IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wsi/ijmpcx/v27y2016i05ns0129183116500558.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A novel visualization of the geometry of special relativity

Author

Listed:
  • John H. Marr

    (Unit of Computational Science, Building 250, Babraham Research Campus, Cambridge, CB22 3AT, UK)

Abstract

The mathematical treatment and graphical representation of Special Relativity (SR) are well established, yet carry deep implications that remain hard to visualize. This paper presents a new graphical interpretation of the geometry of SR that may, by complementing the standard works, aid the understanding of SR and its fundamental principles in a more intuitive way. From the axiom that the velocity of light remains constant to any inertial observer, the geodesic is presented as a line of constant angle on the complex plane across a set of diverging reference frames. The resultant curve is a logarithmic spiral, and this view of the geodesic is extended to illustrate the relativistic Doppler effect, time dilation, length contraction, the twin paradox, and relativistic radar distance in an original way, whilst retaining the essential mathematical relationships of SR. Using a computer-generated graphical representation of photon trajectories allows a visual comparison between the relativistic relationships and their classical counterparts, to visualize the consequences of SR as velocities become relativistic. The model may readily be extended to other situations, and may be found useful in presenting a fresh understanding of SR through geometric visualization.

Suggested Citation

  • John H. Marr, 2016. "A novel visualization of the geometry of special relativity," International Journal of Modern Physics C (IJMPC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 27(05), pages 1-17, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:ijmpcx:v:27:y:2016:i:05:n:s0129183116500558
    DOI: 10.1142/S0129183116500558
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S0129183116500558
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1142/S0129183116500558?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wsi:ijmpcx:v:27:y:2016:i:05:n:s0129183116500558. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Tai Tone Lim (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.worldscinet.com/ijmpc/ijmpc.shtml .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.