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.

Spinning fluid in general relativity

Abstract: The variational theory of an ideal fluid with spin is formulated in Riemannian spacetime within the framework of general relativity theory. It is applied in cosmology, showing the very weak influence of spin on gravity.

Elementary analysis of the special relativistic combination of velocities, Wigner rotation, and Thomas precession

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to provide an elementary introduction to the qualitative and quantitative results of velocity combination in special relativity, including the Wigner rotation and Thomas precession. We utilize only the most familiar tools of special relativity, in arguments presented at three differing levels: (1) utterly elementary, which will suit a first course in relativity; (2) intermediate, to suit a second course; and (3) advanced, to suit higher level students. We then give a summary of useful results, and suggest further reading in this often obscure field.

Did Einstein need General Relativity to solve the Problem of Absolute Space? Or had the Problem already been solved by Special Relativity?

Abstract: INTRODUCTION According to a standard view, Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity left the problem of absolute space untouched and it required the General Theory of Relativity for its solution. Einstein himself seems to have held this view. I shall argue that it is a mistaken view. I shall try to give what I take to be a correct account of the logical situation. It will turn out that Einstein, to an appreciable extent, underestimated the philosophical achievement of his Special Theory. I am quite sure that I am not alone in my heterodox position on this issue, but the standard view has gained very wide currency arid deserves to be more openly challenged than it has been in the literature.

Electron spin or “classically non-describable two-valuedness”

Abstract: In December 1924 Wolfgang Pauli proposed the idea of an inner degree of freedom of the electron, which he insisted should be thought of as genuinely quantum mechanical in nature. Shortly thereafter Ralph Kronig and, independently, Samuel Goudsmit and George Uhlenbeck took up a less radical stance by suggesting that this degree of freedom somehow corresponded to an inner rotational motion, though it was unclear from the very beginning how literal one was actually supposed to take this picture, since it was immediately recognised (already by Goudsmit and Uhlenbeck) that it would very likely lead to serious problems with Special Relativity if the model were to reproduce the electron's values for mass, charge, angular momentum, and magnetic moment. However, probably due to the then overwhelming impression that classical concepts were generally insufficient for the proper description of microscopic phenomena, a more detailed reasoning was never given. In this contribution I shall investigate in some detail what the restrictions on the physical quantities just mentioned are, if they are to be reproduced by rather simple classical models of the electron within the framework of Special Relativity. It turns out that surface stresses play a decisive role and that the question of whether a classical model for the electron does indeed contradict Special Relativity can only be answered on the basis of an exact solution, which has hitherto not been given.

Symplectic Matrices, First Order Systems and Special Relativity

Abstract: The recent developments in canonical transforms, matrix theory, block Kronecker multiplications, and other areas are applied to extend and simplify results in the theory of first order systems and special relativity. Especially noteworthy are the author's results on Fourier transforms in dimensions lower than the surrounding space and his approach to the Doppler effect, which has never been published previously and supersedes previous works on this topic, which failed to solve the Doppler effect exactly. Some of the goals of this work are: to develop the theory of complex symmetric matrices as the rigorous foundations of first order systems, to exhibit in full generality the author's method of duality, and to discuss the neglected area of three dimensional effects in special relativity. The section on special relativity has been especially simplified so that it may be used as a beginning graduate text in this area. It includes the first full discussion of the Lorentz group in a book since Silberstein's pioneering 1913 treatment.