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THE SPECIAL THEORY
OF RELATIVITY
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THE SPECIAL THEORY
OF RELATIVITY
An Introduction
Dennis Morris
MERCURY LEARNING AND INFORMATION

Dulles, Virginia
Boston, Massachusetts
New Delhi
Reprint and Revision Copyright ©2016 by Mercury Learning And Information LLC
All rights reserved.
Original title and copyright: Empty Space Is Amazing Stuff: The Special Theory of Relativity and
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CONTENTS
Introduction ix
Chapter 1 An Overview of the Theory of

Special Relativity 1
1.1 Physics is Invariant Under Rotation 1
1.2 Space and Time are Not Separate Things 2
1.3 Mass Dimensions 3
1.4 Directions in Space-time 3
1.5 The Constancy of the Speed of Light 5
1.6 Symmetry and Noether’s Theorem 11
1.7 Noether’s Theorem 12
Worked Examples 14
Exercises 14
Chapter 2 The Results of Special Relativity

Without Detailed Explanation 15
Exercises 29
Chapter 3 Special Relativity in Physics 33

3.1 The History of Special Relativity 34
Chapter 4 The Nature of Space 41

4.1 Possible Types of Distance Functions 42
4.2 What is Empty Space? 44
4.3 Views of the Nature of Space 47
Exercises 53
Chapter 5 Physical Constants 55
Chapter 6 Numbers 61
Exercises 63
Chapter 7 Comments on Matrices 65

7.1 Symmetric Matrices and Anti-symmetric Matrices 67
7.2 Rotation Matrices 69
Exercises 71
Chapter 8 Introduction to Finite Groups 73

8.1 How to Find Finite Groups 74
8.2 Sub-groups and Types of Rotation 77
8.3 Geometric Spaces from Finite Groups 78
8.4 More on Groups 78
8.5 Non-commutativity and the Space in Which We Sit 78
vi • The Special Theory of Relativity
8.6 The Ginite Group Matrix 79

8.7 Special Relativity is in C2 80
8.8 The Classification of the Finite Groups 82
Exercises 83
Chapter 9 Trigonometric Functions 85

9.1 Circles Defined 86
9.2 Rotation Matrices 89
9.3 The Two Types of 2-dimensional Space 92
9.4 Trigonometric Identities 93
9.5 Gamma 96
9.6 The Graphs of the Trigonometric Functions 99
Exercises 102
Chapter 10 Introduction to Vectors 105

10.1 Orthogonality and Perpendicularity 114
10.2 Differentiation (the Standard View) 115
10.3 Differentiation with Matrices 117
10.4 Differentiation of Vector Fields and Scalar Fields 118
10.5 Potentials 121
10.6 Five Fundamental Vectors 122
Exercises 124
Chapter 11 The Nature of Velocity 125

11.1 Acceleration 125
11.2 A Clockwise Angle Equals an Counterclockwise Angle 126
Exercises 128
Chapter 12 Simultaneity 129

12.1 Another View 130
12.2 Cause and Effect – Ordered Events 131
12.3 Back to Simultaneity 134
12.4 Comparison of Observations 135
Worked Examples 136
Exercises 138
Chapter 13 The Lorentz Transformation 139

13.1 Circles 139
13.2 The Lorentz Transformation 141
13.3 Time Dilation 142
13.4 We All Move Through Space-time at The Speed of Light 146
13.5 The Feynman Clock 148
13.6 Time Dilation by Distance Function 148
13.7 Experimental Evidence 149
Contents • vii
13.8 Length Contraction 151

13.9 Experimental Evidence 154
13.10 Getting Technical 154
13.11 A Few Useful Identities 155
Worked Examples 156
Exercises 156
Chapter 14 Velocity and Acceleration Transformations 159

14.1 Acceleration Transformation 161
14.2 First Derivation of the Acceleration Transformation 161
14.3 Second Derivation of the Acceleration Transformation 162
Exercises 163
Chapter 15 The Nature of Straight Lines and

the Twin Paradox 165
15.1 The Calculus of Variations 165
15.2 Another View 170
15.3 Yet Another View 171
15.4 The Twin Paradox 171
15.5 The Pole and Barn Paradox 174
Exercises 175
Chapter 16 4–Vectors 177

16.1 The Standard Presentation of 4-vectors 178
16.2 Differentiation of 4-vectors 181
16.3 4-velocity 182
16.4 4-acceleration 184
Exercises 189
Chapter 17 4-Momentum and Relativistic Mass 191

17.1 About Mass 192
17.2 Momentum and Energy Conservation in Special Relativity 193
17.3 Colliding Sticky Buds and the Center of Mass Reference
Frame 201
17.4 Center of Mass Reference Frame 203
17.5 4-Force 203
17.6 Electromagnetism 206
Worked Examples 207
Exercises 208
Chapter 18 Doing it With Matrices 211

18.1 Differentiating the Velocity Vector 212
18.2 Momentum 218
18.3 Force 220
viii • The Special Theory of Relativity
18.4 A Little Food for Thought 221

18.5 Five Fundamental Vectors Again 222
Chapter 19 Electromagnetism 225

19.1 The Maxwell Equations I 227
19.2 The Invariance of Electric Charge 232
19.3 Magnetic Effects 234
19.4 Electromagnetic Waves 237
19.5 Moving Electric Charges 239
19.6 4-tensors 240
19.7 4-potential 241
19.8 The Maxwell Equations II 249
19.9 The Components of Electromagnetism 252
Exercise 253
Chapter 20 Quaternions 255

20.1 Introduction to Quaternions 257
20.2 Quaternion Matrix Forms 259
20.3 The C2 × C2 Finite Group and the Space in Which We Sit 262
20.4 Non-commutative Spaces 264
20.5 The Space in Which We Sit 267
Exercise 269
Chapter 21 Electromagnetism With Quaternions 271

21.1 Why No Anti-matter in our Classical universe 274
21.2 The Inhomogeneous Maxwell Equations 274
Chapter 22 4-Dimensional Space-time and the

Lorentz Group 277
22.1 The Lorentz Group 278
22.2 Physics is Invariant Under All Rotations in the Lorentz Group 278
22.3 The Standard Presentation of the
Lorentz Group, SO(3, 1), in 4 space 280
22.4 Splitting the Lorentz Group 284
22.5 A General View 285
Chapter 23 The Expanding Universe and the Cosmic

Background Radiation 287
23.1 The Cosmic Background Radiation 293
Chapter 24 Concluding Remarks 297
Bibliography 301
Index 303
INTRODUCTION
This book is written to give interested readers or first year under-

graduates a comprehensive understanding of the theory of special
relativity. It cannot do that using only the mathematics that first year
undergraduates accumulate before their second year, and so the
necessary extra mathematics is included in the book. This makes the
book more than just a book on the theory of special relativity. The
book is also an introduction to some of the mathematics that stu-
dents will meet in the later years of their studies. The book does not
give a detailed, and dry, exposition of the mathematics, but chooses
only the bits of the mathematics necessary to understand the theory
of special relativity. In so doing, the book gives an overview of the
mathematics that students will find particularly useful when they
come to study the mathematics in detail. Thus, although the book
was originally intended to present only the theory of special relativ-
ity, it has turned out to also be a presentation of a little of the math-
ematics of physics.
The theory of special relativity is a theory of the nature of space
and time and of motion through space and time. With this in mind,
this book delves into the nature of empty space and the mathematics
of empty space. The book introduces the reader to the geometric
spaces that are derived from the mathematical objects known as the
finite groups.1 Space-time is not what mathematicians call a metric
space2, and we do not consider the metric spaces. In looking at the
finite group spaces, we take the reader to the frontiers of research
into the nature of space and time. We use the finite group spaces
to derive the special theory of relativity from no more than the real
numbers and the finite groups. We also derive Maxwell’s equations
of electromagnetism from the finite groups and the real numbers. At
those frontiers of human knowledge, we go on to derive a 4-dimen-
1.
The finite groups will be defined later.
2.
A metric space is a mathematical function that defines the distance between two point in
such a way that:
a. The distance between points A & B is the same as the distance between B & A.
b. The distance from A to A is zero.
c. The distance between A & B via another point C is greater than or equal to the distance
between A & B. This is known as the triangle axiom; it is the failure to satisfy this axiom
that disqualifies space-time from being a metric space.
x • The Special Theory of Relativity
sional space-time that matches what we observe and which is more

often expressed as the Lorentz group.
The first two chapters cover much of what is called special rela-
tivity without need for the mathematics. From these two chapters
alone, the reader will gain a quite deep knowledge of the theory of
special relativity.
The book generally follows Minkowski’s geometrical approach
to the theory of special relativity. Minkowski space is often absent
from modern presentations of the theory of special relativity, and
your author feels that those presentations are lesser presentations
because of this omission. The book does, however, not rely solely on
Minkowski and presents special relativity in a variety of ways. In par-
ticular, Minkowski used 4-vectors to formulate special relativity; we
use 4-vectors, and we then cover the same material using matrices.
There is much repetition in the book. The same aspect of spe-
cial relativity is presented in different ways and from different view-
points. The important points are emphasised and re-emphasised.
Sometimes, what has already been said once is said again when it is
needed later in the book thereby ensuring that the student is ready
to grasp the later material.
Of necessity in a book about special relativity, we cover the math-
ematics of the Lorentz transformation for which we need matrices
and the hyperbolic trigonometric functions, and so we introduce the
mathematics of matrices and trigonometry. The book includes the
vector calculus of electromagnetism, which is normally not taught
until the second year in many universities. We need the vector cal-
culus to understand 4-vectors, which are a central part of a conven-
tional exposition of special relativity. Having covered 4-vectors, the
electromagnetic 4-potential and the electromagnetic 4-tensor follow
with only a little more effort. Don’t panic – all will be revealed; it is
not as difficult as it sounds.
This book adopts the view of space as being derived from the
finite groups rather than it being just n copies of the real numbers
fixed together. To do that, we need an introduction to finite groups,
which we present with matrices in a way different from, and sim-
pler than, the usual presentation. This leads naturally to the Lorentz
transform and also to quaternions. The “quaternion axiom” postulates
Introduction • xi
that space-time is a quaternion structure, and there is evidence for

this, and so we look at quaternions. To understand quaternions, we
need to understand numbers, and so we include an understanding of
division algebras and of non-commutativity. Quaternions are becom-
ing more fashionable in physics than they once were, but, simple as
they are, very few western universities teach them as standard, and
so we give a brief introduction to them. We then derive the 4-dimen-
sional structure of the space-time we see around us and electromag-
netism from the finite groups.
We give a brief introduction to cosmology leading to the cosmic
microwave background and the implications of this being a univer-
sal, but not absolute, reference frame.
Throughout the book, there are scattered “asides” which are
comments that are not part of the main theme of the book but that
link the main theme to other areas of physics and maths. Some of
these asides are historical or biographical, some are simple com-
ments, and some are of central importance to other areas of physics
such as particle physics. In many ways, the asides indicate the unity
of physics and mathematics. The reader need not digest the asides,
and can ignore them completely without loss of understanding of the
theory of special relativity, but they do add breadth to the subject.
The book contains a little of the history of the theory of special
relativity and of physics and mathematics in general. This is included
to lighten the load and to deepen the reader’s understanding of sci-
ence and of how it progresses humankind’s understanding of the
universe.
The book does not skimp on the mathematics, but, your author
hopes, it does not bury the physics under an obscurity of technicali-
ties. Even so, it is unlikely that a reader will digest all that is in this
book in a single reading. Three readings are more normal for aca-
demic books.
As physicists and mathematicians, we quest to find a “grand uni-
fied theory of everything.” We are closer to a unified field theory
of the particles and forces in the universe than we have ever been,
but that alone cannot be a theory of everything for it contains no
understanding of the empty space and time that clearly exist in our
universe. Historically, progress in this direction has been stubbornly
xii • The Special Theory of Relativity
slow, and, perhaps for lack of any idea how to proceed, mathemati-
cians and physicists have directed their efforts, very profitably and
very understandably, elsewhere. Recent developments lead us to
think that it is possible that humankind will come to understand
space and time in the near future, and we hope to take a step towards
that understanding of space and time with this book.
Your author hopes he has produced an enjoyable book. He hopes
the book will be easy to read and deeply interesting to the curious
reader. Your author also hopes that this book will engender within
the reader a life-time interest in the nature of the empty space that
surrounds us and its relationship to the particles and forces of the
universe.
Dennis Morris
May 2016
CHAPTER
1
AN OVERVIEW OF THE
THEORY OF SPECIAL
RELATIVITY
1.1 PHYSICS IS INVARIANT UNDER ROTATION
If we take a kettle full of water and point the kettle’s spout west-
ward, the water in the kettle boils at 100 centigrade. If we then
turn the kettle to point its spout northward, the water in the kettle
still boils at 100 centigrade. The temperature at which a kettle boils
water does not change with the spatial direction in which its spout
points. (We ignore extraneous effects such as air pressure.) It would
astound us if physical effects did differ with change in spatial direc-
tion of the physical system. Imagine how weird a car would seem
if its engine worked only when the car pointed northward or how
weird sugar would be if it sweetened tea only if the teacup handle
was pointed westward. We believe, both from observation and for
good theoretical reasons, that the physics of the universe is inde-
pendent of direction in space. This is not only true upon the surface
of the Earth; this is true, we believe, everywhere in the universe.
We say that, “the boiling point of water is invariant under rota-
tion in space”. The universe is the same in all directions – it is
2 • The Special Theory of Relativity
isotropic in space. We say that physics is invariant under rotation in

space. We mean that the way things work - the physical laws of the
universe - do not change when we alter the direction in space of the
physical system. This (blindingly obvious) understanding is central
to the special theory of relativity. Indeed, apart from the details, this
understanding is the special theory of relativity. The remainder of
this book is just the details. We repeat and embolden:
The physics of the universe is invariant under rotation.
1.2 SPACE AND TIME ARE NOT

SEPARATE THINGS
To Isaac Newton (1642–1727), as to all humankind except mod-

ern theoretical physicists and modern philosophers, time was a thing
separate from space. Time is different from space. Time never stops
flowing, and we never stop moving through time, but it is easy for
us to stop moving through space. Newton saw time as a single entity
complete on its own and entirely separate from space. Newton saw
space as a thing in its own right that was separate from time. Newton
lived a good while ago. Since then, due to Albert Einstein (1879–
1955) and others, our understanding of time and space has changed.
We now see time as a dimension in space-time; we see space as a
dimension (or three1) in space-time. We are of the view that space
and time are a single entity. Space and time are as Romeo and Juliet
in Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet”. Without time, there would
be no space-time, and, without space, there would be no space-time.
Without Romeo, there would be no Romeo and Juliet, and, without
Juliet, there would be no Romeo and Juliet. Space and time are not
separate entities but are tied together into a single (2-dimensional
to start with) space-time. Perhaps this statement should be repeated
and emboldened:
Space and time are not separate entities but are joined
together into a single space-time.
1.
For the first part of this book, we will treat space-time as being 2-dimensional. We
will adapt to it being 4-dimensional in the latter part of the book.
An Overview of the Theory of Special Relativity • 3
1.3 MASS DIMENSIONS
If space-time is one entity, then time must be the same stuff

as space; even though the two things appear to be different to we
humans. We say that the mass-dimensions of space and time are the
same. We write this as:
[T] = [L] (1.1)

What we are saying here is that, if space is measured in meters, then
time must be measured in meters. Alternatively, if time is measured in
seconds, then space must be measured in seconds (think light-second
or light year). Instead of saying that the sun is 93 million miles from
Earth, we say the sun is 8 seconds from Earth. A consequence of this
is that the mass-dimension of velocity is just a number:
[Space] [Meters] [Secs]

[Velocity]    1 (1.2)
[Time] [Meters] [Secs]
It is normal in theoretical physics to set the velocity of light, which,
being a velocity, is just a number, equal to unity (one). They do this
because it is easier to put c = 1 in formulae and then not worry about
factors of c. The factors of c are easily recovered when needed. Such
units with c = 1 are sometimes called geometrical units by relativists.
The concept of mass-dimension appears almost everywhere in
theoretical physics. The equivalence of space and time is the basis of
this concept of mass-dimension.
1.4 DIRECTIONS IN SPACE-TIME
Different directions in space-time are different velocities. Since

space-time is a single (2-dimensional for us to start with) entity, it
has one space dimension and one time dimension. A direction in
any type of space is a ratio of one dimension to another dimension.
y
(Think gradient  on a sheet of graph-paper.) A ratio of space to
x
time is a velocity, like meters per second. In space-time, different
slopes (gradients) correspond to different directions which corre-

spond to different velocities.
The reader might like to picture a 2-dimensional flat sheet of
paper with two axes drawn upon it.
One axis is the time axis and the other axis is the space axis. This
is space-time. The slope (gradient) of the lines from the origin is
Space , but this is velocity. Differ-
given by the ratio of the two axes,
Time
ent slopes are different directions, both on the sheet of paper, and
in space-time. These different directions are different ratios of the
space dimension and the time dimension. A ratio of space to time is a
velocity, and so the different directions in space-time are just differ-
ent velocities. We see that what appears to us to be different veloci-
ties are no more than different directions (like East or South-east) in
space-time. Perhaps this should be repeated and emboldened.
Different velocities are no more than different
directions in space-time.
If we take a kettle full of water that is stationary before us, it boils

at 100 centigrade2. If we then put the kettle on to a train traveling
at 100,000 kilometers per second, the kettle still boils at 100 cen-
tigrade. The temperature at which a kettle boils water does not vary
with the velocity at which the kettle moves. A particular velocity is just
a particular direction in space-time, and so, a kettle moving at 100,000
kilometers per second is just a kettle with its spout pointing in a
2.
That the boiling point of water varies with height above sea level or other effects
is irrelevant to this discussion.
different direction in space-time to the direction pointed by the spout

of a kettle that is stationary. We say that, “the boiling point of water is
invariant under rotation in space-time”, this is just a way of saying that
the physics of the universe is the same at all velocities – space-time is
isotropic. We will repeat and embolden this statement also.
The physics of the universe is invariant under rotation in space-time.
The physics of the universe is the same at all velocities.
We mean that the way things work - the physical laws of the universe
- do not change when we alter the velocity at which a physical system
travels. As your author writes, the Voyager space-craft, launched by
NASA in the 1970s, is moving away from Earth at approximately
61,400 km/hr and all the electronic systems within it are working
exactly as they did when it was stationary here on Earth in the early
1970’s. Astronomers can detect stars moving very rapidly away from
the Earth. These stars still shine in the same way that our own sun
shines. Everything works the same regardless of the velocity at which
a physical system moves. This is the special theory of relativity, and
that deserves emboldening.
Everything works the same regardless of the velocity
at which a system moves.
In essence, the special theory of relativity is no more than a state-
ment that space-time is a single entity (space and time are not two
things) and that space-time is isotropic.
The Special Theory of Relativity
Space-time is a single entity. Space and time are not separate.

Space-time is isotropic
Kettles boil at the same temperature regardless of the direction in which
they are pointed (in space-time). Kettles boil at the same temperature
regardless of the velocity at which they are moving.
1.5 THE CONSTANCY OF THE SPEED OF LIGHT
The temperature at which water boils depends upon the strength

of the electromagnetic forces that hold the water molecules close to
each other. The strength of the electromagnetic force depends upon

the electrical permittivity, 0, and the magnetic permeability, 0, of
empty space. The speed of light also depends upon these two physi-
cal constants; it is given by:
1
speed of light  c  (1.3)
e 0 m0
Thus, the temperature at which water boils depends upon the speed
of light; or the speed of light depends upon the temperature at which
water boils; or they both depend upon how easily electric fields and
magnetic fields can penetrate empty space, or they are all just a dif-
ferent view of the same thing. Thus, since kettles boil at the same
temperature at all velocities, the speed of light is the same at all
velocities. That’s simple enough! The speed of light is just a law of
physics, and so it should be the same at all velocities.
Aside: 0 is also called the vacuum permeability, the permeability

of free space, or the magnetic constant. It is derived from Ampere’s
law, and its value was fixed in 1948 by the definition of the ampere.
That value is m0  1.257 10 6 Hm 1 (Henrys per meter) in SI units.
0 is a measure of how easily magnetic fields can penetrate empty
space.
0 relates units of electrical charge to mechanical quantities. It

1
is defined to be e 0  2  8.85 10 12 Fm 1 (Farads per meter)
c m0
in SI units. 0 is a measure of how easily electrical fields can pen-
etrate empty space. Each type of substance has its own measure of
how easily electrical fields can penetrate it; this measure is called the
relative permittivity. For olive oil, the relative electrical permittivity
is e r  3 Fm 1 . For ice (2C), the relative electrical permittivity is
e r  94 Fm 1 .
Now imagine a physics student on a railway platform making

a cup of tea and shining a torch along the railway line towards an
oncoming train that is moving towards the platform at 100,000 kilo-
meters per second. The physics student on the platform watches the
water for his tea boil at 100 centigrade and measures the velocity
of the light leaving his torch to be 300,000 kilometers per second
away from him. On the train, there is a mathematics student who

is also making a cup of tea. The mathematics student watches the
water for her tea boil at 100 centigrade and measures the light from
the physics student’s torch to be moving at 300,000 kilometers per
second towards her. (If her kettle boils at 100o centigrade, light must
move at 300,000 kilometers per second. We’ve just worked that out.)
What happened to the 100,000 kilometer per second velocity of the
train? Ought not the mathematics student to measure the light from
the physics student’s torch to move at the’s velocity of 400,000 kilo-
meters per second? No, she ought not to because, if she did, her
kettle would have to boil at 175 centigrade to match the change in
the values of the electrical permittivity, 0, and the magnetic perme-
ability, 0.
An old Sioux Indian once told your author that this “loss of
100,000 kilometers per second” seems counter-intuitive. Your author
is of the opinion that it actually is counter-intuitive. None-the-less,
it is true. In 1968, Farley, Bailey, & Picasso measured the speed of
radiation emitted when -mesons decay. Although the mesons were
moving at close to the speed of light through the laboratory, the light
emitted by them was measured to be c in the laboratory3. Both the
mathematics student on the train and the physics student on the
platform measure the beam of light to be moving at the same veloc-
ity because the laws of physics (of which the speed of light is one) are
the same in all directions in space-time – that is the laws of physics
are the same at all velocities.
Let us suppose that the mathematics student on the train did
measure the speed of light from the physics student’s torch to be
400,000 kilometers per second, and, at the same time, she also mea-
sured the speed of light traveling across the carriage, from a lamp
in the carriage, to be 300,000 kilometers per second. Would not this
mean that the kettle boils at different temperatures depending upon
whether its spout points across the carriage or its spout points along
the carriage? Suppose the train goes around a bend in the track.
Suppose the mathematics student measures, from the lamp in the
carriage, the speed of light in the direction of her travel and gets
300,000 kilometers per second; together with the 400,000 kilome-
3.
Farley, Bailey, & Picasso in Nature, 217, 17 (1968).
ters per second result from the light of the physics student’s torch,
there would be two different values for the speed of light in the same
direction. The poor kettle would not know which way to turn.
Imagine two observers both measuring the speed of light in
both northward and westward directions. Spatial isotropy means
that the speed of light in both directions is the same. Now suppose
the observers are moving relative to each other in the northward
direction but are stationary relative to each other in the westward
direction. Because they are stationary relative to each other in the
westward direction, they will agree on the speed of the westward
moving light. Since they agree on the speed of the westward mov-
ing light, they must agree (they each have spatial isotropy) on the
speed of the northward moving light – if they do not so agree, then
we have lost spatial isotropy. We see that invariance of physics under
rotation in space necessitates invariance of physics under rotation in
space-time. If light is to move at the same speed northward as it does
westward for all observers, then that speed must be independent of
the relative northward velocities of those observers.
Many authors of books on the theory of special relativity start
from the constancy of the speed of light under change of velocity.
Indeed, this is part of what led Einstein to special relativity (the other
part is magnetic fields caused by moving electric charges). From the
constancy of the speed of light, those authors deduce many of the
counter-intuitive aspects of special relativity. We will follow their rea-
soning later in this book. However, in spite of the constancy of the
speed of light being the starting point for many authors, it is not basic
to the theory of special relativity. In fact, as we will see later, the speed
of light is not unique to light; we will see later that all things, includ-
ing we humans, travel through space-time at the speed of light. The
invariance of the speed of light with velocity is no more than the gen-
eral invariance of physical phenomena under rotation in space-time.
Your author has rattled on about physics being invariant under
rotation in space-time (and space-space), but he has said nothing
about invariance under translation in space and in time. We believe
that the physics of the universe is the same ten billion light-years
from Earth as is here on Earth; we believe that kettles boil at 100C
in distant galaxies just as they do on Earth. This is the invariance of
physics under translation in space. We also believe that the physics

of the universe was the same ten billion years ago as it is now and
that it will be the same ten billion years into the future as it is now;
we believe that kettles will boil at 100C in ten billion years time
just as they do today. This does not mean that the universe was the
same ten billion years ago as it is now; it means only that the universe
works in the same way now as it did ten billion years ago. This is
invariance under translation in time. Such translational invariance
it is a belief and not a fact; it might be that the speed of light was
infinite at the start of the universe and has lessened since then; only
observation can decide, and no-one has been ten billion years into
the future or ten billion light-years into space.
Your author has written of the unity of space and time. Later in
this book, we will see that within special relativity we also have the
unity of many other concepts such as momentum and energy, force
and power, and electric fields and magnetic fields. However, your
author must now point out that this unity breaks for the stationary
observer. For the stationary observer, space and time are separate
things, as are momentum and energy, and force and power, and elec-
tricity and magnetism. It is only when we consider systems in motion
relative to ourselves that we see the unity of these things. We need to
accept the unification of these things when we deal with the physics
of systems that are in motion relative to ourselves. We do not need to
accept this unification when dealing with systems that are stationary
relative to ourselves. Think about it; is it not obvious to you, as you sit
there, that space is separate from time as far as you are concerned?
Having said all the above about time being a dimension in space-
time, let us remember that time is not space. We can, and will, treat
time mathematically as if it is were a dimension in space. This works,
but it does not mean that time is space. Every color in the world is
a mixture of three primary colors, red, blue, and green. I can thus
specify any color by just three ordered numbers; these numbers
being the proportions of each of the primary colours in the color that
I am specifying. Similarly, I can specify any position in a 3-dimen-
sional space by three ordered numbers (a vector), but, even though
color is mathematically identical to 3-dimensional space, this does
not mean that color is a 3-dimensional geometric space. The same
is true about including time as one number in a set of four numbers
that specifies a position in the universe. Just because the math

works like a 4-dimensional space does not mean that it is a 4-dimen-
sional space. We will see later that the trigonometric functions
of 2-dimensional Euclidean space are the cos( ) and the sin( ) func-
tions and that other than a displacement of 90, these two functions
are identical. We will see later that the trigonometric functions of
2-dimensional space-time are the cosh( ) and the sinh( ) functions.
These functions are very different from each other; this is why time is
different from space.
We’ve been a little repetitive in this chapter. We have repeated
the same concepts several times. It is partly because of the impor-
tance of understanding these concepts that we have been so repeti-
tive. It is partly because of the difficulty of understanding the con-
sequences of these concepts that we have been so repetitive. Within
this chapter, there are all the difficult basic concepts of the theory of
special relativity. There are other concepts in special relativity that
are difficult, but they are not basic concepts. We repeat:
Space and time are just two different dimensions in one
type of space called space-time.
Different velocities are no more than different directions
in space-time.
The physics of the universe is invariant under rotation
(change of direction) in space-time (and space-space).
Aside: To be acceptable, any theory of particle physics must be invari-

ant under “Lorentz transformations”. Lorentz transformations are just
rotations in space-time, and so, to be acceptable, any theory of particle
physics must be invariant under rotation in space-time (the same in all
directions in space-time – the same at all velocities). We knew that.
However, the particle physics theory must also be invariant

under three other types of transformations known as {U(1), SU(2),
SU(3)}. These transformations are, respectively, rotation in 1 space
(the complex plane), rotation in 2 spa (two copies of the complex
plane fitted together like 2), and rotation in 3 space (three copies
of the complex plane fitted together like 3).
1.6 SYMMETRY AND NOETHER’S THEOREM
In the first paragraph of this chapter, we assumed that a kettle

boils at the same temperature regardless of the direction in which its
spout is pointing. The reader did not question this “blindingly obvi-
ous” fact, but why is it true? In the first half of the 20th century, Emmy
Noether, an outstanding mathematician, was able to prove the truth
of this mathematically. In doing so, she was also able to show why
some things (energy, angular momentum,...) are conserved quanti-
ties in physics. The mathematics of what she did is beyond the remit
of this book, but we will briefly overview what she achieved.
Physicists define a symmetry as being a change in perspective
that leaves the equations of physics unchanged. Rotation in space-
time is such a change in perspective, as is rotation in space – thus
rotation in space-time is a symmetry. Another example is translation
in space which just moves the origin of the co-ordinate system. Yet
another is translation in time. Mathematically, a symmetry is a varia-
tion to the fields in the Lagrangian (the Lagrangian is a mathemati-
cal expression) that leaves the equations of motion invariant. This is
a precise, but difficult, way of saying the laws of a physical system do
not change under a symmetry. The form of the Lagrangian stays the
same under a symmetry (a rotation or a translation, say).
Aside: Lagrangian mechanics is a reformulation of classical mechanics

based upon the concept of a stationary action, A. This reformulation
was introduced by Joseph-Louis Lagrange (1736–1813) in 1788. It
applies to systems whether or not they conserve energy and momen-
tum and it gives the conditions under which energy and momentum
are conserved in those systems. The Lagrangian, L, is the difference
between the total kinetic energy and the total potential energy:
L=TV (1.4)
Where T is the total kinetic energy and V is the total potential energy.
From the Lagrangian, we can calculate the equations of motion of the
system that describe how the system will evolve through time. The
path integral of the Lagrangian, L, is called the action, A:

A  dt L (1.5)
Symmetry transformations (for example, rotations) leave A

unchanged (invariant). Such rotations form a group of infinite order
that is called a Lie group.
Symmetries are associated with conservation laws. The conservation

of momentum is associated with physics being unchanged by a transla-
tion in space. The conservation of momentum is a statement that space
is homogeneous. The conservation of energy is associated with physics
being unchanged by a translation in time – kettles boiled at 100 centi-
grade for Euclid in 300BC. The conservation of energy is a statement
that time is homogeneous. The conservation of angular momentum is
associated with physics being unchanged by a rotation in space. This
states that space is isotropic. All of the above was proven mathematically
by Emmy Noether and is expressed in Noether’s theorem.
In the paragraph above, we have said that conserva-

tion of momentum is associated with translation in
space and that conservation of energy is associated
with translation in time as if space and time were sep-
arate things. We will see later that, in special relativ-
NOTE ity, we actually have the single law of conservation of
momenergy. Momenergy is momentum and energy.
This is associated with translation in space-time. In
the theory of special relativity, the two conservation
laws are united into one conservation law as space
and time are united into one space-time.
1.7 NOETHER’S THEOREM4
For every continuous symmetry of the Lagrangian, there is a

conserved current given by:
L
Jm  dj (1.6)
 mj 

4.
This theorem was published by Noether in Invariante Variations probleme in
1918 and was presented by Felix Klein to the Royal Society of Gottingen. Noether
could not present it herself because women were not allowed membership of that
society in those days.
And there is a conserved charge associated with the conserved

current given by:

Q  d3 x J0 (1.7)
You do not need to understand this theorem to understand the the-

ory of special relativity, but you will meet it later in your studies. It
is one of the most important results of theoretical physics. It can be
seen as the mathematical proof that a kettle boils at the same tem-
perature regardless of the direction of its spout.
Aside: Emmy Noether was born into a family of eminent mathe-

maticians on March 23rd 1882 in Erlangen, Bavaria. She finished
school at the age of 15, but was not allowed to attend university
because she was a woman – yes humankind really was that back-
ward only a few decades ago! However, her father, Max Noether, was
the professor of mathematics at the University of Erlangen, and, it
seems, together with, Paul Gordan, that he allowed Emmy to attend
the lectures there. In 1903, exceptionally, and with the support of
the mathematicians there, she was allowed to attend lectures at Got-
tingen given by Minkowski, Klein, and Hilbert, and, in 1904, very
exceptionally, she was allowed to enrol as a student at Gottingen
university. It is a matter of which mathematicians and physicists may
be proud that through history many of their number have strongly
opposed discrimination based on both gender and race. As long as
the mathematics is correct, the mathematician can hail from the
Andromeda galaxy, be bright green with yellow dots, have six heads,
and be of three different genders at the same time as far as we are
concerned.
In 1908, Emmy produced a doctoral thesis on invariance5, fol-

lowing which she continued to do research at Erlangen on a more
abstract approach to the theory of invariants but, being a woman,
was unpaid for her work. She was eventually invited to join Hilbert
at Gottingen, but the university refused to allow her to teach because
she was a woman. It was this that led to Hilbert’s famous, “..this is
after all an academic institution not a bath-house” outburst. Hilbert
5.
On Complete Systems of Invariants for Ternary Biquadratic Forms.
got around the problem from 1916 to 1919 by letting her deliver
lectures in his name advertised as being delivered by him, but she
remained unpaid. From 1919 to 1923, she was allowed to lecture in
her own name, but was unpaid, and, in 1923, she was finally allowed
to take a bona fide, but still unpaid, university position. She was dis-
missed from this position in 1933 by the Nazis because she was Jew-
ish. She fled to the USA where she died from infection following
minor surgery in 1935. The theorem above, which is widely recog-
nised as possibly the most important theorem in theoretical physics,
carries her name.
WORKED EXAMPLES
1. Taking time to be of the same mass-dimensions as space,

what are the mass-dimensions of velocity?
L
Ans: We have: v  . With [L] = [T], this gives [v] = ,
T
which means that the mass-dimension of velocity (like the
velocity of light for example) is just a number. Velocity is
without mass-dimensions.
2. Taking time to be of the same mass-dimensions as space,
what are the mass-dimensions of energy?
1
Ans: We have: E  mv2 . With [L] = [T], this gives
2
[E] = [M2] = [M], which means that the mass-dimension
of energy is mass.
EXERCISES
1. What are the mass-dimensions of acceleration?

2. What are the mass-dimensions of force?
CHAPTER
2
THE RESULTS OF
SPECIAL RELATIVITY
WITHOUT DETAILED
EXPLANATION
The fact that all laws of physics are the same at all velocities has
many consequences. We will study the details later. For now, we will
merely list the more important consequences. The reader should
note that an observer does not have to be a human being but could
be an inanimate object such as a photographic plate or an electron.
We point out that a stationary observer is stationary – they are not
moving – they are stood still. A moving observer is moving relative
to a stationary observer.
Special relativity is essentially a 2-dimensional theory. Many
text books dress it up as being 4-dimensional so that it fits into the
4-dimensional space-time that we observe around us and because this
is necessary to fit with the electromagnetic field tensor. Such dress-
ing up is done by adding two inert spatial dimensions into the math-
ematics and then taking them along for the ride. The reader will lose
nothing if she thinks of special relativity in two dimensions only. The
4-dimensional space we observe is described by a different theory
known as the Lorentz group, which is compatible with special relativ-
ity. We consider the Lorentz group towards the end of this book.
1. Velocity is Relative: All observers can, and do, consider

themselves to be stationary. A math student on a railway plat-
form watching a physics student on a train passing through
the station can take the view that she, the math student, is
stationary and that the physics student on the train is moving.
A physics student on a train that is passing through a station
can take the view that he, the physics student on the train, is
stationary and that the math student standing on the platform
is moving. Both views are correct physics. The difference is
simply the arbitrary way (direction) in which the different
observers align their space-time axes.
The time axes of the two students are not aligned. The origins
coincide, but their axes are at an angle (a space-time angle)
to each other. The size of the angle is the magnitude of their
relative velocity, and the greater the space-time angle between
their time axes, the greater the velocity difference between the
two students – space-time angle is relative velocity. The phys-
ics student thinks he has aligned his time axis “horizontally”
and that the time axis of the mathematics student is at an angle
to his “horizontal”. The mathematics student thinks she has
aligned her time axis “horizontally” and that the time axis of
the physics student is at an angle to her “horizontal”.
Time for Math student

The Results of Special Relativity Without Detailed Explanation • 17
Relative velocity is no more than this non-alignment of

space-time axes.
2. The Relative Velocity Difference Between Observers is
Agreed by the Observers: If a math student on a railway
platform measures the velocity of a physics student on a train
to be v relative to herself, then the physics student on a train
will measure the velocity of the math student standing on
the platform to also be v relative to himself. They both agree
that the velocity at which they pass each other is v. That is to
say that they both agree on the magnitude of the space-time
angle between their time axes.
3. A. Time Dilation: The rate at which things happen in moving
spaceships (say the heart-beats of the spaceship’s crew)
appears to the stationary observer to lessen (the heart-
beats of the spaceship’s crew appear to the stationary
observer to slow down). What is really happening is that
the time between heart-beats is being stretched. We call
this time dilation. We have:
1
t  t0  t0g (2.1)
v2
1 2
c
Where t0 is the length of time taken for a process (say a
stationary person’s heart-beat) in the “stationary world” as
seen by the stationary observer and t is the correspond-
ing length of time taken for the same process (a moving
person’s heart-beat) in the “moving world” also as seen by
the stationary observer. The relative velocity of the two
observers is v, and c is the speed of light. The expression
with the square root is known as gamma:
1
g (2.2)
v2
1 2
c
When v = 0.9c and .t0 = 1., we have:
1 1 1
t     2.29 (2.3)
2
0.9 c2 1  0.81 0.436
1   2
c
So, when the stationary observer sees a heart-beat take

one second in the “stationary world” according to the sta-
tionary clock, she sees a heart-beat in the “moving world
traveling at v = 0.9c” take 2.29 seconds according to the
stationary clock. We emphasize “according to the station-
ary clock” in the previous sentence. As judged by station-
ary observers, processes proceed more slowly when they
proceed in moving spaceships (or trains, or ships, or cars,
or planes, or…). To an observer moving with the space-
ship, everything seems normal aboard the spaceship.
The mass media often present this phenomenon as “Time
slows down in moving spaceships”. It is the processes of
the universe that slow down in moving spaceships, and so
it takes more “stationary time” from the start of the mov-
ing process to the end of that moving process as seen by a
stationary observer. Thus, it seems to a stationary observer
that the “moving world” slows down. A part of this “mov-
ing world” is the mechanism of the moving clock, and so
the moving clock appears, to the stationary observer, to
slow down; there is more stationary time between the
ticks of a moving clock than between the ticks of a station-
ary clock. This is more than only appearance; the moving
clock really does slow down compared to the stationary
clock. We emphasize that what is really happening is that
the time between the ticks of a moving clock is stretched
(dilated). We repeat, to an observer moving with the
spaceship, everything seems normal aboard the spaceship.
For all practical purposes, all we need to know is that the
processes of the universe slow down in moving reference
frames.
Since two observers moving relative to each other can
both consider themselves to be stationary, time dilation
seems contradictory since both observer’s clocks will each
run slower than the other. Each observer has their own
clock and each thinks that the other’s clock is running
slowly. Each is correct. Think of it as a female observer
having her (right-angled) co-ordinate axes horizontal and
vertical while a male observer has his (right-angled) axes
at 45 to the horizontal and at 45 to the vertical.
Now imagine a meter stick along the (female) horizontal

axis. The female observer will say that the stick is one me-
ter long in the x-direction while the male observer will say
1
the stick is only meter long in the (his) x-direction. If
2
the male observer lays a meter stick along his x-axis (at 45
to the horizontal), he will say the stick is one meter long
in the x-direction but the female observer will say that his
1
stick is only meter long in her x-direction. They are
2
both correct, and each stick is shorter than the other.
Only if one of the observers adjusts their co-ordinate

system (rotates it by 45 to match the co-ordinate system
of the other observer) will they be able to agree on the
lengths of the sticks – but there is no contradiction. In
space-time, such a rotation is a change of velocity. The
observers will agree only if one changes their velocity to
be the same as the velocity of the other. Any necessary
adjustments are made when one or both of the observ-
ers alter their velocity to match the velocity of the other
– when one or both rotate in space-time until they both
point in the same direction in space-time. The seeming
contradiction is a consequence of using differently orien-
tated space-time co-ordinate systems. There will be more
on this later; it is the source of a lot of seeming paradoxes
in special relativity theory.
B. Clocks slow down when they are in gravitational fields:

This is a result of general relativity and nothing to do with
special relativity. Clocks near to the center of the Earth
(stronger gravity) run slower than clocks that are far from
the center of the Earth1 (weaker gravity)2.
C. Non-gravitational acceleration does not cause time dila-
tion: Thinking of velocity as rotation in space-time, we
would expect acceleration by itself not to cause time
dilation. This is verified by experiments that have shown
acceleration does not have any time dilation effects other
than the time dilation that results from relative velocity.
CERN have shown that an acceleration of 1018g experi-
enced by muons circulating in a storage ring does not add
to the time dilation that muons experience due to their
relative velocity. Vessot3 el al used hydrogen maser clocks
in rockets to determine the velocity dependent time dila-
tion of special relativity and the time dilation of a grav-
ity field and any time dilation due to non-gravitational
acceleration to an accuracy of 104. They found no time
dilation due to the non-gravitational acceleration of the
rocket. Thus, gravity does cause time dilation but non-
gravitational acceleration does not.
4. Length Contraction: The length of a moving object appears
to the stationary observer to be less than the length of the
same object when it is stationary. We call this length contrac-
tion. We have:
v2 l0
l  l0 1 
 (2.4)
c2 g
Where l0 is the length in the “stationary world” as seen by
the stationary observer and l is the corresponding length in
the “moving world” also as seen by the stationary observer.
1.
This is not quite true. The sea level at the poles is closer to the Earth’s center that
the sea level at the equator, but clocks run at the same rate at sea level throughout
the world. This is because sea level is a gravitational equipotential surface.
2.
If this effect was ignored, the GPS system would not work.
3.
R.F.C. Vessot et al Phys. Rev. Lett. 45, 2081 (1980).
The relative velocity of the two observers is v, and c is the

speed of light. When v = 0.9c and l0 = 1, we have:
l  1  0.81  0.436 (2.5)
So, what the stationary observer sees as a rod of length one
meter in the “stationary world’, he sees as a rod of length
0.436 meters in the “moving world traveling at v = 0.9c’.
Imagine that light travels at one meter per second; it is only
a matter of which units humankind chooses to use. If, in the
stationary observer’s view, the process of light traveling from
one end of a meter rod to the other end of the meter rod takes
one second in the “stationary world”, then, because of the time
dilation effect, the same process will take 2.29 seconds in the
“moving at v = 0.9c world’, as seen by the stationary observer,
1
and so the light will travel only  0.436 moving meter
2.29
in one stationary second – that is 0.436 moving meters per
stationary second. But light always travels at one meter per
second. Therefore, the 0.436 meter length must correspond to
one meter of stationary length, and so, length in the “moving
world” must appear to the stationary observer to be less than
it is in the “stationary world” (0.436 meters to one meter at v =
0.9c). Time dilation plus constancy of the speed of light equals
length contraction. This length contraction is also known as
Lorentz-Fitzgerald contraction or Lorentz contraction.
Length contraction is most evident in the length contraction
of a wire carrying an electrical current (moving electrons).
The distance between the electrons contracts and thus in-
creases the electron density in the wire and thus the elec-
tromagnetic force from the wire. This increased bit of the
electromagnetic force is the magnetic force that emanates
from an electrical current. Thus, without length contraction,
we would have no magnetic fields and so no electric power
generators.
5. Limiting Velocity: There is a finite velocity (it is the velocity
of light) that is the upper bound of the velocity at which any
object can move through space (not space-time). Nothing
can move faster through space than this greatest velocity

within space-time. Since increase in velocity is just rotation in
space-time, this means there is a limiting asymptote towards
which we rotate and past which we cannot rotate. This is very
different from the more familiar rotation in the Euclidean
plane which is completely unfettered.
Without a limiting velocity, objects could move infinitely
quickly from place to place and thereby be in two, or many,
places at the same time. This is called non-locality and it
does seem to occur in quantum theory regarding the spin of
photons. General non-locality of everything would produce a
radically different universe from the one we observe. Hence,
it is commonly thought to be a good thing that we have a
limiting velocity.
6. Addition of Velocities is Counter-Intuitive: If a math student
is moving relative to a stationary biology student at veloc-
ity u1, and a physics student is moving in the same direction
as and relative to the math student at velocity, u2, then the
stationary biology student will see the velocity of the physics
student to be less than the sum u1 + u2. We have:
u  u2
v  1 (2.6)
uu
1  12 2
c
Where v is the velocity at which the physics student moves
relative to the stationary biology student. Since we have a
limiting velocity, we must not be able to simply add velocities
for this would enable us to exceed the limiting velocity.
7. Acceleration is Non-Newtonian: In Newtonian mechanics
(the mechanics we are used to and the mechanics that en-
gineers use), if a rocket engine causes a rocket to accelerate
at a particular rate when the rocket is moving slowly, it will
drive acceleration of the rocket at the same rate when the
rocket is moving rapidly. This invariance of acceleration with
velocity, together with the invariance of force with velocity,
and the invariance of mass with velocity are basic to Newto-
nian mechanics. In special relativity mechanics, this is not so;
acceleration varies with velocity. Because there is a limiting
velocity in the universe, acceleration has to “weaken” as the

velocity approaches that limiting value. There are two
different cases.
For acceleration parallel to velocity, we have:
3
1  v2 
 
a  3 a0   1  2  a0 (2.7)
g  c 

Where v is the acceleration in the “stationary world” as seen
by the stationary observer and a¢ is the corresponding
acceleration in the “moving world” also as seen by the
stationary observer. a0 is the acceleration that a person on
a moving spaceship would feel. a is the acceleration that a
stationary observer would see the moving observer feel. The
relative velocity of the two observers is v, and c is the speed
of light. When v = 0.9c, we have the case:
i) acceleration parallel to velocity:
3
1  v2 
 
a  3 a0   1  2  a0  (0.08)a0 (2.8)
g  c 

For acceleration perpendicular to velocity, we have:

2
1  v2 
 
a  2 a0   1  2  a0 (2.9)
g  c 

There is a  difference. When v = 0.9c, we have the case:
ii) acceleration perpendicular to velocity:
2
1  v2 
a  2 a0   1  2  a0  (0.2)a0 (2.10)
g  c 

8. Newtonian Vectors are replaced by 4-vectors: In special rela-
tivity, space and time are stuck together and so we use a type
of vector that incorporates both space and time components.
Such vectors are called 4-vectors. In doing this, we are taking
a “God’s eye view” of the universe rather than a stationary
observer’s point of view. There is no accepted notational con-
vention for 4-vectors; we choose to write them with two lines
atop a capital letter. 4-vectors have four components and a

4-vector inner product (the dot product) calculated as:
X1 , X 2  X1  X 2  t1 t2  x1 x2  y1 y2  z1 z2 (2.11)
Notice the minus signs.

Almost all the laws of physics are expressible using scalars
(real-numbers), 4-vectors, and 4-tensors. The only exceptions
are in particle physics where we use spinors as well, but that
is not our concern in this book.4
Aside: The Dirac equation that describes a relativistic electron with

spin is Lorentz invariant but is expressed using spinors not 4-tensors
or 4-vectors or scalars. Spinors are needed because the wave func-
tion is written with complex numbers.
Spinors are objects that define a 2 (two complex dimensions)
sub-space of the 3 space (three complex dimensions)5.
9. We do not Differentiate with Respect to Time: In Newtonian

mechanics, we differentiate distance with respect to time to
get velocity and acceleration:
ds d2 s
v a 2 (2.12)
dt dt
Since time varies (dilates) from one velocity to another, it
would introduce complications to differentiate with respect
to time. Instead, in the standard presentation of special
relativity mechanics, we differentiate with respect to the
invariant interval, . This is for convenience rather than for
some great mathematical reason. The invariant interval is
the square root of the norm of the algebra (the length of a
vector). With R representing the displacement 4-vector, this
gives the 4-velocity as:
dR
U (2.13)
dt
4.
See: Dennis Morris - The Naked Spinor ISBN: 978-1-507817995
5.
Elie Cartan. The Theory of Spinors. 1966 – First published as “Lecons sur la
theorie des spineurs’. 1937
and the 4-acceleration as:
dU
A (2.14)
dt
Since the length of a vector is unchanged by rotation of that vec-
tor, the invariant interval is invariant under rotation in space-time
(change of velocity), which is why it is called invariant. In two dif-
ferent reference frames, which are just different rotational orienta-
tions, the invariant interval is the same, and we have:
t 2  t 2  x2  y2  z2  t2  x2  y2  z2  t 2 (2.15)

At zero velocity,  = t, and we get the Newtonian mechanics.
10. Force is Non-Newtonian: Force, like acceleration, also varies

with velocity. In Newtonian mechanics, force is defined in
two different but equivalent ways. One way is as mass mul-
tiplied by acceleration – F = ma; the other way is as the rate
of change of momentum with respect to time - F  dp . In
dt
special relativity, force is defined in only one way. That way
is based upon the rate of change of momentum, but we use
4-vectors and we differentiate with respect to the invariant
interval, , rather than with respect to time:
dP
F (1.16)
dt
It might be better to define force as rate of change of energy
with respect to space-time so that the force 4-vector would
be:
dE dE dE dE 
F  (1.17)
 dx dy dz dt 
We will see later that this is consistent with momentum being

seen as a spatial type of energy and thus no more than a dif-
ferent way of writing the standard definition.
11. Electric Charge is Invariant under Change of Velocity: Elec-
tric charge, say the charge of an electron, is invariant with
velocity (the same at all velocities). If the electric charge of
electrons were different at different velocities, then elec-

trons orbiting in different orbits would have different electric
charges and the whole universe would fall to bits. This does
not mean that the electric field of an electron is the same at
all velocities. There are time dilation and length contraction
effects that cause the electric field to change with velocity.
12. The Unification of Electric Force with Magnetic Force:
Although electric charge is invariant under change of veloc-
ity, an electric field turns into an electric and magnetic field
when it is moving. In special relativity, the electromagnetic
field is expressed as a single 4-tensor. The electromagnetic
4-force is calculated by multiplying this 4-tensor by the
4-velocity and the (scalar) electric charge, q. When the
spatial part of the 4-velocity vector is zero, we have pure
electric field.
13. E = mc2 leads to QFT and we have to reject Quantum Me-
chanics: One of the results of special relativity is that energy
can be converted into mass and vice-versa. This means that
particles like electrons can be created out of nothing more
than energy or can be annihilated into energy. Thus, particles
can be created and destroyed. The Schrödinger equation
of quantum mechanics cannot handle this, and we have to
reject quantum mechanics in favour of quantum field theory,
QFT. It also means that an amount of energy has a mass
equivalent to it.
14. Mass Increase: We tend to think of mass as inertial charge,
but, unlike electric charge, mass increases with velocity. We
have:
1
m  m 0  m0g
v2 (1.18)
1 2
c
Where m0 is the mass of an object in the “stationary world”
as seen by the stationary observer and m is the correspond-
ing mass in the “moving world” also as seen by the station-
ary observer. It is not the rest-mass, m0, that is increasing;
it is the sum of the rest-mass and the mass equivalent to the
kinetic energy that is increasing. We are used to the idea that

a rapidly moving canon ball has more kinetic energy than a
slowly moving canon ball of the same mass. Thus, given that
energy is equivalent to mass, mass increase is not that mys-
terious. We emphasize: the rest mass, m0, of a particle is the
same at all velocities. Like the electric charge, the rest mass
of a particle is invariant under change of velocity.
Aside: Mass can be converted into energy. Because of the energy

needed to bind an atomic nucleus together (binding energy), the
mass of an atomic nucleus is not equal to the sum of the masses of its
parts. This does not happen with electric charge. The electric charge
of an atomic nucleus is equal to the sum of the electric charges of
its parts6.
15 A. Breakdown of Simultaneity: Spatially separated events

that are simultaneous for one observer are not simultane-
ous for another observer who is moving relative to the
first observer. To put it another way, observers who are
pointing in different directions in space-time do not agree
on the simultaneity of spatially separated events.
B. Events are Ordered: Although two observers moving at
different velocities will not agree that two spatially sepa-
rated events are simultaneous, they will agree on the order
of those events up to simultaneity – which was cause and
which was effect. All observers at all velocities will agree
that the first event happened first or was simultaneous
with the second event (one velocity only) and that the sec-
ond event happened second or was simultaneous with the
first event (same one velocity). No observer will think that
the second event happened first. This is because the rota-
tions in space-time are restricted. (Roughly, and wrongly,
but pedagogically picturesquely, to being only 90 out of
the 360 we have in Euclidean space). This restriction is
the finite limiting velocity (the speed of light). Without the
limiting velocity, we would not have ordered events and
cause and effect would be meaningless.
6.
This is called the principle of superposition.
Thus, only observers moving in unison at one particular

velocity will agree that two spatially separated events hap-
pened at the same time - simultaneously. If the two events
are separated in time, then only observers moving in
unison at zero velocity (stationary) will see two temporally
separated events as happening at the same place. All other
observers see two events that happen at different positions
in space-time as being separated by some space and some
time.
16. The Unification of the Building Blocks of the Universe: With-
in the Newtonian theory, space is a thing separate from time.
In special relativity, these two separate things are combined
into a single entity that we call space-time. The same is true
of momentum and energy which are combined into
momenergy; of force and power; of electricity and magne-
tism, which are combined into electromagnetism; and of
current density and charge density. Instead of two conserva-
tion laws, conservation of momentum and conservation of
energy, within special relativity, we have only the conser-
vation of momenergy. There seems to be a problem here.
Energy is measured in KgM2S2 whereas momentum is mea-
sured in KgMS1. The resolution of this seeming problem is
that, within special relativity, length is taken to have the same
mass-dimensions as time:
[L] = [T] (1.19)
This means that both energy and momentum are measured in
kilograms – think e = mc2. So, because space-time is one entity,
space has the same mass-dimension as time; because space has
the same mass-dimension as time, momentum is measured
in the same units (mass-dimensions) as energy. It two things
are measured in the same units (mass-dimensions), they must
effectively be the same stuff. It is the unification of space with
time that “causes” the unification of energy with momentum
(and all the other unifications as well).
It is important to realize that a stationary observer viewing
a physical system that is stationary with respect to her will
always see the divided version of the unification. For the
stationary observer, there will always be both the conserva-

tion of energy and the conservation of momentum for
co-stationary systems.
17. Special Relativity Approaches the Newtonian Theory at Low
Velocities: Although Newtonian mechanics is not perfectly
accurate except when the velocity is zero, it is still very ac-
curate, even at quite high velocities. NASA uses Newtonian
mechanics to calculate the trajectories of interplanetary
space missions because it is accurate enough at the veloci-
ties of these space missions and it is difficult to calculate with
general relativity. Newtonian mechanics is correct at zero
velocity, and so special relativity mechanics must, and does,
approach Newtonian mechanics, also known as the Newto-
nian limit, as the velocity approaches zero. This is expressed
by the mathematical fact that, when the velocity is zero,
gamma is unity:
1
g v 0  1 (1.20)
02
1 2
c
EXERCISES
1. Draw a set of space-time axes such that the time axis is in the
horizontal direction and the space axis is in the vertical direc-
tion. Put two separate dots on the positive half of the time
axis. What is the spatial separation of the two dots? The dots
are separate in time but not in space. Super-impose another
set of space-time axes on to the drawing with the time axis at
45 to the horizontal. What is the spatial separation of the two
dots in the new axes?
2. A photon of light is emitted from the big bang at the start of
the universe. 13.8 billion years later, an astronomy student
captures the photon in a telescope on Earth. Assuming that
the time dilation formula applies to photons of light:
a. How old is the universe as measured by the photon of light
(not the astronomy student)?
b. How much time has the photon of light travelled through

in its own view?
c. How much space has the photon of light travelled through
in its own view?
d. What is the distance (interval) in space-time that the pho-
ton has travelled through in its own view?
e. How much time has the photon travelled through in the
astronomy student’s view?
3. Does mass increase depend upon the direction of the veloc-
ity? Does time dilation depend upon the direction of the
velocity? Does length contraction depend upon the direction
of the velocity?
4. A distant galaxy of mass MGal is receding from the Earth at a
velocity of 0.9c. Assuming that the mass increase formula ap-
plies to distant galaxies, what is the mass of the distant galaxy
as seen from Earth?
ML2
5. The mass-dimensions of energy are [E]  2 (think
T
2 ML
E = mc ). The mass-dimensions of force are [F]  2 (think
T
F = ma). What are the mass-dimensions of dE
?
dr
6. A star with a single orbiting planet passes the Earth at 0.8c.
In the view of the star, its planet’s orbit is perfectly circular.
Use the length contraction formula to calculate the
eccentricity of the planet’s orbit as seen from Earth.
b2
Note: e  1  .
a2
7. There are three students traveling in the same direction. The
biology student passes the physics student at 0.8c. At the
same time, the physics student passes the mathematics stu-
dent at 0.9c. At what velocity does the biology student pass
the mathematics student?
8. a) What is the inner product of the two 4-vectors:
[4 1 1 2] & [3 2 1 1]?
b) What is the inner product of the two 4-vectors:

[3 2 1 2] & [3 2 2 2]
9. A rocket moves perpendicularly away from the Earth at 0.5c.
As it does so, it accelerates at a rate which its own instru-
ments declare to be 0.4c per second. What is the rocket’s
acceleration as seen by an Earth-bound observer?
10. A star moves away from Earth at 0.9c. In its own reference
frame, the star is burning 4  106 metric tons of mass per
second (that is 4  106 of its own metric tons in one of its
own seconds). What amount of mass is the star burning per
second in the Earth’s reference frame?
11. An art student traveling at 0.9c hits her thumb with a ham-
mer. There is a stationary math student watching her. Given
that force is not invariant with velocity, which student feels
the most pain? How does time dilation affect this?
CHAPTER
3
SPECIAL RELATIVITY
IN PHYSICS
Special relativity is one theory of physics; general relativity is

another completely different theory of physics. It is confusing that
they both share the appellation “relativity”. They were both devel-
oped by Albert Einstein. Special relativity deals with space in which
there is no gravitational field. General relativity deals with a gravi-
tational field. Special relativity is a universal theory in that there is
no limit on the distance between observers – but see the cosmology
chapter later. General relativity is a local theory in that it applies
only over an infinitesimally small area of the universe. In the original
German, Einstein initially called special relativity “Invariant theory”,
which would have avoided the confusion.
We inhabit only one universe. Clearly, this only one universe
ought to be explained by only one theory. Rather embarrassingly,
modern physics has two theories. Those two theories are quantum
field theory (QFT) and general relativity. Between them, these two
theories explain the four forces of nature. QFT is the theory of
particle physics that covers the strong, weak, and electromagnetic
forces. General relativity is a theory of the gravitational force. QFT
contains within it special relativity. Special relativity has been com-
pletely unified with particle physics into QFT. There is no unifica-
tion of general relativity and QFT. The two theories of QFT and
general relativity are philosophically and mathematically distinct. It
is remarkable that both these two very different theories are both
extremely accurate descriptions of reality; their correctness has been
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The cramming processes which are resorted to in order to force
children at fixed times from the lower to the higher grades of public
schools, and more especially from grammar to normal or high
schools, is a fruitful source of evil in this direction. It is not always so
much hard study as it is the badly-arranged and too numerous
subjects of study that make the strain. I have spoken of this in
another connection as follows:42 “Our children are too largely in the
hands of those educationalists to whom Clouston refers,43 who go on
the theory that there is an unlimited capacity in every individual brain
for education to any extent and in any direction. Children varying in
age and original capacity, in previous preparation, and in home-
surroundings are forced into the same moulds and grooves. The
slow must keep pace with the fleet, the frail with the sturdy, the
children of toil and deprivation with the sons and daughters of wealth
and luxury. A child is always liable to suffer from mental overwork
when the effort is made to force its education beyond its receptive
powers. Education is not individualized enough. The mind of the
child is often confused by a multitude of ill-assorted studies.
Recreation is neglected and unhealthy emulation is too much
cultivated. In many communities admissions to various grades of
public schools are regulated entirely by the averages obtained at
examinations, instead of on the general record of the pupils in
connection with proper but not too severe examinations. In
consequence often, after the campaign of overwork and confusion
called an examination, we see children developing serious
disturbances of health or even organic disease—paroxysmal fever,
loss of appetite, headache or neckache, disturbed sleep, temporary
albuminuria, chorea, hysteria, and hystero-epilepsy.”
42 “Toner Lecture on Mental Overwork and Premature Disease among Public and
Professional Men.” delivered March 19, 1884, Washington, Smithsonian Inst.,
January, 1885.
43 Clinical Lectures on Mental Diseases.
The term students' hysteria has been applied to the neuromimetic

disorders from which medical students frequently suffer during their
attendance upon lectures. Some years since, when engaged in
examining students upon the lectures upon the practice of medicine
delivered by Professor DaCosta, I saw many illustrations of this
affection, some of which were very amusing. In a paper on hysteria
which received the prize at the Physical Society of Guy's Hospital, P.
Horrocks44 writes that during the fortnight following the death of the
late Napoleon, Sir James Paget was consulted for stone in the
bladder by no less than four gentlemen who had nothing the matter
with them. “How many students,” says Horrocks, “are there, of one
year's standing or more, who have not imagined and really became
convinced that they were suffering from some disease, generally a
fatal disease?” In such cases we have a combination of true
psychical influence with overwork and the unhygienic surroundings
for which our medical colleges are notorious.
44 Med. and Surg. Reporter, vol. xxxvii., Nov. 24, 1877.
It has been my personal experience that comparatively few cases of

hysteria occur among female medical students. Not long since a
thesis was presented at graduation by a woman medical student45
on the curative effects of professional training in neurasthenic and
hysterical women. In this she shows that there are certain relations
of mind over body which enable it to modify bodily conditions and
ward off disease when other remedies appear almost powerless.
She illustrates the therapeutic power of mental impressions and
occupations by two cases in which a judicious and careful course of
study acted to cure severe nervous and uterine troubles. One of
these women, who had suffered with neurasthenia and general
debility, severe nervous headaches, and other symptoms, was able
during her last year at college to attend fifteen lectures a week,
besides clinics, prepare for examination on five subjects, and was
seldom troubled with even headache. She afterward was employed
in hospital work, and could walk five miles a day without discomfort.
That women medical students know when and how to take care of
themselves during the menstrual period, and that they can, if they
see fit, cease work or lighten their labors at that time, would partly
account for their escaping from nervous break-down.
45 “The Therapeutic Value of Mental Occupation,” by Hannah M. Thompson, M.D.,
Medical and Surgical Reporter, November, 1883.
That any form of irritation in a patient predisposed to hysteria may

act as an exciting cause in this affection has led Laségue to apply
the term peripheral hysteria to certain cases. One of his cases was a
girl fourteen years old, who, having suffered for a few hours with her
eyes because of some sand thrown into one of them by a playmate,
awoke the next morning with a spasm of the eyelid on that side,
which rendered it impossible for her to open that eye; and it
remained closed during four months. He considered that the irritation
produced by the sand was not the immediate cause of the spasm,
but that its long duration was an hysterical phenomenon. The patient
afterward became the subject of hysterical manifestations. In another
complete hysterical aphonia came on after a slight bronchitis.
Another, after an attack of indigestion, refused to touch either food or
drink for twenty-four hours, and later was troubled with regurgitation
from constriction of the pharynx or œsophagus which lasted for
some weeks.
Anæmia and chlorosis are frequent exciting causes of hysteria in

children, particularly in girls.
Disorders of menstruation play a prominent part as exciting causes

of special hysterical manifestations. The period of the establishment
of the menstrual function is one that is particularly fertile in the
production of hysteria, much more so than acquired disorders of
menstruation occurring later. Menorrhagia, dysmenorrhœa, and
certain local utero-vaginal disorders may act upon those predisposed
to hysteria as exciting causes. These conditions themselves are, on
the other hand, sometimes caused by nervous, hysterical states in
the individual.
With reference to the very common assertions that continence on the

one hand, and sexual over-indulgence on the other, are the most
prolific causes of hysteria, the true stand to take is that neither of
these positions is philosophically correct; for, as Briquet has shown,
nuns on the one hand and prostitutes on the other are frequent
victims of this protean disorder.
As affirmed by Jolly, sexual over-irritation, particularly that induced

by onanism, more frequently causes hysteria than sexual abstinence
or deprivation.
The occurrence of hysteria and hysterical choreas among pregnant

women has long been recognized. Scanzoni, quoted by Jolly,46
states that of 217 patients whom he had treated, 165, or 76 per cent.
had been puerperal, and that of the latter not less than 65 per cent.
had borne children more than three times. Cases of grave hysteria or
hystero-epilepsy have been aggravated by pregnancy and have led
to premature labor.
46 Op. cit.
Chrobak attacks the etiological problem of hysteria by referring its

causation to movable kidneys! He observed 19 such patients in
Vienna, 16 being in Oppolzer's clinic.47 Three times no subjective
symptoms accompanied the anomaly; eight times the trouble could
be referred either to the dislocation of the kidneys or to disease of
the same; and eight times the evidence of hysteria was
unmistakable. Among the latter eight cases neither vaginal, uterine,
nor ovarian conditions were recognized. He concludes that there is a
direct nervous connection between the kidneys and the genital
organs, and between both and hysteria.
47 Medizinische-Chirurgische Rundschan, quoted by Boston Medical and Surgical
Journal, 1870, lxxxiii. 430-432.
In brief, the truth is that frequent or severe local irritation in any part
of the body in an individual of the hysterical diathesis may act as the
exciting cause of an hysterical paroxysm or of special hysterical
manifestations. Irritation or disease of the uterus or ovaries may
result in hysteria, as may the bite of a dog, a tumor of the brain, a
polypus in the nose, a phymosis, an irritated clitoris, a gastric ulcer, a
stenosis of the larynx, a foreign body in the eye, a toe-nail ulcer, or a
movable kidney.
Whatever tends to exhaust the nervous system will also cause

hysteria, but only in those who have some inherited predisposition to
the disorder. C. Handfield Jones48 mentions heatstroke and severe
physical labor as such causes. One of the sequelæ of heatstroke
enumerated by Sir R. Martin, and quoted by Jones, is a distressing
hysterical state of the nervous system, with an absence of self-
control in laughing and crying, the paroxysm being followed by great
prostration of nervous power.
48 Op. cit.
The effect of imitation in the production of hysteria has been known

in all ages. Most of the epidemics and endemics of nervous
disorders which have from time to time prevailed in various parts of
the world have either been hysterical in character or have had in
them a large element of hysteria. While it is impossible in a practical
work to devote much space to this branch of the subject, a
discussion of hysteria in its etiological relations would be imperfect
without some reference to these outbreaks. In ancient times, in the
Middle Ages, and within comparatively recent periods extraordinary
epidemics have occurred. No country within the range of medical
observation has been entirely free from them. Communities civilized
and semi-civilized, Christian and Mohammedan, Protestant and
Catholic, have had a fair share of the visitations. Some of them
constitute epochs in history, and, as Hecker,49 their greatest
historian, has remarked, their study affords a deep insight into the
work of the human mind in certain states of society. “They are,” he
says, “a portion of history, and will never return in the way in which
they are recorded; but they expose a vulnerable part of man—the
instinct of imitation—and are therefore very nearly connected with
human life in the aggregate.”
49 The Epidemics of the Middle Ages, from the German of J. F. C. Hecker, M.D.,
Professor at the Frederick William University at Berlin, etc., translated by B. G.
Babington, M.D., F. R. S., etc.; 3d ed., London, 1859.
Some authors under hysteria, others under catalepsy, others under
ecstasy, still others under chorea, have discussed these epidemics—
a fact which serves to emphasize the truth that while these affections
have points of difference, they have also an easily-traced bond of
union. They are but variations of the same discordant tune. Briquet
in an admirable manner sketches their history from the age of
Pausanias and Plutarch to the time of Mesmer. Of American writers,
James J. Levick50 of Philadelphia has furnished one of the most
valuable contributions to this subject.
50 “An Historical Sketch of the Dance of St. Vitus, with Notices of some Kindred
Disorders,” Med. and Surg. Reporter, vol. vii., Dec. 21 and 28, 1861, p. 276, and Jan.
4 and 11, 1862, p. 322.
In the year 1237 a hundred children or more were suddenly seized

with the dancing mania at Erfurt; another outbreak occurred at
Utrecht in 1278.
As early as the year 1374 large assemblages of men and women

were seen at Aix-la-Chapelle affected with a “dancing mania.” They
formed circles and danced for hours in wild delirium. Attacks of
insensibility, of convulsions, and of ecstasy occurred. The disease
spread from Germany to the Netherlands. In a few months it broke
out in Cologne, and about the same time at Metz. “Peasants,” we are
told, “left their ploughs, mechanics their workshops, housewives their
domestic duties, to join the wild revelry, and this rich commercial city
became the scene of the most ruinous disorder.”
The festival of St. John the Baptist was one celebrated in strange
wild ways in these early days. Fanatical rites, often cruel and
senseless, were performed on these occasions. Hecker supposes
that the wild revels of St. John's Day in 1374 may have had
something to do with the outbreak of the frightful dancing mania
soon after this celebration. It at least brought to a crisis a malady
which had been long impending.
The Flagellants afford another illustration of an early religio-nervous

craze. Self-flagellation was indulged in for generations before the
fourteenth century, but it then became epidemic. A brotherhood of
Flagellants was formed; they marched in processions carrying
scourges, with which they violently lashed and scourged themselves.
As late as 1843, Flagellant processions, but without the whips and
scourging, were continued in Lisbon on Good Friday.
Strasburg was visited by the dancing plague in 1418. Those afflicted

were conducted to the chapel of St. Vitus, where priests attempted to
relieve them by religious ceremonies. The name St. Vitus's dance,
still so common as a synonym for chorea, has come down to us
because of the alleged wonderful doings of this saint in behalf of
those affected during some of the dancing epidemics. Both Hecker
and Madden51 give interesting details of the personal history of St.
Vitus, who was a Sicilian, born in the time of Diocletian, and even in
childhood is said to have worked great miracles, and was delivered
from many sufferings and torments. He died about the year 303. His
body was moved to Apulia, afterward to St. Denys in France, and still
later to the abbey of Corvey in Saxony. A legend was invented that
St. Vitus, just before he bent his neck to the sword, prayed to God
that he might protect from the dancing mania all those who should
solemnize the day of his commemoration and fast upon its eve.
51 Phantasmata; or, Illusions and Fanaticisms, etc., by R. R. Madden, F. R. S.,
London, 1857.
Another strange disorder called tarantismus derived its name from

the fact that it was supposed to be caused by the bite of the
tarantula, a ground-spider common in Apulia, Italy. According to
Hecker, the word tarantula is the same as terrantola, a name given
by the Italians to a poisonous lizard of extraordinary endowments.
The fear of the insect was so general that its bite was much oftener
imagined than actually received. The disorder was probably in
existence long before the fifteenth century, although the first account
of it, that of Nicholas Perotti, refers to its occurrence in this century.
Many symptoms followed the bite or supposed bite: the individuals
became melancholy, stupefied, lost their senses, and, above all,
were irresistibly impelled to dance until exhausted and almost
lifeless. It was believed that the results of the bite could be cured, or
at least much benefited, by dancing to a certain kind of music.
Tarantism was at its height in the seventeenth century. To this day, in
some parts of Italy, dances called tarantellas are performed with
intricate figures to marked time.
Abyssinia was visited by a dancing mania called the tigretier, which,

according to Hecker, resembled the original mania of the St. John
dancers. It exhibited a similar ecstasy. Those affected with it were
cured by dancing to the music of trumpeters, drummers, fifers, etc.
Levick says that the dancing mania of the fifteenth century is still
kept in popular remembrance in some places by an annual festival,
especially at Echtermarch, a small town in Luxembourg, where a
jumping procession occurs annually on Whit Tuesday. In the year
1812, 12,678 dancers were in the procession.
The Anabaptists, a religious sect of the sixteenth century, exhibited

many of the wild and grotesque phenomena of hysteria or hystero-
epilepsy.
The French Calvinists or Camisards, who appeared near the close of

the seventeenth century, were also the subjects of ecstasy and of
peculiar fits of trembling. These trembleurs experienced convulsive
shocks in the head, the shoulders, the legs, and the arms, and were
sometimes thrown violently down.
About 1731 and later great crowds frequented the tomb of Deacon
François de Paris, an advocate of the doctrines of Jansenius. It was
reported that miracles were performed at his tomb: the sick were
brought there, and often were seized with convulsions and pains,
through which they were healed. The subjects of these attacks are
sometimes spoken of as the Jansenist Convulsionnaires. The tomb
was in the cemetery of St. Médard, and hence those who visited the
place were also termed the Convulsionnaires of St. Médard. This
disorder increased, multiplied, and disseminated, lasting with more
or less intensity for fifty-nine years. Great immorality prevailed in the
secret meetings of the believers.
Hecker gives some remarkable instances of the effect of sympathy
or imitation exhibited on a smaller scale than in the epidemics of the
Middle Ages. One is of a series of cases of fits in a Lancashire
factory, the first one brought on by a girl putting a mouse into the
bosom of another. In Charité Hospital in Berlin in 1801 a patient fell
into strong convulsions, and immediately afterward six other patients
were affected in the same way; by degrees eight more were
attacked. At Redruth, England, a man cried out in a chapel, “What
shall I do to be saved?” Others followed his example, and shortly
after suffered most excruciating bodily pain. The occurrence soon
became public; hundreds came, and many of them were affected in
the same way. The affection spread from town to town. Four
thousand people were said in a short time to be affected with this
malady, which included convulsions.
Hecker in the edition of his work referred to has also a treatise on

child pilgrimages.52 These pilgrimages, like the dancing mania,
occurred in the Middle Ages. The greatest was the boy crusade in
the year 1212. The passion to repossess the Holy Land then had its
grip on Catholic Europe. The first impulse to the child pilgrimages
was given by a shepherd-boy, who had revelations and ecstatic
seizures, and held himself to be an ambassador of the Lord. Soon
thirty thousand souls came to partake of his revelations; new child-
prophets and miracle-workers arose; the children of rich and poor
flocked together from all quarters; parents were unable to restrain
them, and some even began to urge them. A host of boys, armed
and unarmed, assembled at Vendôme, and started for Jerusalem
with a boy-prophet at their head. They got to Marseilles, and
embarked on seven large ships. Two ships were wrecked, and not a
soul was saved. The other five ships reached Bougia and
Alexandria, and the young crusaders were all sold as slaves to the
Saracens. In Germany child-prophets arose, especially in the Rhine
countries and far eastward. An army of them gathered together,
crossed the Alps, and reached Genoa. They were soon scattered;
many perished; many were retained as servants in foreign lands;
some reached Rome. A second child's pilgrimage occurred twenty-
five years later. It was confined to the city of Erfurt. One thousand
children wandered, dancing and leaping, to Armstadt, and were
brought back in carts. Another child's pilgrimage from Halle, in
Suabia, to Mount St. Michel in Normandy, occurred in 1458.
52 Translated by Robert H. Cooke, M. R. C. S.
In the convent of Yvertet in the territory of Liège, in 1550, the

inmates were seized with a leaping and jumping malady. The
disorder began with a single individual, and was soon propagated.
Sometimes the convulsive disorders of early days, especially those

occurring in convents, were associated with the strange delusion that
the subjects of them were changed into lower animals. Various
names have been given to disorders of this kind, such as
lycanthropia or wolf madness, zoomania or animal madness, etc.
Burton in the Anatomy of Melancholy gives an interesting summary
of these disorders, which are also discussed by Levick.
In 1760 a religious sect known as the Jumpers prevailed in Great

Britain. They were affected with religious frenzy, and jumped
continuously for hours. Other jumping epidemics have appeared at
different times, both in Great Britain and in this country.
The New England witchcraft episode is of historical interest in

connection with this subject of epidemic hysteria. This excitement
occurred during the latter part of the seventeenth century. Adults and
children were its subjects. The Rev. Cotton Mather records many
cases, some of which illustrate almost every phase of hysteria.
Individuals who were seized with attacks, which would now be
regarded as hysterical or hystero-epileptic, were supposed to have
become possessed through the machinations of others. Those who
were supposed to be possessed were tried, condemned, and
executed in great numbers. Many accused themselves of converse
with the devil. The epidemic spread with such rapidity, and so many
were executed, that finally the good sense of the people came to the
rescue.
The nervous epidemics, nearly all religious, which have occurred in
this country have usually been during the pioneer periods, and have
therefore appeared at different eras as one part of the country after
another has been developed. Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and
neighboring States were visited time and again. Even to-day we
occasionally hear of outbreaks of this kind in remote or primitive
localities, whether it be in the far South-west or in the woods of
Maine.
David W. Yandell53 has published a valuable paper on “Epidemic

Convulsions,” the larger part of the materials of which were collected
by his father for a medical history of Kentucky. From this it would
appear the convulsions were first noticed in the revivals from 1735 to
1742. Many instances are related of fainting, falling, trance,
numbness, outcries, and spasms. The epidemic of Kentucky spread
widely, reappeared for years, and involved a district from Ohio to the
mountains of Tennessee, and even to the old settlements in the
Carolinas. Wonderful displays took place at the camp-meetings. At
one of these, where twenty thousand people were present, sobs,
shrieks, and shouts were heard; sudden spasms seized upon scores
and dashed them to the ground. Preachers went around in ecstasy,
singing, shouting, and shaking hands. Sometimes a little boy or girl
would be seen passionately exhorting the multitude, reminding one
of the part taken by the children in the epidemics of the Middle Ages.
A sense of pins and needles was complained of by many; others felt
a numbness and lost all control of their muscles. Some subjects
were cataleptic; others were overcome with general convulsions.
53 Brain, vol. iv., Oct., 1881, p. 339 et seq.
The term jerks was properly applied to one of the forms of

convulsion. Sometimes the jerking affected a single limb or part. The
Rev. Richard McNemar has given a graphic description of this
jerking exercise in a History of the Kentucky Revival. The head
would fly backward and forward or from side to side; the subject was
dashed to the ground, or would bounce from place to place like a
football, or hop around with head, limbs, and trunk twitching and
jolting in every direction. Curiously, few were hurt. Interesting
descriptions of the jerks can be found in various American
autobiographical and historical religious works. In such books as the
Autobiography of Peter Cartwright, a Western Methodist, for
instance, striking accounts of some of the phases of these epidemics
are to be found. Lorenzo Dow in his Journal, published in
Philadelphia in 1815, has also recorded them.
Hysterical laughter was a grotesque manifestation often witnessed.

The holy laugh began to be a part of religious worship. Dancing,
barking, and otherwise acting like dogs, were still other
manifestations. It is remarkable that, according to Yandell, no
instance is recorded in which permanent insanity resulted from these
terrible excitements.
The absurd and extraordinary exhibitions witnessed among the

Shakers belong to the same category, and have been well described
by Hammond and others.
In a History of the Revival in Ireland in 1859, by the Rev. William

Gibson, instances of excitement that fairly rivalled those which
occurred in our Western States are given. Cases of ecstasy are
described.
The religious sect known as the Salvation Army, which has in very
recent years excited so much attention, curiosity, and comment both
in America and England, has much in common with the Jumpers, the
Jerkers, and the Convulsionnaires. The frenzied excitement at their
meetings, with their tambourine-playing, dancing, shouting, and
improvising are simply the same phases of religio-hysterical disorder,
modified by differences in the age and environment.
In 1878, in the district of Tolmezo, Italy, an epidemic of hysteria

which recalls the epidemics of the Middle Ages occurred. It has been
described by M. Léon Colin.54 It was reported to the prefect of
Undine that for three months some forty females living in the
commune of Verzeguis had been attacked by religious mania. “From
the report it appears that the first was in the person of a woman
named Marguerite Vidusson, who had been the subject of simple
hysteria for about eight years. In January, 1878, she began to suffer
from convulsive attacks, accompanied by cries and lamentations.
She was regarded as the subject of demoniacal possession, and on
the first Sunday in May was publicly exorcised. Her affection,
however, increased in severity; the attacks were more frequent and
more intense, and were especially provoked by the sound of the
church-bells and by the sight of priests. Seven months later three
other hysterical girls became subject to convulsive and clamorous
attacks. Here, again, an attempt was made to get rid of the
supposed demon. A solemn mass was said in the presence of the
sufferers, but was followed only by a fresh outbreak. At the time of
the visit of the delegates eighteen were suffering, aged from sixteen
to twenty-six years, except three, whose ages were respectively
forty-five, fifty-five, and sixty-three years. Similar symptoms had also
appeared in a young soldier on leave in the village.” During the
attacks the patients talked of the demon which possessed them,
stated the date on which they were seized by it, and the names of
the persons who were possessed before them. Some boasted of
being prophetesses and clairvoyants and of having the gift of
tongues. In all, the sound of church-bells caused attacks, and
religious ceremonies appeared not only to aggravate the disease in
the sufferers, but also to cause its extension to those not previously
attacked. M. Colin points out that the soil is particularly favorable for
the development of an epidemic of this nature. The people of
Verzeguis are backward in education and most superstitious.
Functional nervous diseases are common among them. The
inhabitants of the village are largely cut off from intercourse with the
adjacent country in consequence of comparative inaccessibility and
the frequent interruption of communications by storms and floods.
Craniometric observations on twelve of the inhabitants seemed to
show that the brachycephalic form of skull predominated, and that
the development of the cranium was slightly below the average. The
epidemic proved extremely obstinate.
54 Annales d'Hygiène, quoted in Lancet, Oct. 16, 1880.
In Norway and New Caledonia similar hysterical outbreaks have
been observed in recent times.
An endemic of hysteria from imitation occurred in Philadelphia in

1880. Some of the cases fell under my own observation. A brief
account of them is given by Mitchell in his Lectures. The outbreak
occurred in a Church Home for Children, to which Dr. S. S. Stryker
was physician. The Home contained ninety-five girls and six boys; all
of them were well nourished and in good condition. The epidemic
began by a girl having slight convulsive twitchings of the extremities,
with a little numbness. Attacks returned daily; respiration became
loud and crowing. She soon had all the phenomena of convulsive
hysteria. Many of her comrades began to imitate her bark. Soon
another girl of ten was attacked with harsh, gasping breathing, with
crowing, speechlessness, clutching at her throat, and the whole
series of phenomena exhibited by the first girl attacked. Nine or ten
others were affected in like manner, and many of the remaining
children had similar symptoms in a slight degree. At first convulsions
occurred irregularly; after a while they appeared every evening; later,
both morning and evening. The presence of visitors would excite
them. Many interesting hysterical phases occurred among the
children. One night some of them took to walking about on their
hands and knees; others described visions. The girls often spoke of
being surrounded by wild beasts, and one child would adopt the
fiction which another related in her hearing. The cases were
scattered about in different hospitals, and made good recoveries in
from one to two months.
The Jumpers or Jumping Frenchmen of Maine and Northern New

Hampshire were described by Beard in 1880.55 They presented
nervous phenomena in some phases allied to hysteria. In June,
1880, Beard visited Moosehead Lake and experimented with some
of them. Whatever order was given them was at once obeyed. One
of the Jumpers, who was sitting in a chair with a knife in his hand,
was told to throw it, and he threw it quickly so that it struck in a beam
opposite; at the same time he repeated the order to throw it with a
cry of alarm. They were tried with Latin and Greek quotations, and
repeated or echoed the sound as it came to them. They could not
help repeating any word or sound that came from the person that
ordered them. Any sudden or unexpected noise, as the report of a
gun, the slamming of a door, etc., would cause them to exhibit some
phenomena. It was dangerous to startle them where they could
injure themselves, or if they had an axe, knife, or other weapon in
their hands. Since the time of Beard's observation accounts of their
doings have now and then found their way into newspapers. One
recent account tells of one of these peculiar people jumping from a
raft into the Penobscot River on an order to jump.
55 Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases, vol. vii., 1880, p. 487.
Hammond56 has described under the name Miryachit an affection

which seems to be essentially the same disorder as that of which the
Jumpers are the victims. He quotes from a report of a journey from
the Pacific Ocean through Asia to Europe by Lieutenant B. H.
Buckingham and Ensigns Geo. C. Foulk and Walter McLean of the
United States Navy, an account of this disease. The party made their
first observations on this affection while on the Ussuri River in
Siberia. The captain of the general staff approached the steward of
the boat suddenly, and without any apparent reason or remark
clapped his hand before his face; instantly the steward clapped his
hand in the same manner, put on an angry look, and passed on.
When the captain slapped the paddle-box suddenly, the steward
instantly gave it a similar thump. Some of the passengers imitated
pigs grunting or called out absurd names, etc.; the poor steward
would be compelled to echo them all. The United States naval
officers were informed that the affection was not uncommon in
Siberia, and that it was commonest about Yakutsk, where the winter
cold is extreme. Both sexes were subject to it, but men much less
than women. It was known to Russians by the name of Miryachit.
56 New York Med. Journ., Feb. 16, 1884.
In both these classes of cases a suggestion of some kind was

required, and then the act took place independently of the will.
“There is another analogous condition known by the Germans as
Schlaftrunkenheit, and to English and American neurologists as
somnolentia or sleep-drunkenness. In this state an individual on
being suddenly awakened commits some incongruous act of
violence, ofttimes a murder. Sometimes this appears to be a dream,
but in others no such cause could be discovered.” Curious instances
are mentioned by Hammond of this disorder.
The phenomena of automatism at command in hypnotized subjects

have much similarity to the phenomena of these affections, and the
same explanation to a certain extent will answer for both.
Paget57 has ably discussed the subject of neuromimesis in general,

and Mitchell58 devotes two lectures to its consideration. As already
stated when discussing the synonyms of hysteria, the mistake must
not be made of supposing all cases of hysteria to be instances of
neuromimesis; but, as Mitchell remarks, the hysterical state,
however produced, is a fruitful source of mimicry of disease in its
every form, from the mildest of pains up to the most complete and
carefully-devised frauds. “Its sensitiveness and mobility, its timidity
and emotionalness, its greed of attention, of sympathy, and of power
in all shapes, supply both motive and help, so that while we must be
careful not to see mimicry in every hysteric symptom, we must in
people of this temperament be more than usually watchful for this
form of trouble, and at least reasonably suspicious of every peculiar
or unusual phenomenon.”
57 Op. cit.
58 Op. cit.
SYMPTOMATOLOGY.—At the outset of the discussion of the

symptomatology of hysteria, hysterical cases should be divided into
four classes—viz. (1) Cases in which the symptoms are involuntary;
(2) cases in which the symptoms are artificially induced and become
involuntary; (3) cases in which the symptoms are acted or simulated,
but in which the patient, because of impaired mental power, is
irresistibly impelled to their performance; (4) cases in which the
symptoms are purely acts of deception which are under the control
of the patient.
Keeping in mind these different classes, we will always be able to

link to the phenomena of hysteria the psychical element which is
present in all genuine cases of this disorder. To comprehend the
existence of the psychical element in the first class, in which the
manifestations are absolutely involuntary, may offer difficulties. In
these cases, at a period more or less recent or remote, psychical
stimuli may have acted to produce the hysterical phenomena, and,
once produced, these have been repeated and intensified by habit,
and continue independently both of volition and consciousness. The
experiments of Dercum and Parker show how hysterical symptoms
may be artificially induced and may get beyond the patient's control.
The difference between induced and simulated manifestations must
always be clearly borne in mind. To induce a set of phenomena a
certain mechanism must be set in action, and this, through rational,
explicable processes, leads to certain results. The psychical element
enters here both positively and negatively—positively, in the
determination to produce a certain train of events; negatively, in the
condition of mental concentration or abstraction which is a part of the
procedure. In the third class of cases acting or simulation is
dependent upon the irresistible inclinations of the patient. This may
seem to some an uncertain and even dangerous ground to take. I
am convinced, however, after observing many hysterical cases, that
acts clearly purposive, so far as the particular performance is
concerned, are sometimes the result of a general unstable mental
condition. Some at least of these patients are as irresistibly impelled
to swallow blood and vomit, to scream and gesticulate, etc., as is the
monomaniac to commit arson, to ravish, or to kill. In the fourth class,
the cases of pure, unmitigated, uncontrollable deception, the
psychical element is very evident, although some may question
whether such cases should be ranged under the banner of hysteria,
where it is both convenient and customary to place them.
The symptoms of hysteria may develop in any order or after any

fashion. The graver hysterical phenomena, such as convulsions,
paralysis, and anæsthesia, often seem to come on suddenly, but
usually this suddenness of onset is apparent rather than real. Minor
hysterical symptoms, such as general nervous irritability, pains,
aches, and discomforts, and mental peculiarities, have usually been
present for a long time. These minor evidences of the hysterical
constitution are sometimes the only phenomena ever presented.
Todd59 has described an expression of countenance which he

designates as the facies hysterica. The characteristics of this
expression are a remarkable depth and prominent fulness, with more
or less thickness, of the upper lip, and a peculiar drooping of the
upper eyelids. It would be absurd to assert that all hysterical patients
presented this cast of countenance, but an appearance which
approaches closely to this description is presented in a fair
percentage of cases. It has seemed to me that male hysterics were
more likely to have this peculiar facies than hysterical females.
59 Reynolds's System of Medicine, vol. ii. p. 656.
The psychical peculiarities or mental disorders of hysteria form a

large and important part of its phenomena. We have to deal not only
with peculiar and diverse psychical manifestations, but to one form of
mental disorder it is clinically convenient and correct to apply the
designation hysterical insanity.
In the mildest cases of ordinary hysteria conditions of mental

irritability and mobility are sometimes the only striking features.
“Patients,” says Jolly,60 “are timid, easily overcome by any
unexpected occurrence, sentimental, and sensitive. Every trifle
annoys and upsets them; and there is this peculiarity—that a more
recent stimulus may often effect a diversion in an exactly opposite
direction.”
60 Op. cit.
As bearing upon the question of the mental state in hysteria, the

confessions obtained by Mitchell from several patients are of great
interest. One patient, who had learned to notice and dwell upon any
little symptom, vomited daily and aroused much sympathy. She took
little or no food. Spasms came on, and she confessed that every
new symptom caused new anxiety, and that somehow she rather
liked it all. She gradually lost all her symptoms except vomiting, and
overcame this by desperate efforts. Another patient confessed to
having played a game upon her doctor for a long time by pretending
she took no food. She would get out of bed at night, but remain there
all day; she filled up a vessel with water to make others believe she
passed large quantities of urine, etc. Another patient, a girl of
nineteen, who came on a litter from a Western State, after a time
regained her feet. In her confession she stated that what she lacked
was courage. She believed that she would have overcome her
difficulties if any one had told her that nothing was the matter. “In
looking back over the year with the light of the present,” she says, “I
can only say that I believe that there was really nothing the matter
with me; only it seemed to me as if there was, and because of these
sensations I carried on a sort of starvation process physical and
mental.”
The older and some of the more recent classifications of insanity

recognize hysterical insanity as a distinct form of mental disease.
Morel and Skae, however, in their etiological classifications, and
Hammond, Spitzka, Mann, and Clouston in their recently-published
works, give it a “local habitation and a name.” Krafft-Ebing not only
recognizes hysterical insanity as a distinct form of mental disease,
but, after the German fashion, subdivides it quite minutely, as
follows: First, transitory forms: a. with fright; b. hystero-epileptic
deliria; c. ecstatic visionary forms; d. moria-like conditions. Second,
chronic forms: a. hystero-melancholia; b. hystero-mania; c.
degenerative states with hysterical basis.
Spitzka61 speaks of chronic hysterical insanity as an intensification of

the hysterical character, to which “a silly mendacity is frequently
added, and develops pari passu with advancing deterioration.” At the
State Hospital for the Insane at Norristown and at the department for
the insane of the Philadelphia Hospital cases of chronic hysterical
insanity have come under my observation. Hammond under
hysterical mania includes several different and somewhat distinct
mental disorders.
61 Insanity, its Classification, Diagnosis, and Treatment, by E. C. Spitzka, M.D., New
York, 1883.
With regard to the occurrence of hysterical manifestations amongst

patients suffering from some well-recognized non-hysterical forms of
insanity, a tour through any large asylum will afford abundant
evidence. Cases of tremor closely simulating cerebro-spinal
sclerosis have been observed frequently among the insane.
Paralysis, contracture, hysterical joints, hysterical neuralgias,
convulsions, and cataleptoid phenomena are among other hysterical
manifestations which have fallen under personal observation among
the insane of various classes.
A remarkable case of hysterical motor paralysis was observed at the

State Hospital for the Insane at Norristown. This patient was an
intelligent single woman about thirty-five years of age, of good family,
well educated; she had been a teacher and writer, and became
insane through family and business troubles. When only eight years
of age she was paralyzed for two years and a half, and had had at
times during her life, before becoming insane, attacks of partial or
complete unconsciousness. Prior to coming under observation she
had been an inmate of an English private asylum. She was sick on
shipboard coming to this country, and on her arrival was in a state of
delirium and insomnia, with attacks of loss of sight. Four months
later she developed mania with suicidal inclinations. Just before the
development of this maniacal condition her lower limbs became
comparatively helpless, and soon after she entirely lost their use. I
found her in this condition, and examination showed no change in
knee-jerk, electrical reactions, nutrition, nor genito-urinary conditions,
which led me to diagnosticate the absence of any organic spinal
trouble. The case was pronounced one of hysterical paralysis, and it
was prophesied that she would eventually completely recover,
probably suddenly. For one year her paralysis remained, her mental
condition varying very greatly during this time—sometimes in a

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The Special Theory of Relativity 1st

Edition Dennis Morris

The Special Theory of Relativity - A Mathematical

Einstein s Pathway to the Special Theory of Relativity

The Special and General Theory of Relativity Simplified

Analytic Hyperbolic Geometry and Albert Einstein s

Special Relativity - For Inquiring Minds 2022nd Edition

Theory Of Relativity 2nd Edition Pathria R K

Albert Einstein The Man the Genius and the Theory of

Modern Special Relativity: A Student's Guide with

MERCURY LEARNING AND INFORMATION

Publisher: David Pallai

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Dennis Morris. The Special Theory of Relativity: An Introduction.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016935953

161718321 Printed in the United States of America

Chapter 1 An Overview of the Theory of

Chapter 2 The Results of Special Relativity

Chapter 3 Special Relativity in Physics 33

Chapter 4 The Nature of Space 41

Chapter 5 Physical Constants 55

Chapter 7 Comments on Matrices 65

Chapter 8 Introduction to Finite Groups 73

8.6 The Ginite Group Matrix 79

Chapter 9 Trigonometric Functions 85

Chapter 10 Introduction to Vectors 105

Chapter 11 The Nature of Velocity 125

Chapter 12 Simultaneity 129

Chapter 13 The Lorentz Transformation 139

13.8 Length Contraction 151

Chapter 14 Velocity and Acceleration Transformations 159

Chapter 15 The Nature of Straight Lines and

Chapter 16 4–Vectors 177

Chapter 17 4-Momentum and Relativistic Mass 191

Chapter 18 Doing it With Matrices 211

18.4 A Little Food for Thought 221

Chapter 19 Electromagnetism 225

Chapter 20 Quaternions 255

Chapter 21 Electromagnetism With Quaternions 271

Chapter 22 4-Dimensional Space-time and the

Chapter 23 The Expanding Universe and the Cosmic

Chapter 24 Concluding Remarks 297

This book is written to give interested readers or first year under-

sional space-time that matches what we observe and which is more

that space-time is a quaternion structure, and there is evidence for

1.1 PHYSICS IS INVARIANT UNDER ROTATION

isotropic in space. We say that physics is invariant under rotation in

1.2 SPACE AND TIME ARE NOT

To Isaac Newton (1642–1727), as to all humankind except mod-

1.3 MASS DIMENSIONS

If space-time is one entity, then time must be the same stuff

[T] = [L] (1.1)

[Space] [Meters] [Secs]

1.4 DIRECTIONS IN SPACE-TIME

Different directions in space-time are different velocities. Since

slopes (gradients) correspond to different directions which corre-

If we take a kettle full of water that is stationary before us, it boils

different direction in space-time to the direction pointed by the spout

The Special Theory of Relativity