AN ENTERTAINING SIMULATION OF THE SPECIAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY USING METHODS OF CLASSICAL PHYSICS

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Book author
Vadim N.Matveev

Foreword

On the book by V. N. Matveev and O. V. Matveev
“An Entertaining Simulation Of The Kinematic Effects Of The Special Theory Of Relativity”

A large number of books, booklets, and articles at the most diverse levels – from straight-laced documents that have been mathematized to the greatest extent possible and that are intended for a small circle of specialists to popular scientific works – are devoted to Einstein’s special theory of relativity and its applications. The bulk of the popular books on the special theory of relativity were written in an amusing form based on examples of Einsteinian trains or rockets whizzing along relative to one another at sublight speed and peopled by nimble observers. This form is possible due to the fact that, despite the overall complexity of the special theory of relativity itself and its applications, its rudimentary foundations and principles are extremely simple and obvious. The simplicity and obviousness of the foundations of the special theory of relativity comprised the underlying condition whereby nonspecialists contributed to the discussion of the problems that actually exist in the special theory of relativity, which are generally interpretive and terminological in nature. And while specialists do not address, for example, the question of the correctness of Lorentz transformations in general – in practice, Lorentz transformations have confirmed their own correctness not only in theoretical physics, but also in engineering analyses – there are many people among the ranks of nonspecialists who are willing to cast doubt on the correctness of Lorentz transformations, as well as the concepts of Lorentzian time contraction and dilation that emanate from them.

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In this regard, the book by V. N. Matveev and O. V. Matvejev is quite timely. Being amusing in nature, it differs from many books of this type in that it is not the kinematic effects of the STR themselves that are considered therein, but rather effects similar thereto, which the authors simulate based on the example of barges that are at rest and in motion on a water surface at the “terrestrial” velocities to which we are accustomed.

The latter would not be worth mentioning (in a democratic society, everyone is entitled to choose his or her own object of belief) if skepticism in the consideration of relativistic kinematics had not found its way into procedural materials that lay claim to seriousness. The “Recommendations for Stating the Special Theory of Relativity (STR) With Allowance for Standard Requirements” that are located on the Internet at the Russian website of the academic newspaper “Physics” of the First of September Publishing House can serve as an example of this. In these recommendations, it is first noted that “the question of measuring the length of a body in motion is not simple”, then the effect of the visual integrity of the shape of a sphere in different reference systems that was discovered “50 years after Einstein’s death” is mentioned, and finally allowance is made for this effect in reaching the conclusion that “in our view, the only correct solution in this situation consists of refusing to pose this question and all the problems related thereto”. Thereafter, the following remark is made: “It must be noted that we are unaware of a single direct practical application of the formula ".

Moreover, there is no contradiction between the effect of the visual integrity of the shape of a sphere and Lorentz contraction. This effect is well familiar to specialists and is known as the Terrell-Penrose effect. Furthermore, the visual integrity of the shape of a sphere was theoretically predicted (the effect has not been observed experimentally) with allowance for metrological Lorentz contraction; i.e., with allowance for an effect that emanates from Lorentz transformations.

In this regard, the book by V. N. Matveev and O. V. Matvejev is quite timely. Being amusing in nature, it differs from many books of this type in that it is not the kinematic effects of the STR themselves that are considered therein, but rather effects similar thereto, which the authors simulate based on the example of barges that are at rest and in motion on a water surface at the “terrestrial” velocities to which we are accustomed. By virtue of its amusing nature, the book is primarily intended for those who, drawing knowledge from popular literature, have perceived relativistic phenomena as almost mysterious and extending outside the framework of our terrestrial notions of the material world. The booklet, so to speak, casts fantasy lovers down from the heavens to the wicked earth. In stating the materials, the authors refrain from using an approach involving observers, replacing the latter with instruments (hardware). This technique made it possible to tone down the taint of subjectivity that is present in publications involving the use of observers. This same technique made it possible to simulate the relativistic time on the scales of which the simulation instruments operate and observers fundamentally cannot function.

The book will be of interest to a wide range of readers. The possibility of simulating the basic kinematic phenomena of relativistic mechanics within an environment that is demonstrated in the book should not be correlated to the existence of a world environment. First, this possibility is in agreement with the formal sameness of the Lorentzian and Einsteinian world views that is known to specialists, and second, the simulation described in this book only encompasses a modicum of the phenomena considered in the special theory of relativity and does not extend, for example, to dynamics and electrodynamics.

Doctor of the physical and mathematical sciences, professor A. Rukhadze, winner of the state priz and the Lomonovskaya prize 1st degree, meritorious scientist of Russia
Moscow, June 2011

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From the authors
In lieu of a preface. The essence of the simulation

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