All Questions
11
questions
-1
votes
2
answers
243
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Is the speed of light in is uniform non-vacuum medium constant for all observers? [duplicate]
I am running at $5 \text{ ms}^{-1}$ and holding a torch pointing in the direction of motion. This torch has a large block of glass attached to the end. Would a stationary observer see the light as ...
7
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Is the speed of light through a medium invariant, just like the speed of light through vacuum is invariant? Also, do time dilation etc. still occur?
So, we know the speed of light through a vacuum is $c$.
Let us say that both our observers are moving past each other at speed $v$ in a medium in which the speed of light is $c'$.
So, does the usual ...
- 4,476
4
votes
1
answer
140
views
What do you 'see' if you are stationary relative to a photon in a refractive medium?
A particle with zero rest energy/mass must always be at $c$ in all referentials, even why, if you could get to its referential it would have zero total energy, effectively not existing in that ...
- 223
10
votes
6
answers
3k
views
Lorentz invariance of Maxwell's equations in matter
I know that Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism are Lorentz invariant in a vacuum. But what about in a generalized medium, e.g. a metal, a rubber, a dielectric, a magnet? I have read it comes down ...
- 1,087
0
votes
1
answer
145
views
Speed of light dependent on source velocity in other medium [duplicate]
Does speed of light depends upon the velocity of source in a medium (like water) other than space? if yes, does the speed gets added up when the light source moves in direction of light?
- 83
1
vote
3
answers
87
views
Rule of addition of velocities in water
Is the speed of light still the same for all inertial observers in water?
If not, what are the rules of addition of velocities in water according to special relativity?
- 1,343
1
vote
1
answer
57
views
Relativistic equations are medium dependent?
Einstein proposed that light travels with a universal velocity from Maxwell's equations on electromagnetism. But light has different velocity in different mediums, so does this imply that the ...
user208263
4
votes
3
answers
758
views
Speed of light in a medium in different frames of reference
Relativity states that speed of light in a vacuum is the same regardless of the observer. Does the same hold if the light is travelling through a medium?
- 43
0
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Refraction vs Special Relativity
Special relativity postulates that the speed of light (while traveling through vaccum) is a constant ($c = 3 \times 10^8 m/s$). But, when light is refracted and change the medium in which it's ...
- 61
8
votes
2
answers
718
views
Special Relativity, refractive index and catching up with a wave
Einstein was partially motivated by the following: With Maxwell's equations, a plane wave is a sinusoidal wave that varies in space in time and moving with speed $c$. These variations are linked by ...
- 3,856
2
votes
1
answer
991
views
What happens to speed and frequency of a light beam moving in transparent medium when observed from different inertial frame of reference?
Suppose a transparent medium where speed of light is $c/n$, an inertial frame of reference $K$ which is stationary relatively to the medium and an inertial frame of reference $K'$ which is moving ...
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