The Special Theory of Relativity: Foundations, Theory, Verification, Applications

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 has some unique characteristics: It provides detailed proofs of the theorems, offers abundant figures and discusses numerous examples. It also includes a number of problems for readers to solve, the complete solutions of which are given at the end of the book.It is primarily intended for use by university students of physics, mathematics and engineering. However, as the mathematics needed is of an upper-intermediate level, the book will also appeal to a more general readership. Front Matter....Pages i-xvii Historical Introduction....Pages 1-45 Prolegomena....Pages 47-59 Relativistic Kinematics....Pages 61-95 Applications of Relativistic Kinematics....Pages 97-138 Optical Phenomena....Pages 139-162 Relativistic Dynamics....Pages 163-211 Applications of Relativistic Dynamics....Pages 213-242 Minkowski’s Spacetime and Four-Vectors....Pages 243-272 Electromagnetism....Pages 273-295 Experiments....Pages 297-320 Back Matter....Pages 321-480