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STUDY OF SPECIAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY AND ITS APPLICATION

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 5th National Conference on Role of Engineers in Nation Building, 3rd and 4th March, 2017

STUDY OF SPECIAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY AND ITS

APPLICATION

Bhagyashri Netke Dr.Ajazul Haque Jayesh Jain Y.Vishwakarma

Assistant Professor Assistant Professor Assistant Professor Assistant Professor
Viva Institute Of Technology Viva Institute Of Technology Viva Institute Of Technology Viva Institute Of Technology
Virar (E),Mumbai(India) Virar (E),Mumbai(India) Virar (E),Mumbai(India) Virar (E),Mumbai(India)
bsnetke89@gmail.com ajazul_741@rediffmail.com jcjain2009@gmail.com yogivish2101r@gmail.com

ABSTRACT Along with quantum theory, relativity is one of the two main
planks on which almost the whole of modern physics is built.
Present paper is an important study of special theory of The idea of relativity had been studied almost three centuries
relativity for mathematical formulation and its physical earlier by Galileo, when he stated the principle of relativity in
significance. The mathematical formation of Galilean 1632 (that the fundamental laws of physics are the same for
transformation by using three space co-ordinates, explaining all bodies in uniform motion). Later in the 17th Century, Sir
the problem of relative mechanics with low speed .This Isaac Newton also took the principle of relativity for granted,
Galilean transformation modified by Lorentz transformation asserting that if his famous laws of motion held in one inertial
by using four dimensions (space and time) for the problem of frame, then they also held in a reference frame moving at a
very high speed .but Lorentz Transformation is failed to constant velocity relative to the first frame. As we will see,
explain several physical phenomenon. Afterward Albert
Einstein introduces the Postulates of Special theory of Einstein’s theories are somewhat more involved, even if his
relativity and explains most of physical phenomenon
starting point was in many respects the same. His ground-
concerned to this mechanics of special theory relativity
breaking theories take into account the speed of light, the
Keywords structure of space-time and the equivalence of acceleration
and gravity. They have led to some remarkable consequences,
Relativity, Special theory, Mechanics, Postulate. including the dilation of time, the contraction of length, mass-
energy equivalence and the bending of light, as well as the
prediction of the existence of black holes, wormholes and the
1. INTRODUCTION “birth” of the universe in a Big Bang. Einstein’s theories still
hold up well today, after exhaustive experimentation and
testing, and have been described as the single most important
The “theory of relativity” (or simply “relativity”) is contribution by one man to science. Physics is built. The idea
formulated essentially by Albert Einstein and generally refers of relativity had been studied almost three centuries earlier by
to two theories, his Special Theory of Relativity (or simply Galileo, when he stated the principle of relativity in 1632 (that
special relativity) of 1905, and his General Theory of the fundamental laws of physics are the same for all bodies in
Relativity (or general relativity) of 1916. uniform motion). Later in the 17th Century, Sir Isaac Newton
also took the principle of relativity for granted, asserting that
I) all motion must be defined relative to a frame of Reference if his
so space and time are therefore relative rather than absolute
concept
II) Special theory of relativity which deals with object in 2. SPECIAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY
uniform motion
III) General theory of relativity which deals with the In the Special Theory of Relativity, published in his so-called
accelerating object and gravity. “miraculous year” of 1905, Einstein had the audacity to turn
the question around and ask: what must happen to our
common notions of space and time so that when the distance
light travels in a given time is measured, the answer is always
300,000 km/s? For example, if a spaceship fires a laser beam
at a piece of space debris flying towards it at half the speed of
light, the laser beam still travels at exactly the speed of light,
not at one-and-a-half times the speed of light. He began to
realize that either the measurement of the distance must be
smaller than expected, or the time taken must be greater than
expected, or both. In fact, Einstein realized, the answer is
both: space “contracts” and time “dilates” (or slows). Some of
the motion through space can be thought of as being
"diverted" into motion through time (and vice versa), in much
 5th National Conference on Role of Engineers in Nation Building, 3rd and 4th March, 2017

the same way as a car travelling north-west diverts some of its any coordinate transformation i.e. for non inertial
northwards motion towards the west. Thus, the dimensions of system also. then this result to general theory of
space and time affect each other, and both space and time are relativity.
therefore relative concepts, with only the unvarying speed of
light providing the bedrock on which the universe is built. It also tells us that moving clocks run more slowly as their
This revolutionary idea flew ox’in the face of the long-held velocity increases until, at the speed of light, they stop
notion of simultaneity (the idea that events that appear to running altogether. In fact, it also tells us that the mass of a
happen at the same time for one person should appear to moving object measures more as its velocity increases until, at
happen at the same time for everyone in the universe) and the speed of light, it becomes infinite. Thus, one person’s
suggested that it was impossible to say in an absolute sense interval of space is not the same as another person’s, and time
whether two events occurred at the same time if those events runs at different rates for different observers travelling at
were separated in space. At relativistic speeds, space different speeds. To some extent, the faster you go, the slower
“contracts” and time “dilates” in a nutshell, the Special you age and the slimmer you are! The reason this is not
Theory of Relativity tells us that a moving object measures obvious in everyday situations is that the differences at
shorter in its direction of motion as its velocity increases until, everyday speeds are infinitesimally small, and only really
at the speed of light, it disappears. become apparent at speeds approaching that of light itself
(“relativistic” speeds). The closer the speed of an objects
The special theory of relativity had its origin in development approaches to the speed of light, the more warped lengths and
of electro dynamics. The general theory of relativity is the time intervals become. The amount of length contraction and
relativistic theory of gravitation. time dilation is given by the Lorentz factor, named after the
Dutch physicist Hendrik Lorentz, who had been exploring
The special theory of relativity makes only the restricted use such transformation equations since as early as 1895, long
of idea that we can detect and measure the motion of given before Einstein began his work (indeed some would claim that
body relative to other bodies, but cannot assign any meaning Lorentz and Henri Poincare between them anticipated almost
to its absolute motion i.e.it merely consider the relativity of everything in Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity). The
uniform translator motion in the region of free space, where Lorentz factor, γ (gamma) is given by the equation
gravitational effect cannot be neglected. As a result of this Lorentz Factor, so that the effect increases
assumption we conclude that physical laws remain unchanged
when subjected to the system in which the law of inertia holds exponentially as the object's velocity v approaches the speed
goods. But in order to explain the ‘clock paradox’ and of light c. Thus, the calculations show that at 25% of the
universal law of gravitation the special theory of relativity speed of light, the effect is just 1.03 (a mere 3% slowing of
was extended to the non-inertial system i.e. system moving time or contraction of length); at 50% of the speed of light, it
with acceleration. On generalization to the special theory of is just 1.15; at 99% of the speed of light, time is slowed by a
relativity for gravitational force the theoretical predictions factor of about 7; and at 99.999, the factor is 224. So, if it
were not able to explain the observe phenomena. These were possible to travel in a spaceship at, say, 99.5% of the
deviations were due to the fact that speed of light, a hypothetical observer looking in would see
the clock moving about 10 times slower than normal and the
astronaut inside moving in slow-motion, as though through
1. The theory fails for fix particles in the gravitational
treacle. A couple of real-life examples may help to make the
field which can be clearly observed in red shift of
effects of special relativity clearer.
spectral lines i.e. atoms are fixed and spectral lines
are emitted by atom are subjected to strong
magnetic field.
2. The theory fails for the phenomena in which the
velocity is comparable to velocity of light i.e.
bending of light rays around the attracting body
according to special theory, the bending of light
rays passing near the sun should be 0.88 sec of arc
while actual observation it is 1.75 sec of arc.
3. Theory fails in the case when the velocities of
gravitational field both are present as in case of
precession of perihelion of mercury. The advance of
the perihelion of the mercury is predicted by the
special theory to be at rate of 7.2 sec of arc per
century while the actual advance observed is 43 sec
of are per century.
The prediction given in special theory of
relativity, therefore must be modified. The special
theory of relativity deals with only system known as
inertial system. in special theory all the physical
laws in nature are supposed to be invariant with
respect to coordinate transformation but this
invariance is limited to inertial system only if we Experiments have been carried out where two identical super-
extend the above statement by saying that all the accurate atomic clocks were synchronized, and then one was
physical laws in the nature are invariant relative to flown around the world on an airplane while the other stayed
at home. The clock which travelled recorded marginally less
 5th National Conference on Role of Engineers in Nation Building, 3rd and 4th March, 2017

passage of time than the other (as predicted by the theory), In the 'twins effect' (or paradox), a space traveler returns to
although the difference was of course minimal due to the Earth younger than his twin Another phenomenon associated
relatively slow speeds involved. Our fastest military airplanes with the dilation of time is the so-called “twins effect”
can only travel at about 1/300,000 of the of the speed of light, (sometimes referred to as the “twins paradox”), where an
so the time dilation effect γ is only about a ten-thousandth of astronaut returns from a near-light speed voyage in space to
1%.At very high speeds, however, the effect is much more find his stay-at-home twin many years older than him (as
noticeable. Experiments have demonstrated that an ultra- travelling at relativistic high speeds has allowed him to
short-lived muon particle, which habitually travels at 99.92% experience only one year of time while ten years have elapsed
of the speed of light, actually lives about 25 times longer and on Earth). This is sometimes considered a paradox in that
travels about 25 times further than it theoretically should. each twin sees the other twin as travelling, and so, it is argued,
Particles travelling at speeds up to 99.99% the speed of light each should see the other aging more slowly. But in fact this
in the CERN particle accelerator in Switzerland experience is based on a misunderstanding of relativity, because in reality
the same kind of relativity-induced time travel, experiencing a only one twin experiences acceleration and deceleration, and
γ factor of around 5,000, allowing the artificial persistence of so only one twin ages less. An equivalent paradox concerning
even shorter-lived particles such as phi mesons. So, travelling the related phenomenon of length contraction is often referred
at close to the speed of light would theoretically allow time to as the "tunnel paradox", whereby a hypothetical train
travel into the future, as time slows down for the speeding approaching a tunnel at near-light speed sees the tunnel as
object in order to "protect" the cosmic speed limit of the speed much shorter than it really is, whereas someone in the tunnel
of light. A corollary of all this is that, if it were possible to sees the approaching train as short. Essentially, then, the
exceed the speed of light, then it would also be possible to go Special Theory of Relativity can be boiled down to its two
back in time, which raises the possibility of time-travel main postulates: firstly, that physical laws have the same
paradoxes (where a person goes back in time and interferes in
their own past or kills their own grandparents, etc.), although mathematical form when expressed in any inertial system (so
some scientists believe that some as yet undiscovered law of that all motion, and the forces that result from it, is relative);
physics may intervene to prevent such paradoxes. Actually, and secondly that the speed of light is independent of the
special relativity does not specifically forbid the existence of motion of its source and of the observer, and so it is NOT
particles that travel faster than light, and there is a relative to anything else and will always have the same value
hypothetical sub-atomic particle called a tachyon, which when measured by observers moving with constant velocity
would indeed spend its entire life travelling faster than the with respect to each other. Not such a scary proposition at first
speed of light, but it is currently still hypothetical. glance.

Example 1) If clock move with the velocity of c/3 then what

will happened

Δt = 1 hour = 3600 second 3.GENERAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY

the obserwar time = (3600 - x) second = Δt'
Δt' = βΔt This was Albert Einstein Refinement (Published in 1916) of
1 his earlier Special Theory of relativity And Sir Isaac Newton
 1
v2  2  1 2 2 2 much Earlier low of Universal Gravitations. As we have seen,
where β =  1 -  = 1 -  = matter does not simply pull on other matter across empty
 2   9  3
 c  space, as Newton had imagined. Rather matter distorts space-
2 2 time and it is this distorted space-time that in turn affects
\ 3600 - x = × 3600 = 3394.112 other matter. Objects (including planets, like the Earth, for
3
where x is loose time of clock instance) fly freely under their own inertia through warped
space-time, following curved paths because this is the shortest
x = 205.888sec
possible path (or geodesic) in warped space-time. This, in a
mens clock get slow by 3 minute 25 seconds nutshell, then, is the General Theory of Relativity, and its
central premise is that the curvature of space-time is directly
determined by the distribution of matter and energy contained
within it. What complicates things, however, is that the
distribution of matter and energy is in turn governed by the
curvature of space, leading to a feedback loop and a lot of
very complex mathematics. Thus, the presence of
mass/energy determines the geometry of space, and the
geometry of space determines the motion of mass/energy.

In practice, in our everyday world, Newton’s Law of

Universal Gravitation is a perfectly good approximation. The
curving of light was never actually predicted by Newton but,
in combination with the idea from special relativity that all
forms of energy (including light) have an effective mass, then
it seems logical that, as light passes a massive body like the
Sun, it too will feel the tug of gravity and be bent slightly
from its course. Curiously, however, Einstein’s theory
predicts that the path of light will be bent by twice as much as
does Newton’s theory, due to a kind of positive feedback. The
 5th National Conference on Role of Engineers in Nation Building, 3rd and 4th March, 2017

English astronomer Arthur Edenton confirmed Einstein’s Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose’s singularity theorem of
predictions of the deflection of light from other stars by the 1970 used the General Theory of Relativity to show that, just
Sun’s gravity using measurements taken in West Africa as any collapsing star must end in a singularity, the universe
during an eclipse of the Sun in 1919, after which the General itself must have begun in a singularity like the Big Bang
Theory of Relativity was generally accepted in the scientific (providing that the universe does in fact contain at least as
community. In this way the general theory of relativity is much matter as it appears to). The theorem also showed,
born. though, that general relativity is an incomplete theory in that it
cannot tell us exactly how the universe started off because it
General relativity predicts the gravitational bending of light predicts that all physical theories (including itself) necessarily
by massive bodies – break down at a singularity like the Big Bang.

The theory has also provided endless fodder for the science
fiction industry, predicting the existence of sci-fi staples like
black holes, wormholes, time travel, parallel universes, etc.
Just as an example, the notionally faster-than-light “warp”
speeds of Star Trek are based firmly on relativity: if the space-
time behind a starship were in some way greatly expanded,
and the space-time in front of it simultaneously contracted, the
starship would find itself suddenly much closer to its
destination, without the local space-time around the starship
being affected in any relativistic way. Unfortunately,
however, such a trick would require the harvesting of vast
amounts of energy, way in excess of anything imaginable
today.

The theory has been proven remarkably accurate and robust in CONCLUSION
many different tests over the last century. The slightly
elliptical orbit of planets is also explained by the theory but, Almost a century later, the General Theory of Relativity
even more remarkably, it also explains with great accuracy the remains the single most influential theory in modern physics,
fact that the elliptical orbits of planets are not exact repetitions and one of the few that almost everyone, from all walks of
but actually shift slightly with each revolution, tracing out a
life, has heard of (even if they may be a little hazy about the
kind of rosette-like pattern. For instance, it correctly predicts
the so-called precession of the perihelion of Mercury (that the details). Einstein’s General Theory predicted the existence of
planet Mercury traces out a complete rosette only once every black holes many years before any evidence of such
3 million years), something which Newton’s Law of phenomena, even indirect evidence, was obtained, and was
Universal Gravitation is not sophisticated enough to cope highly suggestive of an origin of the universe beginning with
with. a Big Bang type event, although Einstein himself was highly
suspicious of both of those possibilities.
Gravity Probe B was launched into Earth orbit in 2004,
specifically to test the space-time-bending effects predicted by The theory also predicts, or at least permits, the existence of
General Relativity using ultra-sensitive gyroscopes. The final "wormholes", tunnel-like short-cuts through space-time, and
analysis of the results in 2011 confirms the predicted effects even the theoretical possibility of time travel. In fact, the
quite closely, with a tiny 0.28% margin of error for geodetic
effects and a larger 19% margin of error for the much less Austrian-American mathematician Kurt Gödel’s elegant
pronounced frame-dragging effect. solution to Einstein’s field equations (assuming a uniformly
spinning universe with constant uniform energy density)
The General Theory of Relativity can actually be described specifically predicts the possibility of travel back in time,
using a very simple equation: R = GE (although Einstein's although it should be said that his model of the universe does
own formulation of his field equations are much more not entirely accord with our own. For now at least, these ideas
complex). Unfortunately, the variables in this simple equation remain firmly in the realm of science fiction.
are far from simple: R is a complicated mathematical object
made up of 16 separate numbers in a matrix or "tensor" that Yet another theoretical prediction of the General Theory of
describes the distortion of space-time; G is the gravitational Relativity is the existence of gravitational waves,
constant; and E is another complicated number, also
perturbations or ripples in the fabric of space-time, caused by
represented by a tensor, representing the energy of the object
(or more accurately the 4-dimensional "energy momentum the motion of massive objects that propagate throughout the
density"). Given that, though, what the equation says is simple universe as objects are squeezed on a subatomic scale. There
enough: that what gravity really is not a force but a distortion has been good circumstantial evidence for these elusive waves
of space and time, and that the geometry of space and time since the 1970s, but it was only in late 2015, a full century
depends not just on velocity (as the Special Theory of after Einstein's theoretical predictions, that gravitational
Relativity had indicated) but on the energy of an object. This waves were definitively observed at the twin Laser
makes sense when we consider that Newton had already
shown that gravity depends on mass, and that Einstein's Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO)
Special Theory of Relativity had shown that mass is detectors in the USA. This potentially opens up a whole new
equivalent to energy. way of looking at the universe and the Big Bang, and a whole
 5th National Conference on Role of Engineers in Nation Building, 3rd and 4th March, 2017

host of new discoveries is anticipated. It is also another

indication of just how robust the theory is.

The way forward for physics now rests with attempts to

combine the theory of relativity (the theory of the very large,
which describes one of the fundamental forces of nature,
gravity) with quantum theory in a unified theory of quantum
gravity (or quantum theory of gravity), the so-called “theory
of everything”. Candidates like superstring theory and loop
quantum gravity, however, still need to overcome major
formal and conceptual problems.

References
[1] General Relativity: T M Karade, G S Khadekar and maya
S Bendre

[2] Theory of relativity: j k Goyal k.p Gupta

[3] Introduction to general relativity: Lewis Ryder

[4] An introduction to special theory of relativity: Robert Katz

[5] First course in general theory of relativity: Bernard Schutz

[6]General Relativity: Robert M.Wald

[7]Theory of Relativity:W. Pauli

[8]Relativity: Special and General Theory –Albert Einstein

[9] Principle of relativity by Albert Einstein, Fancis A Davis

[10] Relativity by Christin Bishara

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