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Recapitulate

Postulates of Special theory of

Relativity.
Discussed Galilean Transformation.
Discussed the concept of time in an
example and shown that its
equality in different frames assures
that simultaneous events in a
frame are also simultaneous in
another frame.
Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

Postulates of Special
Theory of Relativity
1. Laws of Physics are same in all
inertial frames of references. No
preferred inertial frame exists.
2. The speed of light c is same in all
inertial frames.
Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

Galilean Transformation
Direct Transformation
x =
x vt , y ' =
y, z ' =
z
t' = t

Inverse Transformation
x=
x + vt , y =
y , z =
z
t = t
Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

Velocity Transformation
ux =
ux v, uy =
uy uz =
uz

Inverse Velocity Transformation

ux =+
ux v, uy =
uy uz =
uz

Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

Galilean
Transformation and
second Postulate
We now show that Galilean
transformation is not consistent
with the second postulate.
We shall also show that
simultaneity of events is also
relative under second postulate.
Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

Example 1
Classical Treatment of a pulse of light
y

x O

O
z

S
x

Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

An observer in frame S sees a pulse

of light emitted from origin at t=0,
which is moving with a speed of c in
x-y plane making an angle of
3
tan with x-axis. Find the position
4
1

of the pulse in S at t=2x10-6 s,

assuming it to be highly localized.
Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

Assume another observer in S which

is moving relative to S with a speed
of 0.6 c. Assume that the two frames
obey the conditions of Galilean
transformation described earlier. Find
the speed of the light pulse and its
co-ordinates at t=2x10-6 s in S,
under Galilean transformation.

Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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The components of the velocity of the

pulse in S frame are given as follows:
4
ux = c = 0.8 c
5
3
uy = c = 0.6 c
5
uz = 0
Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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The co-ordinate of the pulse in S

frame at t=2x10-6 s are given as
follows:
x = ux t = 0.8c 2 10

= 480 m

y = uy t = 0.6c 2 106 = 360 m

z=0

Here we have taken the speed of

light c to be 3x108 m/s.
Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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The co -ordinates of the pulse in S at

a time t=2x10-6 s as given by
Galilean transformation as follows.
x = x vt = 480 0.6c 2 10
y= 360 m
y=
z=z=0

Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

= 120 m

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The resultant of speed of the light

pulse in S frame can be obtained as
follows
120
8
=
=

ux
0.6
10
m/s
6
2 10
360
8

=
=

uy
1.8 10 m/s
6
2 10
uz = 0
Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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The speed of the pulse in S is given

as follows.

u =

2
2
2
8

ux + uy + uz 1.9 10 m/s

Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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 We thus see that speed of light is

different in S, violating second
postulate.
If we have to find a transformation in
which the speed of light is maintained
as c even in S, then it may have to
change x and probably also t from
what is given in Galilean
transformation.
Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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Example 2

An observer is exactly half way in a

running compartment of length L. He
shines light instead of throwing balls
at t=0, which travels both in the
front and the back direction.
Event 1: Light reaches the front wall
Event 2: Light reaches the back wall
Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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S
c

v
c

Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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According to S
Both events are simultaneous, i.e.,
they occur at the same time which is
given as follows:
L
t =
2c

Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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According to S
The two events again would have
turned out to be simultaneous, if we
had used the classical velocity
transformation formula as in the case
of balls.

Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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However, under the second postulate,

the speed of light is still c in both
the directions. But it has to travel a
larger distance to reach the front wall
than the back wall.
Hence Event 2 occurs before Event 1.

Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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Time
Time is often related to the
simultaneity of two events.
We have just seen that
simultaneity also depends on frame
under the second postulate.
Probably we have a reason to
believe that
t t
Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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Lorentz Transformation
We start afresh collecting all the
clues that we have.
We do not derive but only give
some arguments.
Actual test lies in experimental
verification.
Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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1. Transformation should be linear.

x = Bxx x + Bxy y + Bxz z + Bxt t + C1
y = Byx x + Byy y + Byz z + Byt t + C2
z = Bzx x + Bzy y + Bzz z + Bzt t + C3
t = Btx x + Bty y + Btz z + Btt t + C4

Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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Linearity is essential to maintain

homogeneity of space. The length or
rod should not depend on the origin
chosen.

See: Introduction to Special Relativity by

Robert Resnick, Wiley Eastern, 1988, for
details
Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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2. Special Choice of axes can make

many coefficients zero.
y

S
O

S
O

Fixing the origins appropriately, we can

get rid of constant terms.
Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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Let us imagine that an event occurs at

origin in S at t=0.This event would also
appear to occur at the origin of S at
t=0. Substituting we get following.
0= Bxx 0 + Bxy 0 + Bxz 0 + Bxt 0 + C1
0= Byx 0 + Byy 0 + Byz 0 + Byt 0 + C2
0= Bzx 0 + Bzy 0 + Bzz 0 + Bzt 0 + C3
0 = Btx 0 + Bty 0 + Btz 0 + Btt 0 + C4
Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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0
C=
C=
C=
This gives us C=
1
2
3
4

The transformation equations reduce to

following.
x = Bxx x + Bxy y + Bxz z + Bxt t + C1
y = Byx x + Byy y + Byz z + Byt t + C2
z = Bzx x + Bzy y + Bzz z + Bzt t + C3
t = Btx x + Bty y + Btz z + Btt t + C4
Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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Fixing the planes appropriately, we can

get rid of some other constants.
Let us imagine that an event occurs at
an arbitrary time in x-y plane in S
implying z=0 for this event.
We can see that an observer in S
would also find it occurring in x-y
plane implying z=0
Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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x = Bxx x + Bxy y + Bxz z + Bxt t + C1

y = Byx x + Byy y + Byz z + Byt t + C2
=
0 Bzx x + Bzy y + Bzz 0 + Bzt t + C3
t = Btx x + Bty y + Btz z + Btt t + C4

This is possible only if Bzx ,Bzy and Bzt

are set to zero.
Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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We can imagine similar event in x-z

plane and get rid of three other
constants finally getting following
equations.
x = Bxx x + Bxy y + Bxz z + Bxt t + C1
y = Byx x + Byy y + Byz z + Byt t + C2
z = Bzx x + Bzy y + Bzz z + Bzt t + C3
t = Btx x + Bty y + Btz z + Btt t + C4
Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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Now let us look at the y-z plane. At

time t=0, if an event occurred in this
plane, it would also appear to occur in
y-z plane to observer in S. But at a
later time the x-co-ordinate of this
event would be shifted by v t. The
transformation equation thus would
appear as follows.

Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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 Bxx ( x vt ) + Bxy y + Bxz z + C1

x=
y = Byx x + Byy y + Byz z + Byt t + C2
z = Bzx x + Bzy y + Bzz z + Bzt t + C3
t = Btx x + Bty y + Btz z + Btt t + C4

Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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Let us clean up the equations, which we

could obtain without invoking any
principle of relativity
x Bxx ( x vt )
=
y = Byy y
z = Bzz z
t = Btx x + Bty y + Btz z + Btt t

Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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3. Symmetry arguments can be used to

simplify the time transformation
equation. Imagine two events occurring
at the same time in S frame. Let the coordinates if the two events be (x0,y0,z0)
and (x0,-y0,z0). If t depends on y, then
time of these two events would appear
to be different in different frame.

Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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But what we call y-axis could have also

been termed as y. The choice of x-axis
is unique as it is determined by the
direction of relative velocity in our
choice of axes, but not of y and z.
Hence the transformation equations
must appear as follows.

Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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=
x Bxx ( x vt )
y = Byy y
z = Bzz z
=
t Btx x + Bty y + Btz z + Btt t

Thus we are left with only with five

constants.

Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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=
x Bxx ( x vt )
y = Byy y
z = Bzz z
=
t Btx x + Btt t

We note that Galilean Transformation

is also a special case of these
equations
Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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Summary

We discussed using examples that

we have to attack the equation
which makes time same in two
frames.
We then discussed the form of the
transformation equations without
invoking any postulates of
relativity, only making time
relative.
Prof. Shiva Prasad, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

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