Relativity Definition and 998 Threads

Imagine in the distance you see a glowing spherical object hovering in the air. Suppose light from point B on the surface of the sphere facing away from you can arrive at the camera simultaneously with light from A: Since the object is moving at relativistic speeds, by the time light begins to...

I would like help with an issue that I have not yet fully mastered. Consider a particle resting on a plane, it is subjected to a gravitational force, which can be interpreted as the result of a deformation of space-time. It remains at rest due to the upward binding reaction provided by the...

Yes... Can someone please explain the relativity theory to me in as much simple terms as possible. It's really way in over my head. Thanks.

As is well known, when electric current flows in a straight wire, a charge in motion in the vicinity of the wire, parallel to it, is affected by a force called the magnetic force, which is attributable to the relativistic contraction effects that the wire undergoes in the frame of reference of...

In Feynman's famous Physics book, in a discussion of the generality of Maxwell's equations in the static case, in which he addresses the problem of whether they are an approximation of a deeper mechanism that follows other equations or not, he says: I was wondering first of all if this was a...

Consider two rulers that have the same rest length. Denote it by L0. Now let the two rulers be in relative motion. First consider things from the rest frame of the unprimed ruler illustrated below. A'_____B' ............A_______________B. State 1 ............A'_____B'...

When two remote events are observed/measured to be simultaneous in one inertial frame, the same events will not be simultaneous when observed from a second frame in uniform motion relative to the first. Why is this distinction in the kinematics of light not considered an operational distinction...

Instead of a twin paradox, let’s just consider an inbound starship approaching Earth at relativistic speed. The traveler is on a flyby mission, he will never change speed or direction. We will disagree with the traveler on how much time will have elapsed when he passes Earth. The discrepancy can...

Hello, was the four-momentum of relativity, Pν, supposed to include all mass and energy contributions from every field i.e. electromagnetic, strong, gravitational... Or is it just the momentum of what was known in Einstein's time?

note: m = relativistic mass ##m_o## = rest mass v = velocity of the objectQuestion 1: If a particle is moving at relativistic speeds what would it's kinetic energy be? I think it's ##K.E. = \frac{1}{2} m_o v^2## and my friend thinks it's ##K.E. = \frac{1}{2} \frac{m_o...

I am trying to work through rindler's relativity book. However, I got stuck at what I think should be a simple approximation. I calculated the angles ##\theta## and ##\theta''## using the formula for velocity transformation. If I simply expand ##\gamma(v)## and ##\gamma(v')## using taylor...

u is the speed of the message relative to the station v is the speed of the spaceship relative to the station u’ is the speed of the message relative to the spaceship u=(-0.5c+0.7c)/(1+((-0.5c)(0.7c))/c^2 ) =0.2c/0.65=0.308c This just seems way too high, and I'm not sure if I'm doing it...

Let us suppose our velocity towards a distant neutron star roughly equated to a dilation factor of 10. On board our vessel we are equipped with a NIST-F2 atomic clock . Since the clock travels with us, it also experiences the same dilation; thus, in our frame, the clock keeps time the same as...

Not directly from the core, but a trajectory that goes to the event horizon, and gets corrected to a perfect, perpendicular bisector path by the gravity of the core, when it reaches the event horizon. Would they escape the event horizon, since they have to always move at c? On this trajectory...

Please hear me out; I've referenced some good papers below, and I think you'll find the movie clip intriguing. Is there anything solid to this movie? The faster than light travel. The dimensional gateway. The folding of spacetime, passing through the hole, and then the return of spacetime to...

Are there any limits to how fast forces can exert influence... or are they all instantaneous? How fast are the forces of a collision? I think frame dragging, with gravity, shows that at least gravity is not instantaneous, because if it is instantaneous, then how would it produce drag - it...

Since these two pillars of science have mass as a common core, are they related, essentially the same or not?

Recently, in this forum, highly respected members referred to clocks like pendulum and hourglass as if they are relevant for relativity. Are they really? Besides the lack of accuracy, they depend on acceleration/gravity, so they would not work at all in inertial frames and they could not...

Hi guys, I am a first year IB student who has to pick his EE topic. The Extended Essay is an independent, in-depth study of a chosen topic within one of the IB subject areas. I chose to do mine on physics. I have to write 3500 - 4000 words for my EE. I've chosen a set up for an investigation /...

Hello dear colleagues from the physics forum, Following question came to my mind, can you tell me which statement (s) is/are wrong?. Since relativistic mass is weighed with the Lorentz factor for an external observer, it is expected an increase with speed. Such mass (m1) would tend to...

I encounter a function that I don‘t know in the calculation of Relativistically invariant 2-body phase space integral: in this equation, ##s##is the square of total energy of the system in the center-of-mass frame(I think) I don't know what the function ##\lambda^{\frac{1}{2}}## is. There are...

One person (A) stays on Earth, while another (B) goes on a long journey and returns later. We can calculate the time interval for A and the proper time interval for B. Let's say we get Δt=100y and Δτ'=50y. We then consider a second traveler (C) going on a different journey, departing and...

I bought a copy of Adler's new book on relativity. Is there a misprint on page 16 regarding the Lorentz metric = diag (-1,-1,-1,-1) or am I missing something? The text itself after the equation suggests it is the same metric as on the earlier page so that index placement, two lower indices vs...

If an object is going close to the speed of light, will outside frames of references perceive the moving object as going slow or fast?

I have the following question to solve:Use the metric:$$ds^2 = -dt^2 +dx^2 +2a^2(t)dxdy + dy^2 +dz^2$$ Test bodies are arranged in a circle on the metric at rest at ##t=0##. The circle define as $$x^2 +y^2 \leq R^2$$ The bodies start to move on geodesic when we have $$a(0)=0$$ a. we have to...

I calculated the speed using the information provided through the above equation and finding V' = 1.2 m/s. However, the first solution must be -1,2 m/s. I don't know how to reach it, any suggestion?

I am studying metrics that exhibit CTCs. I was looking at a few different metrics... Tipler's solution Godel metric Kerr metric For starters to compare them, I am trying to convert said metrics into cylindrical coordinates. Thanks in advance for any help😃

Hi, I am looking to study general relativity at my own steam (currently finishing 1st year physics at Warwick) during the summer. What textbook(s) would you recommend? I've heard good things about A. Zee's 'Einstein Gravity in a Nutshell'- is that worth it, and would it be suitable for someone...

In his thought experiment on the relativity of simultaneity, Einstein synchronizes two clocks A and B (at either end of a rod) to the clock C in a stationary frame, while A and B (the rod) is moving relative to C. The equations Einstein finishes with demonstrate how observers moving with A and...

This was a practice question, so it had the answer with it, which is 31 minutes. However, I'm confused as to why Lisa experiences T0. It isn't exactly an event happening in Lisa's rocket, but rather her just moving through space. From her perspective, it should look like Earth is moving at the...

Hi guys, I have heard a lot of claims about ChatGPT and how it is going to put a lot of people out of work. I have a friend who is a teacher of humanities and he is fearful of losing his job in the long term. People seem to be in awe at the thing and think it understand what is saying. So I...

I know nothing about physics, to be clear. My friend was saying due to general relativity, the faster you move through space, the slower you move through time. Objects with a heavy mass (like a blackhole) can distort the fabric of space time and being near its gravitational pull means that you...

Whilst perusing a D&D forum, I stopped to answer a question someone put out which was "what would happen if we used the gate spell to open a portal to the middle of the sun?" I replied (this was a while ago) and whilst I'm reviewing it, I am troubled by the fact that this uses such high forces...

I have some questions regarding the expected exchange particles for gravitation. From my understanding the following was valid: We can linearize the equations of GTR for weak fields "Quantum mechanics" (Schrödinger, Dirac equations) are linear Those linear equations allow eigenstates and...

I was discussing this paper with a couple of physicists colleagues of mine (https://arxiv.org/abs/2011.12970) In the paper, the authors describe "spacetimes without symmetries". When I mentioned that, one of my friends said that no spacetime predicted or included in the theory of relativity...

Einstein's two postulates of special relativity reads, according to Wikipedia: The postulates are most often formulated similarly to this. But in my opnion, the second postulate shouldn't be formulated as above, because then one misses the point. This is particular true for the second...

A frame “A” of three perpendicular axis (x, y, z) and an identical frame “B”, with an observer at rest in each, are moving toward each other at 1/2c on their common x axis. Centered between A and B on x is a light source S. At the time t1 when A, B and S coincide on x, S emits a light flash...

A light source in uniform motion emits a flash of light. A spherically symmetric wavefront propagates from a central point, the source, or the “origin” of emission. The wave front remains at c relative to the origin as measured by all observers. How fast do these origins move? Am I missing...

This time with General Relativity: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1541601777/?tag=pfamazon01-20 I got a copy as soon as I noticed it. And it is good - as all his books are. Notice - number one best seller. Lenny deserves a medal. There is a genuine thirst for science beyond banal...

Hello, everyone I am now working on this project quite a while now and I just wanted to share it with this forum, which I was a member for a long time. I am working on a python application about GR and I believe I managed to create a very user-friendly layout. It's called GTRPy, and it allows...

Here is the video: [link deleted by moderators] His basic idea is to take the spacetime interval and add a 5th term for the 5th dimension he is describing so it looks like: $$\Delta S^2 = c^2\Delta t^2 + c^2\Delta w^2 - \Delta x^2 - \Delta y^2 - \Delta z^2 $$ where w is the difference in time...

Modeling the time evolution of the sun and earth orbiting each other using ##F = \frac{GMm}{r^2}## is straightforward. However, it appears that modeling the time evolution of the same 2 body system using general relativity seems to be a hard/intractable problem? There was in depth discussion by...

I refer to the video of this page, where there is a description of Galilean relativity that is meant to be an introduction to SR, making the comprehension of the latter easier as a smooth evolution from the former. All the series is in my opinion excellent, but I think that this aspect is...

Hello all you clever people, I was wondering if you guys could answer a question for me regarding special relativity and the none existence of time. At least in the sense that the block universe people believe. So I'm writing as if the block universe is the correct interpretation What does...

I listened to and quite liked Sabine Hossenfelder's recent vid on relativity. Though one thing struck me as wrong. "Gravity is not a force," so it's effects does not cause true acceleration, so it has no effect on time. OK, but I'm pretty sure that satellites in different orbits have...

I have previously studied special relativity, but only at an introductory level. So I decided to explore the subject more in detail later by thinking and working things out on my own, in addition to doing research online. In particular, I seem to have noticed some intriguing patterns between...

If conservation of charge gets violated in future experiments, what would be the implications on relativity? I have some faint idea that this will cause photons to have non-zero rest mass, but does this affect special relativity at all? Also, does special relativity make conservation of charge...

I'm wondering is I'm missing something, or this should be " a non-zero component"?

Hello. This is my first post on this site. anyone here familiar with "Doubly Special Relativity"? an ARXIV paper was linked in the OP. Some follow up links or other advice would be appreciated. Kowalski-Glikman, J., "Introduction to Doubly Special Relativity", (2004). arXiv:hep-th/0405273...