All Questions
Tagged with lorentz-symmetry or special-relativity
13,587 questions
0 votes
0 answers
37 views
Radii of points on moving rotating sphere
Imagine a solid sphere B moving uniformly in a straight line and rotating about its axis. The axis of rotation of B and the direction of motion of B are perpendicular to each other. Does this mean ...
-2 votes
0 answers
62 views
A question about interstellar travel [duplicate]
If an observer $O'$, one light-year away, approaches $O$ at a speed close to that of light, the time elapsed for observer $O'$ would be practically zero. If $O$ is the one approaching, the opposite ...
- 103
1 vote
0 answers
44 views
Application of Reichenbach synchronisation
Suppose I adopt the Reichenbach synchronisation process so that light heading radially away from me- according to my clocks- travels with infinite speed, while light heading directly towards me ...
-4 votes
0 answers
82 views
The cat thought experiment [duplicate]
This thought experiment was made with the purpose of trying to understand whether the ideal gas law holds in relativistic frames. Suppose you have two observers, a box that is perfectly insulative and ...
-1 votes
0 answers
72 views
Relativistically spinning top? [duplicate]
Assuming a spinning top with a rigid radius, not changing due to centrifugal forces, of 2 cm at the equator measured at rest, is spinning hypothetically at approximate $0.866c$ the speed of light in ...
- 4,685
-1 votes
2 answers
96 views
Proper times of two inertial observers. [closed]
According to the Lorentz transformations, if an observer $O'$ moves at a relative velocity $\beta$ with respect to another observer $O$, the proper times $t$ and $t'$ would be related by: $$ t=\sqrt{1-...
- 103
1 vote
2 answers
407 views
Invariance of the interval in Schutz - maths error?
Reading Schutz's book on GR: On page 9, there's a derivation that I don't follow. $\newcommand{\d}{\Delta} \newcommand{\b}[1]{\bar{#1}}$ Then in the expression for $\d\b{s}^2$, $$\d\b{s}^2 = -(\d\b{...
0 votes
0 answers
105 views
Bargmann–Michel–Telegdi (BMT) equation derivation?
What is the relativistic equation capturing the equation of motion of an electron going through the Stern-Gerlach experiment in classical mechanics? After some googling it seems I'm after a derivation ...
- 1,505
5 votes
5 answers
892 views
What exactly is different about the slice of space and lightcone concept in special relativity?
In Sean Carroll's book on GR, in the very first chapter about SR, he mentions how the difference between Newtonian concepts of space and time, and the view put forward in SR is how there is an "...
- 61
-1 votes
1 answer
132 views
Sign confusion in Relativistic Lagrangian and Lorentz Force Derivation [duplicate]
This is a rewrite of the original question and calculation, which should be now correct and focusses on the core issues of possible confusion: I was confronted with some confusion regarding the ...
- 39
1 vote
3 answers
301 views
Where is the increased mass reserved based on Einstein's mass-energy equation?
Assume a huge parallel-plate capacitor with plates located at an infinite distance away from each other. If we tend to move a positively charged object ($+q$) with a rest mass of $m$ against the ...
- 2,920
0 votes
0 answers
45 views
Maxwell-Juttner distribution and its derivation
I am looking for good notes on the Maxwell-Juttner distribution and its derivation. I stumbled across this post Calculation of Maxwell-Juttner distribution integral but I was unable to find reference ...
- 9
-3 votes
0 answers
124 views
Experimental verifications of relativity “in the classical limit”? [closed]
Note: This question is pretty basic and therefore probably has been asked before in another form -- please let me know which question this is a duplicate of in that case. (I couldn't find it myself.) ...
- 576
6 votes
4 answers
1k views
The integral form of Faraday’s law seems nonlocal, what's wrong?
Consider this example I met in my physics class: An infinitely long cylindrical region contains a uniform magnetic field $B$ within it whose magnitude varies with time. Determine the induced electric ...
- 513
-5 votes
1 answer
130 views
Why can't only time dilation alone take place in special relativity, without length contraction? [closed]
An object moving relative to an observer experiences time dilation, as stated in the theory of Special Relativity. But suppose only time dilation occurred while lengths remained unchanged. Wouldn’t ...
- 107