SPECIAL RELATIVITY FOR BEGINNERS: A Textbook for Undergraduates

by Freund, Jurgen

• ISBN13: 9789812771599
• ISBN10: 981277159X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-06-30
• Publisher: World Scientific Pub Co Inc

Summary

This book, first appearing in German in 2004 under the title Spezielle Relativitatstheorie fur Studienanfanger, offers access to the special theory of relativity for readers with a background in mathematics and physics comparable to a high school honors degree. All mathematical and physical competence required beyond that level is gradually developed through the book, as more advanced topics are introduced. The full tensor formalism, however, is dispensed with as it would only be a burden for the problems to be dealt with. Eventually, a substantial and comprehensive treatise on special relativity emerges which, with its gray-shaded formulary, is an invaluable reference manual for students and scientists alike.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. v
Preface	p. ix
Introduction
The Postulates of the Special Theory of Relativity	p. 3
Time Dilation	p. 11
The Hafele-Keating Experiment	p. 19
Length Contraction	p. 23
The Unification of Electric and Magnetic Forces	p. 29
Lorentz Transformation	p. 37
Minkowski Diagrams	p. 47
Examples
Events	p. 50
Simultaneity	p. 52
World Lines	p. 53
Time Dilation	p. 55
Length Contraction	p. 56
Past, Future, Causality	p. 57
Speed Faster than Light	p. 59
Simultaneity	p. 61
Problems for Part I	p. 73
Kinematics
Transformation of Velocities	p. 81
Aberration of Light	p. 89
Transformation of Accelerations	p. 95
Accelerated Motion	p. 99
The Rocket-Rope Paradox (Bell's Paradox)	p. 109
Doppler Effect	p. 117
The Twin Paradox and k-Calculus	p. 127
Images of Fast Moving Objects	p. 137
Rotation and Lorentz Transformation	p. 149
Lorentz Transformation in Two and Three Spatial Directions	p. 155
The Rod-Through-The-Window Paradox	p. 163
Problems for Part II	p. 171
Dynamics
Mass and Momentum	p. 177
Motion of a Rocket	p. 183
Force	p. 191
Energy	p. 199
Energy-Momentum Equation and Diagrams	p. 207
Lorentz Transformation of Energy and Momentum	p. 213
Invariance and Distance in Three-Dimensional Space	p. 219
Invariance and Distance in Four-Dimensional Space-Time	p. 223
Problems for Part III	p. 229
Four-Vectors and Electromagnetism
Four-Vectors and Scalar Products	p. 235
Calculus with the Energy-Momentum Vector	p. 243
Examples
Completely Inelastic Collision of two Particles	p. 243
Production of a Proton-Antiproton Pair	p. 247
Absorption of a Photon by an Atom	p. 249
Emission of a Photon by an Atom	p. 251
Decay of a Particle at Rest into two Particles	p. 252
Production of an Electron-Positron Pair from a Photon (Pair Production)	p. 254
Dematerialization of an Electron-Positron Pair into two Photons (Pair Annihilation)	p. 256
Compton Effect	p. 258
Inverse Compton Effect	p. 259
Bremsstrahlung	p. 261
Four-Velocity and Four-Acceleration	p. 263
The Angular Frequency-Wave Number Vector	p. 269
The Charge Density-Current Density Vector	p. 273
The Power-Force Vector (Minkowski Force)	p. 275
Transformation of Electric and Magnetic Fields	p. 279
Fields of a Passing Point Charge	p. 289
The Shape Invariance of Maxwell's Equations	p. 293
Problems for Part IV	p. 299
Solutions	p. 303
Further Reading	p. 307
Index	p. 309
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.