Principle of Relativity Postulates of Relativity Special Theory of Relativity General Theory of Relativity Galilean Principle of Relativity Any two observers moving at constant speed and direction with respect to one another will obtain the same results for all mechanical ID: 499751
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RELATIVITYSlide2
Principle of Relativity
Postulates of RelativitySpecial Theory of RelativityGeneral Theory of RelativitySlide3
Galilean Principle of Relativity
Any two observers moving at constant speed and direction with respect to one another will obtain the same results for all mechanical
experiments.
-Galileo
GalileiSlide4
Albert Einstein
Concerned with the lack of inner perfection in electromagnetic theory and created special theory of relativity
.
1879-1955; Germany, Switzerland, and USASlide5
T
he Law of Induction
Maxwell’s
modification of Ampere’s Law
Einstein asked, “Are they really
different
?”Slide6
What would the world look like if I rode on a beam of light?
The clock tower in Bern, Switzerland. Einstein’s home (1903-1905) was only 200m from the tower.
If light has a constant speed, then all observers see the clock at slightly different times, depending upon distance.
One of Einstein’s first
thought experiments:
What if the streetcar moved away from the clock tower at the speed of light? Slide7
Einstein’s Annus Mirabilis: 1905
Four Papers published while he was a patent clerk in Bern, Switzerland
Paper
Focus
On a Heuristic Viewpoint Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light
Photoelectric effect, defined the quantum
On the Motion of Small Particles Suspended in a Stationary Liquid, as Required by the Molecular Kinetic Theory of Heat
Brownian motion, gave empirical evidence for the existence of atoms
On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies
Special Relativity
Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?
Matter-energy equivalence,
E
=
mc
2Slide8
Postulates of Special Relativity
The Principle of Relativity
– The laws by which the states of physical systems undergo change are not affected, whether these changes of state be referred to the one or the other of two systems in uniform
translatory
motion relative to each other.
The Principle of Invariant Light Speed
– "... light is always propagated in empty space with a definite velocity [speed]
c
which is independent of the state of motion of the emitting body." (from the preface). That is, light in vacuum propagates with the speed
c
(a fixed constant, independent of direction) in at least one system of inertial coordinates (the "stationary system"), regardless of the state of motion of the light source.Slide9
Lorentz Contraction
Einstein used the mathematical tools generated by Hendrik Lorentz in his 1905 paper on special relativity.
Lorentz maintained that the ether must exist.
Hendrik
Antoon
Lorentz
, (1853-1928) NetherlandsSlide10
Jules Henri Poincaré
Accomplished mathematician, physicist, engineer, and philosopher of science
Published the principle of relativity just before Einstein’s paper in 1905 and stated experiment cannot distinguish between states of uniform motion and rest
Poincaré
took the Lorenz transformations and put them into a modern form
Poincaré
never acknowledged Einstein’s work on special relativity and died before publication of the General Theory
1854-1912, FranceSlide11
Consequences of the Postulates of Relativity
Time and distance are measured differently in different inertial frames.
Time is dilated and lengths are contracted in the direction of motion.
Thus, between two different inertial frames, measurements of time and distance are relative.Slide12Slide13
Twin ParadoxSlide14
The General Theory of Relativity
A theory about gravity in spacetime
Published in 1916
Principle of equivalenceSlide15
Arthur Stanley Eddington
The earliest English-speaking physicist who used Einstein’s German science during WWI
Headed expedition to
S
outh Pacific to observe a solar eclipse on 29 May 1919 as a test of General Relativity
1882-1944; BritainSlide16
GRAVTATIONAL LENSINGSlide17