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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] The laws of physics are invariant (identical) in ...
Postulates of special relativity. 1. First postulate (principle of relativity) The laws of physics take the same form in all inertial frames of reference. 2. Second postulate (invariance of c) As measured in any inertial frame of reference, light is always propagated in empty space with a definite velocity c that is independent of the state of ...
Einstein's thought experiments. A hallmark of Albert Einstein 's career was his use of visualized thought experiments (German: Gedankenexperiment[1]) as a fundamental tool for understanding physical issues and for elucidating his concepts to others. Einstein's thought experiments took diverse forms. In his youth, he mentally chased beams of light.
An AI generated image of the twin paradox. The twin in space is younger than the twin that was on Earth. In his famous paper on special relativity in 1905, Albert Einstein deduced that for two stationary and synchronous clocks that are placed at points A and B, if the clock at A is moved along the line AB and stops at B, the clock that moved from A would lag behind the clock at B.
In the case of special relativity, these include the principle of relativity, the constancy of the speed of light, and time dilation. [12] The predictions of special relativity have been confirmed in numerous tests since Einstein published his paper in 1905, but three experiments conducted between 1881 and 1938 were critical to its validation.
Special relativity is generally considered the solution to all negative aether drift (or isotropy of the speed of light) measurements, including the Michelson–Morley null result. Many high precision measurements have been conducted as tests of special relativity and modern searches for Lorentz violation in the photon , electron , nucleon , or ...
In physics, the relativity of simultaneity is the concept that distant simultaneity – whether two spatially separated events occur at the same time – is not absolute, but depends on the observer's reference frame. This possibility was raised by mathematician Henri Poincaré in 1900, and thereafter became a central idea in the special theory ...
Einstein used V in his original German-language papers on special relativity in 1905, but in 1907 he switched to c, which by then had become the standard symbol for the speed of light. [ 10 ] [ 11 ] Sometimes c is used for the speed of waves in any material medium, and c 0 for the speed of light in vacuum. [ 12 ]