Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
In physics, the special theory of relativity, or special relativity for short, is a scientific theory of the relationship between space and time.In Albert Einstein's 1905 paper, On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies, the theory is presented as being based on just two postulates: [p 1] [1] [2]
Time travel is a concept in philosophy and fiction, particularly science fiction. In fiction, time travel is typically achieved through the use of a device known as a time machine. The idea of a time machine was popularized by H. G. Wells's 1895 novel The Time Machine. [1] It is uncertain whether time travel to the past would be physically ...
The term "theory of relativity" was based on the expression "relative theory" (German: Relativtheorie) used in 1906 by Planck, who emphasized how the theory uses the principle of relativity. In the discussion section of the same paper, Alfred Bucherer used for the first time the expression "theory of relativity" (German: Relativitätstheorie ...
The special theory of relativity implies that only particles with zero rest mass (i.e., photons) may travel at the speed of light, and that nothing may travel faster. Particles whose speed exceeds that of light ( tachyons ) have been hypothesized, but their existence would violate causality and would imply time travel .
The amount of time as measured on the ship's clocks and the aging of the travelers during their trip will be reduced by the factor = /, the reciprocal of the Lorentz factor (time dilation). In this case α = 0.6 and the travelers will have aged only 0.6 × 10 = 6 years when they return.
Subsequent work of Hermann Minkowski, in which he introduced a 4-dimensional geometric "spacetime" model for Einstein's version of special relativity, paved the way for Einstein's later development of his general theory of relativity and laid the foundations of relativistic field theories.
According to the special theory of relativity introduced by Albert Einstein, it is impossible to say in an absolute sense that two distinct events occur at the same time if those events are separated in space. If one reference frame assigns precisely the same time to two events that are at different points in space, a reference frame that is ...
The time difference was measured by direct clock comparison at the ground before and after the flight, as well as during the flight by laser pulses of 0.1 ns duration. Those signals were sent to the plane, reflected, and again received at the ground station. The time difference was observable during the flight, before later analysis.