The reference-frame tag has no wiki summary.
12
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2answers
279 views
What does a sphere moving close to the speed of light look like?
What shape does the viewer in a reference frame with $v=0$ perceive? I suppose that since the sphere moves in one direction only (oX only, not oY) its section would change into an ellipse, where the ...
12
votes
0answers
203 views
Anomalous target space diffeomorphisms for one-loop world-line integrals
The Schwinger effect can be calculated in the world-line formalism by coupling the particle to the target space potential $A$.
My question relates to how this calculation might extend to computing ...
11
votes
3answers
319 views
Do particles have different spins in different frames of reference?
Let's say we have two photons, whose momentum vectors point to opposite directions. Also spin angular momentum vectors of the photons point to opposite directions. (Sum of spins is zero)
Now we ...
8
votes
2answers
621 views
Does the speed of light vary in noninertial frames?
The speed of light is the same in all inertial frames.
Does it change from a non-inertial frame to another? Can it be zero?
If it is not constant in non-inertial frames, is it still bounded from ...
7
votes
4answers
506 views
Does the “Andromeda Paradox” (Rietdijk–Putnam-Penrose) imply a completely deterministic universe?
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rietdijk–Putnam_argument
Abstract of 1966 Rietdijk paper:
A proof is given that there does not exist an event, that is not already in the past for ...
6
votes
8answers
2k views
Would time freeze if you can travel at the speed of light?
I read with interest about Einstein's Theory of Relativity and his proposition about the speed of light being the speed limit for anything with mass. So, if I were ...
5
votes
3answers
363 views
Kinetic energy with respect to different reference frames
I'm having problems understanding the following situation. Suppose two 1-tonne cars are going with the same orientations but opposite senses, each 50 km/h with respect to the road. Then the total ...
5
votes
1answer
322 views
Einstein's Gedanken Experiment that lead to the Special Theory of Relativity
Once, I read that Einstein founded the special relativity theory by imagining how an observer moves at the speed of light.
How does this thought experiment work? How to reach from this imagination to ...
4
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5answers
503 views
Time Dilation - How does it know which Frame of Reference to age slower?
Okay, I'm asking a question similar to this one here: Time Dilation - what happens when you bring the observers back together?. Specifically, I am curious about a specific angle on the second part of ...
4
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2answers
165 views
What is the Andromeda Paradox?
I have been studying causality (specifically why there is no such thing as a simultaneous instant of time across all observers) recently and I keep hearing references to the Andromeda paradox. Can ...
4
votes
2answers
595 views
How can time be relative?
I don't understand how time can be relative to different observers, and I think my confusion is around how I understand what time is.
I have always been told (and thought) that time is basically a ...
4
votes
2answers
246 views
Which is the axis of rotation?
This should be simple, but it keeps bothering me. If a rigid body has no fixed axis, and a torque (defined relative to a point $A$) is applied, it will rotate around $A$. But often I can also ...
4
votes
2answers
126 views
Would the arms of a rotating ice skater still move outwards if there was no other object in the universe?
If there is no other object in the universe apart from a rotating ice skater, then nothing can be used as a reference frame. Would it make any sense to say that the skater is rotating? If so, rotating ...
4
votes
1answer
56 views
Relativity of simultaneity - An example
I am trying to understand the relativity of simultaneity in different frames, and I am trying to work out an example.
Suppose along the x-axis there are two points 2000m apart. Event A happens at t=0 ...
4
votes
2answers
131 views
Effect of gravity at near-lightspeeds
Let's say I'm in a space station, hurtling towards our galaxy nearly close to the speed of light. From my reference frame, I see the galaxy coming towards my ship at the same speed.
I pass the Sun, ...
3
votes
3answers
193 views
First Postulate of Special Relativity: What does it mean?
Wikipedia has this quote:
Special principle of relativity: If a system of coordinates K is
chosen so that, in relation to it, physical laws hold good in their
simplest form, the same laws hold ...
3
votes
1answer
172 views
Is a preferred reference frame of the universe the old aether?
About two years ago I posted a question about a symmetrical twin paradox: Here.
Recently a new answer was posted and an intense discussion ensued: Here.
One of the points discussed concerns a ...
3
votes
7answers
390 views
Relation between coordinates and frames of reference
I always get a little uneasy that all the theories I can think of (at least since Newton) are constructed in a way such that they would be true in heaven and on earth ... but we can never go ...
3
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4answers
417 views
How fictitious are fictitious forces?
How fictitious are fictitious forces?
More specifically, in a rotating reference frame i.e. on the surface of the earth does an object that is 'stationary' and in contract with the ground feel ...
2
votes
2answers
218 views
A relative time dilation paradox.
Let us assume that there are two astronauts A and B who are floating in space. A sees B passing by and vice versa. A sends signals to B every minute. According to A since B is moving his clock will be ...
2
votes
3answers
182 views
If time slows down when you move faster, does this give you an “effective speed” different from your proper speed?
Suppose you're travelling at 0.9c toward the sun, and you tag past the Earth and start a clock. Would Lorentz contraction/time dilation cause you to get to the sun faster than (about) 9 minutes ...
2
votes
2answers
78 views
Terminology for opposite null lines
Is there a name for two null lines that lie on the opposite sides of the null cone? Each line can be obtained from the other by reflection in the axis of the null cone (the time-axis). In terms of ...
2
votes
1answer
212 views
Thought experiment about acceleration
Case 1: two people wake up in spaceships accelerating at 1g. They can measure or observe anything inside the room but not outside. They couldn't determine if they were on a spaceship or on earth. ...
2
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2answers
76 views
Does inertia increase with speed?
I have heard that when the speed of the object increase, the mass of the object also increase. (Why does an object with higher speed gain more (relativistic) mass?)
So inertia which is related to ...
2
votes
1answer
96 views
Lorentz invariance of the wave equation
I want to show that the 2-d wave equation is invariant under a boost, so, the starting point is the wave equation
$$\frac{\partial^2\phi}{\partial x^2}=\frac{1}{c^2}\frac{\partial^2\phi}{\partial ...
2
votes
1answer
67 views
Difference between proper and comoving frames
I'm reading this book "Introduction to Quantum Fields in Classical Backgrounds" by Mukhanov & Winitzki, and there in the chapter 8 "The Unruh Effect" they introduce 3 reference frames.
Laboratory ...
2
votes
1answer
368 views
Conservation of angular momentum across different reference frames?
I saw the following problem from the USAPhO:
A uniform pool ball of radius $r$ begins at rest on a pool table. The ball is given a horizontal impulse $J$ of fixed magnitude at a distance $\beta r$ ...
2
votes
1answer
137 views
Space time a function of itself, objects in it, or both?
Is spacetime a function of itself, objects within it, or both? I am struggling to understand just what is spacetime without objects in it (or theoretical reference points) and thus no frame of ...
2
votes
1answer
83 views
Explanation of a Foucault pendulum
The equations of motion of a Foucault pendulum is given by:
$$\ddot{x} = 2\omega \sin\lambda \dot{y} - \frac{g}{L}x$$
$$\ddot{y} = -2\omega \sin\lambda \dot{x} - \frac{g}{L}y$$
where $\omega$ is ...
2
votes
2answers
520 views
Why does an object with higher speed gain more (relativistic) mass?
Today, in my high school physics class, we had an introductory class on electromagnetism. My teacher explained at some point that an object with a very high speed (he said it started to get somewhat ...
2
votes
2answers
120 views
Speed of Entropy change
If time in systems moving with different speed goes differently, does speed of entropy change differ in these systems?
(is "speed of entropy change" a valid term? can we compare them?)
2
votes
1answer
249 views
Time dilation - why the observers see each other the slow one but then one of them is older or younger?
I'm in trouble with time dilation:
Suppose that there's two people on the Earth (A,B), they are twins and each other has a clock. (So they are at the same reference frame). B travels in a spaceship ...
2
votes
1answer
142 views
Why can we use just one angular velocity vector to describe the rotation of a whole non-inertial reference frame?
The other day in class the professor was explaining non-inertial reference frames. We were working out how to find the acceleration of a point as measured from the non-inertial reference frame, and ...
2
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0answers
75 views
Car parking special-relavity puzzle
Hi I read the following puzzle from an old text book long time ago. However it doesn't provide the answer. So what is the solution?
Let's suppose a car is going to park to a garage and the garage is ...
1
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4answers
174 views
What is the exact mechanism by which time dilates?
What is the exact mechanism by which time dilates for a fast moving object?
Can the time dilation be explained by any theory other than relativity?
1
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2answers
161 views
Why does the (relativistic) mass change & why?
I studied that when an object moves with a velocity comparable to the velocity of light the (relativistic) mass changes...but I am really eager to know how does this alteration take place....If anyone ...
1
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2answers
83 views
“as measured in a local Lorentz frame”?
I've seen the phrase "as measured in a local Lorentz frame" tagged on the end of so many sentences.
What does it mean precisely?
To give an explanation with an example, consider the context of ...
1
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1answer
81 views
Proper times of two observers in a three-torus
Consider two observer in a tree-torus space of size $L$. Observer $A$ is at rest, while observer $B$ moves in the $x$-direction with constant velocity $v$. $A$ and $B$ began at the same event, and ...
1
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2answers
75 views
Gravity mitigated by velocity regardless of mass?
We know that a small object moving fast enough can pass by a planet and escape its gravity. Would this be (theoretically) true in reverse? Meaning a planet moving fast enough past a stationary smaller ...
1
vote
3answers
86 views
Special Relativity - speed of light question
Just a basic question:
I know that if you are traveling at $x$ speed the time will pass for you slower than to an observer that is relatively stopped. That's all just because a photon released at the ...
1
vote
1answer
170 views
Does the increase of (relativistic) mass, while flying near speed of light, has any impact on astronauts? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Would travelling at relativistic speeds have any impact on human biology?
I am asking myself this question for a few day. What is the answer on: Does the increase of ...
1
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1answer
139 views
Accelerating elevator?
If your in an elevator accelerating downwards faster than gravity, would you be pushed up to the ceiling? Since gravity cannot match the acceleration of the elevator, you're wouldn't be able to move ...
1
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1answer
46 views
kinetic energy of the stone
Suppose we have a man traveling in an open car (roof open) with speed $v$ towards right (man faces right). He throws a stone (mass $m$) towards right, in his frame-forward with speed $V$.
In the ...
1
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1answer
307 views
Calculating velocities using Reference frames
Suppose an object A is traveling at a velocity of 100 m/s, and another object B is traveling at 105 m/s. With both the objects traveling through the same direction, taking A as a reference frame, the ...
1
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1answer
37 views
Problem with a rotating frame of reference on the South pole
Consider this problem:
A high-speed train is traveling at a constant 150 m/s (about 300 mph)
on a straight horizontal track across the south pole. Find the angle
between a plumb line suspended ...
1
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1answer
163 views
Degrees of freedom in the infinite momentum frame
Lenny Susskind explains in this video at about 40min, as an extended object (for example a relativistic string) is boosted to the infinite momentum frame (sometimes called light cone frame), it has no ...
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1answer
152 views
4-momentum and an $y$ component of momentum
I have 2 coordinate systems which move along $x,x'$ axis.
I have derived a Lorentz transformation for an $x$ component of momentum, which is one part of an 4-momentum vector $p_\mu$. This is my ...
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2answers
161 views
When moving fast Time slows down Vs speeds up
I was watching an old cartoon movie where a scientist makes a gadget, which when bound on the wrist, freezes the movement of the whole world. So, that one may do 100s of things in a single second. ...
1
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1answer
194 views
What is the speed for an object that travel close to the speed of light?
I have some questions regarding Einsteins theory of Relativity that should be fairly easy to answer. Lets say we make an experiment where we have a rocket (with an astronaut inside) that travels very ...
1
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2answers
293 views
motion in the body-fixed frame?
This is really basic, I'm sure: For rigid body motion, Euler's equations refer to $L_i$ and $\omega_i$ as measured in the fixed-body frame. But that frame is just that: fixed in the body. So how ...
