Electromagnetism, Spring 2017

Instructor: Yih-Yuh Chen

Assignment 2

The due date for this assignment is 12pm, Wednesday, March 22, 2017.

1. (50 points; each question below is worth 5 points) Adopting the usual convention, we
assume a primed frame is moving along the positive -axis of an unprimed (lab) frame
at a speed = 35 , and the two systems coincide at = 0 = 0. Stacy and Olga
are two observers always located at = 0 and = = 1 light-year, respectively,
whereas Marvin of the primed frame is always located at 0 = 0. Stacy and Marvin
meet ( = 0 = 0, = 0 = 0) when they both are exactly twenty years old. We call
this Event . And we call it Event when Olga blows o her candles on her 20-th
birthday, also at = 0. (Happy birthday, guys!)
12
2
(a) Compute 1 2
.
(b) Find the time 0 and place 0 of Event as observed in the primed frame.
(c) Is 0 greater or less than 1 light-year by the factor ? As observed in the primed
frame, how old is Marvin when Event occurs?
(d) As observed in the primed frame, where is Stacy located when Event occurs?
(Note: If we call this Event , then what is known is 0 = 0 and = 0, and
you are asked to find 0 .)
(e) As observed in the primed frame, what is the distance 0 between Stacy and Olga
when Event occurs? Is it greater or less than 1 light-year by the factor ?
(f) As observed in the primed frame, how old is Olga and where is she when Event
occurs?
(g) We call it Event when Marvin meets Olga. Please compute ( ). How old
is Olga when Event occurs?
(h) Please compute (0 0 ). How old is Marvin when Event occurs? Is Olga older
or younger than Marvin when they finally meet?
(Note: The answer to Part (h) is crucial to resolving the famous twin paradox
of special relativity. But we wont go into that.)
(i) Draw a spacetime diagram and mark out Events , , and .
(j) Draw a spacetime diagram and mark out Event .

2. (Dont you blindly geometrize everything!) Thrilled by the idea of the geometrization
of physical laws, Dr. Planckeinstein decided to geometrize Hookes law as well. So,
from the familiar = , he extended it into
2

= 2 =

where is the position 4-vector of the particle in spacetime, and is the proper time.

1
(a) Show that the time coordinate satisfies
2

+ 2 = constant.

(b) With p
a proper choice of the origin, the above implies that = sin ( ), where
and is some constant, respectively. Why isnt this a physically
admissible solution?
(c) Would it even be a legitimate way of geometrization had Dr. Planckenstein tried


=

instead? (Note: The first order derivative is performed with respect to the proper
time , whereas the second order derivative is performed with respect to the
coordinate time .)