The special theory of relativity. Foundations, theory, verification, applications
type: Item
instance of: scholarly article
title: The special theory of relativity. Foundations, theory, verification, applications
zbMATH Open document ID: 1333.83001
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-25274-2
author: Costas Christodoulides
published in: Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics
publication date: 2015-10-12T00:00:00Z
review text: The ten chapters of this text-book are headed as follows: 1. Historical introduction, 2. Prolegomena, 3. Relativistic kinematics, 4. Applications of relativistic kinematics, 5. Optical phenomena, 6. Relativistic dynamics, 7. Applications of relativistic dynamics, 8. Minkowski's spacetime and four-vectors, 9. Electromagnetism, 10. Experiments. Each chapter ends with a short reference list. Seven appendices, solutions to the problems, and a subject index close this interesting monograph. 1. The historical introduction starts with Galilei, mentions the several methods to measure the speed of light, and goes via Maxwell and Lorentz to Einstein. 2. This chapter deals with inertial frames of reference, clock synchronization, and some philosophical notes. 3. Here, the Lorentz transformations are deduced, as well as length contraction and time dilatation. 4. The Meson paradox, the Sagnac effect, the Thomas precession, and the twin paradox are covered in this chapter. 5. Aberration of light, the Doppler effect, and other effects are deduced here. 6. This chapter deals with \(E = m c^2\). The remaining four chapters are on Compton effect, cyclotron, synchrotron and other experimentally oriented questions, and also on vector spaces. In the Appendices, the Lorentz transformation in matrix form and similar formulas are presented. Publisher's description: ``This book offers a comprehensive, university-level introduction to Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity. In addition to the purely theoretical aspect, emphasis is also given to its historical development as well as to the experiments that preceded the theory and those performed in order to test its validity. The main body of the book consists of chapters on Relativistic Kinematics and Dynamics and their applications, Optics and Electromagnetism. These could be covered in a one-semester course. A more advanced course might include the subjects examined in the other chapters of the book and its appendices. As a textbook, it h…
reviewed by: Hans-Jürgen Schmidt
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 83-01
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 83A05
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 00A79
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 83-03
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 01A60
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 83B05
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 83C05
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 83C10
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 78A25
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 03A05
zbMATH DE Number: 6493264
zbMATH Keywords: special relativity
zbMATH Keywords: relativistic kinematics
zbMATH Keywords: dynamics
zbMATH Keywords: optics
zbMATH Keywords: electromagnetism
zbMATH Keywords: Meson paradox
zbMATH Keywords: Sagnac effect
zbMATH Keywords: Thomas precession
zbMATH Keywords: twin paradox
zbMATH Keywords: aberration of light
zbMATH Keywords: Doppler effect
zbMATH Keywords: Compton effect
zbMATH Keywords: cyclotron
zbMATH Keywords: synchrotron
MaRDI profile type: Publication
full work available at URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25274-2
OpenAlex ID: W2293051929
description: scientific article; zbMATH DE number 6493264