Physics-I

Unit-I: Theory of Relativity

Dr. B. K. Sahoo
Associate Professor of Physics
NIT Raipur
Books

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 UNIT-I
Special Theory of Relativity

 1.4 Einstein’s Postulates

 1.5 The Lorentz Transformation

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Special Theory of Relativity

 Albert Einstein was only two years

old when Michelson and Morley
reported his negative result for the
existence of the ether.
 At the age of 16 Einstein began
thinking about the form of
Maxwell’s equations in moving
inertial systems.
 In 1905, at the age of 26, he
published his startling proposal
about the principle of relativity,
which he believed to be
fundamental.

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Einstein’s Postulates

 With the belief that Maxwell’s equations must be valid in

all inertial frames, Einstein proposed the following
postulates:
1) The principle of relativity: The laws of physics are the
same in all inertial systems. There is no way to detect
absolute motion, and no preferred inertial frames exists.
2) The constancy of the speed of light: Observers in all
inertial systems measure the same value for the speed
of light in a vacuum.

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 The Lorentz Transformations (LT)
 Like Galileo transformation equations, sp relativity also requires
a set of transformation equations to determine values of physical
quantities in frames. These are known as Lorentz transformation
(LT) equations.
 LT equations are derived under following assumptions:
1. They should preserve the constancy of the speed of light (c) .
2. They should be linear equations.
3. They must be reduced to GT for small velocity.

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Derivation of LT
 At t = 0, the origins and axes of K
and K' are coincident. Now K' start
moving to right along x axis.
 A flashbulb goes off at the origins
when t = 0.
 According to postulate 2, the speed
of light will be c in both systems
and the wave fronts observed in x x
both systems must be spherical.
 c  c 
t t
 GT tells positions x and x' are
different; but time is same.
 LT will find time will be different in K and K' . Why?
 Gas equation PV
R R is universal constant, so P V  R
T T
It means if V →V1, then to keep ratio R as a constant, T has to change to T1.
x
c It means if x →x', then to keep ratio c as a constant, t has to change to t'.
t

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Derivation of LT
Light propagates with speed c in all inertial reference frames
K K’

ct ct’

Spherical wave fronts in K:

Spherical wave fronts in K’:

Finding a Transformation for x'

As per 2nd postulates:

As per 1st postulate light will remain spherical in both frames.

2nd postulates tells light will travel a distance

Divide each equation by c:

Substitute t :

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Finding a Transformation for t’

Recalling x’ = (x – vt) substitute into x = (x’ + vt) and solving

for t ’ we obtain:

which may be written in terms of β (= v/c):

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 LT Equations

Above equations can be expressed in more symmetric form:

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LT Inverse Equation

v is replaced by -v: Due to this β changes sign but not

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Properties of 
 Recall β = v/c which is < 1 for all observers.

1) . But equals 1 only when v = 0.

2) Graph of  and β: (note v ≠ c)

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Remarks

1. If v << c, then β ≈ 0 and we get ≈ 1.

2. We can see now that LT equations reduce to GT equations.
3. Space and time are now not separated.

4. For non-imaginary transformations, the frame velocity cannot

exceed c.

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Properties of

1. Suppose v = 0.01c (i.e. 1% of c)

g= 1 = 1
1 – (0.01c)2/c2 1 – (0.01)2c2/c2

1 = 1 = 1
g=
1 – (0.01)2 1 – 0.0001 0.9999

g = 1.00005
Properties of (cont’d)

Suppose v = 0.1c (i.e. 10% of c)

g= 1 = 1
1 – (0.1c)2/c2 1 – (0.1)2c2/c2

1 = 1 = 1
g=
1 – (0.1)2 1 – 0.01 0.99

g = 1.005
Complete the chart
Frame velocity v γ =1/(1-v2/c2)
0.01 c 1.00005
0.1 c 1.005
0.5c 1.15
0.6c 1.25
0.8c 1.67
0.9c 2.29
0.99c 7.07
1.00c 
Larger than c Imaginary number
Consequences of LT: Beyond thought
Here K is rest frame; K' is moving frame.
The consequences are
1. Simultaneity of Events
Two events occurring simultaneously in K are not necessarily
will be simultaneous in K'.
2. Time Dilation: Clocks in K' run slow with respect to clocks in K.
3. Length Contraction: Lengths in K' are contracted relative to the
same lengths in K.
4. Relativistic addition of Velocities: Simple addition is not
obeyed.
5. Mass variation: Mass is not constant.
Invariants: Quantity that remains same when transformed
from one frame to another frame
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Invariants: A Numerical
Derive Inverse Lorentz transformation equations
Some Lorentz Invariants

Speed of light: c  1/ 
Volume element in 4D: dx dy dz dt
Maxwell’s equations are invariant:

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