Einstein explained his approach by considering two observers and a train. One observer stands alongside a straight track; the other rides a train moving at constant speed along the track. Each views the world relative to his own surroundings. The fixed observer measures distance from a mark inscribed on the track and measures time with his watch; the train passenger measures distance from a mark inscribed on his railroad car and measures time with his own watch. If time flows the same for both observers, as Newton believed, then the two frames of reference are reconciled by the relation: x. Here x is the distance to some specific event that happens along the track, as measured by the fixed observer; x. For example, suppose the train moves at 4. One hour after it sets out, a tree 6. The fixed observer measures x as 6. The moving observer also measures t as one hour, and so, according to Newton’s equation, he measures x. The two people do not actually observe the lightning strike at the same time. Even at the speed of light, the image of the strike takes time to reach each observer, and, since each is at a different distance from the event, the travel times differ. Taking this insight further, suppose lightning strikes two trees, one 6. Each image travels the same distance to the fixed observer, and so he certainly sees the events simultaneously. The motion of the moving observer brings him closer to one event than the other, however, and he thus sees the events at different times. Einstein concluded that simultaneity is relative; events that are simultaneous for one observer may not be for another. This led him to the counterintuitive idea that time flows differently according to the state of motion and to the conclusion that distance is also relative. In the example, the train passenger and the fixed observer can each stretch a tape measure from back to front of a railroad car to find its length. The two ends of the tape must be placed in position at the same instant—that is, simultaneously—to obtain a true value.
Buy Relativity: The Special and the General Theory on Amazon.com FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders. Special Relativity David W. Hogg School of Natural Sciences Institute for Advanced Study Olden Lane Princeton NJ 08540 [email protected] 1 December 1997. However, because the meaning of simultaneous is different for the two observers, they measure different lengths. This reasoning led Einstein to new equations for time and space, called the Lorentz transformations, after the Dutch physicist Hendrik Lorentz, who first proposed them. This relation guarantees Einstein’s first postulate (that the speed of light is constant for all observers). In the case of the flashlight beam projected from a train moving at the speed of light, an observer on the train measures the speed of the beam as c. Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2015. See the basic facts of Einstein's relativity in our infographic here. Einstein's theory of general relativity predicted that the space-time around Earth would be not only warped but also twisted by the planet's rotation. Gravity Probe B showed this to be correct. Credit: NASA In 1905, Albert. Special relativity; Introduction to special relativity; Principle of relativity; Theory of relativity. MOD This mod's purview is the manipulation of interaction tuning and it has the ability to alter the amount of time sims take to do things, relative to the game clock. According to the equation above, so does the trackside observer, instead of the value 2c that classical physics predicts. To make the speed of light constant, the theory requires that space and time change in a moving body, according to its speed, as seen by an outside observer. The body becomes shorter along its direction of motion; that is, its length contracts. Time intervals become longer, meaning that time runs more slowly in a moving body; that is, time dilates. In the train example, the person next to the track measures a shorter length for the train and a longer time interval for clocks on the train than does the train passenger. The relations describing these changes are where L0 and T0, called proper length and proper time, respectively, are the values measured by an observer on the moving body, and L and T are the corresponding quantities as measured by a fixed observer. The relativistic effects become large at speeds near that of light, although it is worth noting again that they appear only when an observer looks at a moving body. He never sees changes in space or time within his own reference frame (whether on a train or spacecraft), even at the speed of light. These effects do not appear in ordinary life, because the factor v. Einstein’s equations become virtually the same as the classical ones. The twin paradox. The counterintuitive nature of Einstein’s ideas makes them difficult to absorb and gives rise to situations that seem unfathomable. One well- known case is the twin paradox, a seeming anomaly in how special relativity describes time. Suppose that one of two identical twin sisters flies off into space at nearly the speed of light. According to relativity, time runs more slowly on her spacecraft than on Earth; therefore, when she returns to Earth, she will be younger than her Earth- bound sister. But in relativity, what one observer sees as happening to a second one, the second one sees as happening to the first one. To the space- going sister, time moves more slowly on Earth than in her spacecraft; when she returns, her Earth- bound sister is the one who is younger. How can the space- going twin be both younger and older than her Earth- bound sister? The answer is that the paradox is only apparent, for the situation is not appropriately treated by special relativity. To return to Earth, the spacecraft must change direction, which violates the condition of steady straight- line motion central to special relativity. A full treatment requires general relativity, which shows that there would be an asymmetrical change in time between the two sisters. Thus, the “paradox” does not cast doubt on how special relativity describes time, which has been confirmed by numerous experiments. Four- dimensional space- time. Special relativity is less definite than classical physics in that both the distance D and time interval T between two events depend on the observer. Einstein noted, however, that a particular combination of D and T, the quantity D2 . Noting this, the German mathematical physicist Hermann Minkowski showed that the universe resembles a four- dimensional structure with coordinates x, y, z, and ct representing length, width, height, and time, respectively. Hence, the universe can be described as a four- dimensional space- time continuum, a central concept in general relativity.
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