Theory of relativity
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The theory of relativity, or simply relativity, refers specifically to two theories: Albert Einstein's special relativity and general relativity.
The term "relativity" was coined by Max Planck in 1908 to emphasize how special relativity (and later, general relativity) uses the principle of relativity.
Contents |
[edit] Special relativity
Albert Einstein's 1905 paper "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies" introduced the special theory of relativity. Special relativity considers that observers in inertial reference frames, which are in uniform motion relative to one another, cannot perform any experiment to determine which one of them is "stationary". This is actually Galileo's principle of relativity; Einstein's contribution was to explicitly include electromagnetism within this principle, which required that the Galilean transformations be replaced by the Lorentz transformations. The resultant theory has many surprising consequences. In particular, it requires that the speed of light in a vacuum be the same for all these observers, regardless of their motion, or the motion of the source of the light, since the invariance of the speed of light is a consequence of Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism.
[edit] General relativity
General relativity was developed by Einstein in the years 1907 - 1915. General relativity replaces the global Lorentz symmetry of special relativity with a local Lorentz symmetry in the presence of matter. The presence of matter "curves" spacetime, and this curvature affects the path of free particles (and even the path of light). General relativity uses the mathematics of differential geometry and tensors in order to describe gravitation as an effect of the geometry of spacetime. This theory is based on the general principle of relativity, which requires all observers to experience the same laws of physics, not just those moving with uniform speed, hence its name.
[edit] References and links
See the special relativity references and the general relativity references. For information on the silent film produced on this subject, see The Einstein Theory of Relativity.
[edit] External links
- Living Reviews in Relativity — An open access, peer-referred, solely online physics journal publishing invited reviews covering all areas of relativity research.
- Reflections on Relativity — A complete online course on Relativity.
- Relativity explained in words of four letters or less
- Briefing on Einstein's Theory of Relativity — A terse dose of insight on the subject.
- On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies
- Special Relativity Simulator
- A Relativity Tutorial at Caltech — A basic introduction to concepts of Special and General Relativity, as well as astrophysics.
- Relativity Gravity and Cosmology — A short course offered at MIT.
- Relativity in film clips and animations from the University of New South Wales.
<span class="FA" id="de" style="display:none;" />
ar:نظرية النسبية zh-min-nan:Siong-tùi-lūn bg:Теория на относителността ca:Teoria de la relativitat cs:Teorie relativity da:Relativitetsteori de:Relativitätstheorie et:Relatiivsusteooria el:Θεωρία της Σχετικότητας es:Teoría de la Relatividad fa:نظریه نسبیت fr:Théorie de la relativité ko:상대성 이론 hr:Teorija relativnosti id:Teori relativitas is:Afstæðiskenningin it:Teoria della relatività he:תורת היחסות ka:ფარდობითობის თეორია ksh:Relativitätstheorie lv:Relativitātes teorija lt:Reliatyvumo teorija hu:Relativitáselmélet mk:Теорија на релативитет mr:सापेक्षतावादाचा सिद्धांत nl:Relativiteitstheorie ja:相対性理論 no:Relativitetsteorien nn:Relativitetsteorien pl:Teoria względności pt:Teoria da relatividade ro:Teoria relativităţii ru:Теория относительности sk:Teória relativity sl:Teorija relativnosti fi:Suhteellisuusteoria sv:Relativitetsteori th:ทฤษฎีสัมพัทธภาพ vi:Lý thuyết tương đối tr:Özel görelilik kuramı uk:Теорія відносності ur:نظریۂ اضافیت zh:相对论
