Flashcards: Special relativity

Length contraction is the phenomenon of a decrease in length of an object as measured by an observer who is traveling at any non-zero velocity relative to the object.

In physics, the Thomas precession, named after Llewellyn Thomas, is a relativistic correction that applies to the spin of an elementary particle or the rotation of a macroscopic gyroscope and relates the angular velocity of the spin of a particle following a curvilinear orbit to the angular velocity of the orbital motion.

In physics, relativistic mechanics refers to mechanics compatible with special relativity (SR) and general relativity (GR).

Cherenkov radiation, also known as Vavilov–Cherenkov radiation, is electromagnetic radiation emitted when a charged particle (such as an electron) passes through a dielectric medium at a speed greater than the phase velocity of light in that medium.

In physics, spacetime is any mathematical model that combines space and time into a single interwoven continuum.

The speed of light in vacuum, commonly denoted c, is a universal physical constant important in many areas of physics.

In the theory of relativity, time dilation is a difference of elapsed time between two events as measured by observers either moving relative to each other or differently situated from a gravitational mass or masses.

In physics and mathematics, the Lorentz group is the group of all Lorentz transformations of Minkowski spacetime, the classical and quantum setting for all (nongravitational) physical phenomena.

In physics, Lorentz symmetry, named for Hendrik Lorentz, is "the feature of nature that says experimental results are independent of the orientation or the boost velocity of the laboratory through space".

The Lorentz factor or Lorentz term is the factor by which time, length, and relativistic mass change for an object while that object is moving.

Variable speed of light (VSL) refers to a family of hypotheses stating that the speed of light in vacuum, usually denoted by c, may in some way not be constant, e.

The world line (or worldline) of an object is the path of that object in 4-dimensional spacetime, tracing the history of its location in space at each instant in time.

In particle physics, a massless particle is a particle whose invariant mass is theoretically zero.

The Sagnac effect (also called Sagnac interference), named after French physicist Georges Sagnac, is a phenomenon encountered in interferometry that is elicited by rotation.

Following is a list of the frequently occurring equations in the theory of special relativity.

The covariant formulation of classical electromagnetism refers to ways of writing the laws of classical electromagnetism (in particular, Maxwell's equations and the Lorentz force) in a form that is manifestly invariant under Lorentz transformations, in the formalism of special relativity using rectilinear inertial coordinate systems.

In physics, the energy–momentum relation is the relativistic equation relating any object's rest (intrinsic) mass, total energy, and momentum: holds for a system, such as a particle or macroscopic body, having intrinsic rest mass m0, total energy E, and a momentum of magnitude p, where the constant c is the speed of light, assuming the special relativity case of flat spacetime.

1. First postulate (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 of coordinates in uniform translatory motion.

Symmetries in quantum mechanics describe features of spacetime and particles which are unchanged under some transformation, in the context of quantum mechanics, relativistic quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, and with applications in the mathematical formulation of the standard model and condensed matter physics.

In electromagnetism and applications, an inhomogeneous electromagnetic wave equation, or nonhomogeneous electromagnetic wave equation, is one of a set of wave equations describing the propagation of electromagnetic waves generated by nonzero source charges and currents.

In physics, relativistic angular momentum refers to the mathematical formalisms and physical concepts that define angular momentum in special relativity (SR) and general relativity (GR).

In theoretical physics, the composition of two non-collinear Lorentz boosts results in a Lorentz transformation that is not a pure boost but is the composition of a boost and a rotation.

The moving magnet and conductor problem is a famous thought experiment, originating in the 19th century, concerning the intersection of classical electromagnetism and special relativity.

Barycentric Dynamical Time (TDB, from the French Temps Dynamique Barycentrique) is a relativistic coordinate time scale, intended for astronomical use as a time standard to take account of time dilation when calculating orbits and astronomical ephemerides of planets, asteroids, comets and interplanetary spacecraft in the Solar System.

The special theory of relativity is known for its paradoxes: the twin paradox and the ladder-in-barn paradox, for example.

When using the term 'the speed of light' it is sometimes necessary to make the distinction between its one-way speed and its two-way speed.