Ambo University, Institute of Technology

Applied Modern Physics

Lecture 02 : Special Relativity

Miressa M. Electrical and Computer

Engineering Department
What is Modern physics?

• “Modern” physics means physics based on the two major

breakthroughs of the early twentieth century:

relativity and quantum mechanics.

• Physics based on what was known before then (Newton’s laws,

Maxwell’s equations, thermodynamics) is

called “classical” physics.

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What is Modern physics?

• The study of Modern Physics is the study of the enormous revolution in our view
of the physical universe that began just prior to 1900.

• At that time, most physicists believed that everything in physics was completely

understood. Normal intuition and all experiments fit into the context of two
basic theories:
1. Newtonian Mechanics for massive bodies;
2. Maxwell’s Theory for light (electromagnetic radiation).

• Consistency of the two required that there be a propagating medium (and,

therefore, a preferred reference frame) for light.

• However, many new experimental results made it clear that the then-existing
theoretical framework was inadequate to describe nature.

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Newtonian mechanics

• Newton’s laws

– In the absence of forces, a particle moves in a straight line with constant

speed (or, equivalently, moves with a constant velocity ).

– For a particle of mass m, the acceleration a for an imposed force F is given by

=
– An equivalent formulation is in terms of the momentum p = m v
=
– If object 1 exerts a force on object 2, then object 2 exerts a reaction force
on object 1 given by
=−
– or “action and reaction are equal and opposite.”

– Note that the bold letters indicate vector quantities!

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Frames of reference

• Physical systems are always observed from some point of view. That is, the
displacement, velocity, and acceleration of a particle are measured relative to
some selected origin and coordinate axes.

• If a different origin and/or set of axes is used, then different numerical values

are obtained for r , v , and a , even though the physical event is the same.

• An event is a physical phenomenon which occurs at a specified point in space

and time.

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Inertial reference frames

• Inertial reference frames:

– reference frames moving with constant velocity (not accelerating).

– reference frames at rest

– cannot tell there is motion without looking out the window

• Scope of Einstein’s special (as opposed general) theory of relativity

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Intuition for inertial reference frame

• You are playing pool on a train moving with velocity v.

• Balls roll in straight lines on the table.

• Usual Newtonian law of inertia still holds.

The frame as a whole is not accelerating

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Comparing inertial frames

• Two inertial reference frames, moving with respect to one another:

– According to S, S′ is moving to the right, with v = 1 m/s

• Both S′ and S are

correct: it’s a matter
of reference frames
– According to S′, S is moving to the right, with v = -1 m/s
(i.e., S is moving to the left, with v = 1 m/s)

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Galilean (“old”) relativity

• Relativity is the invariance of the equations that express the laws of physics.

• How could we relate one frame to another one moving with constant velocity

with respect to the first frame?

• The 1900’s view of this relationship is encoded in “Galilean transformations”.

frame1 frame2

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Galilean (“old”) relativity

• Before Einstein

• If an object has velocity u in frame S, and its position, x(t), changes with time,

t. And if frame S′ is moving with velocity v relative to frame S, then:

positions and time: Velocity add:

e.g.: think about a car with velocity u relative to the ground and velocity
u’= u - v relative to another car moving with v.

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Newton’s law dynamics

• If an object has velocity u in frame S, and its position, x(t), changes with

time, t. And if frame S′ is moving with velocity v relative to frame S, then:

Positions: Velocity add:

Acceleration unchanged
Newton’s law (F=ma) is
therefore unchanged,
i.e., Galilean invariant.
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Galilean transformations

• A coordinate system is to be thought of as:

– a system of “meter” sticks laid down in the x, y, z directions throughout all of

space.

– a single universal clock time that applies throughout all of space (i.e. is the
same no matter where in space you are).

• An event is thus specified by its location in the (t, x, y, z) space.

• But, now suppose that there is another person moving with constant velocity in

the original coordinate system in the positive x direction.

• His coordinates will be related to (t, x, y, z) by:

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Galilean invariants

• distance (length of a vector) is an invariant i.e., independent of Galilean

reference frame (many other quantities: mass, force,…)

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Galilean Transformation

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Galilean invariants

• Newton’s law (F=ma, mechanics) is therefore unchanged, i.e., Galilean

invariant.

What about the physics of Electromagnetism?

Does Electromagnetism depend on which

inertial frame you are in?

YES according to Galileo → “trouble” → Einstein’s relativity

• Galileo says:

– c is speed of light in frame S → c’ = c – v is speed of light in frame S’

… but c is with respect to what???

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Speed of light

• In 1861 Maxwell succeeded in generating a set of four equations which

describe the behavior of fields in all circumstances.

• In Maxwell's theory the electromagnetic field contains of rapid vibrations of both

the electric and magnetic fields.

• Maxwell found that the speed of propagation of an electromagnetic field is

approximately that of the speed of light obtained by astronomical
measurements i.e.,

• He proposed then, that Light is one of a family of electromagnetic waves.

This was considered as one of the great achievements of 19th century physics.

• The Ether was suggested as a medium in which electromagnetic waves can

propagate.

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Between mechanics and Electromagnetism

• By 1900 the classical world-view was well established through two main fields:
Mechanics & Electromagnetism.
But..

• All attempts to complete physics by unifying electromagnetism and mechanics

failed.
Why?
- According to the Galilean transformations, c is not invariant. Hence,
electromagnetic effects will not be the same for different inertial observers.
I.e. Maxwell's equations are not conserved by the Galilean transformations,
although Newton's laws are.

• This fact leads us to one of the followings:

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Between mechanics and Electromagnetism

1. Galilean relativity exists both for mechanics and for electromagnetism, but the
laws of electromagnetism as given by Maxwell are not correct.
If this is correct we must be able to perform experiments show deviations from
Maxwell's laws.
2. Galilean relativity exists only for mechanics, but not for electromagnetic laws.
That is, in electromagnetism there is an absolute inertial frame ( the ether ).

If this is correct we would be able to locate the ether frame experimentally.

3. Galilean relativity is suitable only for mechanical laws but not for Maxwell's
laws.
If this is correct the correct transformation laws would not be the Galilean ones,
but some other ones which are consistent with both mechanics and
electromagnetism.

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Concept of ether

• 19th - century physicists thought- reasonably at the time-that light must

propagate in the ether analogously to the way that sound propagates in a
material medium such as air.

• The speed of sound in air depends on properties of the air. Most important, the

speed of sound an observer measures depends on the observer’s motion

relative to the air.

• If the ether carried light the way air carriers sound, then an observer moving
relative to the ether would measure the speed of a light wave so that it would
vary according to the observer’s speed.

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Motion through ether

• Suppose earth is moving through ether with speed v in a direction opposite to

light, that moves with speed c relative to Ether. According to Galilean relativity
what is speed of light relative to earth?

– Assume the earth is not accelerating

Answer : c+v

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Measure earth’s motion through ether

• Earth goes around the sun at 30 km/s

– must be going through ether

• Light along earth’s motion:

• Light against earth’s motion:

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The Michelson-Morley experiment

• Michelson-Morley (MM) experiment was performed in 1887 to demonstrate the

existence of the “ether”.

• The experiment was designed to measure the speed of the earth through the

ether (or to locate the absolute frame).

• The apparatus used in the Michelson-Morley experiment was the Michelson

interferometer. In this device, monochromatic (one wavelength) light from a
source is split into two separate beams. These beams travel two different
optical paths and then come back together to interfere either constructively or
destructively.

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The Michelson-Morley experiment

• Light from the left is spitted at the beam

splitter into to parts. One is directed
towards mirror 1 and the other towards
mirror 2.

• The back-reflected light is recombined at the beam splitter and constructive or

destructive interference can be observed.

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The Michelson-Morley experiment

• In the pictured arrangement, the light (wave) is split by a half-silvered

mirror into two components, one traveling parallel to the earth’s motion, the
other traveling perpendicular to the earth’s motion through the ether.

• The time of travel for the horizontal light to and back from the mirror

will (Galilean assumed) be

• The time of travel for the vertical light (which must actually be aimed “up-

stream” in order to return to the splitting mirror) is given by

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The Michelson-Morley experiment

• The difference in times will cause a phase difference and a certain interference
pattern with light and dark fringes. In other words if the delay can be measured
it will tell us the Earth‘s speed w.r.t the ether.

• Michelson and Morley saw nothing i.e., no difference in time between two paths.

• The experimenters could not find the supposed ether.

• And this led to an important fact about reference frames: There is no such thing
as an absolute frame of reference in our universe.

• The time was ripe for a new idea. Enter Einstein in 1905 → Special theory of
relativity!

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Special theory of relativity

• Special means that the theory applies only to inertial reference frames.

• Theory means that the concept has been confirmed by many different
experiments.

• Relativity means there is no absolute frame of reference and hence, any

measured values must be relative.

• The special theory of relativity, developed by Einstein and others in 1905,

concerns the comparison of measurements made in different frames of
reference moving with constant velocity relative to each other.

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Einstein’s postulates of special relativity

• Einstein based his special theory of relativity on two fundamental

postulates:

– All laws of physics have the same mathematical form in all inertial
reference frames.

• This means:
- There is no preferred frame of reference.
- There is no a physical experiment, mechanical, electrical or optical can be
performed to determine our state of uniform motion.
- Galilean transformations are not correct for all laws of physics.

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Einstein’s postulates of special relativity

• The speed of light in a vacuum has the same measured value (c =

3× m/s) in all inertial reference frames.

• This means:
- The speed of light is invariant.
- The classical idea that space & time are independent had to be rejected.
(i.e. there is should be a relationship between space & time).
- As a consequence of Einstein's 2nd postulate , is the concept of Non-
Simultaneity.

– This concept states that:

• Two events that are simultaneous in one frame of reference need not

be simultaneous in a frame moving relative to the first frame.

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Additional notes on special relativity

• The Laws of Physics are the same in all Inertial Frames.

• Einstein then simply brought this up to date, by pointing out that the Laws of

Physics must now include Maxwell’s equations describing electric and magnetic
fields as well as Newton’s laws describing motion of masses under gravity and
other forces.

• Note:

• We shall find that Maxwell’s equations are completely unaltered by special

relativity, but Newton’s Laws do need a bit of readjustment to include special
relativistic phenomena. The First Law is still o.k., the Second Law in the form F
= ma is not, because we shall find the mass in this equation varies; we need to
equate force to rate of change of momentum (Newton understood that, of
course—that’s the way he stated the law!).

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Additional notes on special relativity

• The Third Law, stated as action equals reaction, no longer holds because if a
body moves, its electric field, say, does not readjust instantaneously—a ripple
travels outwards at the speed of light. Before the ripple reaches another
charged body, the electric forces between the two will be unbalanced. However,
the crucial consequence of the Third Law—the conservation of momentum when
two bodies interact, still holds. It turns out that the rippling field itself carries
momentum, and everything balances.

• Demanding that Maxwell’s equations be satisfied in all inertial frames has one

major consequence as far as we are concerned. As we stated above, Maxwell’s

equations give the speed of light to be 3 10 meters per second.

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Additional notes on special relativity

• Therefore, demanding that the laws of physics are the same in all inertial
frames implies that the speed of any light wave, measured in any inertial frame,
must be 3 10 meters per second.
• This then is the entire content of the Theory of Special Relativity: the Laws of

Physics are the same in any inertial frame, and, in particular, any measurement
of the speed of light in any inertial frame will always give 3 10 meters per
second.

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Lorentz Transformations

• This transformation derives its name from the Dutch physicist Hendrik Lorentz
(1853-1928).

• Unlike Galilean transformations, Lorentz transformations involve a change of

spatial distance and a change of time interval between two inertial systems.
i.e. they are space-time transformations.

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Lorentz Transformations

• Suppose that the coordinate system

is moving with constant velocity v
along the x-axis of the coordinate
system S , where = y and = z.

• Suppose that at = = a point source of light at the common origin sends

out a spherical pulse of light.

• Since c is a constant for all observers in both S and and is the same in all
directions, all observers in both frames of reference must detect a spherical
wavefront expanding from their origin.

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Lorentz Transformations

• Since the equation of a sphere is + + = and r, the radius, equals ct,

we can write

• Demanding that the transformation from the unprime to prime system be a

linear transformation with coefficients determined only by the fundamental
constant c and by the relative velocity of the two frames v, and requiring that
= 0 must correspond to x = vt , there is only one solution, the so-called Lorentz
transformation:

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Lorentz Transformations

• Where

• Note that if ≪ , then → and we get back the Galilean approximation.

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Lorentz Transformations

• Lorentz transformation can also be written as

• The reverse transformation is found by

changing the sign of the velocity

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Time dilation

• Consider a clock in frame S’

• Since the clock is at rest in frame S’ at place one gets with the Lorentz
transformation

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Time dilation

• and with x ' = in the second equation for a time interval

• If the observer is in frame S’ at rest together with the clock, he notes the proper

time of the clock =∆ =( − )

• If the observer is in frame S and regards the clock moving with frame S’, he
notes the time of the moving clock is

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Time dilation

• A clock can be e.g. realised by two mirrors. The time necessary for a light pulse
on the way between the two mirrors defines the period of the clock.

( ) = ( ) +(ℓ) and then

moving clocks run slower
ℓ
= =
− / by a factor − / .

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Time dilation − Examples

• 1) In a clock’s reference frame a duration between its two ticks is 5 second.

What can the time duration between these two ticks be when viewed from a
moving truck?

a ) 2 sec, b) 5 sec, c) 7 sec, d) 1.5 sec

• Answer:

– Proper time, (i.e., a time measured in the frame of reference stationary with

the clock) is always the shortest. Thus c) is the answer, as the only one larger
than the proper time of 5 seconds.

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Time dilation − Examples

• 2) Alice takes a ship moving at speed 0.8c ( = 5/3) to a planet that is 8 light-
years away (as judged by Bob, who stays back home on earth). How many
years will Alice age during her roundtrip?

– Alice’s time is the proper time since it is at the same location (her
spaceship). Hence her time is shorter (running slower) than that in Bob’s

frame that is moving relative to her. Consequently Alice will age by = =

3/5 x [ 2 x 8 light-years / 0.8c ] = 12 years.

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Length contraction

• To obtain the length contraction with the Lorentz transformation one considers
a scale at rest in frame S’

• In order to measure the distance between and in frame S one has to

measure to ends of the scale in frame S at the same time. With the Lorentz
transformation

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Length contraction

• One gets

• If the observer is at rest with the scale in frame S’ the distance − = ℓ is

the proper length of the scale. If the observer is in frame S and observes the
moving scale the distance is

and one gets the formula for the length contraction.

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Doppler effect

• What is Doppler Effect?

• It is the change in the measured frequency of a source, due to the motion of

the source (and/or) the observer.

– The Doppler effect for sound waves travel in a medium, depends on two
velocities: the source velocity and the observer velocity with respect to that
medium.

– However, light and other electromagnetic waves require no medium.

Therefore the Doppler effect for electromagnetic waves depends on only one
velocity: the relative velocity between the source and the observer.

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Doppler effect

• Suppose that there is a source of frequency (and corresponding period )

at rest on the Y axis in .

• And the source is moving with constant velocity v along the x-axis of the

coordinate system .

If we are at rest at the origin of S,

we would measure the frequency of
the source to be

1−v ⁄
= =
1 + (v⁄ ) 1 + v/

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Doppler effect

• In this relation, is measured in a coordinate system at rest with respect to

the source (zero relative speed, thus the subscript zero).

• The observers measure the frequency , the relative speed v, and the angle
between the source position vector & + x-axis.

• Some Special Cases

⁄
• Equation = = represents a general
( ⁄ ) /
case, from which one may derive expressions for some other special cases.

• Assume that you are at the origin of S, what the measured frequency of the
source would be:

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Some special cases

• If the source of light were moving directly away from you:

In this case = 0 , hence;

− /
=
+ /
• Note that the numerator is smaller than the denominator, giving a lowered
frequency when the source is moving away from you, just as for SOUND waves.
(However, the equation is different for sound waves.)

• If the source of light were moving directly toward you:

In this case = , hence;

+ /
=
− /

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Some special cases

• The numerator now is larger than the denominator, giving the expected
increase in frequency when the source is moving toward you.

• If the source were moving perpendicular to a line from you:

– In this case (which known as the transverse Doppler effect) = , At

this angle there is no relative motion toward or away from you, so the
classical Doppler effect for mechanical waves would give = .
However, the same is not true for electromagnetic waves. With = :

= − ⁄ = /

– The frequency decreases for this relativistic transverse Doppler effect.

– So…
Doppler shifts in the frequencies of electromagnetic waves occur not only for relative
motion toward or away from an observer, but also for transverse motion.

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So far..

• Physics behind time dilation:

= relativity of
− /
simultaneity
• Physics behind length contraction:

ℓ=ℓ − /

• Lorentz transformation:

= −

= −

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Relativistic Mass & Momentum

• In classical physics when two bodies collide together, the total mass, energy
and momentum before and after the collision are equal.

• Let us apply conservation laws to viewers from two different inertial reference

frames and .

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Relativistic Mass & Momentum

• If someone in S throws a ball with mass to make an elastic collision with

the ground, then the conservation law of momentum in his frame requires that
∆ =2

• For an observer in the conservation law of momentum will require that

∆ =2 =2 1−v /

• But the principle of relativity demands that the laws of physics are the same
in all inertial reference frames. Hence;
∆ =∆

= 1− /

• or

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Relativistic Mass & Momentum

= =
v
1−

• This is the relativistic mass transformation.

• Since p = mv , the relativistic linear momentum can be written as;

= =
v
1−

• – rest mass: mass in rest frame Newtonian mass

• m→ ∞ for v → c
• hint of inaccessibility of speed of light limit:
– the larger the speed u, the larger the m
– the more force it takes to accelerate object further…

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Relativistic Force

• We can use Newton's second law to define force by the relation F = dp/dt. So
we have;

• If the force is perpendicular to the velocity, the force can't do any work on the
particle, so the speed won't change. This happens in uniform circular
motion. The direction of v changes, but the magnitude of v doesn't. Therefore
doesn't change and dm/dt=0. Substituting for = , we have
=
• However, if the force is parallel to the velocity, the particle speed and mass will
change. Then;

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Relativistic Force

=
1− /
• and

∥ =

• To approach c we need an infinite force to accelerate an infinite mass.

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Relativistic Energy

• Work may be done on a body to increase its kinetic energy, KE.

• What is the expression of KE in relativistic physics?

• Let's start an object from rest with a net external force F in the (+ve) x
direction. Then the work done by F will be stored in the form of kinetic energy.

• That is,

/
= = . = 1− /

• which integrates to

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Relativistic Energy

• or most simply;
= − =∆

• where ∆ =m− is the relativistic mass increase.

• Suppose a body with a rest energy of undergoes a work that increases its
KE, then its total energy will be E = E +KE or;
= −

• This famous equation states the equivalence of mass and energy.

• Therefore, anything that has a mass m has an energy E = , and anything

that has an energy E has a mass = / .

• That is; Energy and mass are just two equivalent ways of describing the same
thing.

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Relativistic Energy

• Using the relation of the relativistic mass

= =
1−

• This equation shows that for objects with a nonzero rest mass, c is the upper

limiting speed. This doesn't forbid the existence of particles that have zero rest
mass and which can only move at v = c.

• Again starting with = , if we square both sides and rearrange terms

recognizing mv as the magnitude of the linear momentum p, we get;

= +

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Questions

• Which of the following is not an inertial reference frame?

• a) A car traveling at 100mph down a straight road

b)  A car traveling at 10mph around a corner

c)  Earth!
d)  A car in a process of crashing into a concrete barrier
e)  More than one of the above
f)  None of the above

• Answer: In b), c) and d) there is centripetal and linear accelerations, velocity

not constant -> if released objects will accelerate even without a force acting on
them; remember Earth is revolving around the Sun, etc.; we will ignore latter
effect.

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