Prof.

David Hilditch Relatividade

Prof. Francisco Duque Week 2 2021/2022

*: problems we will discuss in class

Problem 1: Estimates of β
As we have discussed, special relativity is “only” important when we are dealing with velocities
close to the speed of light, defined to be c = 299792458 m/s exactly. A useful quantity to
estimate the size of relativistic effects is therefore β = v/c. Estimate the magnitude of β for:

a) You while jogging;

b) The speed of the metro on the Green Line.

c) The cruise speed of a Concorde supersonic passenger airliner, which could fly from New
York to London in under 3 hours.

d) The orbital motion of a satellite in a geosynchronous orbit above the Earth’s equator.

e) The orbital motion of Earth around the sun.

Problem 2: Taylor Series and γ

p
In Special Relativity we will often need to evaluate the relativistic factor γ = 1/ 1 − v 2 /c2
for the limiting cases of: (1) small values of v compared to c; (2) values of v close to c. While
this can be done with a calculator, it is often more instructive to derive approximate analytic
results in power of β = v/c for case (1), and powers of 1/γ for case (2).

a) Expand γ in a Taylor series in powers of β 2 , keeping the first three terms. Evaluate your
expression for several values of β. Compare with what you get by evaluating the full
expression with a calculator.

b) Show that for large γ, 1 − β ≈ 1/(2γ 2 ). Use this expression to find the values of β when
γ = {2, 10, 103 }. Compare the approximate results with those obtained from the full
expression with a calculator.

Problem 3: Invariance of the wave equation redux

Show that the wave equation for a generic function f (t, x)

∂2 1 ∂2
f (t, x) − f (t, x) = 0 (1)
∂x2 c2 ∂t2

1
Prof. David Hilditch Relatividade
Prof. Francisco Duque Week 2 2021/2022

is invariant under a Lorentz transformation to a reference frame moving with relative speed
v along the x-axis.

Problem 4: The muon problem *

The mean lifetime of a particle is 100 ns in its inertial frame.

a) What is the lifetime of the particle in the lab frame, knowing its velocity is 0.960c?

b) What is the length of the path of the particle in the lab frame during its lifetime?

c) What would be the path of the particle if the lifetime of the particle was the same in the
lab frame and in the proper frame, as in classical physics?

Problem 5: Getting all your clocks in a row... *

Suppose there are 5 clocks sitting on a train platform, all syncronized with each other and
each clock is 1 meter apart from the next. A passing train, moving at velocity v = c/3, has
the identical setup. Two observers, one on the train (Bob) and one on the platform (Alice),
have the assignment of recording the time registered on each each of these clocks (a weird
FEX project...). Both Bob and Alice are located next to the central clock. They pass each
other at t = t0 = 0.

a) Suppose Alice records the status of the clocks on the train when all her clocks read t = 0.
What does she observe? Draw what she sees.

b) Suppose Bob records the status of the clocks on the platform when all his clocks register
t0 = 0. What does he observe? Draw what he sees.

c) How do you reconcile their observations?