Showing papers on "Test theories of special relativity published in 1990"

Testing the Einstein equivalence principle: Atomic clocks and local Lorentz invariance.

Abstract: Three recent, remarkably sharp experimental tests of local Lorentz invariance are founded on an analysis of the electrostatic structure of atoms and nuclei moving through a nonmetric gravitational field. In this paper we extend this analysis to account for hyperfine and other relativistic aspects of atomic structure. One product of this work is a new quantitative interpretation of experimental tests of local Lorentz invariance that employ hydrogen-maser clocks, clocks whose ticking rates are governed by an atomic hyperfine transition. The analytical methods developed in this paper constitute a fairly complete set of tools for studying the breakdown of local Lorentz invariance in Lagrangian-based nonmetric theories of gravitation.

Spacetime and Electromagnetism: An Essay on the Philosophy of the Special Theory of Relativity

Abstract: The unification of space and time Relative to what? Causal approaches The communication argument Derivations of the Lorentz transformation Four-vector transformations Counterparts, parity, conservation, and symmetry Retrospect and review Relativity and reality The rationality of physics

Notes on applications of general relativity in free space

Abstract: Varying the step, at which Lorentz signature is introduced in the scheme of applications of general relativity outside the material distribution, new solutions can be obtained. The interpretations of these solutions can be achieved if the field equations Rμv = 0 are written in a wider space than the Riemannian one. A counter example is given in favour of this claim.

The Special Theory of Relativity

Abstract: In our development of electromagnetic theory the hypothesis of a Galilean transformation was assumed. This is a transformation from one coordinate system to another where the reference frame moves rigidly with a constant velocity with no rotation. Newton’s laws of mechanics are invariant under such a transformation. But a Galilean transformation predicts that the velocity of light should be different in the two reference systems. Are not Newton’s laws of mechanics therefore incorrect? The answer to this question led to a new and revolutionary system of mechanics, relativity theory, developed by Albert Einstein. Actually Einstein formulated two relativity theories: the special theory which does not account for gravitational effects, and the general theory which reformulates mechanics in the setting of a time—space whose curvature represents the effect of the gravitational field. The general theory is much more revolutionary and entirely a product of Einstein’s genius, whereas other investigators such as Poincare and Lorentz were skirting around the edges of the special theory. Indeed, Poincare would have discovered the special theory if he had just made the leap of physical intuition that Einstein did. In this chapter we shall be concerned only with the special theory, since this deals with electromagnetic and optical phenomena.