Special Theory of Relativity

[infinite aaz]

SPECIAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY

Azhar Ali Zafar

Department of Mathematics

GC University Lahore, Pakistan.

Ask a dozen people to name a genius and the odds are that “Einstein” will spring to their lips. Ask that the meaning of relativity and few of them will be able to tell you what it is. (Anonymous)

The special theory of relativity has an undeserved reputation as a difficult subject. It is not mathematically complicated. Perhaps the most challenging aspect of special theory of relativity is its insistence that we replace some of our ideas about space and time which we have acquired through years of comment sense experiences with new ideas.
The essential ideas of special relativity were formally presented in a paper written by Albert Einstein and publish in 1905. In that year he also published his papers on Brownian Motion and on the photoelectric effect. It was for this latter paper (and not specifically for his theory of relativity) that he was awarded the 1921 noble prize in physics. Einstein also proposed a General theory of relativity in 1917. The general theory deals with the effect of gravity on space and time. The special theory of relativity takes its name from its denial of the concept of absolute motion and the consequent recognition that only relative motion has any physical significance. However, it does recognize as preferred class of observers who, are in uniform motion relative to one another, even though it denies that it is meaningful to ask which of them is at rest in any absolute sense. Hence the qualification “special”, the hope being that it would ultimately be superseded by a theory in which all observers are treated as equivalent.
At the time that the special theory was being developed, around the beginning of the 20th century, it was believed that all forces in nature would ultimately be reducible to electro-magnetism and gravitation. With the success of the special theory in resolving the conflicts that had existed between Newtonian Dynamics and Maxwell’s Electromagnetic Theory, it became natural to try to fit gravitation into this new physical frame work. That this proved so difficult seems perhaps more surprising now than it did at that time. It is now realized that the ultimate structure of matter is considerably more complicated than was suspected ninety-three years ago, when the Quantum Theory was still in its infancy and even the Bohr Theory of the atom was still in the future. Although the forces that occur within the atomic nucleus are not yet fully understood, tremendous progress has been made, and underlying it all is the basic framework provided by the special theory of relativity. This is indeed the main strength of the theory. The fact that it predicts modifications of Newtonian Dynamics for particles whose speeds are comparable with that of light is important, but its real achievement has been in providing a foundation on which almost the whole of modern physical theory has been built. However this increasing scope of the special theory has also seemed to increase the apparent perversity of gravitation in refusing to be fitted into this growing structure. James Clerk Maxwell presented the Theory of Electromagnetism. One of the triumphs of the theory was the discovery that light waves are electromagnetic in character. Since all other known wave phenomena required a material medium in which the oscillations were carried, it was postulated that there existed an all-pervading medium, called the aluminiferous ether which carried the oscillations of electromagnetism. It was then anticipated that experiments with light would allow the absolute motion of a body through the ether to be detected. Such hopes were upset by the null result of the famous Michelson-Morely Experiment which attempted to measure the velocity of the earth relative to the ether and found it to be undetectably small. In order to explain this null result, two ad hoc hypotheses were put forward by Lorentz, Poincare and Fitzgerald, namely, the contraction of rigid bodies and slowing down of clocks when moving through the ether. These effects were contained in some simple formulae called the Lorentz transformations. Although this theory was consistent with the observations, it had the philosophical defect that its fundamental assumptions were unverifiable.
In fact essence of the special theory of relativity is contained in the Lorentz transformations however, Einstein was able to derive them from two postulates, and the first being called the Principle of special relativity a principle which Poincare had also suggested independently in 1904 and the second concerning the constancy of the velocity of light. In so doing he was forced to re-evaluate our ideas of space and time and he demonstrated through a number of simple thought experiments that the source of the limitations of the classical theory lay in the concept of simultaneity. Thus although in a sense Einstein found nothing new in that he received the Lorentz transformations his derivation was physically meaningful and in the process revealed the inadequacy of some of the fundamental assumptions of the classical thought.

[mkirkpatrick]

Infinite aaz,welcome to the toequest community,I send you greetings from
England,I have only very briefly looked at your post,will check it out more
fully later,I just wanted to say hello,and welcome.

regards michael.

[Bob Campbell]

Hi Azhar,

Welcome to the forum.

One anomaly of Special Relativity concerns the concept of continuity to space and time. If this is so, as Einstein assumes, then the contraction in length in the direction of relative travel must mean that atoms themselves get squashed in that direction. This is hardly consistent with atomic theory and quantum mechanics which followed. It seems to be just overlooked. How is the contraction in length accommodated? And why is light speed universal?

There is a simple answer to these and related questions in a discontinuous universe that also accommodates an alternate interpretation of general relativity and gravity, as well as quantum mechanics. There is a brief outline of this approach provided in my posting "Gravity & the Void: Tip of a TOE Iceberg." It provides a more direct derivation of the Lorentz Transformations that does not dispense with the concept of simultaneity while accommodating relative contractions. The fact that we may not be able to measure simultaneous events in space and time does not establish that there is no such a thing.

A discontinuous universe must also be synchronous to be coherent. The requirement for a preponderance of synchronicity in the universe as a whole also provides a preferred frame of reference consistent with Mach’s principle. General relativity can not account for this. There are other objections to a spacetime continuum. Einstein himself questioned this basic assumption of his work late in life. There is a more on this in articles on my website that may interest you.

Best wishes,
Bob
www.cosmic-mindreach.com.

[RascalPuff]

"One anomaly of Special Relativity concerns the concept of continuity to space and time. If this is so, as Einstein assumes, then the contraction in length in the direction of relative travel must mean that atoms themselves get squashed in that direction. This is hardly consistent with atomic theory and quantum mechanics which followed. It seems to be just overlooked. How is the contraction in length accommodated?"
________________________________________________

When matter is recognized as being in a constant state of expansion (perpendicular to its three recognized dimensions), then, are we not considering an electromagnetic form of Doppler effect?

Best regards,
- RP

[Bob Campbell]

In a discontinuous universe there is an alternate explanation for the red shift. Another anomoly in general relativity concerns the expansion of the spacetime continuum. Matter is presumed to be embedded in spacetime but if atoms are expanding with it then how is an expansion observable? Solar systems and galaxies must presumably be expanding with it also. The spacetime expansion must be relative to something. So where is the universal yardstick? Matter is assumed to be something distinct from spacetime.

[RascalPuff]

Dear Bob:

I had in mind, regarding Doppler effect, Einstein's application of Lorentz transformations to matter (in motion) itself. Does that make a difference?

Best regards,
- RP

[Bob Campbell]

Dear Bob:

I had in mind, regarding Doppler effect, Einstein's application of Lorentz transformations to matter (in motion) itself. Does that make a difference?

Best regards,
- RP

Hi RP,

There are two aspects to this in my oppinion. Looking edge on at not too distant pinwheel galaxies they generally tend to be blue shifted on one side and red shifted on the other, indicating their rotation. So the doppler effect does apply to relative motion. It may be possible to relate the lengthening (red) or contraction (blue)of wavelenths to time dilation using the Lorentz transformations but the red shift effect is assumed to stem from the wavelenth becoming lengthened because of recessional velocity alone, (or the opposite for the blue shift) just as sound waves change their pitch when a vehicle is approaching or leaving. The wavelength gets drawn out with recessional motion and shortened with approaching motion.

The thing about the expansion of the spacetime continuum itself is that the shift of light from very distant galaxies to the red end of the spectrum where wavelengths are longer assumes that their matter itself is not expanding in spatial volume. Are there two kinds of space? Galaxies may be eternal whereas the star systems that constitute them are born and die. In distant galaxies the light that we see today may be from stars that existed before our solar system was born, so this fact of great distance alone necessarily introduces synchronous distortions in a discontinuous universe that also shifts the light spectra of distant galaxies toward the red end of the spectrum. There are ambiguities involved that are not properly recognized. The method of delineating the cosmic order on my website has never been explored before and it must find confirmation in phenomenal experience. It offers alternate explanations to many phenomena without need to invent ad hoc fixes. Hope this helps.

Regards,
Bob

[RascalPuff]

Thank you very much for your informative and interesting response, Bob.

I've read most of your work - that I know of, and consider you among the best in the field (as it were, lol).

I'm at a work-in-progress condensation of one of ten sold out editions of my small press book.
http://forums.delphiforums.com/EinsteinGroupie

Really hope to see and learn more of your posts, and thanks for being there.

Best regards to you and yours,
- RP

[Bob Campbell]

Hi RP,

We are on our way up to Bangkok at the moment and will be away from home for another couple of weeks. I'll get back to you later. The so-called doppler shift is a shift in the light spectra emitted from stars toward the red end of the spectrum. It is an electromagnetic phenomenon where the wave length is longer but the characterististic spectral lines of hydrogen etc., are in the same relative position, just shifted toward the red end of the spectrum.

Regards,
Bob

[RascalPuff]

Hi Bob:
Good to hear from you and be reassured of further correspondence.
What I had in mind was Einstein's application of Lorentz Transformations to matter itself.
Does that contraction parallel Doppler effect and indicate that matter is in a continuous state of expansion?

Enjoy yer vacation.
Best regards,
- RP