Questions tagged [special-relativity]
The special theory of relativity describes the motion and dynamics of objects moving at significant fractions of the speed of light.
30 questions from the last 30 days
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Speed of light for dummy
I'm trying to understand how travelling at the speed of light messes with time. So pretend there is two planets one light year apart.
We are in contact and plan to do an experiment.
When I say 'go' on ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Why is the Four-velocity insufficient to be an arrow of time?
Question edited for clarity.
Matter has a four-velocity. One component of this velocity is always along the time axis, toward the future.
My question is; “Why isn’t this component of the four-velocity ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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:
$$ t=\sqrt{1-...
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Invariance of the interval in Schutz - maths error?
Reading Schutz's book on GR: On page 9, there's a derivation that I don't follow.
$\newcommand{\d}{\Delta} \newcommand{\b}[1]{\bar{#1}}$ Then in the
expression for $\d\b{s}^2$, $$\d\b{s}^2 = -(\d\b{...
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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 ...
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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 "...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Experimental verifications of relativity in the non-relativistic limit $v/c \to 0$? [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.)
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