Prof.

David Hilditch Relatividade

André Cordeiro (TA) Week 1 — Solutions 2023/2024

Solution 1: Composition of Galilean Boosts

A Galilean boost with velocity u1 from coordinates (x, t) to coordinates (x′ , t′ ) is written

x′ = x − u1 t , t′ = t . (1)

Another boost with velocity u2 from (x′ , t′ ) to (x′′ , t′′ ) is written

x′′ = x′ − u2 t′ = (x − u1 t) − u2 t = x − (u1 + u2 ) t , (2)

t′′ = t′ = t′ , (3)

which corresponds to a Galilean boost with velocity v = u1 + u2 , as expected from the usual
classical addition of velocities. Note that we needed t′ = t in the second step of the first
equation. Therefore, this rule for velocity addition would not hold if time was left invariant
(i.e. if there were an absolute clock).

Solution 2: Estimates of β
a) Take c = 299 792 458 m/s ≃ 3 × 108 m s−1 .
120 000
i) v = 120 km h−1 = m s−1 ≃ 33.3 m s−1 .
3 600
33.3
β≃ ≃ 1.1 × 10−8 .
3 × 108
ii) Source: NASA (facts and figures on the ISS).
v ≃ 5 miles/s ≃ 8 km/h ≃ 8000 m/s (Using 1 mile ≃ 1.6 km).
8000
β≃ ≃ 2.6 × 10−5 .
3 × 108
iii) Source: NASA article on the Halley Comet.
v ≃ 54.55 km/s = 54 500 m/s.
54 500
β≃ ≃ 2 × 10−4 .
3 × 10 8

iv) Source: Florian Peißker et al., The Astrophysical Journal, 899 50 (2020) – Table 3.
v ≃ 23 928 km/s
23 928 000
β≃ ≃ 8 × 10−2 !!!
3 × 108
29.8 × 10−2
v) v = 29.8 cm/ns ≃ −9
m/s = 2.98 × 108 m/s.
10
2.98 × 108
β≃ ≃ 0.994 .
299 792 458

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Prof. David Hilditch Relatividade
André Cordeiro (TA) Week 1 — Solutions 2023/2024

b) Relativistic effects are most important in scenario v) (the muons seem to live for longer
than they should when measured in the Earth frame — time dilation by a factor of
γ = 9.142).
Although star S4714 presents an extreme case, effects from Special Relativity should still
be weak at 8% of the speed of light, with a time dilation factor of γ = 1.003.

Solution 3: Invariance of the wave equation

The wave equation reads
∂2 1 ∂2
 
− f (x, t) = 0 . (4)
∂x2 c2 ∂t2

a) The first order partial derivatives read

∂
g(x ± ct) = g ′ (x ± ct) , (5)
∂x
∂ ∂(x ± ct) ′
g(x ± ct) = g (x ± ct) = ±c g ′ (x ± ct) . (6)
∂t ∂t
The second order partial derivatives
∂2
2
g(x ± ct) = g ′′ (x ± ct) , (7)
∂x
∂2 ∂(x ± ct) ′′
2
g(x ± ct) = (±c) g (x ± ct) = c2 g ′′ (x ± ct) . (8)
∂t ∂t
Therefore,
∂2 1 ∂2 c2 ′′
 
− g(x ± ct) = g ′′ − g = 0. (9)
∂x2 c2 ∂t2 c2

b) An easy way to see how solutions to the wave equation behave is to assume g(x ± ct) to
be a Gaussian distribution with some width σ and mean µ, but any distribution behaves
in essentially the same way. A Gaussian distribution is defined as
(u − µ)2
 
1
g(u) = √ exp − , and therefore (10)
σ 2π 2σ 2
(x − (∓ct))2
 
1
g(x ± ct) = √ exp − , (11)
σ 2π 2σ 2
such that for g(x ± ct) the x distribution has mean µ = ∓ct, reflecting that the wave
propagates at c. The sketch of these solutions should look something like figure 1.
What we see is that the solution g(x − ct) propagates forward with at c, while g(x + ct)
propagates backward with speed −c.

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Prof. David Hilditch Relatividade
André Cordeiro (TA) Week 1 — Solutions 2023/2024

1.4 g(x ± ct) at ct = 0

g(x − ct) at ct = 1
1.2 g(x + ct) at ct = 1

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
−4 −3 −2 −1 0 1 2 3 4

Figure 1: Sketch of wave equation solutions. The units are arbitrary.

c) Use the chain rule applied to the Galilean boost,

x′ = x − V t , (12)
t′ = t , (13)

to obtain
∂ ∂x′ ∂ ∂t′ ∂ ∂
= + = , (14)
∂x ∂x ∂x′ ∂x ∂t′ ∂x′
∂ ∂x′ ∂ ∂t′ ∂ ∂ ∂
= ′
+ ′
= −V ′
+ ′. (15)
∂t ∂t ∂x ∂t ∂t ∂x ∂t

The wave equation can be written

  
∂ ∂ ∂ ∂
c − c + f (t, x) = 0 . (16)
∂x ∂t ∂x ∂t

In the boosted coordinates, this becomes

  
∂ ∂ ∂ ∂
(c + V ) ′ − ′ (c − V ) ′ + ′ f (t′ , x′ ) = 0 , (17)
∂x ∂t ∂x ∂t

showing that the wave equation is not invariant under Galilean boosts.

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Prof. David Hilditch Relatividade
André Cordeiro (TA) Week 1 — Solutions 2023/2024

It is also possible to compute the second order derivatives with respect to the boosted
coordinates (t′ , x′ ) explicitly, and one finds as a final result

∂2
  
′ ′ 1 ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂
f (t , x ) − 2 −V ′ − V ′ f (t′ , x′ ) = 0 ⇐⇒ (18)
∂(x′ )2 c ∂t′ ∂x ∂t′ ∂x
∂ 2f
 2
∂ 2f 2

1 ∂ f 2 ∂ f
⇐⇒ − − 2V ′ ′ + V = 0, (19)
∂(x′ )2 c2 ∂(t′ )2 ∂x ∂t ∂(x′ )2

which is the same result one obtains when expanding out equation (17).

d) Consider the form

f (t′ , x′ ) = g(x′ ± (c ± V )t′ ) . (20)

The partial derivatives look like

∂
g(x′ ± (c ± V )t′ ) = ±(c ± V ) ġ(x′ ± (c ± V )t′ ) , (21)
∂t′
∂
g(x′ ± (c ± V )t′ ) = ġ(x′ ± (c ± V )t′ ) , (22)
∂x′
where we have denoted the derivative of g with respect to its argument as ġ to clarify the
notation.
When replacing this into equation (17), consider that it consists of a product of two terms,
and that we have two different solutions. Applying each of the factors in the equation to
each of the solutions, we could have four cases1 , but we only need to show that at least
one of the terms for each solution is zero,
 
∂ ∂  
(c + V ) ′ − ′ g(x′ + (c + V )t′ ) = (c + V ) − (c + V ) ġ(x′ + (c + V )t′ ) = 0, (23)
∂x ∂t
 
∂ ∂  
(c − V ) ′ + ′ g(x − (c − V )t ) = (c − V ) − (c − V ) ġ(x′ − (c − V )t′ ) = 0, (24)
′ ′
∂x ∂t

which turns out to be the case. Therefore, functions of the type (20) are solutions to
the wave equation in the new frame. The form of the solution also tells us that forward
propagating solutions have velocity c−V , while backward propagating waves have velocity
c + V . Additionally, if the boost velocity is equal to that of the wave, one of the solutions
does not propagate.

e) In the limit c → +∞, the wave equation becomes

∂ 2f
= 0, (25)
∂x2
1
This is because we can choose which of the factors to apply first to each solution.

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Prof. David Hilditch Relatividade
André Cordeiro (TA) Week 1 — Solutions 2023/2024

which is the Laplace equation. Since under Galilean boosts,

∂ ∂
→ , (26)
∂x ∂x′
the equation transforms into
∂ 2f
= 0. (27)
∂x′2
showing that the Laplace equation is invariant under Galilean transformations.
This is relevant for example in Newtonian gravity, which can be described (in vacuum)
with a Laplace equation for the gravitational potential and therefore has infinite speed,
i.e. the gravitational field responds immediately to changes in the distribution of masses.
However, all fundamental interactions described by modern physics seem to obey to a
speed limit (c).

Solution 4: Classical Doppler Effect

a) The trajectories for each of the wave peaks in the frame of the source are

x1 (t) = (c − vs ) (t − t0 ) , (28)
x2 (t) = (c − vs ) (t − t0 − T ) . (29)

The slopes are fixed by the wave propagation speed, and the linear coefficients are fixed
by the emission times, x1 (t0 ) = 0, x2 (t0 + T ) = 0.

b) The transformation to the rest frame of the medium is an inverse Galilean boost with the
velocity of the source vs ,

y = x + vs t . (30)

The trajectories for the wave peaks are

y1 (t) = c t − (c − vs ) t0 , (31)
y2 (t) = c t − (c − vs ) (t0 + T ) . (32)

The observed period in this reference frame is obtained by computing the times at which
the wave peaks cross the origin (or any other arbitrary point),
c − vs
y1 (t1 ) = 0 ⇐⇒ t1 = t0 , (33)
c
c − vs
y2 (t2 ) = 0 ⇐⇒ t2 = (t0 + T ) . (34)
c

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Prof. David Hilditch Relatividade
André Cordeiro (TA) Week 1 — Solutions 2023/2024

The observed period is

c − vs
t2 − t1 = T, (35)
c
yielding an observed frequency of
c
fmedium = fs , (36)
c − vs
where fs = 1/T is the emitted frequency.
c) Transforming into the reference frame of the observer requires a Galilean boost with
velocity vr from the frame of the medium,

z = y − vr t , (37)

which produces the following trajectories,

z1 (t) = (c − vr ) t − (c − vs ) t0 , (38)
z2 (t) = (c − vr ) t − (c − vs ) (t0 + T ) . (39)

The times at which the observer receive each wave peak are
c − vs
z1 (ta ) = 0 ⇐⇒ ta = t0 , (40)
c − vr
c − vs
z2 (tb ) = 0 ⇐⇒ tb = (t0 + T ) . (41)
c − vr

This yields the observed frequency

c − vr
fr = fs . (42)
c − vs

The previous result corresponds to this expression in the case vr = 0, as expected.

Note that we could have set t0 = 0, which would correspond to a configuration where the
source and observer are at the same position, despite having different velocities.

Solution 5: Galilean Transformations and Newton’s Sec-

ond Law
a) A Galilean boost in three dimensions is written

⃗ri ′ = ⃗ri − V⃗ t , (43)

t′ = t . (44)

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Prof. David Hilditch Relatividade
André Cordeiro (TA) Week 1 — Solutions 2023/2024

First, show that the left-hand side of the equation is invariant,

d2 ′ d2  ⃗
 d2
⃗
r = ⃗
r i − V t = ⃗ri . (45)
dt2 i dt2 dt2

Then, consider the relative position between particles i and j in the boosted frame,
   
⃗ri ′ − ⃗rj ′ = ⃗ri − V⃗ t − ⃗rj − V⃗ t = ⃗ri − ⃗rj (46)

The most generic force that fits this description is, therefore
X
F⃗i = F⃗ ⃗ri − ⃗rj ; t ,


(47)
j̸=i

where F⃗ is some generic function of all of the relative positions. We have also included
time, which is left unchanged by Galilean boosts.

b) The momentum of a single particle i in the new frame is

d ′
p⃗i ′ = mi ⃗r (48)
dt i
d  
= mi ⃗ri − V⃗ t (49)
dt
d
= mi ⃗ri − mi V⃗ = p⃗i − mi V⃗ . (50)
dt

The total momentum of the system is P⃗ = i p⃗i , and transforms like

P

!
X X  X
P⃗ =
′ ′
p⃗i = p⃗i − mi V⃗ = P⃗ − mi V⃗ . (51)
i i i

Identifying the sum in parenthesis as the total mass of the system M , this reads

P⃗ ′ = P⃗ − M V⃗ . (52)

Differentiating this result with respect to time in the boosted frame, t′ = t, we see
d ⃗′ d ⃗ ⃗ = d P⃗ − M V⃗ = d P⃗ .
  
P = P − M V (53)
dt′ dt′ dt dt

This shows us that momentum conservation is preserved under Galilean transformations

— our choice of frame in describing the equations of motion does not affect conserved
quantities.

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Prof. David Hilditch Relatividade
André Cordeiro (TA) Week 1 — Solutions 2023/2024

Solution 6: Motion under transformations

a) Galilean transformations read
⃗r ′ = ⃗r − V⃗ t . (54)

Therefore, the transformed coordinates

⃗r = ⃗r ′ + V⃗ t , (55)
⃗rEarth = ⃗r ′Earth + V⃗ t . (56)

Hence, the potential in the transformed frame is

U (|⃗rEarth − ⃗r|) = U (|⃗r ′ − ⃗r ′Earth |) , (57)
showing that it is invariant.
Let us examine how the force is expressed in both reference frames. Define the relative
position
⃗ = ⃗r ⃗′=R
⃗.
R Earth − ⃗
r , and therefore R (58)

The gravitational force is written

   
∂/∂x ∂R/∂x
F⃗ = −∇U
⃗ (|R|) ⃗ = − ∂R/∂y  ∂U (R) ,
⃗ = − ∂/∂y  U (|R|) (59)
∂R
∂/∂z ∂R/∂z
⃗ The derivatives require computing the
using the chain rule and shortening R = |R|.
relative distance R,
R2 = (x − xEarth )2 + (y − yEarth )2 + (z − zEarth )2 , (60)
and therefore
∂R x ∂R y ∂R z
= , = , = , (61)
∂x R ∂y R ∂z R
which can be easily seen by applying, e.g. ∂/∂x to both sides of equation (60) and using
the chain rule.
In vector form the force reads

F⃗ = −∇U ⃗ = − 1 ∂U R
⃗ (|R|) ⃗. (62)
R ∂R
⃗ ′ = R,
Finally, since we have shown both U ′ = U and R ⃗ we find

F⃗ ′ = F⃗ , (63)

and so the gravitational force is invariant under Galilean boosts.

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Prof. David Hilditch Relatividade
André Cordeiro (TA) Week 1 — Solutions 2023/2024

b) i) The equation of motion for observer A reads

mẍ = 0 , (64)
mÿ = −mg . (65)

Changing to the frame of observer B, we need the transformations

d d
′
= , (66)
dt dt
x′ = x − V t =⇒ ẍ′ = ẍ , (67)
y ′ = y =⇒ ÿ ′ = ÿ . (68)

The equations of motion for observer B therefore read

mẍ′ = 0 , (69)
mÿ ′ = −mg . (70)

Since both accelerations and Newtonian gravity are preserved under Galilean trans-
formations,the equations of motion are invariant under Galilean boosts, i.e. observers
B and A agree.
ii) For observer A,

x(t = 0) = 0 , and ẋ(t = 0) = 0 , (71)

y(t = 0) = h , and ẏ(t = 0) = 0 . (72)

Changing to the frame of observer B, we need,

x′ = x − V t =⇒ ẋ′ = ẋ − V , (73)
y ′ = y =⇒ ẏ ′ = ẏ . (74)

Which implies the following initial conditions

x(t = 0) = −V , and ẋ(t = 0) = −V , (75)

y(t = 0) = h , and ẏ(t = 0) = 0 . (76)

The observers do not agree on the initial conditions, which are not invariant under
Galilean transformations.