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9 votes
5 answers
2k views

A bar that appears straight in one reference frame appears bent in another?

Is there a relativistic effect at play that explains the following thought experiment, that I am unaware of? The apparatus depicted in the image has two straight bars in the middle emitting light from ...
Joona's user avatar
  • 93
2 votes
3 answers
115 views

How does length contraction apply while distances increase in the Lorentz transformation?

I am having trouble settling the difference between the math in the length contraction equation and the Lorentz transformation. Say there is a piece of wood traveling near the speed of light and you ...
szammyboi's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
86 views

Time desync with light delay: can we still "look into the future"?

I'm reasonably familiar with special relativity and its effect such as time desynchronization, but I'm having trouble understanding how these effects come into play when we also consider the time for ...
catmousedog's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
112 views

Correct interpretation of time dilation using spacetime interval and proper times

I grasped my head around this topic a lot and I want to ask if my interpretation of the problem is now correct in the most clear way. I'm trying to measure time dilation using the spacetime interval ...
Manuel Mizrahi's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
75 views

Doubt about the derivation for the formula of time dilation

If I imagine a photon being released from the plate below as soon as the plates start moving, shouldn't the photon hit the opposite plate a bit behind the point where it would have hit if the plates ...
Jojo cat's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
398 views

Linearity of Lorentz Transformation proof

I was reading this article and got to the part where the homogeneity of space and time leads to the linearity of the transformations between inertial frames. In particular, the function $x^\prime=X(x,...
Xyffar's user avatar
  • 93
1 vote
1 answer
145 views

How to calculate positions when switching reference frames in a Minkowski spacetime diagram

The below Minkowski spacetime diagram includes three worldlines, where B is the observer and has a rest frame. A and C both have a velocity of 0.71c. I then created a second diagram where worldline A ...
cplindem's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
105 views

Where is my wrong about deducing Lorentz transformation? [closed]

I want to show the time dilation of Lorentz transformations by Michelson-Morley experiment (the second picture below). But I fail and can't find the wrong. Below is how I derived it: Assuming the time ...
Enhao Lan's user avatar
  • 351
0 votes
1 answer
54 views

From infinitesimal interval invariance to finite interval invariance in SR

In Landau and Lifshitz's The Classical Theory of Fields, on page 5 about interval invariance between different frames, it reads Thus, $$ds^2=ds'^2,\tag{2.6}$$ and from the equality of the ...
rioiong's user avatar
  • 613
0 votes
1 answer
62 views

Lorentz transformations using spacetime diagrams (necessity of $\gamma$)

I'm studying the deduction of Lorentz transformations through spacetime diagrams and I have encountered the following: The mathematical formulas describing the transformations for both of the ...
JH RP's user avatar
  • 37
0 votes
1 answer
66 views

Is the invariance of the 4-dim scalar product the fundamental law behind time dilatation and length contraction?

The Lorentz Group is defined as the group of all transformations that leaves the 4-dim. scalar product invariant. An implication of this definition is that the absolute value of the first matrix ...
Xhorxho's user avatar
  • 189
4 votes
2 answers
818 views

Difficulty understanding Lorentz Transformation

I don't understand the lorentz transformation. Consider: $ \Delta x=\gamma (\Delta x^{'}+v\Delta t^{'})\\ \Delta x^{'}=\gamma (\Delta x-v\Delta t) $ For simultaneous events: $ \Delta x=\gamma (\Delta ...
ED2468's user avatar
  • 75
0 votes
2 answers
67 views

Question about length contractions [duplicate]

So I'm kind of confused about length contractions, whenever I think about length contractions I think about the faster an object goes it will be able to impair more photons which would create an ...
Noob Programer's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
175 views

How is special relativity explained by general relativity?

To be more specific about this, I am under the below assumptions and then will explain my question further. Please let me know if any of the assumptions are incorrect. (1) Special relativity describes ...
MurphysSecondLaw's user avatar
-2 votes
1 answer
65 views

Lorentz transform causes Faster than light motion for Spacelike-separated object?

Consider a 5-meter rod which exists on the x-axis of a frame of reference: Now consider an observer moving at a velocity $0.1c$ relative to this reference frame, from right to left. Their frame of ...
Anuj Manoj Shah's user avatar

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