An analysis of the concept of inertial frame in classical physics and special theory of relativity
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23756/sp.v10i2.827Keywords:
inertial frame of reference, space and time symmetries, the principle of relativity, clock synchronization, physical geometryAbstract
The concept of inertial frame of reference in classical physics and special theory of relativity is analyzed. It has been shown that this fundamental concept of physics is not clear enough. A definition of inertial frame of reference is proposed which expresses its key inherent property. The definition is operational and powerful. Many other properties of inertial frames follow from the definition, or it makes them plausible. In particular, the definition shows why physical laws obey space and time symmetries and the principle of relativity, it resolves the problem of clock synchronization and the role of light in it, as well as the problem of the geometry of inertial frames.Downloads
References
Y. Aharonov and T. Kaufherr. Quantum frames of reference. Phys. Rev. D, 30:368–385, 1984.
R. Anderson, I. Vetharaniam, and G. Stedman. Conventionality of synchronization, gauge dependence and test theories of relativity. Physics Reports, 295:93–180, 1998.
R. Angelo et al. Physics within a quantum reference frame. Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical, 44(14):145304, 2011.
R. W. Brehme. On force and the inertial frame. American Journal of Physics, 53(10):952–955, 1985.
B. Culina. An Elementary System of Axioms for Euclidean Geometry Based on Symmetry Principles. Axiomathes, 28(2): 155-180, 2018.
R. DiSalle. Space and Time: Inertial Frames. In E. N. Zalta, editor, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, winter 2020 edition, 2020.
A. Einstein. Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Korper. ¨ Annalen der Physik, 322(10):891–921, 1905.
A. Einstein, R. Lawson, R. Geroch, and D. Cassidy. Relativity: The Special and General Theory. The masterpiece science edition. Pi Press, 2005.
D. Howard. What Makes a Classical Concept Classical? Toward a Reconstruction of Niels Bohr’s Philosophy of Physics. In Niels Bohr and Contemporary Philosophy, pages 201–230. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1994.
M. Jammer. Concepts of Simultaneity: From Antiquity to Einstein and Beyond. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006.
A. Janis. Conventionality of Simultaneity. In E. N. Zalta, editor, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, fall 2018 edition, 2018.
L. Landau and E. Lifshitz. Mechanics. Butterworth-Heinennan, third edition, 1976.
L. Lange. Uber das beharrungsgesetz. ¨ Berichte der Koniglichen Sachsischen ¨ Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, Mathematisch-physische Classe,37:333–351, 1885.
L. Lange. On the law of inertia. Eur. Phys. J. H., 39:251—-262, 2014. translation by Herbert Pfister of Lange [1885].
H. A. a. a. Lorentz. The principle of relativity: a collection of original memoirs on the special and general theory of relativity. Dover, 1952.
A. Macdonald. Clock synchronization, a universal light speed, and the terrestrial redshift experiment. American Journal of Physics, 51:795–797, 1983.
D. Malament. Causal theories of time and the conventionality of simultaniety. Noûs , 11:293–300, 1977.
E. Minguzzi and A. Macdonald. Universal one-way light speed from a universal light speed over closed paths. Foundations Of Physics Letters, 16:593–604, 2003.
H. Minkowski. Raum und zeit. Jahresbericht der Deutschen Mathematiker Vereinigung, 18:75–88, 1909.
C. W. Misner, K. S. Thorne, and J. A. Wheeler. Gravitation. W.H. Freeman and Co., 1973.
I. Newton, A. Motte, and N. W. Chittenden. Newton’s Principia: the mathematical principles of natural philosophy. Daniel Adee, 1846.
R. Penrose. Structure of space-time. In C. DeWitt and J. Wheeler, editors, Battelle Rencontres, pages 121–235. Benjamin, 1968.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. The journal is committed to real and immediate open access for academic work. All of the journal articles are free to access immediately from the date of publication. There are no charge for readers to download articles and reviews for their own scholarly use. Benefits of open access for authors, include:
- Free access for all users worldwide
- Increased visibility and readership
- Rapid publication
- No spatial constraints
- Authors can share their research papers on their personal web-pages (i.e. ResearchGate, etc.)
Copyright and Licensing Terms
SCIENCE & PHILOSOPHY publishes open access articles under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) License. The Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY) allows users to copy, distribute and transmit an article, adapt the article and make commercial use of the article. The CC BY license permits commercial and non-commercial re-use of an open-access article, as long as the author is properly attributed. Copyright on any research article published by SCIENCE & PHILOSOPHY is retained by the author(s). Authors grant SCIENCE & PHILOSOPHY a license to publish the article and identify itself as the original publisher. Authors also grant any third party the right to use the article freely as long as its original authors, citation details and publisher are identified.
For further information visit: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/. The following logo will appear in any paper that will be published from the volume number 31/2016 onwards:
