Special Relativity

by Helliwell, T. M.

• ISBN13: 9781891389610
• ISBN10: 1891389610
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781938787171
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-05-30
• Publisher: MIT PRESS
• More Book Details

Summary

Special Relativity is a superb text for students to begin or continue a serious study of physics. It is appropriate as part of an introductory physics course, as a supplement to a Modern Physics course, as a text for a special topics or advanced placement course, or even as a supplement in a advanced undergraduate course. Numerous illustrations, examples, and problems are presented throughout, with the concise mathematical description postponed until after the reader has built up some physical intuition for what is going on. The book is praised for its clarity, accessibility, and informal, light-hearted style. Book jacket.

Author Biography

T.M. Helliwell is Burton Bettingen Professor of Physics, Emeritus, at Harvey Mudd College. He received his B.A. from Pomona College and his Ph.D. from Caltech. He has published more than forty research papers, many with undergraduate coauthors, in quantum mechanics and general relativity.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xiii
Inertial Frames and Classical Mechanics	p. 1
Inertial Frames and Newton's Laws	p. 1
The Galilean Transformation	p. 4
Newton's Third Law and Momentum Conservation	p. 8
Energy	p. 11
Sample Problems	p. 14
Problems	p. 15
Light and the Ether	p. 19
The Aberration of Light	p. 20
The Michelson-Morley Experiment	p. 21
Sample Problems	p. 24
Problems	p. 27
Einstein's Postulates	p. 29
A Revolutionary Proposal	p. 29
Spheres of Light	p. 32
Sample Problems	p. 34
Problems	p. 36
Time Dilation	p. 39
The Light Clock	p. 41
Measuring Time Dilation	p. 43
Evidence	p. 44
Sample Problems	p. 46
Problems	p. 48
Lengths	p. 51
Transverse Lengths	p. 51
The Longitudinal Contraction of Lengths	p. 52
The Longitudinal Light Clock	p. 55
Sample Problems	p. 58
Problems	p. 60
Simultaneity	p. 63
The Relativity of Simultaneity	p. 63
Clock Synchronization in a Single Reference Frame	p. 65
In the Very Process of Synchronizing Two Clocks, a Moving Observer Disagrees	p. 68
Overall Summary	p. 71
No Universal Now!	p. 71
Sample Problems	p. 72
Problems	p. 76
Paradoxes	p. 81
If Your Clock Runs Slow to Me, How Can My Clock Run Slow to You?	p. 81
If Your Meterstick is Short to Me, How Can My Meterstick Be Short to You?	p. 84
The Magician's Assistant	p. 85
Rigid Bodies, a Pole Vaulter, and a Barn	p. 88
The Twin "Paradox"	p. 90
Sample Problems	p. 91
Problems	p. 93
The Lorentz Transformation	p. 97
Derivation of the Lorentz Transformation	p. 98
Time Dilation, Length Contraction, and Leading Clocks	p. 100
The Velocity Transformation	p. 102
Sample Problems	p. 106
Problems	p. 108
Spacetime	p. 113
Minkowski Spacetime	p. 115
Timelike, Null, and Spacelike Intervals	p. 118
Sample Problems	p. 122
Problems	p. 126
Momentum	p. 131
Classical Momentum	p. 131
Momentum in Relativity	p. 133
Momentum in Four-Dimensional Spacetime	p. 133
Sample Problems	p. 139
Problems	p. 141
Energy	p. 143
Energy and Inertia	p. 143
The Energy-Momentum Four-Vector	p. 146
Example: The Decay of a Particle	p. 150
Energy Units	p. 151
Photons	p. 153
Sample Problems	p. 154
Problems	p. 156
Applications	p. 159
Binding Energy in Atoms and Molecules	p. 159
Nuclear Binding Energies	p. 162
Decays of Single Particles into Two Particles	p. 164
Decay into Three Particles	p. 167
Photoproduction of Pions	p. 168
Compton Scattering	p. 170
Forbidden Reactions	p. 172
Photon Rockets	p. 172
Sample Problems	p. 174
Problems	p. 176
Transforming Energy and Momentum	p. 181
The Energy-Momentum Transformation	p. 182
Light Aberration and the Relativistic Doppler Effect	p. 184
The Appearance of Stars to a Fast-Moving Spaceship	p. 191
Threshold Energies	p. 192
Colliding-Beam Experiments	p. 196
Sample Problems	p. 197
Problems	p. 199
Gravitation	p. 203
The Principle of Equivalence	p. 204
Clock Rates	p. 207
The Hafele-Keating Experiment	p. 208
Satellite Clocks	p. 212
The Global Positioning System	p. 213
References	p. 217
Sample Problems	p. 217
Problems	p. 219
The Binomial Approximation	p. 223
Problems	p. 226
The "Paradox" of Light Spheres	p. 227
The Appearance of Moving Objects	p. 233
An Approaching Spaceship	p. 233
Quasar Jets	p. 234
The "Terrell Twist"	p. 236
Problems	p. 240
The Twin Paradox Revisited	p. 243
The "Cosmic Speed Limit"	p. 251
Some Difficulties	p. 251
Causality Paradoxes	p. 252
"Things" That Go Faster Than Light	p. 255
Problems	p. 257
"Relativistic Mass" and Relativistic Forces	p. 259
"Relativistic Mass"	p. 259
Forces and Newton's Second Law	p. 261
Constant-Force Motion	p. 262
General One-Dimensional Motion	p. 263
Problems	p. 264
The Ultimate Relativistic Spaceflight	p. 267
Problems	p. 274
Nuclear Decays, Fission, and Fusion	p. 277
Nuclear Decays	p. 277
Nuclear Fusion	p. 279
Nuclear Fission	p. 281
Problems	p. 283
Some Particles	p. 287
Relativity and Electromagnetism	p. 289
Answers to Some Odd-Numbered Problems	p. 295
Index	p. 301
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