 [varying c];
Unnikrishnan gq/04 ["cosmic relativity"];
Friedman & Gofman PS(10) [acceleration effects];
Mashhoon a1204-proc [non-local special relativity];
Carmona et al PRD(12)-a1206 [deformations of kinematics consistent with the relativity principle];
Madarász & Székely IJTP(13)-a1209 [over the field of rational numbers];
Hill & Cox PRS(12) [relative speeds > c];
Hoffman a1306 [with faster-than-light observers];
> s.a. Perplex Numbers; projective structures;
Very Special Relativity.
Antirelativity
@ References: Marinov 82;
Wesley ed-87;
Maddox Nat(90)jul;
Ipatova et al SPU(90);
Raine EJP(05) [re crank science];
Field a0805 [misunderstanding re plot];
van Dongen SHPMP(10)-a1111 [and other crackpots].
> Websites:
Carel van der Togt's From Paradox to Paradigm;
The General Science Journal website.
main page
– abbreviations
– journals – comments
– other sites – acknowledgements
send feedback and suggestions to bombelli at olemiss.edu – modified 2 oct 2020