Special Relativity

by French, A.P.

• ISBN13: 9780393097931
• ISBN10: 0393097935
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1968-08-17
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Summary

The education Research Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (formerly the Science Teaching Center) was established to study the process of instruction, aids thereto, and the learning process itself, with special reference to science teaching at the university level. Generous support from the National Science Foundation and from the Kettering, Shell, Victoria, W. T. Grant, and Bing Foundations provided the means for assembling and maintaining an experienced staff to cooperate with members of the Institute's Physics Department in the examination, improvement, and development of physics curriculum materials for students planning a career in the sciences.After careful analysis of objectives and the problems involved, preliminary versions of textbooks were prepared, tested through classroom use at M.I.T. and other institutions, re-evaluated, rewritten, and tried again. Only then were the final manuscripts undertaken.In general the books in the series will be brief. Most may be covered in a single term or less. Each will be available in either cloth or paper binding. Their brevity and structure (as well as their reasonable price) will make it possible for teachers to select topics and organize courses according to individual needs and preferences.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Departures from newtonian dynamics	3	(34)
Newton	5	(1)
``The ultimate speed''	6	(5)
Photons	11	(2)
The energy-momentum relation for photons	13	(3)
Matter and radiation: the inertia of energy	16	(4)
Energy, momentum, and mass	20	(4)
Is the new dynamics correct?	24	(2)
Motion under a constant force	26	(1)
``Einstein's box unhinged''	27	(1)
Some comments	28	(9)
Problems	29	(8)
Perplexities in the propagation of light	37	(26)
The nature of light	38	(1)
The luminiferous ether	39	(2)
Stellar aberration	41	(3)
A modified aberration experiment	44	(2)
Fizeau's measurement of the drag coefficient	46	(3)
Prelude to the Michelson-Morley experiment	49	(2)
The Michelson-Morley experiment	51	(6)
Concluding remarks	57	(6)
Problems	58	(5)
Einstein and the Lorentz-Einstein transformations	63	(26)
Preamble: the contraction hypothesis	63	(2)
Einstein reasserts relativity	65	(1)
Relativity according to Galileo and Newton	66	(2)
The transformation of Newton's law	68	(2)
Einstein and the universality of c	70	(2)
The second postulate and observational evidence	72	(2)
The relativity of simultaneity	74	(2)
The Lorentz-Einstein transformations	76	(5)
More about the Lorentz transformations	81	(1)
Minkowski diagrams: Space-time	82	(1)
A space-time invariant	83	(6)
Problems	85	(4)
Relativity and the measurement of lengths and time intervals	89	(36)
Observers	90	(2)
Point events and their transformations	92	(2)
Time measurements	94	(2)
The Lorentz contraction	96	(1)
Time dilation	97	(4)
Observation of time dilation with cosmic-ray mesons	101	(3)
Another interpretation of the time-dilation experiment	104	(1)
More about time and length measurements	105	(4)
A Michelson-Morley experiment with lasers	109	(2)
Relativity is truly relative	111	(6)
Space-time intervals and causality	117	(8)
Problems	120	(5)
Relativistic kinematics	125	(42)
Transformation of velocities	125	(2)
Radiation from a rapidly moving source	127	(4)
Light in a moving medium: the drag coefficient	131	(1)
Transverse motions; stellar aberration	132	(2)
The Doppler effect	134	(5)
More about Doppler effects	139	(5)
Doppler effect and time dilation	144	(3)
A new search for the ether	147	(2)
Looking at moving clocks and other objects	149	(3)
Accelerated motions	152	(2)
The twins	154	(13)
Problems	159	(8)
Relativistic dynamics---collisions and conservation laws	167	(38)
Two views of an elastic collision	169	(3)
Two views of an inelastic collision	172	(3)
Further remarks on the conservation laws	175	(1)
Absorption and emission of photons	176	(4)
The Mossbauer effect	180	(3)
The photon rocket	183	(1)
Creation of particles	184	(7)
Scattering	191	(6)
The Doppler effect revisited	197	(8)
Problems	199	(6)
More about relativistic dynamics	205	(24)
An energy-momentum invariant and its use	205	(3)
Lorentz transformations for energy and momentum	208	(5)
Four-vectors	213	(1)
Force in relativistic mechanics	214	(5)
Magnetic analysis of relativistic particles	219	(2)
General force transformations; action and reaction	221	(8)
Problems	225	(4)
Relativity and electricity	229	(40)
Coulomb's law	231	(1)
The magnetic force on a moving charge	232	(2)
Introducing the relativistic approach	234	(2)
The transformation of Coulomb's law	236	(1)
The force on a stationary test charge	237	(7)
The force on a moving test charge	244	(6)
The field of a line distribution of charge	250	(4)
The magnetic field and relativity	254	(2)
The magnetic force on a moving charge due to a current-bearing wire	256	(3)
More about magnetic forces and Lorentz contractions	259	(3)
The force between current-bearing wires	262	(2)
Units and systems of electric and magnetic measurement	264	(5)
Problems	267	(2)
Epilogue	269	(4)
A short bibliography	273	(4)
Answers to problems	277	(4)
Index	281