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Special relativity (alternative formulations)

About: Special relativity (alternative formulations) is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3102 publications have been published within this topic receiving 55015 citations.


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, it is discussed whether some of the consistency problems of present-day physics could be solved by replacing special relativity, whose underlying kinematics is ruled by the Poincare' group, by de Sitter relativity, with underlying KG rules by the De Sitter group.
Abstract: It is discussed whether some of the consistency problems of present-day physics could be solved by replacing special relativity, whose underlying kinematics is ruled by the Poincare' group, by de Sitter relativity, with underlying kinematics ruled by the de Sitter group. In contrast to ordinary special relativity, which seems to fail at the Planck scale, this new relativity is "universal" in the sense that it holds at all energy scales.

10 citations

Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 2012
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider the role of alternative pathways in the history of science and make a case for the importance of alternative theories of gravitation in the development of modern physics.
Abstract: More than is the case for any other theory of modern physics, general relativity is usually seen as the work of one man, Albert Einstein. In taking this point of view, however, one tends to overlook the fact that gravitation has been the subject of controversial discussion since the time of Newton. That Newton’s theory of gravitation assumes action at a distance, i.e., action without an intervening mechanism or medium, was perceived from its earliest days as being problematical. Around the turn of the last century, in the twilight of classical physics, the problems of Newtonian gravitation theory had become more acute, also due to the rise of field theory suggesting alternative perspectives. Consequently, there was a proliferation of alternative theories of gravitation which were quickly forgotten after the triumph of general relativity. Yet in order to understand this triumph, it is necessary to compare general relativity to its contemporary competitors. General relativity owes much to this competition. The proliferation of theories of gravitation provides an exemplary case for studying the role of alternative pathways in the history of science. Thus, from this perspective, the emergence of general relativity constitutes an ideal topic for addressing longstanding questions in the philosophy of science on the basis of detailed historical evidence.

10 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a qualitative discussion on how a Λ-evolving universe would behave is presented, and a new interpretation of dark energy as an entity encoded in the kinematic group of spacetime.
Abstract: In de Sitter special relativity, spacetime translations are replaced by a combination of translations and proper conformal transformations. As a consequence, the energy-momentum current is replaced by a combination of ordinary energy-momentum and proper conformal currents. Whereas the ordinary energy-momentumtensor remains to be a dynamic source of the spacetime curvature, the proper conformal current appears as a kinematic source of Λ. The de Sitter special relativity, therefore, allows for a new interpretation of dark energy as an entity encoded in the kinematic group of spacetime. Furthermore, since ordinary energy is allowed to transform into dark energy and vice versa, it provides a natural scenario for an evolving cosmological term. A qualitative discussion on how a Λ-evolving universe would behave is presented.

10 citations

Posted Content
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors introduce a critical distance scale, $a$, below 10E-25 cm (the wavelength scale of the highest-energy observed cosmic rays) allowing to consider models compatible with standard tests of special relativity, where a small violation of Lorentz symmetry (a$ can, for instance, be the Planck length, around 10 E-33 cm) produces dramatic effects on the interaction properties of very high-energy particles.
Abstract: Special relativity has been tested at low energy with great accuracy, but these results cannot be extrapolated to the very high-energy region. Introducing a critical distance scale, $a$ , below 10E-25 cm (the wavelength scale of the highest-energy observed cosmic rays) allows to consider models, compatible with standard tests of special relativity, where a small violation of Lorentz symmetry ($a$ can, for instance, be the Planck length, around 10E-33 cm) produces dramatic effects on the interaction properties of very high-energy particles. Lorentz symmetry violation may potentially solve all the basic problems raised by the highest-energy cosmic rays (origin and energy, propagation...). Furthermore, superluminal sectors of matter may exist and release very high-energy ordinary particles or directly produce very high-energy cosmic-ray events with unambiguous signatures in very large detectors. We discuss these phenomena, as well as the cosmic-ray energy range (well below the energy scale associated to the fundamental length) and experiments where they could be detected and studied.

10 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
202152
202073
201970
201870
201790
201693