Classroom Aid - Special Relativity Introduction

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In this segment of the “How Fast Is It” video book we cover the Special Theory of Relativity. We start with the Lorentz Transformations developed after the Michelson-Morley experiment showed that the speed of light was the same for all inertial observers. We then use light clocks to illustrate some of the most striking implications of these new transformations - starting with time dilation and space contraction. As we work through the special relativity effects, we review the physical evidence such as GPS satellites for time dilation and cosmic ray muons for space contraction. We then cover how we add velocities in such a way as to always come up with a number less than or equal to the speed of light. We then use the Large Hadron Collider at CERN to illustrate mass-energy momentum increasing without bound as speeds approach the speed of light. The last special relativity effect that we cover is the moving of simultaneity to the realm of the relative.
With this done, we cover Albert Einstein’s motivation for his two Special Theory of Relativity postulates. One was driven by Maxwell’s equations and the other was driven by the inability to detect the Aether. We then cover the geometry of space-time called Minkowski Space. We close with a description of the famous Twin Paradox. For that we use a 50-year trip to Vega and back.

[BadEnergyJohn]

You're doing great work! Love your videos! I play stupid ass video games and build models sometimes but my dad always had a thing for astronomy. It was a great gift to experience at as a kid.

[williamwalker]

I have been investigating propagating Electromagnetic fields for many years. My investigations revealed that these fields and the information in these fields propagate nearly instantaneously when they are created and reduce to the speed of light as they propagate into the farfield. William Walker Superluminal

According to Albert Einstein, if the speed of light is not a constant, then his theories of Special and General Relativity are wrong. This can be seen in Einstein's time dilation result due to a moving observer: t=r t' and the length contraction result: L=L'/r, where t and L are reference to the stationary frame, and t' and L ' are reference to the moving frame, and r is the Relativistic gamma factor: r =1/Sqrt(1-(v/c)^2). These results are easily derived using Einstein's light clock thought experiment using simple algebra. But if propagating EM fields with infinite speed near the source are used in the derivation, then c = Infinity, and r=1. If propagating EM fields far from the source are used, then c = the speed of light, and r= the standard Relativistic gamma factor. What comes out of this is that the effects on time and space are completely different depending on whether one uses propagating fields near or far away from the source, which can't be true since time and space are real. So the conclusion must be that Einstein's Relativity is wrong and time and space do not change with respect to moving reference frames, Galilean Relativity is correct, and that Einstein's equations just enable us to back calculate to the correct answer, given the time delays observed by the propagating EM fields used in measuring the effects. William Walker Relativity

But these results do not account for the time dilation observed by moving atomic clocks in airplane experiments, but can be accounted for using variable light speed theory (VLS), originally proposed by Einstein, and later improved by Robert Dicky in 1957. In this theory, spacetime is not curved by gravity as suggested by General Relativity, instead Newtons theory of gravity is correct and the many other known effects of gravity are due to the affect of gravity on the of light speed. For instance the observed bending of light by mass, which caused General Relativity to be accepted, can be explained, by the gravity generated by the mass, changing the speed of light, causing the light to bend around the mass. This effect is analogous to the bending of light in glass. Since lasers are used in atomic clocks to measure time, then the observed time dilation in atomic clocks in moving airplanes can be explained as due to the effects of light speed changes in the clocks due to changes in gravitation as the plane goes up and down. It should also be noted that several researchers have shown the relation E=mc^2 can be derived without Relativity using Newtonian mechanics, and the Michelson Morley experiment can be explained using the Doppler effect, ref Nathan Rapport 2021

In summary, this research shows that Einstein's theories are wrong and that time and space do not change with respect to moving observers, Galilean Relativity is correct, Newtons theory of gravity is correct, and many of the other effects of gravity can be explained as gravity simply changing the speed of light. The importance of this research is that it completely changes our understanding of time and space and gravity, and simplifies our theories. Perhaps this new understanding will finally enable researchers to finally unite Gravitational theory with quantum mechanics which have been incompatible since scientists accepted Einstein's theories for Special and General Relativity. For instance, Relativity is incompatible with quantum entanglement, which requires communication faster than light, but can perhaps can be explained by superluminal propagating fields between entangled particles.

It should be mentioned that this superluminal effect is also observed in the propagating gravitational fields generated by an oscillating mass using Newtonian gravitational theory, and is nearly infinite near the source and reduces to speed of light far from the source. William Walker Gravitation. This matches very well with observations of the stability of the planets, which would not be possible if gravity propagates at light speed, and was original proposed by Simone Laplace in his famous book: Mécanique Céleste in the late 1700's, where he estimated the speed of gravity to be 7x10^6 times greater than the speed of light.