Reference: D. Holiday,R. Resnick, Fundamentals of Physics, Wiley Publicatıon,2014,p.

1117,pp.1126-1127, 1129-1132, pp. 1126

 The Two Postulates of Relativity
One basic subject of physics is relativity,the field of study that measures
events:where and when they happen,and by how much any two events are
separated in space and in time.In addition, relativity has to do with transforming
such measurements (and also measurements of energy and momentum) between
reference frames that move relative to each other.(Hence the name relativity.)

The Postulates
And there are the two of postulates of relativity, which Einstein’s theory is based:

1. The Relativity Postulate: The idea that the laws of physics are the same and
can be stated in their simplest form in all inertial frames of reference.

Galileo accept that the laws of mechanics were the same in all inertial frame of
reference. Einistein develop this idea to add all the laws of physics, especially those
of electromagnetism and optics. But most of them are not the same. It is the laws of
physics, which relate these measurements to one another, these are the same.

2. The Speed of Light Postulate: Light is always propagated in vacuum with a

definite velocity c which is independent of the state of motion of the emitting body.

frames of reference. Light happens to travel in this ultimate speed. No entity that
carries energy or information can exceed this limit. Also particle that don’t has mass
can actually reach speed c, no matter how much or for how long that particle is
increased. We can also say about this postulate that there is in nature an ultimate
speed c, the same in all directions and in all inertial

Both of postulates have been comprehensively tested, and no exceptions have ever
been found.

The Ultımate Speed

The existence of a limit to the speed increased electrons was shown in a 1964
experiment by W.Bertozzi.. So an experiment specifically aimed at demonstrating
the relativistic effects in a very direct way was conducted by William Bertozzi (1962,
1964). Bertozzi found that if the force of very fast electron is increased, measured
kinetic energy of electron increases between very large values but its speed doesn’t.
 The ultimate speed has been determined to be exactly:

c=299 792 458 m/s

Figure 1.1. The dots
show measured values kinetic energy of an electron ploted against its measured
speed. No matter how much energy is given to an electron, its speed can never
equal or exceed the ultimate limiting speed.

Testing the Speed of Light Postulate

If the speed of light is the same in all inertial
systems, then the velocity of light emitted by a source moving relative to, say, a
laboratory should be the same as the speed of light that is emitted by a source at
rest in the laboratory. This claim has been tested directly, in an experiment of high
exactness. The source was the neutral pion (π0), an inconstant, short-lived particle
that can be produced by collisions in a particle accelerator. It transforms into
gamma rays by the process

𝜋0 → 𝛾 + 𝛾

Gammy rays are part of the electromagnetic spectrum and so obey the
speed of light postulate, just visible light does.
 The Lorentz transformations
In physics, the Lorentz transformations are a six-parameter family of linear
transformations from a coordinate frame in spacetime to another frame that moves
at a constant velocity relative to the former. The respective inverse transformation
is then parameterized by the negative of this velocity. The transformations are
named after the Dutch physicist Hendrik Lorentz.

We have used the postulates of relativity to examine, in particular examples, how

observers in different frames of reference measure different values for lengths and
the time intervals. We can gain further insight into how the postulates of relativity
change the Newtonian view of time and space by examining the transformation
equations that give the space and time coordinates of events in one inertial
reference frame in terms of those in another. We first examine how position and
time coordinates transform between inertial frames according to the view in
Newtonian physics. Then we examine how this has to be changed to agree with the
postulates of relativity. Finally, we examine the resulting Lorentz transformation
equations and some of their consequences in terms of four-dimensional space-time
diagrams, to support the view that the consequences of special relativity result from
the properties of time and space itself, rather than electromagnetism.

The Lorentz Transformation Equations

The Galilean transformation nevertheless violates Einstein’s postulates, because

the velocity equations state that a pulse of light moving with speed c along the x-
axis would travel at speed c−v in the other inertial frame. Specifically, the spherical
pulse has radius r=ct at time t in the unprimed frame, and also has radius r′=ct′ at
time t' in the primed frame. Expressing these relations in Cartesian coordinates gives

X2+y2+z2−c2 t2=0 (1.1)

x′2+y′2+z′2−c2 t′2 =0 (1.2)

The left-hand sides Equations 1.1 and 1.2 can be set equal because both are zero.
Because y=y′ and z=z′ , we obtain

X2−c2 t2=x′2−c2 t′2. (1.3)

 This cannot be satisfied for nonzero relative velocity v of the two frames if we
assume the Galilean transformation results in t=t′ with x=x′+vt′ .

To find the correct set of transformation equations, assume the two coordinate
systems S and S′ in Figure 2.1 . First suppose that an event occurs at (x′,0,0,t′) in
S′ and at (x,0,0,t) in S , as depicted in Figure 2.1.

Figure 2.1

The axes of frames S and S prime are shown. S has axes x, y, and z. S prime is
moving to the right with velocity v and has axes x prime, y prime and z prime. S and
S prime are aligned along the horizontal x and x prime axes and are separated by a
distance v t. An event on the horizontal x and x prime axes is indicated by a point
which is a distance x from the y z plane of the S frame and a distance x prime from
the y prime, z prime plane of the S prime frame.

Figure 2.1 : An event occurs at (x,0,0,t) in S and at (x′,0,0,t′) in S′ . The Lorentz

transformation equations relate events in the two systems.

Suppose that at the instant that the origins of the coordinate systems in S and S'
coincide, a flash bulb emits a spherically spreading pulse of light starting from the
origin. At time t, an observer in S finds the origin of S' to be at x=vt . With the help
of a friend in S, the S' observer also measures the distance from the event to the
origin of S' and finds it to be x′√1 − 𝑣 2 ⁄𝑐 2 . This follows because we have already
shown the postulates of relativity to imply length contraction. Thus the position of
the event in S is
 x =vt+ x′√1 − 𝑣 2 ⁄𝑐 2

and
𝑥−𝑣𝑡
x′= (1.4)
𝑥′√1−𝑣 2 ⁄𝑐 2

The postulates of relativity imply that the equation relating distance and time of
the spherical wave front:

X2+y2+z2−c2t2=0

must apply both in terms of primed and unprimed coordinates, which was shown
above to lead to Equation:

x2−c2t2=x′2−c2t′2.

We combine this with Equation 1.4 that relates x and x' to obtain the relation
𝑡−𝑣𝑥/𝑐 2
between t and t′: 𝑡′ =
√(1−𝑣 2 /𝑐 2 )

The equations relating the time and position of the events as seen in S are then
𝑡‘+𝑣𝑥‘/𝑐 2
𝑡= (1.5)
√(1−𝑣 2 /𝑐 2 )

𝑥‘+𝑣𝑡‘
𝑥= (1.6)
√1−𝑣 2 /𝑐 2

y=y’ (1.7) z=z’. (1.8)

This set of equations, relating the position and time in the two inertial frames, is
known as the Lorentz transformation. They are named in honor of H.A. Lorentz
(1853–1928), who first proposed them. Interestingly, he justified the transformation
on what was eventually discovered to be a fallacious hypothesis. The correct
theoretical basis is Einstein’s special theory of relativity.

The reverse transformation expresses the variables in S in terms of those in S'.

Simply interchanging the primed and unprimed variables and substituting gives:
𝑣𝑥
𝑡− 2 𝑥−𝑣𝑡
𝑡‘ = 𝑐
𝑥′ = 𝑣2
y’=y z’=z
√(1−𝑣 2 /𝑐 2 ) √(1− 2 )
𝑐

Time dilation
Assume now that 2 events happen at the same place S’ (so ∆𝑥 ′ = 0)but at the
different times (so ∆𝑡′ ≠ 0).

∆𝑡′ = 𝑡′2 − 𝑡′1 ∆𝑡 = 𝛾∆𝑡′ (events in same place in S’) (1.9)

∆𝑥′ = 𝑥′2 − 𝑥′1

1
𝛾= 2 2
√1−𝑣 /𝑐

This approves time dilation between frames S and S’.Moreover, because the 2
events happen at the same place in S’, the time interval ∆𝑡’ between them can be
measured with a single clock, situated at the place. Under these conditions, the
measured interval is a proper time interval, and we can label it t as we have
previously labeled proper times.So with that label Eq 1.9 becomes

∆𝑡 = 𝛾∆𝑡0 (time dilation)

Length Contraction
We made mention earlier that as a result of special relativity absolute space and
absolute time do not exist. Rather, the two are interdependent, and any change in
time must cause a change in space (length or distance) and vice versa. How can this
be explained?

The fact that speed is the ratio of length to time means that both length and time
must change, in just the right proportion, in order to ensure the speed of light
remain constant.

We, therefore, can determine the change in length by using the result we found
for time dilation.

Let us suppose Earth-bound observers watch a spaceship that travels with velocity v
between two distant points. The distance between the two points as measured by
an Earth-bound observer is 𝐿0 , and the time for the trip is t
We can then state

𝐿0 = 𝑣𝑡 (Equation A).
𝑡0
However, t= (Equation B).
√1−𝑣 2 ⁄𝑐 2

Substituting t in Equation B into Equation A gives us,

𝑡0
𝐿0 =v → v𝑡0 =𝐿0 √1 − 𝑣 2 ⁄𝑐 2 →, but v𝑡0 is the distance L measured in the
√1−𝑣 2 ⁄𝑐 2

spaceship, so L=𝐿0 √1 − 𝑣 2 ⁄𝑐 2

The distance the observers in the space ship measure compared to the distance
that observers on Earth measure is therefore shorter, since √1 − 𝑣 2 ⁄𝑐 2 < 1

The shortening of distance is called length contraction and it is not limited to the
“space” between two points. The same contraction occurs for material objects. For
example, if one inertial frame, moving with a velocity v, passed another inertial
frame containing a meter stick, the observers in these frames will not agree on the
length of the meter stick. Those at rest relative to the meter stick will claim it does
measure one meter. The occupants of the moving frame, on the other hand, will
claim it is shorter than one meter.

It must be noted that length contraction is observed only in the direction of

motion of the moving object. In our example with a meter stick, the width of the
meter stick does not change, only its length.