Astrophysics-Theory of relativity

Armando Mateo

What is time?

What is Lorentz transformation?

In physics, the Lorentz transformation describes how, according to the theory of special relativity, two observers' varying measurements of space and time can be converted into each other's frame of reference.

The Lorentz transformation was the result of attempts by the eponymous Hendrik Lorentz and others to explain observed properties of light propagating in what was presumed to be the luminiferous aether;

Its frame of reference is the aether

Influential person to Albert Einstein career.

Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (1853-1928) a Dutch physicist and mathematician who describe the movement of object approaching the velocity of light in aether using Minkowski space. Hermann Minkowski, German mathematician who elegantly described using a four-dimensional spacetime, which combines the dimension of time with the three dimensions of space.

Graphical representation Minkowski space

What the difference between Minkowski Space and Euclidean Space?

Minkowski space has four dimension which include spacetime use in theory of relativity while Euclidean space has only 3 dimension of space used in classical mechanics.

What the difference between Galilean transformation and Lorentz transformation?

The Galilean transformation is used to transform between the coordinates of two coordinate systems in constant relative motion in Newtonian physics. There is no limitation of speed up to infinity. The Lorentz transformation describe the coordinate of event in quantum mechanics started by Max Plank and Albert Einstein that velocity of light is the maximum velocity and its constant.

Example of velocity addition in the transformation

In Galilean velocity addition, the total velocity V of an object moving opposite to the direction of light is V1 + c. In Lorentz velocity addition , the total velocity V of an object moving opposite of the direction of light is still value of c. The velocity of light is about 300,000,000 meter per second.(Appx) is the speed limit in the universe.

What is inertial frame of reference?

An inertial reference frame is a space-time coordinate system that neither rotates nor accelerates. In real life, such frames of reference are purely theoretical, because gravitational force (and thus acceleration) exists everywhere in the known universe. However, they may be approximated very well in intergalactic space, or to a lesser extent within the confines of a coasting spacecraft.

For an observer, the region in space where his velocity is constant or zero.

Diagram of length contraction

Length contraction, according to Hendrik Lorentz, is the physical phenomenon of a decrease in length detected by an observer in objects that travel at any non-zero velocity relative to that observer.

The Lorentz factor

Diagram of time dilation

Time dilation, according to Hendrik Lorentz, is the physical phenomenon of a decrease in time detected by an observer in objects that travel at any non-zero velocity relative to that observer.

Postulates of Special Relativity

First Postulate The speed of light in vacuum is the same to all inertial observers. This postulate has been verified experimentally. NOTE: Einstein changes the reference of Lorentz from aether to speed of light.

In the late 19th Century, some physicists suggested that the universe was filled with a substance known as "aether" which transmited Electromagnetic waves. Aether constituted an absolute reference frame against which speeds could be measured. Aether had some wonderful properties: it was sufficiently elastic that it could support electromagnetic waves, those waves could interact with matter, yet it offered no resistance to bodies passing through it. The results of various experiments, including the MichelsonMorley experiment, suggested that the Earth was always 'stationary' relative to the Aether -

Second Postulate

Observation of physical phenomena by more than one inertial observer must result in agreement between the observers as to the nature of reality. Or, the nature of the universe must not change for an observer if their inertial state changes.
Every physical theory should look the same mathematically to every inertial observer.

Albert Einstein 14 March 1879 18 April 1955 a theoretical physicist. He is best known for his theories of special relativity and general relativity.

Einstein received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect."