Summary of Relativity

The "theoretical minimum" of relativity

  1. You want the speed of light to be the same for all observers a) EM says so b) Determisim to depend on a finite past time slice c) General transformations allow this possibility d) Experiment !!!!
  2. Implies the invariant is t2 - x2
  3. This fixes the Lorentz transformations
  4. Which fixes the additional of velocities
  5. From this can figure out (with elastic collisions KE conserved) the definition of momentum such that it is conserved and reduces to mv with v - small
  6. Here you recognize that this only 3 components of a four vector. Natural question: what is the 4th components
  7. Lead directly to relativistic Energy = E=mγ ~ mc2 + 1/2mv2 at low v a) In particular rest mass E=mc2
  8. Look at in-elastic collisions KE not conserved, and discover rest mass is energy

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Physics Modern Essentials Relativity Teaching

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